Floor Pan Repair

[KY Longhunter]

I'm going to document the floor pan repair of my 81. I'm beginning to think Im totally nuts for attempting this. I think pictures speak for themselves.

So I found some more rust in my Kick Vent panels (see attached pics).

After removing bottom of the firewall I could see up into the cowl from underneath. What Im seeing is rust bubbling around the seams of the Kick Vents.

So my plans where to repair the lower 6" of Kick Vent, and using Rust Bullet on interior underside but now I'm considering buying NEW replacement Kick Vents for $200 per side.

Thoughts?

 

[KY Longhunter]

more pics

more pics

Kick Vent is better seen in last photo. So question..repair or replace?

 

[Coolerman]

Cool! Another brave soul taking on the rust monster!

I would repair the area, it does not look that bad. Remove the rust to get a better idea then start cutting/welding in patch panels.

 

[xjnation]

Remove the rust to get a better idea then start cutting/welding in patch panels.

Try to get all the rust out. Welding to even slightly rusted metal does not go so well when it is as thin as that. Does no look too bad. Check out the build in my sig to see some worse floors. Good luck. Tim

 

[KY Longhunter]

CoolermanCool! Another brave soul taking on the rust monster!

I would repair the area, it does not look that bad. Remove the rust to get a better idea then start cutting/welding in patch panels.

So your saying I can wire wheel, grind, whatever all the rust along the seam of the kick vent and then Rust Bullet ~OR~ does it need to be cut out and repaired?

Try to get all the rust out. Welding to even slightly rusted metal does not go so well when it is as thin as that. Does no look too bad. Check out the build in my sig to see some worse floors. Good luck. Tim

Tim ~ I checked out your build. Holy Sh*t! When I look at builds like this I get depressed/excited. How long did it take to do this?

p.s. I went to high school in Bolivar, MO.

P.S.S. My welder / welding skills SUCK !!! I keep burning through the metal with my Harbour Frieght MIG. Is the wire too thick?

 

[Coolerman]

I would not try to get the rust out of the seam. Wire brush to bare metal, then douse the area with muriatic acid along the seam. sand and prime.

For MIG welding sheet metal use the smallest wire you can find. I use .026 size wire in my piece of crap Craftsman. Practise welding on the scrap pieces you cut out while playing with the voltage and feed settings. You want that nice frying bacon sizzle while running a bead. Weld small sections back and forth across the piece to minimize warping of the panel.

 

[73fj]

P.S.S. My welder / welding skills SUCK !!! I keep burning through the metal with my Harbour Frieght MIG. Is the wire too thick?[/quote]

No, your welding too hot. Do like Coolerman says and practice on some scap pieces to find the right setting. Also the more corroded the metal the thinner it will be. Good luck!

 

[KY Longhunter]

This may be part of my problem as the HF welder only has 2 settings, Lo and High.

The Lo setting is 63 ~ 68 amps.

The High setting is 79 ~ 90 amps.

This is a gasless unit which utilizes Flux Cored wire.

I guess some welders have infinite amp settings?

 

[xjnation]

Tim ~ I checked out your build. Holy Sh*t! When I look at builds like this I get depressed/excited. How long did it take to do this?

p.s. I went to high school in Bolivar, MO.

P.S.S. My welder / welding skills SUCK !!! I keep burning through the metal with my Harbour Frieght MIG. Is the wire too thick?[/quote]
I am ???? 4-5 years deep into it. I've done ALOT since the last post on the thread. Also had times of 6-9 months of no work to it.

My neice went to halfway.

Is your mig 110v or 220v? I used a 220v hobart on lowest setting with .035 wire last night and had a hard time not burning through. I need to change to .025 or so wire or get a regulator for my 110v mig and just use it. It has fluxcore in it now and sucks. You can try to spot weld with the bigger wire. basically pretty quick little welds, but it is too uncontrollable as for penetration. I'm no master welder by any means. I learn as I go so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[xjnation]

This may be part of my problem as the HF welder only has 2 settings, Lo and High.

The Lo setting is 63 ~ 68 amps.

The High setting is 79 ~ 90 amps.

This is a gasless unit which utilizes Flux Cored wire.

I guess some welders have infinite amp settings?

2 settings suck. My hobart mig has only 4. I've seen some with 6, others with 4 high, 4 low. The more choices the better, but also usually more $. Most migs are click, click, click settings. Most arc welders are infinitely adjustable. Wonder why?

 

[KY Longhunter]

It's a 110V....So I should actually try thicker wire?

 

[xjnation]

No, thinner metal=thinner wire. Alot of welders have a chart inside the door where the wire spool is. It tells recommended wire size and amp setting for metal thickness.

 

[Gusb]

I would not try to get the rust out of the seam. Wire brush to bare metal, then douse the area with muriatic acid along the seam. sand and prime.

For MIG welding sheet metal use the smallest wire you can find. I use .026 size wire in my piece of crap Craftsman. Practise welding on the scrap pieces you cut out while playing with the voltage and feed settings. You want that nice frying bacon sizzle while running a bead. Weld small sections back and forth across the piece to minimize warping of the panel.

I too, have just cleared the floor of my 78 for repair. Hoping to just prep and POR15 but I have developed other issues . Not to get off on the welding thing but - Coolerman (or anyone), do you have an opinion on a MIG/brand I can get at a reasonable cost that would be a bit better than the bottom end?

Is muriatic acid better than the blue Metal Ready the POR15 people sell?

 

[KY Longhunter]

Just checked the spool of wire that came with welder ~ 0.8"

Clearly says use 0.030" wire on Milder Metals.

Im going to head to Harbour Freight and get some smaller wire.

Thanks!

 

[xjnation]

must be metric... .8mm, not inches

 

[KY Longhunter]

[SIZE=+1].8 millimeters = 0.031496063 inches

[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]More about calculator.[/SIZE]

Damn, thought I had unearthed some easy fix!!!

 

[jimhendrixx]

WOW, lots 0 work to say the least.

Let me know how it goes and photos, i need to do the same on my fj55!

 

[uted]

Good luck with the floors mate. I'm in the middle of doing the same to my 40.
I only have a stick welder though. 50 amps, 2mm rods and lots of patience

 

[KY Longhunter]

Spent an hour or so in the garage studying my mess and came up with the following....

 

[KY Longhunter]

a couple more pics..

....

I bought the floor pans from Oscar at PACOL in Atlanta, GA.

He is just getting started and no website, but I liked the guy when I talked to him on the phone so I bit.

I got the number from IH8MUD but I will list again 770-403-8026.