55 Fargo Posted May 30, 2007 Report Share Posted May 30, 2007 Hi all, the area that goes under the car from behind the kick panel area. Mine were rusted out when I got the car, but when I did my floor repairs, I only ran new sheet metal up to and along the kick panel inside the car, I should have run the sheet behind the kick panel and try to seal the area off from the outside air. Now I am trying to repair this area, it is a real"beach" of an area to work in and the shape is rounded, it's almost impossible to weld up there, and the one patch I did looks the $hits, but I am determined to repair this area. What have some of you guys done,no doubt this area is or was rotted out on some your cars, looks to be a real good area to trap moisture and dirt. I was thinking of sealing off the kick panel area from inside the car, leaving it open underneath, it would be good drainage. As long as I can seal the kick panel , and no gases or air can come inside the car, I will be in business. Any ideas from some of you fellows..........Thanx Fred BTW the one pic is from under the car looking straight up to the area under the kickpanel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted May 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Last night I was thinking, did these cars ever have a real tight seal in these areas, I don't mean gaping holes or voids. For example the bolt on floor plate, the brake and clutch pedals, even with draft stops, these I am sure were not 100% sealed. I am not looking for an easy-out, but my main goal is no exhaust gas and excessive road dust in the cabin of the car. Now some vehicle inspectors, go crazy on these areas, and some concentrate on brakes, exhaust, front end, lighting , etc. I think it was Don C, that said he used truck cap weather strip foam to seal his floor plate before it was bolted down. I don't feel like redoing my floors, in this area, Hind sight is 20/20, but want to fix this to be functionable. Any ideas or opinions welcomed............Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Ed Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 I know I did that with my removable floor and I think Don C did too. That stuff works out great in that area. And it should stay on the floor if you do have to remove the cover at a later date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob westphal Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 I had the same problem with my club coupe. I did the same as you're doing by using metal sheets and welding where possible. It was really tough getting the proper curves, which I never was able to do. I used fiberglass in areas where I couldn't weld. Like you said it is a beach! There are some holes left in that area that I sealed with body panel caulking I picked up at Wesco Paint Supply. It looks like crap but Oh well. I also used the caulking on all floor seams. Just keep doing what you can and don't give up. One nice thing is nobody is going to see what you did in this area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted May 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Thanx Bob, I guess this isn't as common area for rust out as I thought, as there werent any responses from the guys on this forum. Maybe rust-out is only common in this area of these cars originating from the north or eastern USA and parts of Canada.But you are right, it is a real bugger to try and do a decent repair in this area, when the body is on the frame and not turned over on a rotisserie. To make this shape, you can use a piece of cardboard place it against the curved area, under this area ,mark it with a marker you then transfer this to your sheet metal and cut it out. At least thats what I tried to do, as you can see the piece patched in my photo...........Thanx Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 You can get brush on seam sealer at body shop supply houses. It will cover a lot of little gaps, you can apply from either side. Apparently JC Whitney has it also. http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/tf-Browse/s-10101/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2000716/p-2000716/N-111+20004560+600016924+4294967096/c-10101 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted May 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Thanx Greg, yes I have some at home, it works great. On the inside of the car I applied some waterproof urethane expandable foam, it filled up the voids real quick like. I know this is a shade tree fix, but I am not sure what do with this right now. because this is an area under the car, I can still perform surgery under there even if the car is painted, the interior is done, chrome is new. It won't make any difference, as it will be underneath and would not hurt anything on the car up above. It's not like trying to do rockers, or floors after the car is all painted and has a new interior in it. I am just a little nervous about DMV Safety, they are done privately up here so I will probably get someone who is most concerned with things other than perfect panel repairs, will probably cost me a few more dollars to have him come to my place and dot the inspection, we do have inspectors here that do housecalls...........Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted June 3, 2007 Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 Trim that and put the seam sealer over it and hit is with some undercoating. Some are worried that the foam will absorb and hold moisture. If it is the closed cell stuff it is not supposed to but if you can get to it cover it up to seal the moisture out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted June 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 Thanx Greg, actually took a piece of cured foam, and tried the following, hit it with primer, painted it, put seam sealer on it, and put some bondo on it. They all bonded to the foam with no problems, nor did it melt the foam. A friend of mine told me he once repaired a rust hole in a fender with this foam, he then primed it, glazed and painted, he said it lasted quite a while too. Now I wouldn't do that kind of repair, but at least I know you can coat this foam if need be.........Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted September 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 Here is a pic of a panel I made and welded into place. It is a very tight spot, hard to work in, very hard to weld in upsidedown, Next I will clean up the area and give it a coat of fibreglass filler, then prime, paint, undercoat.............Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey beard Posted September 6, 2007 Report Share Posted September 6, 2007 Nice work, Fred. Thanks for sharing. Did the same on my B2B floor, which was of course much easier to get at. Good pics! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted September 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2007 You know Dave, it's not as purdy, as a lot of work I have seen others do. This area was reall pain in the "you know where", to work in weld in or anything in, from the pic it appears as an easy spot to get into, but it's not. Welding on my back upside down is a pain, plus I am not a welder by no means. But I do think I could pull of better work with an autodarkening helmet, the welding helemt I have is cheap and is hard to see my welding through, if I am at the wrong work angle, lighting behind me etc.This patch will be seam sealed and painted over to make it acceptable.....Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmt47p-15 Posted September 6, 2007 Report Share Posted September 6, 2007 I received one of those auto shading helmets for Christmas. I love it. It works great. Once you use one you will wonder why you did not get one sooner. Maybe in the past I was to bad to get one? Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Ed Posted September 6, 2007 Report Share Posted September 6, 2007 I'll second that. It vastly improved my welding ability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted September 6, 2007 Report Share Posted September 6, 2007 I got one of them helmets long ago and it does improve your welding for striking an arc is so much easier if you can see to start with..For those with vision prescriptions, Tractor Supply does carry different di-optive lensed for this helment...less than 6.00 I think ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm's Coupe Posted September 6, 2007 Report Share Posted September 6, 2007 Fred, I'm far from being a good welder either. However, the guys are right. You should pick up one of the auto darkening helmets. They're great, especially for a novice welder. I couldn't weld anything with the regular helmet. Could never strike the arc in the right place. Then I ordered a cheap auto darkening helmet from Harbor Freight. Now I are a welder. Or, to put it better, I can at least make two pieces of steel stick together. With one of those helmets it's like looking through clear glass window. Doesn't get dark until the instant an arc is struck. Even gets dark if you light a cigarette lighter in front of it. Of course, once you have your spark, you can see even though the lens is now dark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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