Repairing rusted floor pans

[cgk_iii]

Pulling up the carpet i noticed a few rust spots on the floor Pan and it looked like someone tried to put some bondo on it which is dumb. So im going to the junkyard to find me some good floor pans but i have some questions..
When im cutting out the floor pan will i have to worry about the rails right beneath the floor pan. Are they connected to the pan or will the pan pull off from that section? This is my first floor pan replacement so any advice will help..

Thanks
Chris

[JasonC]

Yes, the rail is connected to the pan.

[cgk_iii]

Yes, the rail is connected to the pan.

Thank you

[cgk_iii]

Anyone have a link to another thread about this repair?

[JGood]

The frame rails are spot welded to the floor pans. You'll need to drill out the spot welds within the area that you are trying to separate from the rails. They will also have lots of undercoating and sealant from underneath, so it will take some work to separate them. You want to be careful doing this, if you are taking the entire driver or passenger side floor pan out, that is a structural part of the car, you need to make sure the car is supported at the rocker seam and maybe the trans tunnel, not the frame rail.

Another option is to just cut the rusty areas away, and patch the holes with sheet metal. 18 gauge or so should be fine.