rot

[michael.warshaw]

well since my car is at the sandblaster i noticed rot, in the drivers floor, which i know about, and then i noticed that someone put angle iron, welded it to the fram, to support the bottom of the rocker panels, goes from frame to floor. do these normallyh rot away? its the piece directly under the rubber floor door sills, on the bottom of the car? do they make replacement piece for that?

for clarification, it goes between the frame and the under side on where the door opens on a p15? i gues mine was rotted, so they put agngle iron to tighten it up.

[Plymouthy Adams]

well, you got a typical PO vehicle that was tweaked over the years to get by and stay useable..now you are faced with ripping out the bad and replacing it...there is no magic spray can here to fix the ails..time to get tough, kill the rust..replace the bad metal..if you think a bit of bondo or fiberglass is the answer..you just cheapened your entire investment..you have too much money in the car to stop now ..do it once, do it right and get over it..the line in the sand will always shift to the front of your feet..the deeper you get into this car the more you are going to find wrong and needs attention..your headaches has just begun...and if you farm out the work..your wallet better be fat..this car is going to cost you quite a bit to get it corrected and back solid..and any where close to prepping for a final paint..

[Joe Flanagan]

Right. Sounds like the angle iron was a fix at some point. I personally think the sandblasting is a mistake but it sounds like you're committed now and I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. As Tim said, at the level you've gone to so far, the only thing that makes sense is to have someone cut out any rusty sheet metal and weld in new. I don't know how thick the angle iron is but I doubt it's so thin that you have to worry about it rotting.

[greg g]

Well I guess the one good thing about sandblasting (or other media of your choice) is it gives you a pile of sand into which you can draw the infamous line. Having established a point where you will not commit more funds and tiime, you can at least keep track of how far you have gone.

In all these excersises one theme is common, you will spend thousands more than you initially thought you might, and the car you are working on will never come close to recouping the money. This is especially true with MOPARS which unless you have a Hemi Cuda, will only ever be worth about 30% of what is spent.

Welcome aboard the crazy train. Having gone this far, you might as well, go to the bank and get a line of credit against your house and go for it, Full Frame off restoration to the factory specs.

Then when you are done, you can put it in a climate controlled garage (you might need another line of credit) then transport it to and from shows in a closed trailer behind your new dually diesel pickup. Then you can travel to all the high falluting concours and shows where it will continually get out pointed in the judging by fords and chevies.

Then someday you can take it to Hershey after having put a hundred miles or so on it driving on and off the trailer, and sell it fo a lot less than you hope for.

That's whats really fun about the old car hobby.

Enjoy.........

[Plymouthy Adams]

only two ways to look at old cars...

1. If you really have to have one and do not have the time, tools, shop and skills, buy it

already complete from a guy who is explained in #2 below. Be prepared to properly

maintain the already completed car so to protect your investment

2. Buy an old car that will satisfy your creative side and your skill level utilizing every

tool in your enventory or catalog at hand..have fun..don't look back..hope to break

even for the fun is in the fixing..if you cannot look at a car and in 15 seconds see it

finsihed in the back of your mind..pass on it..you'll thank me later..

Note....if you don't do your own work, wlecome to check writers 101, even the most skilled shops send things out during the course of a rebuild to another speciality shop...some of the tools needed to do the job is just out of price for the home guy to own and operate..Upholestry skills and sewing machines, alignment machine, pipe bendng machine etc...the sewing machine is within cost for the do it at home but not everyone is adept at stiching I would be just a "sew and sew" at it..

[michael.warshaw]

anyone have pics f what it looks like rught under the door of a p15? diectly under the car right under the door?

[michael.warshaw]

in the booth

[Joe Flanagan]

Do you have the same thing on the other side? Why don't you post a picture of it and then people can say either way what it is.

