floor pan falling off

[Mark w]

I know that this has come up on here before but i need a bit of advice .

 

Looked under the car today and 10 yes TEN of the rivets all down one side of the drivers floor pan have pulled out .The floor pan is undamaged but the rivets obviously need replacing .( next to the transmission tunnel )

 

I have a few questions ,

 

Are the existing rivets steel or aly ? ( 2004 car ) .

Is it realistic to replace with steel if i only have a hand rivet gun ?

Do i really need to use steel given the existing ones have lasted 6 years .

Does anyone make a bracket to put the tillet seat runner load on the chassis rather than the floor ?

 

PS standard not lowered floor .

 

Anyone near me in NW london that has an air rivet gun that wouldnt mind helping fix ?

 

I guess i could go to Arch or CC but both are a bit of a trek ( and a day off work )

 

 

[rj]

TADS

 

If mine had come off I'd use steel rivets - and an air rivet gun.

 

you could also aim for feather wehight, but I'm not sure the only problem is the weight of the driver. The floor seem to contribute to the stiffness of the chassis.

[CageyH]

You could replace with ally rivets, and replace them in, say 5 years.

You can use a hand rivet gun with steel rivets - it's just hard work!

 

 

Only dead fish go with the flow....!

[Willie.]

The trick with steel rivets in a normal hand gun is to not let the legs go too far apart, as then you can't get the strength to squeeze them together again. Just squeeze in small bits and you'll be fine.

 

Willie

p.s. I made brackets to mount my Tillets from the chassis, rather than the floor. Easy enough made.

[Sandy]

I used steel rivets with my hand held rivet gun without too much effort.

Helps if you have big hands though

[EFA]

Weld two 50mm wide 3mm steel strips across the chassis on both sides. Thats what I did - problem solved.

 

While the seats are supported by the floor this problem will continue.

[Mankee]

I'm going through the same repair at the moment, but mine's the passenger side and I have the opposite problem to you; the rivets have stayed put but the floor is mullered! It's distorted the thin floor panel, so I've removed it and hopefully getting one made up in thicker material by a local metal-worker.

 

A relevant question is what size rivets do I need? I drilled out the rivets using a 3mm drill bit, so will I need 3.2mm (aka 1/8") rivets? Haven't decided whether to go for normal ally rivets or stainless steel ones yet though. First time I've done anything like this and I even bought my first (cheapo) electric drill yesterday.

[susser]

The trick with steel rivets in a normal hand gun is to not let the legs go too far apart, as then you can't get the strength to squeeze them together again. Just squeeze in small bits and you'll be fine.

 

Willie

---

What he said.

Hand clenched all the steel rivets in my lowered floors. No sweat.

[Bricol]

Don't use stainless steel rivets if you ever get the car wet or damp - you'll have a new floor falling off with bigger holes (about the size of the rivet head) corroded nicely through it in not very long. And perfect rivets.

 

Bri