Floorboards in a racecar.

[madjurgen]

Have any of you with dedicated track/race cars replaced the stock floor sheet metal with a simple flat piece of sheet metal? I'm talking about firewall to rear bulkhead. It would make mounting seat rails and pedal assemblies on the floor a whole lot easier. I'm painfully aware of all its many contours trying to get the sound deadening out. I figure the contours are there for stability as much as drainage. Dumb idea?

[us4736]

if its a race car the best place would be to weld a hoop off the roll cage .use the bottom bar that runs next to the rocker at the bottom of the door .i did'nt do that yet but when i find the race seat i want thats what i'am going to do . alot of guys do that ,thats alot of work to replace the floor plus you it might make the car weaker

[ToddK]

The PO of my car welded flat pieces of sheetmetal over the rusty floors. From inside it looked great, but from underneath it was a mess. I cut away all of the rusty metal under the car and then welded on more flat pieces under the car to form a sandwich. I drilled holes thru them and welded the two together. The center hump where the seat sits is still intact, but now the floor in front and in back of the seats is flat. I also ran 2" square tubing inside my rockers to help stiffen up the car. It has fiberglass fenders that take away from the original rigitity of the body. Once my new wheels get here and I can get the car on the ground, I plan on taking out the Kirk roll cage and building a new one.

[ToddK]

The PO of my car welded flat pieces of sheetmetal over the rusty floors. From inside it looked great, but from underneath it was a mess. I cut away all of the rusty metal under the car and then welded on more flat pieces under the car to form a sandwich. I drilled holes thru them and welded the two together. The center hump where the seat sits is still intact, but now the floor in front and in back of the seats is flat. I also ran 2" square tubing inside my rockers to help stiffen up the car. It has fiberglass fenders that take away from the original rigitity of the body. Once my new wheels get here and I can get the car on the ground, I plan on taking out the Kirk roll cage and building a new one.

[Lee]

A flat piece of sheet metal will be weak, and will vibrate and resonate a lot. The stamping is to give the floorpan its shape for very practical reasons.

[madjurgen]

Well of course, but there are other ways to stiffen a flat panel. Welding a couple of I-beams, going from the left to right side of the car every foot or so would probably do the trick. Weld them to the flat panel, the tunnel and rockers. You could also use the middle two to tie the seat rails together.

[Guest Anonymous]

If you decide to cut out the floor it's OK. You better have the cage installed first. Then you should weld in a rectangular tube from the front frame rails all the way under the car to the rear in front of the rear subframe.

Jeff

[philv]

If you cut out your floors sell them to me ;^)