re:Fiber floors?

["John Stricker" <jstricke@domain.elided>]

Joel,

If you want to cover it up with something structural, it will work.  But
don't even think about calling it a repair.

The metal will continue to rust very nicely between the layers of glass.
(You were going to glass the bottom of the pan as well weren't you?)
Frankly, if you want to use glass, here is how I would do it. And this I
consider to be a real repair.

First off, cut away all the rust you can.  Try to get to good metal.  If
this leaves you with large gaping holes, don't sweat that right now as long
as it's not structural and will cause the body to sag.  I'm talking about
just the floorboard areas that allow you to do your Fred Flintstone
impression at stop signs.

If you have holes too big to support the glass itself, there are a couple of
ways you can proceed.  Probably the easiest is to get a material called
"peel ply" and tape it over the holes, from the bottom, to cover them  Make
sure that it's secure and you could even back it up with some wood or
something until the resin cured.

Make sure the remaining metal is a clean as you can get it and rough it up
with a grinder so the resin can get a good grip or you may be able to just
grab a corner and pull it out.  Wipe it down with acetone or MEK immediately
before you start your lay-ups and let the cleaner evaporate.  Lay up about 4
layers of bi-directional cloth.  You'll see a weave in the pattern like
little squares.  Alternate the weave so that they lay on each other from
different directions (that is, maybe the first one the weaves running front
to rear, the next at a 45 degree angle).

Put resin in one layer at a time, and squeegee it out so that if you draw
the squeegee across the cloth and stop in the middle, you will not see a
little "pile" of excess resin there.  If you see a pile, you have too much
resin so take some out with the squeegee.  Before it cures, lay the next
layer and do it again.  It's important to squeegee each layer as it goes
down or you'll never get the resin out of the bottom layers.  Keep your shop
at least room temp and humidity at or below 20% if possible.

When the top is cured, you can remove your support from the bottom.  You'll
find the peel-ply pulls right off the resin and leaves the surface of your
previous lay-up in perfect condition for the bottom lay ups.  Lay at least
one or two lay-ups from the bottom, and this is messy.  Same rules apply.
If possible, turn the truck over on its' top to make it easier (hey, it
works on my airplane).

Actually, if you're very careful in trimming ALL the rust off, and do a
professional lay-up, the floor will last forever.  You'll probably rust out
the floor around the lay-ups, have the rest of the truck fall apart around
you, and the floor be just fine when you take your grandkids for a ride.

This is something I know a lot about and learn more every day as I'm
building my fiberglass (actually it should be called a "composite"
airplane).

John Stricker

jstricke@domain.elided

"I didn't spend all these years getting to the top of the food chain
just to become a vegetarian"