Boot floor replacement (aluminium)

Mr Alford · Jan 13, 2008

right as im sure u are all aware the discovery 1 is renown for rotten boot floors and mine is no exception
i am cutting the old floor out tmrw along with all the rust that has spread and today i purchased a 1600m x 1400m 5mm thick aluminium sheet
this will make the crossmembers redundant but they are rusted so will be removed anyway but as ive gone overkill with 5mm sheet ill be fine
ill start posting pictures up tmrw wish me luck

this is what it looked like last week

and my smoked up angle grinder, tip of the day dont buy a £20 from b&q ive had it 3 months and this is the first time ive properly tested it and..........rubbish

Mr Alford · Jan 13, 2008

tday ive sealed the bottom end and hammerited it so now i have to wait for the aluminium plate to arrive then cut it in and seal and pop rivet the thing in

BOOMER · Jan 13, 2008

My floor is getting that way, so will be interested to see how you get on with this. Was the aluminium sheet expensive???

Mr Alford · Jan 13, 2008

BoomerV8 said:
My floor is getting that way, so will be interested to see how you get on with this. Was the aluminium sheet expensive???

£130 notes and it will never rust

bustersbus · Jan 13, 2008

Mr Alford said:
£130 notes and it will never rust

it 'might' do where it touches the steel, unless ye get a good seal with summit between the two metals

Mr Alford · Jan 13, 2008

bustersbus said:
it 'might' do where it touches the steel, unless ye get a good seal with summit between the two metals

ive got some of the stuff they use to bond luxury yachts tgetha with would work alone

BOOMER · Jan 13, 2008

bustersbus said:
it 'might' do where it touches the steel, unless ye get a good seal with summit between the two metals

I take it youre referring to electrolytic reaction between steel and aluminium?
Would some bitumastic paint be good enough??

Mr Alford · Jan 20, 2008

little progress update,
i have finished it riveted it in but it was dark by that time so at some point tday ill get some good pics of the finished product

chequer plated the rear floor all ready

all prepped and ready to be layed onto minus sealant

on the floor ready to be drilled and pilot holes then clean it up put the sealant down and rivet it

thebiglad · Jan 20, 2008

Having recently done the boot floor on my Disco, may I suggest that before you fix the new floor permanently, you check the connections/unions to the fuel tank.

I didn't and a few days later they started leaking as they were rusted. I only suggest this as you don't appear to have a fuel tank inspection hole.

yella · Jan 20, 2008

i think you have made a mistake by not usiung crossmembers. if you put anything of any weight in there it will bend the ali plate. as for your b n q angle grinder, if you take it back and say its knackered and wont work, they will replace it free of charge under their no quibble guarantee. other than that, it looks pretty good

Mr Alford · Jan 20, 2008

yella said:
i think you have made a mistake by not usiung crossmembers. if you put anything of any weight in there it will bend the ali plate. as for your b n q angle grinder, if you take it back and say its knackered and wont work, they will replace it free of charge under their no quibble guarantee. other than that, it looks pretty good

thanks for that advice about the angle grinders but im not sure if u can see but i have made 2 crossmembers, one and the bottom one in the middle and a strengthened brace at the top so ive covered that problem

hers a little piccy of the strong points

the original floor was held up by a little 1.5mm thick mild steel lip and rotten crossmembers and still happily carried a ton of bricks in it, my crossmember in the middle is a triangle shaped 3mm thick steel, the bottom is 2, 1 on top of the other 3mm thick mild steel rounded strips so as for support its alot stronger than b4

yella · Jan 20, 2008

ah well i dint really look at yer pics except the last un with the boot floor in place and yer cant see em on that. however asfter reading your last post i went back and had a look at tother pics and yes, you are right, you have ut in crossmembers. tthat will make all the difference, the only other thing is the fuel tank inspection cover like that other lad said. if you still have the old inspection cover then draw around it and cut a hole in your new plate slightly smallet and then make an ali one out of the offcuts from your sheet

Mr Alford · Jan 20, 2008

yella said:
ah well i dint really look at yer pics except the last un with the boot floor in place and yer cant see em on that. however asfter reading your last post i went back and had a look at tother pics and yes, you are right, you have ut in crossmembers. tthat will make all the difference, the only other thing is the fuel tank inspection cover like that other lad said. if you still have the old inspection cover then draw around it and cut a hole in your new plate slightly smallet and then make an ali one out of the offcuts from your sheet

another thing i have yet to do i have kept the inspection hole but i am going to be chequer plating over the top of this in the boot area so what i will be doing is making my own sealed inspection hole as i want to keep the strength and also keep it water tight

all in all im over the moon at the results

nickh75 · Jan 20, 2008

yes thats looking good.
got some chequer plate left from doin my side steps
i think the chequer plate looks fookin great looks like that might be my next project.
when the weather gets better that is an i cant get my landy all nice an muddy

think i check my floor while im at it!

thebiglad · Jan 20, 2008

Mr Alford said:
thanks for that advice about the angle grinders but im not sure if u can see but i have made 2 crossmembers, one and the bottom one in the middle and a strengthened brace at the top so ive covered that problem

hers a little piccy of the strong points

the original floor was held up by a little 1.5mm thick mild steel lip and rotten crossmembers and still happily carried a ton of bricks in it, my crossmember in the middle is a triangle shaped 3mm thick steel, the bottom is 2, 1 on top of the other 3mm thick mild steel rounded strips so as for support its alot stronger than b4

WOW !! That sounds strong - well done.

Cheers
Dave

RAZ8550TDI · Jan 20, 2008

good stuff james, really would advise using the inpection plate off your old boot floor though, only take yer 10 mins to do it all and could save you hours in the long run, looks like it s comming on a treat though. keep it up.

thebiglad · Jan 20, 2008

Mr Alford said:
another thing i have yet to do i have kept the inspection hole but i am going to be chequer plating over the top of this in the boot area so what i will be doing is making my own sealed inspection hole as i want to keep the strength and also keep it water tight

all in all im over the moon at the results

Just a quick thought about the inspection hole. On sailing boats they often have waterproof inspection hatches that are round and about the same size. They are specifically made to be waterproof and are quite cheap to buy from boat chandlers. Made from a sort of polypropolyne (yes I know it's not spelt like that) that's very tough.

Mr Alford · Jan 20, 2008

tadaa the finished product, gonna clean up the sealant once its set properly needs a week to do that so ill do it then but its not gonna be on show so i may not well see so here ya go gonna repaint the interior again to make it look clean

RAZ8550TDI · Jan 20, 2008

j get in touch with me if your after a light bar.

Mr Alford · Jan 20, 2008

RAZ8550TDI said:
j get in touch with me if your after a light bar.

i want a light bar lol!

Boot floor replacement (aluminium)

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