Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

[Ponto]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

Making fast progress! Glad the weather smartened up!

[chalms04]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

Glad to see a break in the weather for you.

[All_Euro]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

DAY SIXTEEN


Drilled out the remaining spot-welds where the front and back frame rails join and dropped both sides - 5/16" bit worked much better than 1/4"...








Had planned to keep this piece of frame rail in tact but the new pan won't slide up into place, like this, so I removed both sides...




Positioned the TT pan and found out part way through fitting it that the back portions of the pan (by the bumper/wheel well) will need to be trimmed. No biggie but I ran out of daylight so this is approximately how she sits...

[All_Euro]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

No sensible person here is going to give you grief for it! Haha

True... and now that the weather is cooperating, we're back in business

[All_Euro]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

DAYS TEN - FOURTEEN

Too cold outside - hibernation time...

DAY FIFTEEN

Finally have an update - drilled out the spot-welds at the back of the frame rails where they're joined to an extension just before the bumper. Same spot as the previous pic with the tape measure. Also got busy on the back seat area - this spot has quite a few layers of metal that overlap so I just cut, drilled and chiseled out one section at a time being mindful of the areas of the frame rail and floor-pan that are staying as well as the seat brackets that I'll need to transfer over to the TT pan.








The sides near the doors are tricky to remove nicely because of the lip that holds the weatherstripping so I've just cut the top portion of the seat area away and peeled the metal back as spot-welds were removed...






The floor-pan is officially out and just the frame rails are left. I did drill out the spot-welds in the rails today too (you can see some of them below the passenger door) so hopefully those will be out tomorrow...

[Geobmx4life]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

No sensible person here is going to give you grief for it! Haha

[All_Euro]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

This, you are a special kind of crazy. This weather even turns me off from going out and getting the mail! Best of luck, hope the weather gets better.

LOL, I don't know how to say this without letting you down but I haven't been wrenching since it's gotten cold out - took the week off. Back at it tomorrow though!

[GingerBeef]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

Really liking this project by why the *%^ did you decide to tackle this outside, in Calgary at the beginning of November?

This, you are a special kind of crazy. This weather even turns me off from going out and getting the mail! Best of luck, hope the weather gets better.

[All_Euro]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

Really liking this project by why the *%^ did you decide to tackle this outside, in Calgary at the beginning of November?

Haha, no kidding hey. I actually decided last week of October. Things just kind of came together at that time and I thought it's gotta be right now or spring... and spring just seemed like such a long time away so here we are

[GINCH]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

Really liking this project by why the *%^ did you decide to tackle this outside, in Calgary at the beginning of November?

[All_Euro]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

Fantastic work man, its amazing. Really enjoying the progress.

Good to hear - I've been trying to catch the main points and post up since the other swaps I've seen on-line are pretty thin on detail... taking pictures is usually the last thing on your mind when you're in the middle of a project but since I'm doing this slow and steady I've got more time to document the process.

[All_Euro]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

DAY NINE

Was a little lazy today but did sweep my car off and shovel the work area so I could get a little done at least...




Here you can see where the frame rails join just before the tub for the foot well area - I've already drilled and separated the seat area from the tub which makes it easier to see how the joints come together. BTW, the upper /vertical portion of seam above that doesn't need to be scraped - so unless you enjoy heating and scraping seams, don't bother...

[Ponto]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

Fantastic work man, its amazing. Really enjoying the progress.

[All_Euro]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

This is some really crazy stuff!! Good luck man!

Cheers - I think this arctic weather and snow has just turned this peaceful little project into a sport!

[All_Euro]

Re: Floor Pan Swap - haldex to come...

DAY EIGHT

Finished drilling the welds that hold the pan to the rails yesterday. There are two rows of welds along the inner fenders - the upper row is for the frame rail and the lower row is for the floor pan itself. Along the pan floor, the driver's side frame rail welds are up top whereas the passenger side welds are along the top of the wheel well most of the way and then curve up by the back seats...








From the other direction you can see the why the passenger side welds run along the upper well and curve upward - this side uses the wheel well as part of its structure...




Belle and Aston Martin checking on progress. Facing towards the back you can really see the difference in rails and how they attach to the bumper area - notice the seam near the back of the rails...






The location of these seams, which are on both sides, is about the difference in length between the GLI and TT floor pans; so I'll drill out the spot welds and finish removing everything forward of them... after I get the back seat area out...