Floor Pan Puzzle (1 Viewer)

[Lschumm]

I just bought my cruiser last November and hadn't really had the time to work on it with school, but now that summer is here I finally pulled out the seats and floor mats to see what i was dealing with in terms of rust. I knew it wouldn't be perfect seeing as that it has surface rust in the bed and some in other areas, but i was just expecting (hoping) some surface rust that could be sanded and repainted. While I was right about there being surface rust, there was something else that I found.

Unfortunately, once I got my mats out, I found there is a hole in the floor pan near the gas pedal that will need to be fixed, but there also seems to be some really old floor mats that have stuck themselves to the floor as well. I chipped away at them (they are crumbling as I do so) and realized there is clean,
un-rusted metal underneath them, but I just have no idea why they are there or what happened to them (or why they are plastered to the floor...?).

So I guess I'm wondering do I keep chipping away at them to see what's underneath (its a pain in the ass), or since there is a hole should I just take out the floor pan and suck up the cash to buy a replacement and weld it in? Luckily on the passenger side there is no hole, but there is another stuck on mat.

 

[lowtops]

Those are not floor mats. It's sound and heat insulation, and was installed at the factory.

It can be a source of rust due to trapping water underneath the loose bits. As you know by now the parts that are not loose are a pain to remove. There should be several threads here on how to remove it. I think a heat gun and scrapper would do the trick.

My floors look similar to yours. I have no plans, right now, to remove the insulation. I have plenty of other projects to keep me busy.

 

[lowtops]

I think this thread sums it up:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/removing-black-tar-insulating-material.18382/#post-179357