Blazer cargo area floor swap - old floor removal tips

[lks dcvn]

I have seen a few threads where people have replaced their rusty cargo area floors with the new aftermarket ones available now.

Looking for guidance on if you pulled the old piece as one unit or cut it out to make removal easier. Keep the bedsides in place or remove those as well?

If there are tips/advice on doing this replacement - I welcome any insight you can provide.

Thanks!

[jaros44sr]

I took mine out in pieces b/c I needed to reuse the cross silles and at the time didn't have the right tool to do it any other way. Started at the rear and cut up to the first cross member, then cut across to expose spot welds, then drilled them out, separated the floor and cut across then the second set of spot welds were exposed drill and repeat down the cargo area

Shear that cuts a pig tail and a angle grinder required

[Tomo]

Great question - I’m interested in hearing everyone’s suggestions also.

[hemi43]

Bedsides don't have to be removed. Once the rearmost crossmember is unbolted and the tack welds removed, the besides will spread far enough so that the bed floor can be easily installed. It's actually an easy job that should only take a few hours to do.

[Jennandrand]

I’d say the biggest pain is all the spot welds. Think you’ve got em all? Wrong! They are all over the place and sometimes hard to identify because of rusty surfaces. I also remember removing the floor around the bedsides to be a little tricky because the edge of the floor has a lip that holds it in place and makes it hard to get out from under the bedsides. Unbolting rusty bolts hooked to the crossmembers was also quite an ordeal. Carriage bolts and the floor was so rusted that the heads of the bolts just sheared the sheet metal when I tried to loosen the nuts. I ended up cutting a lit in the center of many bolts that I could stick a flat screwdriver in to help hold them still.
I used cutting wheel, air chisel, weld cutting bits, plenty of WD40 or PB Blaster on the bolts, and cut mine out in pieces. First timer, kept the bedsides on, mine def took more than a few hours of trial and error. I replaced with 2 piece front and rear panels.

[jaros44sr]

ASK on the board if any one needs patches, I was selling patches for awhile after I cut mine out

Also, there are two bolts in the B pillar area that can't be reached, had to cut mine off from the bottom

I also supported my bedsides from the rafters

[litebulblsc]

I want to attemp mine this Spring. I want to get it out in 1 piece, as I have a decent long bed floor to cut down and need the original as a template.

Mine is going to be fun as a p.o. welded patch panels over areas where parts bolt together. E.g. I cannot see any of the inner wheel well bolts in the floor.

[lks dcvn]

I replaced the body mounts and bolts a few months after buying this truck so at least that part won't be problematic. Every one needed to be drilled out since they were all rusted beyond repair.

I will still need to remove the wiring from the rear x-member under the bed and good call on the bolts that are in the b-pillar and are hidden. I've had to cut those out before and it wasn't fun. Pix for reference.

From one of my old build threads: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=341224

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=107

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=177

Has anybody found a way to access these from the top w/o cutting the inner bed b-pillar from inside the bed? When installing the new bed and bedsides - how are people bolting these together?

[1rippen6]

Not all were bolted from the factory, the last 2 I bought didn't have the bolts there. One was a 72 and the other was a 71. I talked to a buddy of mine about it, who has owned about 2 dozen and he said he has ran across the same thing where they were never installed from the assembly plant.

[lleff]

when i replaced mine i left the bedsides in place. i though it would help insure the floor was going back in where it needed to. i also planned on replacing the bedsides so i knew if i had to get rough with them or anything i wouldn't be bothered by it. i cut the floor from the wheel wells removing the large center section. this made it much easier to get the bolts out from the bedsides having easy access to the top and bottom. i hope this helps. feel free to ask any questions