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just wondering if i should replace my drivers side floor. my friends said i should because of how thin it is but im leaning toward just sanding.
well i cant figure out how to uplaod pics in here but hopefully i can get them off cardomain tomorrow. there are no holes my friend just thinks the metal is to thin and i should just replace it.
you need to grind and sand the hell out of it then see what you got.If u end up with holes cut out the bad section and weld in new pieces.treat the rest of the floor with 2 coats of SEM rust shield or por 15.
Well, if you're worried its going to be too thin and you've got the money to put a new floor pan in and a friend who can do it I think it would make sense to replace it. Just make sure your friend can do the job correctly or you'll be doing it again in a few years.
i know he can do it, its his job, but the money is what i dont wanna spend right now. im about to drop $2000 on engine components. that doesnt include any exhaust items i will need and of course since i just got this car all the little small things ill need to get. i know i need some steering components since there is play in the steering. also dont know if the wireing is all good. basically i want to save as much as possible. but then i want to do things right to lol.
I think you should work on the structural part of your car before the motor ... You will be able after to know the value of your investment. Good luck!
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[quote=Jekt;4160776]well ther eare no holes. When you remove all the rust then you will know for sure if you have holes. Chances are, they are there. Maybe you will luck out though.......
I think you should work on the structural part of your car before the motor ... You will be able after to know the value of your investment. Good luck!
X2 , I'm a guy that likes mods too but, I agree I'd see just how far that has gone and do any metal work if I needed to just so the car is safe.
Once you have that all wraped up,then tackle the motor stuff. Once your done with the body work and the motors done, your going to have fun driving down the road saying,jeeze it took longer than I expected,but now you've got a nice safe show car that you will be able to sell and be worth a few dollars because it wasn't just tossed together.
I live in the rust belt...thats not bad yet. sand that with 80 grit and apply paint. any thin spots a scratch awl with a moderate touch will find. Dont stab yourself.
I like using a roll on bedliner product as an undercoating.
ALSO you need to cure the root cause of the problem...IE where is that rust coming from. Something somewhere is leaking. See my reply in "Whats the best way to fix this" for panel replacement
Well, if your worried about it and your friend does bodywork for a living, (and is good at it)then replace it. Hell, the seat supports are rotted through (pics 3 and 5). You need a solid foundation first. Also, if you don't want to spend the $$ on the floor repairs then why are you asking about it??
this car has to be running. im in the military and they make you move alot. between bases and even while living on base. so i just need it to be able to move down the road if need be.
i have the money for the floor its just its cost is getting a little higher then i wanted to spend right now. i payed $1550 for the car and wanted to only put $2000 right now. next year i wanted to spend about another $2000 and it would be a sweet ride.
BTW thats the only rust on the car, and i have no idea why it would rust there and only there. even if the windows were left open in the rain you would think there would be rust else where. And it seems to be mainly on the seat supports. maybe they used 2 different kinds of metal there or something.
grind it and see were you stand.If theres no holes treat it with a couple coats like I said before. put up some pics after you clean it up. If thats all the rust you got be happy the car is 26 yrs old! thats not bad.No need to do a floor pan if not needed. If its a t top car there just so prone to moisture when out in the elements.
Last edited by howy03; 05-19-2009 at 07:29 PM.
Reason: add to post
well im going to go ahead and order a floor board. anyone have any clue on the shipping rates though or a good site to get these. i saw one on ebay but they were going to charge about $155 for shipping. i found 3 sites
hawks - $249 + ship
classic ind - 279.95 + ship
ecklers - $274.99 + ship
going to call about shipping quotes tomorrow but was wonderign if someone has done this befor and would know if that shipping rate on ebay is going to be about right. if so would anyone know a place near KC mo that might have these. or in MO all together if i can pick it up and save $100 i will.
Edit: car is not a t-top( i dont really care for them or verts)
the floorboards look fairly salvagable, but obviously the seat support needs some rebuilding/replacing. It'd be interesting to see how it looks after hitting it with a wire wheel. How does the bottom side of the floorboard look? To address your previous comment, the seat support is probably ruster through first because it's thinner guage metal. The likely cause of the rust being localized on that side is a leaky t-top seal. It probably soaked the carpet in one spot and spread along the entire floorboard under the carpet on the drivers side.
__________________ Bright Platinum Metallic with painted hoodbird, 17x9 Year One Snowflake Wheels, smoothed inner fenders, shaved door locks and antenna. Black leather interior.
Current Drivetrain: LT1 and T56 with SLP 1 3/4" primary headers and catback, Borg Warner 9-bolt.
Well Jekt I will tell you that I replaced that part of my floor board. Wasn't too bad but I only did a Half Floor. I can tell you why my hard top rusted there... It wasn't a leaking seal like most people would think nor the windows being down. You guys have to remember whats directly above that spot... no quesses? The HEATER core... Prob leaked at one point or was bypassed without being drained and the antifreeze sat on the floor and started to rust it out... happened to me... could be a cause I've seen it about 5 times... There is one thing that you have to be aware of.. the gas line runs right down that side of the transmission cone and underneath that floor pan is the bracket for the front frame brace.. Hope that helps you out... I've got some pictures of the repair I did around here somewhere I'll post them if I can find them around here somewhere...
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new pics with some sanding done on the site in the 1st post. som eplaces may be a little thin but its not rusted through any where. so i get to sepnd my 4 day weekend sanding and hopefully it will look good by monday.
EDIT: well theres rot under the seat rails so its going to get replaced.
anyone ever install a new floor pan? ON the drivers side of my new floor its curved for some reason so it cant even sit in the car right, wondering if it would be ok to bend this up. So far it looks AWESOME seeing the new floor just sitting there
You need to grind away and see if you got rot or just surface rust. 
