What Should I seal this floorpan with?

[CopperNick]

Even if the car doesn't see anymore salt for the rest of its life, the metal in its panels is still contaminated and corrupted by what it has seen. As for exorcism being another term for cut and replace the dead metal, yeah.



Nick

 

[Supercharged111]

I believe the driver's side will at some point come back to appreciably haunt me. I'm not sure on the passenger side will ever be enough of an issue to matter though.

 

[Supercharged111]

Here's how it looked last night after soaking all day. This stuff is addicting, I suppose I'll give it another round today since I still have to get after the passenger side seam sealer areas.

 

[joesregalproject]

That's looking pretty darn good. Obviously you can get as crazy as you want with it, but I'd rinse it really well, put some Eastwood Encapsulator over the area and I doubt it'll become a problem again so long as there isn't water getting inside and soaking the carpet.

Cutting and replacing is a rabbit hole you don't want (or need) to go down.

 

[Supercharged111]

That's looking pretty darn good. Obviously you can get as crazy as you want with it, but I'd rinse it really well, put some Eastwood Encapsulator over the area and I doubt it'll become a problem again so long as there isn't water getting inside and soaking the carpet.

Cutting and replacing is a rabbit hole you don't want (or need) to go down.

What sorts of long term pain do I open myself up to there? It would seem to me I'd be introducing new places to start rot from.

 

[Mighty]

This is in a 97 dodge diesel I bought not too long ago. Previous owner wanted to replaced the cracked dash in it and replace the carpet but after he tore it all apart and got everything unhooked from the dash decided to stop working on it I guess. It sat outside for about 2 years with the passenger window down and a tarp over it. He told me when I bought it the window didn’t work but when I got down there screwing around with it I noticed that literally all of the electronics were still unplugged. Window works fine now but I still spent a couple hours sanding on the rust on the floor then used some kind of industrial grade rust converter my boss has. I’ve got the new carpet and seats in now. Down the road I might have a friend weld in some new rockers so I’ll see if the floor is holding up. If not might replace those while I’m in there.

 

[joesregalproject]

What sorts of long term pain do I open myself up to there? It would seem to me I'd be introducing new places to start rot from.

You mean by cutting and replacing metal?

Yes it likely would create new places for rust to start. Especially if you overlap the panels instead of doing it all nice and pretty and butt welding them.

And it gets borderline obsessive. BT,DT. My adopted rule of thumb is if I can't poke through it with a screwdriver, I'm not replacing it.

You'll never eradicate all of the rust, short of a rotisserie restoration. Even then, blasting doesn't clean the insides of panels or between pinch welds and seams. At some point you have to know when to call it good enough. Is it gonna rust again? Of course, eventually everything does. Will it be an issue in your lifetime or mine? Likely not.

I don't know exactly how you intend on using this truck, but unless you intend to park it in a museum with mirrors underneath of it, I wouldn't start cutting metal out.

 

[Supercharged111]

You mean by cutting and replacing metal?

Yes it likely would create new places for rust to start. Especially if you overlap the panels instead of doing it all nice and pretty and butt welding them.

And it gets borderline obsessive. BT,DT. My adopted rule of thumb is if I can't poke through it with a screwdriver, I'm not replacing it.

You'll never eradicate all of the rust, short of a rotisserie restoration. Even then, blasting doesn't clean the insides of panels or between pinch welds and seams. At some point you have to know when to call it good enough. Is it gonna rust again? Of course, eventually everything does. Will it be an issue in your lifetime or mine? Likely not.

I don't know exactly how you intend on using this truck, but unless you intend to park it in a museum with mirrors underneath of it, I wouldn't start cutting metal out.

This will be the plow truck/winter beater. It is going to be the one that gets exposed to salt and I will probably battle with the rust to prolong its life. I expect I'll be an old fart by the time it's not usable, that or I'll get bored and replace it with something else before that time comes. But there is a hole in it if you look closely, it's in the center raised rib.

 

[CopperNick]

Once it is black and dry, just shoot over it. No rinsing is necessary; at least I have personally never bothered and have used the stuff as my go to rust assassin for several decades.



Nick

 

[joesregalproject]

This will be the plow truck/winter beater. It is going to be the one that gets exposed to salt and I will probably battle with the rust to prolong its life. I expect I'll be an old fart by the time it's not usable, that or I'll get bored and replace it with something else before that time comes. But there is a hole in it if you look closely, it's in the center raised rib.

If this is a plow truck, you're doing an excellent job. Most of the plow trucks around here don't even have floor pans... or rockers.... or wheel arches... or bed rails.

I do see the small hole now that you pointed it out. I'd fill it with short strand fiberglass filler. U-Pol Fibral Lite is my favorite one but there are other good ones out there.

Rktpwrd might have a better suggestion but this is how I'd handle it.