Body / Glass: Rust holes in the floor pan.

[RDWEAVER]

My car had good floorpans or at least that what I thought. The floorpans were sandblasted to clean away what I thought was surface rust and wallaha!!! I now have some small holes. Some one said weld them up. Tried that, no. The next guy said fiberglass. Then another said they have a way to metalize the pans with zinc. What say you guys???
Thanks,
Kevin

[52-fan]

If the holes are small and the surrounding metal is solid (unlikely) you might get by with one of the modern fillers like the material you mentioned. Stay away from fiberglass as it is a temporary fix at best. The best solution is to cut the rusted area back to sound metal and weld in new panels.

[wittsend]

While I have a love/hate relationship with POR-15 (see post #10 http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...ce-rust-POR-15 ) this might be a decent application for the product. Especially since you have sand blasted. Keep the surface rough (avoid wire wheels that close off the metal pores). Use a strong degreaser and a zinc phosphate metal prep. Also use their thin, fiber mesh to fill over the holes. They say silver works best because the metal flake particles help fill the holes. Adhere to following their recoat times.

I'd also recommend treating the other side of the metal for about an 1" wherever there are holes. If there are a bunch in a large area, just use mesh on both sides in that whole area. Here are a few pictures of my before and after. As you can see the floor was rather thin and full of holes. Regardless I elected not to replace the metal. When you think about it, the floor sees little more than the weight of the lower legs and feet. And, more often than not that weight is generally forward at the junction of the floor and the firewall.

[RDWEAVER]

What does POR cost and where do they sell it?

[wittsend]

Have a look here. http://www.por15.com/ I'm sure they have links to vendors, or you can have it shipped by mail.

I got a quart of black about two years ago and it was around $45 and the mesh was I recall about $5-$10.

Make sure you read the POR15 post I linked to above. As far as I'm concern it is more "real world" regarding application. I've had my frustrations with POR15, but like I said this might be one of the better applications for it.

[swvalcon]

If you have sandblasted both sides of the floor. I might try the por.15 and mesh on the inside. The underside I would epoxy prime and use a good coat of truck bed liner on it. You can get a color tint bed liner if you want. Looks just like a color match rubber coat on the whole bottom side of the car. Great against rock chips and is a sound deadener.

[oldsalt]

If a guy figures on putting floor covering [carpet or rubber mat] back on the floor [that accounts for nearly everyone] then why worry about a few small holes? If you put down carpeting only you and God will ever know.

The area is now blasted so simply spread on a layer of undercoating and some thin tar paper [like for roofs] and then spray on some adhesive and then a thin sheet of plastic [like from a plastic bag]. The plastic layer will prevent the 'tar' from ever working through to the carpet. On the bottom side [if you are of the ilk that loses sleep about show car judges with mirrors] cut off the little pieces of undercoating that went through the small holes and paint it.

Too many people have read too many magazines and watched too much 'reality' television and truly believe that all signs of past rust must be eradicated or it will grow as if it were living organism. The above is a permanent [and non-detectable] cure. Probably not if you park your 50 or 60 year old car outside in the rain for the next 50 or 60 years and also drive it in the winter when salt is on the road for the next couple of decades. In 1968 I repaired the floor pan on a rusty 37 Chrysler using the above. No one has ever been the wiser and there was no signs of any recurring problem when the floor covering was replaced two years ago on this often used car. That was one of many that I had a hand in that continue to have zero problem.

The issue is simple as high school chemistry...if water or other oxygen bearing substance cannot contact the surface it will not rust....ever.

[candbstudebakers]

I have saved many floors and trunks with Por-15 and fiberglass, clean the the area some but you can leave rust color metal as Por-15 clings better to it as per their statements, while the Por-15 is wet lay a layer of fiberglass in the wet por-15 and give 2nd coat to cover the entire fiberglass good and let it soak in when dry, they bond and will never come a part, they become one not like fiberglass and resin over time moisture will get in and rot the rest of the metal, not so when done with Por-15.

[RDWEAVER]

Ok, see I knew there was countless years of experiance here if I asked for it.
Thanks to all.
Kevin

[jimmijim8]

Let's not be too technical when dealing with a fairly good floor. In your case, Once your top and bottom sides are prepared to good clean metal, simply dress it up with some fiberglass based body filler. Work it the same as though you were dealing with the outer body panels. Fill the affected areas on the underside of the floor also. You might want to put duct tape on the underside before spreading the bondo onto the top side so as to block the bondo from oozing through the small "see the concrete through the floor holes". Of course, remove the tape before dressing the affected underside areas. No need to glob this stuff on. Just enough to smooth the surface and fill the holes. Once bondo work is completed, paint with any good quality paint and spray the undersided painted area with a rattle can of rubberized undercoat. cheers jimmijim