Wednesday evening I got back outside as soon as the whistle blew and started welding the floor in. It’s a tedious process but if you’re patient, you can make it look pretty good. I hopscotched around the perimeter and filled in the trans tunnel and seat base side, using a flap wheel to grind down the tall welds so that I could see where I needed to fill in.

The seat base side is pretty much done, and I now have to fill the two sections of the trans tunnel side where the pan was corrugated. I put some tack welds in along the rocker side, but I’ll probably go underneath and weld the bottom of the new metal to the old under there, then fill the joint with seam sealer. When that’s solid, I can take measurements for the toepanel and start fabricating that piece. Currently, it’s raining, so I have to wait for the weekend to continue.

All of this progress has me inspired to finally tackle the rust at the base of the A-pillars on the Scout; it’s been that way since I’ve owned the truck, and I’d love to bite the bullet and clean those areas up. I’ve got the replacement sheet metal from SSS in one of my parts bins in the basement, so it’s just another project sitting there waiting for me.

Noting the dwindling amount of welding gas in my tank, I found that Tractor Supply has the cheapest refill pricing in the area—$72 to exchange for my 80cu. tank—but I have to drive all the way up to Aberdeen, as none of the local stores around Baltimore handle gas. Go figure.