[michael.warshaw]

i didnt ttake a pic of it, i will on monday.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I do hope they intend to remove al the chrome from the car in a proper fashion so as not to damage the rolled edges..yes it does happen by the way. the glass should be covered, sheet rubber with about 3 layers of dusct tape at the edges..and then stay off it and light pressure only..the duct tape will provide a bit of bounce but not hold out forever..the engine and such best be wrapped it plastic...entirely and then at that I recommend a wet blanket over that when blasting especially within an enclosed booth..even with all this tape and such the blaster should have a hand held deflector as he blasts mear the edges even the blank area of the door fender body gaps all about..the front dog house should also be off the car for a good job..if you do not dismatle the body where it is bolted together, the rust between the bolted section is still present..even with this you be looking for the dust and grit to be everywhere..yes everywhere..I really think that sandblasting is an excellent means to strip a car but you best have it gutted prior o the event else your headaches have just begun..even the regulators inside the doors are going to get mucked up beyond belief and will only do damage if used without a total cleanup and relube...personally I think you are going about the job a bit backwards..stirp then blast...not blast then strip...

[Norm's Coupe]

If they are going to blast the whole car, I'd strip the whole car before doing it. That's including the engine and interior, and all glass and outside trim and lights, etc.

I had the same problems with the floors in my coupe. These are typical rust prone area's in our cars. If you click on the link for my website, there are pictures of my floor before and after. I also had to repair the floor supports, and build a new seat support for the drivers side, when I repaired my floors. At the time, you could not buy new floor pans or new floor supports, etc. I fabricated all of those at home and put them in. I fabricated the floor supports by looking at the good ones left in the car, then copying them. I did all this without removing the body off the frame also. So........my repairs were cheap, just the small cost of some sheet metal. Did it all for under 50 bucks or so.

That said, I'm far from being a sheet metal expert, or body man. I would just lay under the car and study what needed to be done, then do it. If I didn't have the tools to do it with, I went out and bought them, then learned to use them, then made the parts I needed. Once I had the tools and materials to do it with, it only took me a week or two to do the whole job myself, in my little 2 car garage. If I had taken it to a body shop to do the work, it would have cost thousands, and taken the better part of a year to get the car back from the body shop. Most body shops will do the new cars that come in first, then work on the old hobby cars when they are slow. That's why it takes so long at a body shop to get things done on old cars.

Actually, I think working on the car is more fun than driving it anyway. That's the real hobby part. It will challenge you to learn and do more things. I never really cared about metal shop when in school, but now I enjoy doing a little metal work that isn't even part of repairing the car. So....it's given me some other hobby to work on when I feel like it. That's another plus by buying the tools and learning how to use them to make the car repairs. By the way, even with buying the tools, it's still a whole lot cheaper to do your own work. Try it, you might surprise yourself and actually enjoy it. The only thing I won't do again is paint a whole car. Did that once and that's too much of a mess in my opinion to do at home. Some do enjoy doing that too, just not me.

[michael.warshaw]

im just blasting the bottom not the car itsself. wanted to clean up the bottom.

[Plymouthy Adams]

place wet blankets on the inside of the car then to keep the ingest of dust and sand to a minimum..also the engine needs sealed up..one person on here not so long back and as enthusaiats as yourself had to rebuild a rebuild engine because he did the engine prior to the body work...the engine is the last thing you need..get the body lined out first..not sure what you are goin to do or have in mind for to protect the suspension...

[Joe Flanagan]

I think Michael said they are using plastic media, is that right, Michael? I've never used the stuff but I'm assuming it's not as bad as sand.

[michael.warshaw]

its not snad its plastic, thjey reall; dont use sand anymore they use either plastic or aluminum oxide.

http://www.ustechnology.com/quicks.htm

[Plymouthy Adams]

I have used the plastic media at work..too much work for me..too high a cost..and as I do the basting out of doors..the material would be laying about for the next 100 years as it does not degrade...enviromentally..how would one recycle the stuff..plastic plus what ever paint residue mixed in with it..and as far as health precautions..the procedure requires same respirator considerations if openly blasting

the plastic media as with the soda media is fine for highly sensative light material like aluminum and such..metal, especially rusted metal..I still like the go get sand..aluminum oxide..that stuff is as bad if not worse for you and whatever its residue hits..

[Joe Flanagan]

I've always used sand. It works very well but I hate it to death. And it gets everywhere.

[adam_knox]

I've always used sand. It works very well but I hate it to death. And it gets everywhere.

That's why I use sandpaper

[Joe Flanagan]

Yes, at least it stays on the paper.