75 Troopy rear floor pan (1 Viewer)

[TreadingLight]

I'm going to build a bed / platform and insulate the floor in my troopy. Before I do, I'd like to make sure the floor is cleaned up and as protected from rust as I can reasonably get with basic tools.

I pulled the carpet out and cleaned everything up so I could get a sense of what I'm working with. Overall the floor is pretty solid - just a bit of surface rust.

But I did find a few issues.

• There are a lot of holes in the floor. Some of them are, I assume, factory. Most of them have plugs, but some of them will need to be replaced.

• A number of these holes are filled with silicon, and have a pop rivets around them.

• This really confused me, until I looked at this captive/insert nut on one of the pillars. At first I thought it was for seat belts, but then I saw the rivets. This doesn't look factory does it?

I'm guessing that some heavy gear was attached to the floor in it's history. That would explain the deformed areas where there are holes drilled and rivets are found in the floor and the pillars.

• I also found some oddly textured paint on the left-hand rear quarter panel, and a little bit of rust visible around the wheel well. I'm guessing this panel was repaired and painted/coated at some point in it's past.

I plan to put down some butyl rubber adhesive vibration dampener on the floorpan. Once I do that, it will be a lot harder to do any body work. I need to work out the best bang-for-my-time in terms of repairs / rust prevention. Right now my plan is to remove surface rust with some rust dissolver and/or wire wheel, prime any bare metal, and put a few coats of rattle can Toyota white paint over the floor surface.

1. Should I drill out the rivets? If so I assume I'd have to weld/fill the holes. Hoping to avoid that as I don't have the gear.
   
2. Thoughts on a good source for gromets/plugs to replace the ones that are missing/worn?
   
3. Any recommendations on other steps I should take while I've got it open?

 

[TreadingLight]

I think I'm going to defer the project as long as possible. I'm leaning towards buying some rubber plugs to fill the holes for now. I'll touch up the paint for rust surface protection, lay down the butyl rubber (cutting holes for access to the holes), and perhaps at some point in the future I'll have the holes filled (welded). It's just not going to happen today. Suggestions on sources for good plugs?

 

[SNLC]

Those plugs can be bought from Toyota.

I would POR15 the whole thing for rust proofing and then apply cavity wax.


Cheers

 

[TreadingLight]

Since I don't have much rust, and I'm just doing the inside for now, why POR15 over primer+paint?

I have some fluid film I plan to spray up in the body panels after I finish the insulation. Haven't thought yet about what to do with the frame or underside of the body.

Any suggestion on Toyota part numbers? The extra holes are mostly the same diameter as the stock ones so maybe I can plug them all up. And I guess leave the rivets in place.

 

[SNLC]

The POR15 to seal any surface rust, add to the factory seam sealer in all seams by doubling them up with sealer. Protect from further rust probs.

You could certainly do nothings, it’s pretty clean.

My mind works like this though; no better time that the present to do jobs like this when a truck is already torn down.

You could also coat it with something else besides POR15. I would want to go over it all though, clean and scuff back and deal with any rust even if slight. Then seal it all up before moving forward.

These are Cruisers. They like to rust, anyways to help prevent that is good to do in my book.


Cheers

 

[roscoFJ73]

I would leave the OEM plug holes as they are. They are there for draining the car if it ever gets swamped in a river etc

 

[TreadingLight]

As far as I can tell, all the stock holes had plugs - small black plugs maybe 15-20cm diameter, and two larger ones that had loose caps sitting in them.

Then I have a bunch of randomly placed aftermarket holes, some filled with globs of silicon, and mysteriously accompanied by rivets.

In the short term I am gonna try and find some good plugs so I don't have open holes.

In the longer term, I'd like to remove all things aftermarket (i.e. the rivets) and fill the holes that the factory didn't intend it to have. And drop the tanks and clean/protect the underside. Some day.

So my immediate task is to find some good plugs. OEM ones if I can figure out where to get them/what to ask for.

 

[roscoFJ73]

OEM ones if I can figure out where to get them/what to ask for.

These things are often common to other landcruisers like the 60 and 80 series and toyota cars. I havent searched all over but as far as I know, the drainage holes are all the same size as the front floor. There are shops(here at least) that keep all sizes of rubber floor plugs or grommets. Once you have the dimensions, they can match them.


I have the front floor drain plug in my ash tray(1995 HZJ75) and it has a part number of 90950-01018. The parts diagram says it has an outside dia of 23mm and an inside dia of 19mm.
If you put that number into google you will see lots of diagrams and places selling it

 

[TreadingLight]

These are Cruisers. They like to rust, anyways to help prevent that is good to do in my book.

Hah, no doubt about that. I'll look into the por 15. Anything protective is a good thing.

I am struggling a bit to figure out how far to go with this. I have a very small garage and my desire to make her rust-resistant is not quite equal to my tools/time/talent.

I miss living in the country where I could round up a neighbor to help with a project like this.

Of course then I'd be talking color changes, racing stripes, and maybe flames on the hood.

 

[roscoFJ73]

I have a very small garage and my desire to make her rust-resistant is not quite equal to my tools/time/talent.

Great , but you should attack the bits where they rust. Ive never seen a rusty rear floor in a troopy. Im not saying it cant happen but wheel arches, windscreen frames and the seams where the sides join the floor is where I would be starting.

 

[TreadingLight]

That makes sense. Some of the modifications to the floor have some rust showing but its not bad yet.

 

[SNLC]

That makes sense. Some of the modifications to the floor have some rust showing but its not bad yet.

You are in California so rust shouldn't be a big concern. Unless you go to the beach daily.

Time, money, work space, tools all play a part in the decision making process. If I can, I go all out, I don't like to tear things down multiple times. Regardless, that is the name of the game sometimes. It is not like I have not had to tear down something six months later after I already had it torn down. It happens even with good planning.


Cheers

 

[TreadingLight]

The project's resurrected as I've finally got some time to move things forward. My plan is to put down sound deadening and replace the vinyl floor with something more comfortable. Before I do, I'm plugging the various holes and cleaning up the floor pan.

One question comes to mind - what to do about the rivets? Leave them as-is or should they be drilled out? I'd hate for them to be a weak point in the floor in the future as once it's covered with 3 layers of sound deadener and a new floor the pan won't be so easily accessible.

At the same time, I don't want to overdo it. I could just leave the rivets, put paint on the top and woolwax on the bottom, fill the actual holes with rubber plugs, and call it a day.

 

[John Young]

My troopy is back on the road again after being laid up while I was in the US during the pandemic travel restrictions. Looks like we may get access to a four post lift and I'm planning to really go over (I mean under) the troopy and get things completely sorted. Here is a photo from when I first saw the truck prior to buying:

I cannot figure out what those spot welds were for except maybe filling in holes that had been drilled at some point into the truck?
There is no evidence on the top side.

I mention all this, TL, to suggest spending a fair bit of time under your troopy to see what you can see. It may tell you a lot on what to concentrate on. It did in my case.

 

[hydrolaw]

The project's resurrected as I've finally got some time to move things forward. My plan is to put down sound deadening and replace the vinyl floor with something more comfortable. Before I do, I'm plugging the various holes and cleaning up the floor pan.

One question comes to mind - what to do about the rivets? Leave them as-is or should they be drilled out? I'd hate for them to be a weak point in the floor in the future as once it's covered with 3 layers of sound deadener and a new floor the pan won't be so easily accessible.

At the same time, I don't want to overdo it. I could just leave the rivets, put paint on the top and woolwax on the bottom, fill the actual holes with rubber plugs, and call it a day.

This has taken you two years to ponder?