I am working on a budget build 53 Belair that I am trying to get on the road after 20 years of sleep. The front floors need replaced but the rear floors are not that bad and the trunk is only rusted along the edge where the floor meets the rear body. I plan to put new pans in the front and eventually replace the others but in an attempt to get it on the road for the summer I want to treat the rear floor and trunk and use fiberglass. What should I treat the metal with to stop the rust and give the fiberglass something to bond to. I know I should just replace it all but the budget and my time available won't let me have it on the road this summer. I'm looking for some recommendations. Thanks. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Why bother with fiberglass and some snake oil paint,that is just going to add to the problem when you start trying to do the repairs correctly. Back when I was building hot rods when I was young and if I didn't finish what I was doing by Monday morning I didn't have a car to drive. You can always drive the car while working on the trunk,cut out the rust and if you can't afford patch panels but a sheet of steel and make your own. HRP
Floor pans in these, even the whole thing, are a two-weekend job. EMS has extensive floor parts for these. I am not aware that they are missing anything you might need. They have all of the pans, the trunk extension, the rear panel, door bottoms, and even floor braces, if your's are bad. If you did just what it took to make it safe, you might not be in that deep, in either time, or money.
The biggest hurdle for me is time not money. Work m-f 7-7, watch grandson on sat so my daughter can work, and Sunday after honey-do and yard work is what I have left. The car hasn't run in 20 years but it should with a little work. I am sure everything in the brakes will need replaced or rebuilt. I would like to take momma for some rides this summer is why I am looking to cut some corners for now. I'm ok with using sheet metal but I don't think replacing the pans with correct sheet metal should be my current focus. Running- driving- safe is my step one. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Buy a bottle of Rust Seal made by SEM. It is a rust converter that stops rust dead a converts it to a hard black phosphoric coating. it is no substitute for cutting and replacing in serious rot conditions but for roof rails and rust areas like around the windshield and back window and your trunk that are still mostly intact it will neutralize and harden the rust . If you are on a budget with little time to spare the rust converter is worth trying. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
You can at least slow it down. I've had por15 peel and pop back off after following their prep guidelines. Por15 or sem. Dont use any of the auto store cap. Grind it down, degrease well, wipe with acetone or their prep products and goop it on. Buy heavy rubber gloves, Don't trust the thin nitrite or vinyl gloves, you don't want this on your skin, takes forever to come off. Plan on replacing the floor at some point.
I would skip the fiberglass that's only going to make the proper repair more difficult. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
for a quick fix you can use por 15 as directed .then while it is wet just place some 1/2 oz fiberglass mat [without the resin] over the por and then put 2 more coats of por over the fiber glass. this has lasted in the floor of my truck for 5yrs now
If the floor needs replacing because it's got 1000 pinholes, throw some extra-thick floor mats down and drive it around. If it's Fred-Flintstone floors where you can put your feet on the pavement, I would just bite the bullet and replace it. If you feel really, really compelled, you could throw down a couple sheets of thin plywood or pop-rivet some sheet steel in there. If the trunk really isn't that bad, just ignore it. For the record, epoxy will stick to just about anything. swiss-cheese rusty metal would actually be better because the resin will grab onto the texture. So if you really, really, really feel compelled to cover it with fiberglass (which I strongly advise against doing), it should work just fine to leave it rusty. However, it would probably take more time to mix up the resin and wait for it to cure for 2 or 3 coats than the other options I suggested.
Just looking at the door bottoms and rockers I can imagine the rust in the floors is potentially a lot worse than you hope. There is no easy quick fix, especially if you want a car to drive now. Patience will be needed to replace the floors properly, and hopefully the inner fenders and pillars are ok. Good luck with decisions and keep moving forward.
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