slight rust problem

[wdkingery]

any ideas on fixin that?

i'm gonna rivet down some sheet metal but the cancer is everywhere...

[Patrick]

Easier/faster/cheaper to find a good body and start over.....

[theman53]

^ yep, but I did fix much worse than that. Cut it all out, weld in new steel for a floor pan, cover in rust bullet, done.

[theman53]

I cut more out to replace on the driver side, but you get the idea. This is on page 5 of my build thread in the sig line. If I were you I would strip ALL of that rubbery crap off before you do much else, it causes rust too.

[macka]

That rubber stuff is a bit of a dose in places to remove. Take your time and get it all.

[8v-of-fury]

Easier/faster/cheaper to find a good body and start over.....

How? LoL

Rivets work just fine, but remember this is a unibody car. It flexes all the time, and the rivets will pull out over time. If your gonna go the cheap route (which is totally ok), I would use small nuts and bolts w/red loctite with big round washers. Those will never pull through.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Easier/faster/cheaper to find a good body and start over.....

How? LoL

Rivets work just fine, but remember this is a unibody car. It flexes all the time, and the rivets will pull out over time. If your gonna go the cheap route (which is totally ok), I would use small nuts and bolts w/red loctite with big round washers. Those will never pull through.

yes they will, with a car that rusty, it will never last.. that car has terminal cancer..

[8v-of-fury]

I replaced the exact same panel, and mine was far worse. He's still got usable metal to the front and rear. The rust hasn't gotten up to the seat rails, so there's no reason not to fix it. Cut it out and use some rust converter. Once its good, POR15 it and patch it up. This panel never has to hold any crazy weight. If you want it to, some simple braces from front to back Could easily solve that.

This is not Terminal rust. Strut towers, rear axle mounts, and pillar rot are what I would consider terminal, or atleast harder to fix.

[theman53]

Do NOT Por 15...Rust Bullet only......Continue

[mystery3]

What vehicle is that? Obviously it's totally repairable but I'd argue only worthwhile on a classic/rare car of some sort. If it's a mkII or III just get a new one.

[coke]

It may have cancer but a good dose of chemo (someone with some welding skills and metal working skills) could easily repair that.

A local garage here does this 3 or 4 times a year, and most of the time, its on newer (93-98) chassis.

[macka]

Do NOT Por 15...Rust Bullet only......Continue

x2 rust bullet is the shiznit.

[grape ice cream]

I had a lot bigger rust hole than you and i just bought a floor panel, cut the old one out and welded it in,



I'm not the best welder but it works, and after just seal it with something on the top and bottom,
i was gonna use POR15 but apparently rust bullet is superior?

[burn_your_money]

New floor panels are available (at least last I checked) so just order one, cut out the bad, match it to the good and pull out the welder. That is going to be a big job though.

It's obvious from the posts who is from the PNW... I've only seen maybe a handful of rabbits that were that rust free.

Floors are the perfect place to learn how to weld!

[clbanman]

Most of the ones I've seen like that rusted out due to water leaking into the car and sitting in the floor pans.   That means the subframe could still be good and the repair is well worth it.   If however it rusted through from underneath - the subframe may well be bad as well.  In that case I would agree that looking for another body is your best bet.   I would just check the subframe and make a decision based on it's condition (check the rockers as well).