julians Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 I've just been giving the car the once over after a recent trackday and I've noticed the floor panel has split around on one of the mounting points for the tillets and has pulled some rivets out around that side (I knew I was overweight, but I didnt think 13stone would cause that much problem). Has anyone else replaced a floor panel, is there anything special I need to do other than drill out the rivets and re-rivet the new panel in place. Should it be sealed in place with some sort of sealant? Anyone got any tips for drilling out rivets, they just keep spinning on the drill bit at the moment. Cheers all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Just out of interest - is this a plain ali panel, or a honeycomb one??? Regds, Myles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julians Posted June 24, 2003 Author Share Posted June 24, 2003 plain ali, looks like a crap design. Will be mounting the tillets on brakets which I can attach to teh chassis members next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 ISTR this is not uncommon - I need to do the same with mine in the next day or two, so I will be interested in any tips you get. New site! mycaterham.com here 42,000 in 23 months! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony pashley Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 As Angus says, this is not uncommon on cars with a fair amount of hard use. I've re-rivetted the passenger side (not all of it) several times. Once one bit gets a little loose, the rivets fret in the holes and exacerbate the situation. Knock any remaining bit of mandrel through with a 2mm parallel punch then drill out what's left carefully with a nice sharp drill (one of those strange Black and Decker 'bullet tip' bits from the DIY stores worked ok 'cause they had a cutting edge a bit like a wood drill). Then replace with a rivet of the same size, but a larger head if holes in the ali have enlarged a bit - or a larger size of rivet if you really have to... I've never understood this business of mounting a seat frame on a few points directly through the aluminium floor... if you're not spreading the load out with a bench seat base or a foam job, then the original method of using the cross member and the lugs at the back (which end up being the mounts for the crutch straps) seems a much better bet. I really hate those bits of aluminium 'angle-iron' stuck under later cars. Edited by - tony pashley on 24 Jun 2003 19:42:55 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julians Posted June 24, 2003 Author Share Posted June 24, 2003 I'm actually having to replace the entire floor panel because it has sagged so badly and actually split in one place. Does anyone know if the replacement floor panels from caterham come pre drilled for the rivets etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony pashley Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 If they don't, I guess you can use the old one as a template to drill through. May be you could get a piece of a harder grade of ali and make your own (to alleviate the rivet-fretting business) if you're particularly adventurous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Erm, Why not go to the honeycomb floor option...? I'm lucky in that as an ex-Academy car, I've got honeycomb everywhere (except the sides???) - definitely on the floor/fuel tank though... I'd be seriously worried about being strapped to just a plain Ali skin - if that's what you are proposing Regds, Myles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE GILBERT Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Its a joke design IMHO. I had this problem and sorted it permanently by hanging the seat rails from the Seat Belt anchor points. The only bummer is the seats now sit 6mm higher. Steve See My Zetec Power 7 Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Wong1697456877 Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Not being the lightest of people, and having a 7 that gets some pretty hard use in all sorts of weather, I've worried about this for some time. How does the honeycomb help? Is there an extra tube brazed in to stop ones derriere from meeting the ground underneath passing at some scary velocity? I've wondered about adding two strips of steel and bolting them to the two horizontal tubes in front and behind the seat. I considered doing this from underneath so as to not increase the height of the seat. In fact, my old x-flow had a similar arrangement although it was on the inside, under the seat. The only thing is, I don't like the idea of drilling big holes into the chassis tubes. I might ask Arch to see if they can braze some lugs onto the tubes for such a reinforcement when I take my car to them to have the front suspension straightened out. Alex Wong www.alexwong.net _________ / __ __ / ___ _//__T/__/_ ___ / (_) (_)/ /`-'/o/ _______ /o/`-'/ / /// ( VDU7X ) // / /___/--_________/--/___/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 My observations: SFAIK the honeycombe floor is a panel which bonds on top of the existing sheet ali floor and therefore relys on the same mountings. My car has a 2mm carbon floor and this problem still ocurred when I ran the tillets without the strengthening bars inder the floor. Using steel rivetts helps a lot as they do not work loose - in the days before Tillets I used to get the floor loose through chassis fles (presumably bhp related) The old VX race cars used steel rivetts on the floors. New floor panels are pre-drilled. Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM website See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julians Posted June 25, 2003 Author Share Posted June 25, 2003 New floor panel and honeycomb protection ordered through caterham, its a special order item though, so they wont have it in for a week or so, whcih means missing a trackday unfortunately. Does anyone know the thickness of the honeycomb protection so I can get some brackets made up to mount the seat to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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