Saving the floor pans

[5thhorsemann]

One of my projects for the weel was to checkout and seal the floorpans. The bottoms looked really good so I just cleaned them and did the old POR15, came out nice. Today I went for the inside of the car, drivers side was all good, hit the surface rust with onestep and walked away.

Then I lifted the pasenger side carpet, gasp, seemed like half the floor came up with the carpet. So, what now, I'm in no position to do the cut and replace method at this point.

I went after the rust with scraper, brush and grinder. Cleaned out all the loose rust, the floor was still solid, but there were some pin holes and heavy pitting. I applied the onestep and let it cure while I went to get the fiberglass mat and resin.

Coated the floor with 2 layers of glass from the seat pearch to the bottom of the blower motor turned out nice and should outlast the rest of the car. This is a great option if you aren't "restoring" Sorry, no before pic taken.

[doradox]

Not bad. I just started floor pan replacement as one of my winter projects. It was about as bad as I had expected. I found this gem of a repair riveted and bondoed in on the pass side.

[Mikes Z car]

Thanks for sharing. You gotta admire that kind of yankee ingenuity.

[esmit208]

I'm not much for fiberglass against metal. As the glass and resin age the combination begins to shrink and make a natural pocket for condensation to hide. Unfortunately it hides between the metal and the fiberglass, obviously not the best place when considering how quickly metal can corrode. Good for a stop gap but you should consider replacing the floors. If you are not that good with a welder the material and labor should be less than a cool $1000. Or maybe barter some work in return.

[5thhorsemann]

I'm actually very good with a welder, I also have an 8 foot shear and an 8 foot brake, it's how I earn a living. I'm thinking more like $50.00 in materials to do both sides making the pans and stiffeners myself.

Looking at all the other projects on my plate, I don't have the 2 or 3 day window in my shop schedule to replace the pans right now. As far as the FG/ steel interface, I will agree that it will not last for ever, but the steel was properly prepped and cleaned which is key, the glass was laid rite, and I'm sure I will get 10 years out of the repair