Floor Pan Coating (Pics)

[69fourspd]

I am stripping of 3 layers of glue, old carpet, surface rust, paint.... I have been at this for a few days with lacquer thinner and a wire brush.  I am hoping for advice to really rust proof this before the carpet goes down.  I have Eastwood Rust Encapsulator, and have done the area under the rear seat.  Will this be a good prevention to cover over the bare metal and old primer/paint?  I am cleaning all loose material off, feathering the original paint, then prepping with lacquer thinner per the Eastwood instructions.  Is there something different I should be doing or cautious of.  Thanks - Matt

[JimShine]

Nice job! I started doing the same thing today, but I am using an abrasive wheel. I didn't get pics as I went along as I was too busy hustling along. I cleaned it all down to bare metal with the 3M wheels then I used the Por15 system. Marine clean to cleanse, etching acid, then Por15.

Here is what I had to start with:

[is_it_EVER_done?]

Though I live in an area where rust is not much of a consideration, I have used several of the rust preventative/elimination products over the years (though I have never tried the Eastwood product), and settled on "Rust Bullet" brand inhibitor.

It does not require much preparation and it soaks in quite nicely to the metal, dries extremely hard and impervious, and though it isn't cheap, it is more than reasonable for it's performance.

I have had mixed, to poor results with Por-15, and "Zero Rust" requires quite a bit of prep work. I would suggest you try the "Rust Bullet" product, as I have found it to be excellent while still being easy to apply. I painted a swamp (evaporative) cooler with it nearly 5 years ago, and it still is as good as the day I did it!

Since you have already put down the Eastwood product, I would suggest spraying it with rubber (not rubberIZED) undercoating. That should provide you with absolute waterproofing, and eliminate any possibility of future rust.

[AirborneSilva]

Though I live in an area where rust is not much of a consideration, I have used several of the rust preventative/elimination products over the years (though I have never tried the Eastwood product), and settled on "Rust Bullet" brand inhibitor.

It does not require much preparation and it soaks in quite nicely to the metal, dries extremely hard and impervious, and though it isn't cheap, it is more than reasonable for it's performance.

I have had mixed, to poor results with Por-15, and "Zero Rust" requires quite a bit of prep work. I would suggest you try the "Rust Bullet" product, as I have found it to be excellent while still being easy to apply. I painted a swamp (evaporative) cooler with it nearly 5 years ago, and it still is as good as the day I did it!

Since you have already put down the Eastwood product, I would suggest spraying it with rubber (not rubberIZED) undercoating. That should provide you with absolute waterproofing, and eliminate any possibility of future rust.

Do you have a link for that "Rust Bullet" by chance?  Thanks in advance

[69fourspd]

Thanks JimShine.  I hope the Por works out well for you. 

[Silver R/T]

I would primer over zero rust and then paint factory color. It'll last as long as you own the car

[69fourspd]

I was hoping to get away with not topcoating the floors.  Will Eastwood hold up, coat over it, or use something else to not require topcoat?

[plum500]

Sounds like I'm currently doing pretty much the same thing except I'm going with POR-15 silver.

[is_it_EVER_done?]

Here is the Rust Bullet link.  http://www.rustbullet.com/index.htm

If anyone decides to try it, I suggest going with the quart sizes because (as I learned the hard way) if you get any on the lid sealing area, the lid and can become one solid unit and it will then be necessary to poke a hole in the lid to retrieve the rest of the product, which then becomes near impossible to seal up to save the rest of the coating.

Also, though it can be sprayed, rolled, or brushed on, I don't recommend spraying as it will permeate the working parts of your sparay gun unless meticulously cleaned prior to it drying. This is a really impressive demonstration of the products performance, metal permeation ability, and unbelievable toughness, as it will dry even when submerged in paint thinner, unfortunately it comes at the cost of a spray gun. -- I now use cheap disposable brushes.

Should anyone order it, make sure to tell them you heard about it from this site, and recommend that they advertise here! This should go for any product anyone orders. We should all do what we can to support the site.

[AirborneSilva]

Thank you for the link.

[miamivice]

Since you have already put down the Eastwood product, I would suggest spraying it with rubber (not rubberIZED) undercoating. That should provide you with absolute waterproofing, and eliminate any possibility of future rust.

why rubber vs rubberIZED?   and whats the diffrence anyways?

[BigBlockSam]

"Rust Bullet"   

i used that under the hood and complete engine compartment on my roadrunner. great stuff and you don't need as much prep work.

[69fourspd]

Can you recommend a good rubber coating? Thanks.

[69fourspd]

Thought I would post a pic of the floor pans after I coated them with Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator.  It went on pretty good, but it does start to dry very fast.  I thinned it a bit to make sure it would penetrate into any small spots and seems.  It also helped to self level.  Hopefully it does its job. Time will tell!

[Todd Wilson]

Can you recommend a good rubber coating? Thanks.

I wouldnt use any rubber products on the floor.   All it takes is a knick or a place for moisture to get in between the rubber and the metal and you got problems.     If you can get ALL rust off your floor pans I would  epoxy prime , and prime and paint them as you would the outside of the car and be done with it. POR15 doesnt do as good on slick clean metal and likes some rust and rough to adhere too.  Being real here is this Charger really gonna be a daily driver in all weather conditioins ever again? A new painted floor  under carpet will last for ever in a classic where the chances of it being in the rain are slim and none. You may have wet feet a handfull of times over the course of 20 years and thats not going to eat thru the automotive primers and paint.    If you rattle can it with hardware store paints it will wear thru and you will have problems.


Todd


Gonna brag here a little bit. This is what my floors looked like after 35 years when I pulled my interior last year for paint and body work.  Floors were perfect. Cleaned out the dirt and relaid the carpet and underlayment back in it!

[Mike DC]

Can anybody top this?  Here's what my car's floors had on them:

My car had roofing tar applied over the steel floor, and then fiberglassing gel over the roofing tar, and then burlap cloth pushed into the fiberglass gel while it was still wet.

I tried sandblasting and the stuff just laughed at it.

   

[69fourspd]

You got me beat. That sounds aweful! Do you ever wonder what thought process is going on in someones head when they do something like that? 

[plum500]

Holy crap that's nasty. I had a piece of (what looked like indoor/outdoor) carpet flipped upside down and tarred to my trunk pan... man, what a job getting that out, but you've definitely got that beat Mike DC. (I feared the worst, but things were actually pretty OK under there)

[nh_mopar_fan]

On my wife's 66 Valiant ragtop, some moron put down roofing shingles on the passenger side floor under the heater core.....

[RT/SE]

69fourspd......nice job on your floors   I would put some new seam sealer on all your seams if you haven't already done so. Rust can easily start at the seams if everything is not sealed up well.  I know 3m makes some pretty good seam sealers.   

[NHCharger]

On my wife's 66 Valiant ragtop, some moron put down roofing shingles on the passenger side floor under the heater core.....

Definately owned by a contractor at one point.
When I had my 71 done last winter the body guy coated the floors, including the trunk with the same product he uses to do bedliners for trucks. Also acts as a sound deadener.

[69fourspd]

Thanks TripleX9.  I just put an order in for a jar of seam sealer.  When I finish the trunk pans, I will probably do it all at one time.