Another Rust Question

[2002spaceodyssey]

I bought a 1974 2002 from a friend who restored the car in the 1990s. It has had previous rust repair in many areas (driver's front subframe rail, driver's floor, rear shock towers to name a few.) It was painted a very dark green (Nissan color) in the 1990s and clear coated. The exterior has had all trim removed prior to painting and looks pretty nice. I bought the car a year and a half ago and have done a few basic things to it. I removed a roll bar and 5-pt belts (it has seen some track time at Summit Point.) I installed retractable seat belts from Blue Devils, an S14 starter, a nice set of E21 Recaros, plugs, wires, rotor, cap, fluids, repainted E21 turbine wheels with Toyo tires. It drives well. I noticed some rust bubbling from the metal floor plugs underneath the car, so I finally pulled out the carpet. I found a repaired driver's floor section and intact-looking black tar sound deadening in the rear and passenger side. I used dry ice (thanks Dry Ice Ice Baby article!) and discovered that all the metal plugs  have rusted through (most fell out leaving holes.) One of holes is perilously close to a rear suspension mounting point. The floor is intact where it meets the inner rocker panels save for a 6" section along the rear driver's side, where it has rusted through. The outer rockers appear sound. I'd like to have these rust holes repaired/patched. I don't know if I should buy a new floor section for the driver's side rear where the damage is worst. I'd welcome advice from the many experts on this site! I've learned a lot here over the past year and half. (I'm in Maryland.) Thanks.

[adawil2002]

Buy new floor sections, cut out all the rust and weld in patches.

[williamggruff]

Where in Maryland? I'm in Clinton. 

[Son of Marty]

I'd buy a new rear section for the left side and just patch the right. Do the front plugs need to be resealed or have they rusted to much?

['76mintgrün'02]

In my car the rust ran under that bulkhead, so I took it out completely to treat the rusty pan.

 

You can assess whether there might be rust under yours, once the last of the tar mat is removed.

If so, I would carefully cut the pan underneath the flange and drill out the spot welds.

Then your new patch could run underneath it.

[TobyB]

The floors are, while not super easy, not a big deal. 

 

What I would look at more carefully with a sharp, heavy object are the inner rockers where the floors join.

 

And then the rest of the usual 'soft points'- inside inner fenders, both 'frame rails', which are really the bottom of the (very structural) inner fenders

rear subframe mounts, rear spring perches ('inner fenders'), the back part of the rockers where they dive under the rear quarters, and so forth.

 

Nothing in those pictures looks too hard to fix- just get and weld in new panels- but before you start,

I'd recommend checking everything else.  Because the floors might just be rotting from storage-

or the car may have been used as a winter rally car in the rust belt, and it makes a lot of sense to figure

out the scope of things before you get too far in...

 

just my '02, as one who got to fabricate an entire front lower a pillar...

 

t

 

[2002spaceodyssey]

williamggruff - I'm in Westminster

Son of Marty - The driver side front floor has been replaced so there is no plug. No sure if the passenger side front floor plug needs re-sealed or patched. I'll try to twist it out and see what it looks like.

TobyB and all- Thanks for the suggestions. I do want to be sure I find ALL the rust. I may use dry ice to remove the sound deadening from the inside of the rear shock towers. So far I've just done the flat part of the floor.

[2002spaceodyssey]

So I bought a rear driver side floor panel. Taking TobyB's advice, I dug a little deeper. I found the inner inside fenders (which were covered with sound deadening) have rusted through as well. I also removed the cardboard-like stuff on the passenger firewall and found another hole in the floor there. The inner rear fenders (next to the springs) appear to have been repaired in some manner. And I've added a picture of the previous driver's frame rail repair, which now has surface rust. Again, I appreciate your thoughts. Also, any recommendations for someone in the Mid Atlantic who does this sort of repair? Thanks.

[2002spaceodyssey]

[2002spaceodyssey]

So, not sure what happened, but I lost the text to my post and only the pictures posted. I wanted to update my previous rust question to show how it came out. I bought new driver side rear and passenger side front floor panels, and had East Coast Restorations in Finksburg MD do the welding work. They also fabricated metal to repair the rear shock towers, which were rusted clear through. I then used the POR15 process: degreaser, metal etch, POR15 black paint, and finally grey POR15 top coat over the entire floor. It wasn't too expensive, and I'm fairly happy to have the rust and holes gone! Pics above.

[TobyB]

Lookin' good!

 

If you haven't carpeted up yet, I recommend shooting about 3 quarts of

3m's Rustfighter into the rockers, the rear spring perches, the trunk, hood and

door seams, everywhere there can be trapped water.

 

Almost 20 years later, the only places Jenn's car has re- rusted

(and it's been an outdoor car)

are the places I didn't soak in the stuff.

 

t

 

[evil02]

Good job!  Looks like you did a lot of work there!

[2002spaceodyssey]

Toby-

Thanks I will get some 3M rustfighter. No sound deadening or carpet yet. Scope creep requires that I pull the heater box and check it out. I know the fan doesn't work....

[halboyles]

On 6/8/2017 at 10:21 PM, TobyB said:

3m's Rustfighter

 

 

Been searching for a supplier.  Has anyone had any luck actually ordering some of this?

[Redtail]

56 minutes ago, halboyles said:

 

 

Been searching for a supplier.  Has anyone had any luck actually ordering some of this?

It's available on Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.com/3M-08892-Rust-Fighter-I-Aerosol/dp/B000PJAWN6/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497114511&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=3m+rustfighter

 

The repairs look good but I'm a little surprised the shop didn't grind down their welds. I always do that step, it doesn't take very long if you're careful not to lay down too much wire and after paint you can't tell there was ever a repair done.

 

Either way nice job getting it taken care of - must feel good!