fatbillybob

So I'm planning my rollcage and the hardest part is gaining access to weld the top of the cage yet building the cage as close to the inside of the car as possible. I had the bright idea of removing the plastic floors bonded to the metal frame which would allow me to drop the cage down to weld the top of it and weld to the underside of the cage feet anchors better. What a genius I thought. I used a heatgun to soften the epoxy that holds the bonded in floor. Then I used a floor jack to put pressure on the area most heated. Well I totally failed. That floor is in there so well I could lift the 3000lb car from the plastic floor just by putting a floor jack there! I could never get one part to break away so i could just peel the rest. Oh well plan 2 will be to drill 4" hole in the floor to kinda do the same thing. Plan 3 will be to cut a section of the floor out and replace it with sheet metal which could get me another
1" of headroom. Everyone could use another 1" eh? Anyone have tricks to get the floor out before I start cutting holes?

Why did GM use a bonded floor? It is so think and strong it can't be lighter than a sheetmetal floor could it? Was GM's idea for the floor to be a structural member?

John Shiels

may have a little strucural value it is end grain balsa like used it boats. Probably good for preventing sound transmission.

Z06_BluByU

laminated balsa wood... VERY strong and VERY light!!! they've used the process in sail boats for a long long time!!

davidfarmer

I don't think it is intended to be structural, but it is strong. The thickness gives it a very high moment of inertia (compared to sheet metal/aluminum), and it is light relative to a solid material of the same thickness.

Just get a jigsaw, grinder, or small air saw and you can cut it like butter.

VetteDrmr

It's for chassis stiffness. Stiffness increases with the cube of the volume of the structure; therefore balsa was used to get the thickness needed for the stiffness the engineers were wanting/needing.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike