Ghetto Rust Repair Part II: Fiberglassing the floor

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, I will say that fiberglassing upside down was a real b*tch of a job! I still have to do my passenger's side and am not looking forward to it. Basically, you will need to slop resin all over the area to be done first, and then put the mat up. After that, paint the mat with more resin until you see no more air bubbles. The next day, go back to the area you just did, and trim off the hairs and high spots with a whiz wheel then glass over it again with more resin, but no more mat. Wear a dust mask while grinding or sanding fiberglass or you will risk getting silicosis. Also, buy disposable, one-time-use brushes (sometimes called "Chip Brushes") from Wal Mart, Harbor Freight, etc. when doing this, because you won't be able to use them again. Harbor Freight had a big box of them for $10 a while back that I should have bought, but instead I got a few at Wal Mart. I will end up spending the same amount of money with no left overs, so I should have just bought the economy pack to begin with. Another point is to use mat and not cloth. The mat is oriented like chip board and the cloth is like carbon fiber in it's weave. The mat is much easier to work with and get smushed into all of the crevices as it is not as strongly tied together.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Okay, I guess I will post my progress. I finished up the passenger's side today, but did not cut and weld in the replacement metal this time. I only did the area under the back inboard seat mount with welding, and instead fiberglassed underneath it. I wire brushed the underside of the floor to reveal any pinholes ( none were there yet). I must have revealed 40 of them! I looked then at the metal for any other rust, and poked through it with a pick. Next, I slopped on one coat if fiberglass resin, paying careful attention to the seam where the new metal was. I let that dry, then went back and resined the whole area again after cutting my mat to fit. I then put the mat up, and smushed resin into the mat until no air holes remained. Tomorrow I will sand off any little hairs that are hanging down, and put another coat of resin on both sides. This will then be sanded down and either Bondo'd or given a final coat of resin before paint. It's scary how good the driver's side looks after the second application and sanding. I figure it will be hard to tell it has ever been messed with once I am done.

 

[andrewmp6]

Fiberglass is a bandaid it might hold up for 10 years tell it finally pops loose.Worse thing i ever seen used was roofing paper then covered in tar.2nd worse was sheet metal pop riveted over rust holes.For pinholes if you don't want to weld try http://www.por15.com/prodinfo.asp?grp=PU&dept=10 it does work and once its hard its like steel.

 

[Coveted]

Fiberglass is a bandaid it might hold up for 10 years tell it finally pops loose.Worse thing i ever seen used was roofing paper then covered in tar.2nd worse was sheet metal pop riveted over rust holes.For pinholes if you don't want to weld try http://www.por15.com/prodinfo.asp?grp=PU&dept=10 it does work and once its hard its like steel.

Seems like jbweld to me.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Oh, but I realize just how much of a band aid it really is! I can't afford a can of POR 15 as I can barely afford a quart of resin. It's done now, and will be redone properly in the future. If it lasts 10 years it will be 5 years longer than I expect to get out of it. Plus, the problem areas are under the seats, under the crossmember, and most of them have been cut out and replaced with some lovely booger welded sheet metal. No one's feet will ever touch these areas. I did the rest of the floor because I cleaned it and it was pitted, but not bad. I will also have fixed all of the water leaks before putting down the new carpet. It is getting new weatherstripping, the windows have all been taken out and re-glued in ( replaced with other glass, actually), etc. so it should be there for some time to come without any real moisture intrusion. If I wait until the money is there to do it right, the car will rot for another 2 years before it gets done. I don't have the time. The car is sitting outside, and is not water tight, which is why the floor rusted to begin with. The door glass has no seals and the car is gutted and sitting in epoxy primer. I had drilled holes in the floor to drain it when the project ground to a halt due to a lack of funds 8 years ago, but the damage was still done. I have only a 1 car garage, and another project is sitting in there, so I have to leave it outside. I either get it done now, or scrap it as it wil be destroyed by rust if I don't do something.

If you want to see a JB weld repair, look at my other rust repair thread as it is how I fixed the trunk seams. The car has over 20 welded patches in it too.

 

[Coveted]

the jdweld reference was at the por15 not the fiberglass repair.

I dont see a problem with fiberglassing some tiny holes in the floor , theres worse things.
Hell you almost dont need the floor, when I pulled the carpet out there was no drivers floor in my cutlass.
The previous owner didnt have a clue it was like that, I drove it twice and didnt notice.

:thumbsup: to it lasting 10 years, it probably will.

 

[78mali350]

so wait. how far along is your car then? honestly?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

so wait. how far along is your car then?
honestly?

Well, it is almost ready for paint, but the engine, trans, etc. were all done years ago. They have been altered from their original form since then, but only tweaked and perfected, not changed in a wholesale manner. As of now, it is a gutted shell with no interior (it's all stored inside my house) that is very drivable with the addition of a driver's seat and a set of tail lights (They were removed to avoid overspray). In fact, I did drive it like this for a month last year. It was unpleasant, but reliable. As for the body work, all I have left to do is some finish work to the roof's rust repairs with All Metal. Yes, those were welded in place. I bought the paint last year at this time optimistically thinking it would soon be done. I figure another week or two of block sanding should finish it off. Then, I just hope the place I rent a booth at is still renting it out so I can shoot it in a marathon 24 hour painting session. If I can get the help I have been promised, I should be able to tackle it with no real problems. I just need someone to drive the truck there and bring the parts to and from the booth that are to be painted separately. These include the mirrors, fender extensions, mirrors, and the saw horses for the front clip which needs to be done in pieces as that is the way GM did it back in 1985. And who am I to question their methods? I am doing as close to a factory correct respray as is possible. I did the car with the glass out last time, but unfortunately, PPG's Omni line of paint is garbage and the clear peeled in about 3-4 years. So, I had to bare metal strip the hood, trunk lid, and roof. It's all sitting in urethane primer now. That's why I am using Diamont this time. It's pricey, but the price difference is not that bad if it lasts (around $200). It's the same color, so I am not pulling the windshield and back glass this time, but will pull the door windows and the quarter glass since the quarter glass would leave masking lines, and I despise masking lines! I also do all of my paint jobs, even the quickies, with the weatherstripping removed, and always do the jambs. To me, a masking line in the door jambs is inexcusable. For the same reason, I am also pulling the wiring from the doors, along with the rubber boots in the door jambs. This way, it looks like it is original paint to the untrained eye.

My whole reason for posting this process is to show people the proper way to do things the wrong way. In other words, how to make schlock last longer than it would were it done without care.

 

[78mali350]

ah okay it all makes sence now

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Yeah, I originally did the swap in 1996 and was delivering pizza with it at the time. It looked like *ss, but the interior, suspension and drivetrain were all good. so when I bought my truck in 1998 and stopped delivering with it, I thought I would just do a quickie paint job which turned into a nightmare.