BVending Floor Pan Curves

[Flyer58]

This is more of a metal shaping question than welding. I'm trimming a floor pan for a jeep and found everything around the perimeter fits perfectly except for one area with several curves. The radius inside the curve is slightly too big and is off by about a 1/8 inch. Not a big difference but I'd like to shrink the corner to line up with the existing body structure.

I have tools and a map gas torch to work with and just a little experience shaping flat patch panels to fit but not reshaping a curve.

Any tips before I mess things up?

Thanks.

[duramax-rob]

are you going to weld the edge or spot weld ? if edge welded, lap, just tack every couple inches and hammer the on top edge down to fit. it will probably warp anyway if metal worked first.

[Flyer58]

Thanks, I'm just a hobbyist with this but I've had great luck so far with clamping, tacking, and cooling the spots with the other patches and filling in between them with minimal warping. The outer edge is flanged and gets drilled and tack welded to the outside body panel then to make my life easy I'll just overlap the rest by 1/2 inch and weld the entire edge then seal the underside with body putty/sealant. I may even have the inside floor area sprayed with a bed liner.

Looks don't matter too much but I do need to get that curved area tightened up before welding it.

[MinnesotaDave]

Like Rob said, tack the areas that are already tight, hammer to fit the other stuff while still hot.

Basically, just gently work the area down in small hammer blows.

In extreme cases a small notch or two may need to be used.

It sounds redneck, but it's really useful in all sorts of welding - the hammers just get bigger

Remember, it's just metal and it does what we want.

https://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthrea...irs&highlight=

[Flyer58]

It's done and thanks for the help. Much easier than I expected. I tacked right up to the corners and coaxed them into position with light taps from a hammer for a good tight fit.

[MinnesotaDave]

Glad to hear it - a little seam sealer, primer and paint - all done