Floor Pan Repairs

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custom76
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Floor Pan Repairs

Post by custom76 »

After removing the entire interior I found some sections of my pans are thin with a few half dollar size holes. I’m debating whether to glass them in, use Eastwood’s no weld hole repair kit, Eastwood’s panel epoxy with metal pieces or cut them out and have replacement pan sections welded in (which I wouid like to avoid).

I have ground out the rust and treated them with Rustmort so far.

Suggestions?

Thx
Last edited by custom76 on Sat Oct 27, 2018 7:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1976 Custom Wagoneer Survivor
2000 WS6 Trans Am Conv, performance and suspension mods
1971 GTO Conv, 4 speed, built 428 (rest of its waiting for me to finish the Wag :| )
An old Pontiac guy gone Waggy!
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custom76
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Re: Floor Pan Repairs

Post by custom76 »

ImageImage


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1976 Custom Wagoneer Survivor
2000 WS6 Trans Am Conv, performance and suspension mods
1971 GTO Conv, 4 speed, built 428 (rest of its waiting for me to finish the Wag :| )
An old Pontiac guy gone Waggy!
:D Whoever designed these tailgates must still be grinning :D
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custom76
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Post by custom76 »

Removed dups, can’t find a delete button
Last edited by custom76 on Sat Oct 27, 2018 7:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1976 Custom Wagoneer Survivor
2000 WS6 Trans Am Conv, performance and suspension mods
1971 GTO Conv, 4 speed, built 428 (rest of its waiting for me to finish the Wag :| )
An old Pontiac guy gone Waggy!
:D Whoever designed these tailgates must still be grinning :D
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HeavyMetalThunder_81
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Re: Floor Pan Repairs

Post by HeavyMetalThunder_81 »

Cutting out the cancer and replacing with fresh steel is the only true way of stopping the rust 100%.
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custom76
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Re: Floor Pan Repairs

Post by custom76 »

HeavyMetalThunder_81 wrote:Cutting out the cancer and replacing with fresh steel is the only true way of stopping the rust 100%.
Yeah, I know, if I go that route, I’m thinking I should go ahead and soda blast the underneath and apply some sort of undercoat. This is mostly going to be a weekender street rig and not sure how much I want to extend this scope of work.
1976 Custom Wagoneer Survivor
2000 WS6 Trans Am Conv, performance and suspension mods
1971 GTO Conv, 4 speed, built 428 (rest of its waiting for me to finish the Wag :| )
An old Pontiac guy gone Waggy!
:D Whoever designed these tailgates must still be grinning :D
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custom76
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Re: Floor Pan Repairs

Post by custom76 »

ImageImage

Because these floors are still pretty solid and I’m a terrible welder I’ve pretty much decided to use two of Eastwood’s no weld hole kits (patches 4 holes) for several quarter to half dollar size holes. I plan to use either Eastwood’s no weld panel mastic or JB Weld to skim coat the floor where it’s gotten thinner, lay sheets of screen wire into it and then then skim coat whatever epoxy I use over the screen.

I have aggressively wire brushed all of the visible rust away and completed two treatments of Rustmort shown in these pics. I’ll detergent wash and dry remaining film away prior to doing this.

Anyone want to recommend a good metal - friendly epoxy they like that preferably has a decent open time?

Any other comments/advice is appreciated.

Thx


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1976 Custom Wagoneer Survivor
2000 WS6 Trans Am Conv, performance and suspension mods
1971 GTO Conv, 4 speed, built 428 (rest of its waiting for me to finish the Wag :| )
An old Pontiac guy gone Waggy!
:D Whoever designed these tailgates must still be grinning :D

rocklaurence
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Re: Floor Pan Repairs

Post by rocklaurence »

Make sure to use a good rust converter then tape over the holes and use a good bedliner. Ive coated floors like yours several times and never had an issue. Make sure to coat both sides.
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Re: Floor Pan Repairs

Post by custom76 »

rocklaurence wrote:Make sure to use a good rust converter then tape over the holes and use a good bedliner. Ive coated floors like yours several times and never had an issue. Make sure to coat both sides.
Will do, thanks


