# Caddy cab floor rust



## dieselherb (Dec 25, 2004)

Look like I have a big job. Drivers side seat track and floor rusted thru. Went to salvage yard saw-zawwed that whole section from a 85 cabby. Then I checked the other side(pass) It is worst! Track is okay but floor is rusted thru at door sill and sill is rusted thru also. And then I noticed bondo so I took the grinder to it. Someone in the past replaced the door sill or tried to then filled with bondo at the door jam and under the truck. My questions are. Does the door sill support the body of the truck, structrually? Can I cut from the center tunnel(shift-exhaust) over into the door sill and back to the seat track and the front center seat support(also rusted thru) and replace that whole piece as one? Do I need to add supports to the sill after welding or angle notch cut the sill? I'm afraid it might break in two going down the road one day.
Thanks
Herb


----------



## alpinweiss (Aug 10, 2007)

*Re: Caddy cab floor rust (dieselherb)*

I am a bit confused about what kind of vehicle to which you are referring, Caddy or Cabby (pickup, or convertible).
The short answer is, yes the door sill is very important for structural support. If we are talking about a pickup, this was an especially weak area. Even when these vehicles were fairly new, they had problems with the doors getting out of adjustment due to body flexing. The pickup box was directly attached to the cab, so they could not flex independently (unlike a traditional body-on-frame model).
Based on your history of rust and Bondo, the more reinforcement the better. In fact, I doubt you can reinforce it too much (may get a bit heavy, though). You may want to run angle-iron under the floor from front fender to rear fender. Weld it as near to the outside edge as possible.
How do the doors fit? Poorly fitting doors are a sign something is sagging and not squared right.
Proceed carefully, as this sounds like you will need a lot of high-skilled welding and fabricating. Is this vehicle worth the work involved?


----------



## dieselherb (Dec 25, 2004)

*Re: Caddy cab floor rust (alpinweiss)*

Yes I'm talking about getting replacement parts from a 85 Cabby to repair a 82 Caddy. No there is no sag now doors fit fine. Just thinking of the floor pan and rail on the old beetles, the body had the strength not frame. I welded 1" square tubing in the older frame rails in my dune buggy. Maybe weld 2"angle up against the bottom of the sill. Paid $250 for truck don't mind investing time in it, no real rust anywhere else.


----------

