Re: Fiber floors?

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

When he stopped taking his medication, strange voices in
jmbrodsky@domain.elided's head said:

>        In my haste I may have neglected something of the perfect fix for 
>     my rusty '74 T'all floors!  Wassamatta just put fiberglass layers over 
>     the rusty floors, and seal the rust holes for good, and make it just 
>     as strong?  It'd be a piece of cake to lay in some sheet and let the 
>     resin soak around and seal the rust, and I wouldn't have to worry 
>     about trapped air pockets or any of that stuff.  I could just let the 
>     floors rust for another 25 years, and fix them later, huh?  I really 
>     don't want to have to weld.  That's what's been holding me up on the 
>     project truck so far.
>     
>        Drop me your opinions on this, and BTW I plan to make the fiber 
>     part good and thick as well as far out around the edges of the rust.

Joel,

The first summer after I got my Traveler, I began to explore just how much
rust the truck had accumulated under the floor mats, etc.  I found the
floor boards were almost completely rusted through in spots as I started
scrapping the surface rust off from the inside.  I basically wound up
scraping away a pretty good sized hole on both the driver's and passenger's
floorboards.

To effect a cheap repair, I first cut away as much of the really rusty area
as I could, which made for maybe an irregular 4" hole on each side.  I
treated the areas with a rust converting chemical then primed.  I then
fabricated some thin aluminum sheet metal (like aircraft skin) to cover the
holes.  I pre-drilled holes for rivets.  Using a thin film of Bondo as a
sealing agent, I riveted the new patch panels in place.  I then Bondoed and
sanded over the patch panel to give a smooth appearance followed by primer
and paint.  On the underside of the truck, after cleaning the affected
areas and applying rust the converting chemical, I applied a heavy dose of
rubberized underbody coating to seal the area.

It's held up surprisingly well with no leakage or continued rust on the
inside.  However I realize that the fix was temporary and someday I plan to
properly replace the floorboards and body support brackets underneath
(which are showing signs of rust).  I have lots of rusty spots to deal with
in the coming years and would like to wait until I can move to a house with
a big shop in order to lift the body off the frame and *really* do a good
job fabricating and welding in new body pieces anywhere I find rust damage.
For now I'm sticking with seasonal temporary repairs.

John L.
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