Rusty Floorpan Repair

[CoolAirVw]

While working on the brakes I found some nasty rust. And the rediculous Previous owner decided to drill a hole to let water in. Here's some pics



Notice the not so little hole he drilled near the brake lines?

Here's a close up of the rocker rust.



But thats really not the worst of it. Each brake line clip is held by a hole drilled into the floor. Each one is rusted and wont hold the clip anymore. Here's a pic of one. Doesn't really look like a hole but it is. The darkest spot in the middle is the rust stained bottom of the carpet or insulation.

[CoolAirVw]

Pulled carpet and got started patching the holes.

Started with this one. This was a factory hole that the threshold trim "button" pops into. It rusted large and did'nt hold the fastener anymore. I'm tired of the trim moving when I get in and out. So I'll patch it in and redrill the hole.



I cut it out and I wanted to make sure I could weld to the thin metal so I practiced like this. Immediatly I blew a hole in the center so I made a copper "heat sink" and clamped it behind the metal. Worked nice.


Practice peice ended up like this.

[CoolAirVw]

After cutting out the hole I made a patch peice. Patches are easy to make when they are square and don't have curves.



Then I tacked it and then finished the welding. I didn't worry too much about warping because its all under the carpet.



A little grinding and its good as new!

[Quantum-man]

looks like by the time you finish all the welding you'll be a certified welder. Well done

Must lodge in my head:


"Magnets and copper pipe"

[hagar]

Richard ----why do you think Fraulein Bunny Bondo , is named BONDO ?????
you will be rewarded the Iron Oxide Cross with Oak Leaves by the fuhrer himselvs ..--me thinks.

Klokkerholm in Denmark makes all the weld in panels you need.

hagar.

PS : Please email me a small jpeg of Girl with the Hubcap.

TIA.

[CoolAirVw]

looks like by the time you finish all the welding you'll be a certified welder. Well done

I used a small 120 welder with no bottle, plus I only have wire that is for structural welding.

Tuesday I'll have a bottle of sheilding gas and some "EZ Grind" wire made for body work.

Klokkerholm in Denmark makes all the weld in panels you need.

I wont be replacing any panels. I'm just gonna patch.

By the way, my VW obviously needs this work but the main reason I'm doing this is for practice for my other project. Its not that rusty but you never know till you start poking at it.

Here's my Porsche 914 ------->http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php? ... t&p=730755

[CoolAirVw]

Here is the next hole. It started the size of my "pinky fingernail". As I poked at it it grew bigger. Then another hole grew next to it as I dug at it.



Here is the mature hole. I circled where I had to remove some tar with a propane torch and a scraper. On the right you see the patch. It took about two hours to make this patch due to its shape.



Here it is in place. I sprayed some undercoating in the hole.



Some tack welds. Gaps need to be tight or else you burn through. Couldn't use my copper pipe heat sink on either of these holes because backside wasn't accessable. The gap I circled is TOO BIG. More careful fitting would have made it alot easier.

[libbybapa]

Use the smallest gauge wire you can find, turn the power all the way down and keep the bead moving. I use the CO2 tank from my beer kegging apparatus.

BTW I've got a helper of my own. She just rode a bicycle without assistance or training wheels for the first time today.

Andrew

[CoolAirVw]

Here's what I got in rear left floor. (this aint all of it cuz it wouldn't all fit in the pic!)



The small holes from the above pic were covered with tape. You can see the "witness" mark from the tape. But I'm sure it came this way from the factory because the hole and the tape were under the tar! Here's a couple of my patches.



Tuesday I'll have a welder with a bottle so I'll finish it up. I'm not going to grind any of more of the welds since they'll be under the carpet.

[CoolAirVw]

BTW I've got a helper of my own. She just rode a bicycle without assistance or training wheels for the first time today. Andrew

Ah! Those were good times! I taught my 2 daughters to ride. What a feeling of satisfaction when they finally get it. I'm looking forward to teaching my son, he's two.

[CoolAirVw]

Klokkerholm in Denmark makes all the weld in panels you need.

Pulled seat and dug around in tar and Whew! Its like swiss cheese under there! Maybe I will need a whole pan.

Cant find where to purchase online???

[hagar]

I will be happy to help you ---BUT BUT there is a COST-----Email me that picture of the girl doing the hubcap.

hagar.

[rmonical]

thanks for the pictures and the write up. i probably have just as much as you to repair but being from the south and living in california. i dont know much about rust repair. the pictures help. by the way what do you do about rust in the nooks you cant get to the back side of to stop the rust? just do youre best at the outside and spray undercoat in like you mentioned in one post? thanks ron

[Fatmobile]

Thanks for writing this up.
I'm going to learn how to weld this spring... maybe paint by end of the summer.
I have a few things to patch and a front rad support to swap from broken Old Blue to Hit-a-deer.
This is inspireing.

[CoolAirVw]

The link below show a guy who resurrects old VW buses. He documents the repairs online for his customers and saves the pics for all to see.

Metal Wizard. Beware 6 years worth of pics and its very addicting! I spent several days surfing his history.

On the left is the monthly update. (what he's done the most recent month)

Scroll down a little on the left for Archive index to see everything since 2000.

Here's the link.http://www.metwiz.com/