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1976 Custom Wagoneer Survivor
2000 WS6 Trans Am Conv, performance and suspension mods
1971 GTO Conv, 4 speed, built 428 (rest of its waiting for me to finish the Wag :| )
An old Pontiac guy gone Waggy!
:D Whoever designed these tailgates must still be grinning :D

candymancan
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Re: Floor Pan Repairs

Post by candymancan »

No offense but it will all come back.. Just saying. Have you ever seen those restoration shows on velocity where they pull up a huge fiber glass mess and rust.

You dont need to be a good welder just enough to hold the floor on if you miss spots puddy over the little holes.

I bought a cheap 100$ flux core welder from harbor freight and cut out and replaced all the thinning little hole spots or huge chunks of metal that was just gone.. At first my welds sucked and i had to fill in little holes with like jb weld.. but overtime i got better... Tbh id have better peace of mind with a BEEPY weld job then using fiber glass over rusted metal.

Some of that metal looks so bad i garuntee i could take a hammer or a knife and smash and slice right through it
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243
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Re: Floor Pan Repairs

Post by 243 »

I bet if you took a body hammer with the pick end and started tapping your may change your mind. Those craters are lost metal, it's really thin.
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tgreese
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Re: Floor Pan Repairs

Post by tgreese »

You do need to worry about strength of the floor here. Plus having any holes in the floor is dangerous from possible exhaust fumes - you won't pass inspection here in MA with holes in the floor.

If you are not willing to weld, I suggest Aluthane (my fave) or some other MCU paint over the whole floor, then pop-rivet new steel to cover the holes and weak spots. This could be followed by more Aluthane with fiberglass cloth laid in as needed. You could do the whole floor this way, but I would worry that without at least a few steel patches you won't have enough strength in the areas where the rust is worst. Seal the underside with spray-on undercoat or similar to keep water from getting in to your repairs.

This won't last as long as a "proper" repair where you weld in new steel, but it may be ok depending on how you take care of the car and your climate.
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Re: Floor Pan Repairs

Post by candymancan »

243 wrote:I bet if you took a body hammer with the pick end and started tapping your may change your mind. Those craters are lost metal, it's really thin.
Some of that os so bad a kitchen knife could go through it.

In fact a knife is preffered to check thin rusted metal over a hammer... I didnt believe it myself so when i tried a knife on my floor boards i was like whoah...

So yea man if you can weld even if its crappy welding.. its better then what you were planning on doing.

Even if you cant get a new floor pan jist use steel from lowes or something.. like 16ga or maybe 18ga steel should be all you need
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Re: Floor Pan Repairs

Post by custom76 »

tgreese wrote:You do need to worry about strength of the floor here. Plus having any holes in the floor is dangerous from possible exhaust fumes - you won't pass inspection here in MA with holes in the floor.

If you are not willing to weld, I suggest Aluthane (my fave) or some other MCU paint over the whole floor, then pop-rivet new steel to cover the holes and weak spots. This could be followed by more Aluthane with fiberglass cloth laid in as needed. You could do the whole floor this way, but I would worry that without at least a few steel patches you won't have enough strength in the areas where the rust is worst. Seal the underside with spray-on undercoat or similar to keep water from getting in to your repairs.

This won't last as long as a "proper" repair where you weld in new steel, but it may be ok depending on how you take care of the car and your climate.

There will not be any holes whatever I do. Appreciate the Aluthane suggestion. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to do glass. If I’m not satisfied with the Eastwood product results I’ll likely cut them out and draft my brother in law to help me weld in some partial pans. I bought a used MIG year or so ago, guess I might as well learn to use it.


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1976 Custom Wagoneer Survivor
2000 WS6 Trans Am Conv, performance and suspension mods
1971 GTO Conv, 4 speed, built 428 (rest of its waiting for me to finish the Wag :| )
An old Pontiac guy gone Waggy!
:D Whoever designed these tailgates must still be grinning :D
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