Body work question.

Greetings. I bought an 86 Cherokee with fairly rusted out floor pans. My question is, if I buy replacement pans, which I assume go from firewall to back seat, and transmission tunnel to rocker panel, do they get riveted in or welded? And I have not yet removed the front seats. Are they bolted to the frame? I will probably need to redrill through the new floor pan and attach them on their original place on the frame? This is my first time trying my hand at any kind of body work, and am a little nervous. Thanks in advance.

Greg

Reply to
jerryg
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Welding is better than pop rivets. Sealing the seams is a must, unless you want to do the job again. Pop rivets? Well, if you overlap the seam by a healthy amount and seal it well it should be acceptable. Quality of aftermarket body parts varies, especially when it is not visible from the outside, like a floor pan. Don't assume anything about the fit until you actually see it.

Earle

Reply to
Earle Horton

First, take the time and spend the money to take a welding and auto body repair class at your local votech. It will be money well spent. Stop by the local book store and browse the autobody repair books.

If your just going to offroad the thing and don't care about replacing body parts every so often then plug on ahead. But if you are planning on keeping it for a long time it's best to learn proper repair methods.

You might also luck out and find a local repair shop that is willing to work with you and help you learn. That's how I fixed up my old C-10.

Remember that rivets are only good to hold things your going to weld. :) Rivets usually produce nice rust holes after a while. Personally I don't like them.

Reply to
DougW

Thanks for the advice guys. My plan is for this to be a daily driver. Just really wanna cover up the holes.

Greg

Reply to
jerryg

Any advice on seat part of question?

Reply to
jerryg

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