Need to make some floor pans, bead rolling q's

Lizer

Lizer

Mad Scientist
I'm restoring my 78 Ford LTD II, I have a good blasted body shell for it but needs new floors. I've never done metal shaping but would find it interesting to get into and learn. I know the basic concepts of metal working. A few questions...

1. Are there many effective ways to stretch the metal prior to bead rolling other than an English wheel? I wouldn't use the wheel for much else and don't want it sitting around.

2. The 'beads' in my floors are very large, maybe 1.5" wide and recessed (or raised) a good 1/2-3/4". Is it possible to make huge flat beads like that, or should I just use the same pattern of beads the original floor has, but run several small beads next to each other instead of in lieu of one big one? OR

3. Is it possible to make a bead wider by rolling a new bead right along the edge of the first one?

4. What gauge for floor pans?

These are probably things I'd experiment with if I had a roller already but haven't bought one yet.

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Have you checked out the metal meet forum?
A lot of equipment for sale and they have a weekly meeting once a year in Illinois.
Some of the best in the world are members.

We have plenty of members here that can help you on this site also.
 
3/4 x 1.5 is a tall order for a bead roller imho. That sounds like a job for a Pullmax and custom dies and even then a lot of distortion since you are moving so much metal.

I would just scale them down to something that a bead roller can do assuming this is not a concourse level build.

Don
 
Barry said:
Have you checked out the metal meet forum?
A lot of equipment for sale and they have a weekly meeting once a year in Illinois.
Some of the best in the world are members.

We have plenty of members here that can help you on this site also.
Click to expand...

Yes, I cross-posted there too. A weekly meeting once a year? That's a looooooong meeting! I need to pick John Long's brain too.
 
dhutton01 said:
3/4 x 1.5 is a tall order for a bead roller imho. That sounds like a job for a Pullmax and custom dies and even then a lot of distortion since you are moving so much metal.

I would just scale them down to something that a bead roller can do assuming this is not a concourse level build.

Don
Click to expand...
My intention is really just make something that's structurally sound moreso than try to reproduce the existing floors, because they're very beefy. It doesn't have to match.

This car with the bad floors IS the donor car, this shell overall is almost perfect with the exception of the floors. I may be able to take some pieces of the floor out of my original car, (which is pictured above, but that pic was taken 19 years ago) which the body is completely shot but somehow part of the floors still survived. Or call up Desert Valley and see if they can cut me out a floor.

This is the new body, which has been blasted.
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I actually bought an eastwood simple bead roller, tried using the dies to make the quarter panel beads on the 36 coupe. Ended up ruining alot of metal. When I bought a lathe, I struggled thru making a couple tools, polishing them up and they work really well. So that is what I would suggest, make them or take the dies you have to a machine shop to make. Most of them were just a 15 MM hole thru them. I always extended the set screws since they tighten on a flat of the roller shaft anyway. But mine were only 1/2 inch wide. Seems a pullmax might be needed for such a wide bead.

But the other part of this is me trying to duplicate the squared chevy quarter panel. Most repro pieces you buy are all ford related and their bead is round. Are you fighting to keep this original or can you just make a couple more passes with the widest tool you have?
 
Something that wide is probably done best with two steps. Easier to prestretch the area of the two steps too.

Don
 
I made my own floor pans. The best way to make beads over 1/2” is to make them one side at a time. These were made using my bead roller with a stepping die. They can be made any width you choose. Pre stretching the panel will not be that critical on a floor pan. Especially if you have bends near the ends that limit the panels ability to draw during the beading process.

John

 
I took a wheel to the floor pans in my original car today to open up any holes in them and they actually look pretty good. A few small holes here and there but could be fixed with smaller patches. So I think I will just take the floors from my car to use in the new body shell.
 
David Gardiner in his video shows how to form floor pans with nothing more than a hammer, various simple homemade chasing tools (think blunt chisels) and steel or plywood scrap. Very simple to do once you see the technique. Or you could do as John has shown. (Nice work John):)

If you are interested in learning Metalshaping, David Gardiner's DVD is a good place to start. Covers abroad range of topics using handtools, no machines.

https://metalshapingzone.com/
 
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