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The floor pans wasn't in too bad of shape taking
into account the age of the car. But they did have a little bit of an issue that needed some
attention. I welded the small holes on the rear passenger
floor with a mig welder. When I started on the front the welder was blowing
holes in the thinned, but still structurally strong, metal. It was time to
go to plan B before I blew too big of a hole. I used a
pressure washer to knock the old seam sealer out of the cracks between the wheel
house and trunk floor alone with loose flakes of rust. I then sanded the floor
pan with a flap wheel on the angle grinder until I found shinny metal. I used a sandblaster where the flap wheel
did not reach. That was a big mess to clean up after. After a good cleaning with
acetone I brushed on a coat of
Rust Bullet. After that dried to the touch I placed
a piece of fiberglass fabric soaked with Rust Bullet
over the small holes and pushed the air out with a Bondo squeegee. The next morning second
coat was applied. Later on that afternoon I started on the driver's side. Instead of sand
blasting this side, I decided to do this by hand. I welded a 4"x5" patch under the brake
pedal to cover the hole. I decided to sand the red primer off to see what was hiding beneath.
Surface rust was everywhere. I used an air grinder with 80 grit disc to knock the primer off.
Once again after cleaning things up good with acetone I coating the driver's side, rear seat
platform. Before moving to the trunk area I welded the bumper mount to the trunk
floor. The
holes left over from the '74 and '73 quarter extensions got patched with small piece
of sheet metal on the back side and the other side was filled with a puddle from the mig
welder then grinded down.
While rinsing the luggage compartment with a
pressure washer the bed liner that the previous owner sprayed peeled off. I decided to make another mess with the sandblaster in the trunk area
and the backside of the quarter panels. After vacuuming and blowing compressed air the better
part of the day I then sprayed 2 coats of Rust Bullet to the trunk floor and the inside of the
quarter panel. Fresh seam sealer was applied 48 hours later. I brushed 2 coats of bed liner
from the heater box to the tail lights and inside the quarter panels to add mass to metal surfaces
to help in reducing reverberant sound. Aluminum faced insulation is also draped
behind quarter trim and seat back. I will eventually coat the sheet metal and webbing
inside the doors with bed liner. Next I will add a layer of Peal & Seal on the floor and wheel
wells using aluminum tape on the seams.
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