jpatrick62

Was hoping someone cold guide me on this. While I had the carpet and seats out, I noticed the seam between the passenger floor had opened up. In fact, if I press on the area where the seat goes, I can see it bow down a bit. I have the seat
reinforcement out to remove surface rust and was going to re-rivet it back in place when I noticed this. What is the best way to repair a seam between 2 panels such as this?

69L88

Clean the area thoroughly with acetone or lacquer thinner.

Using 80 grit, sand the area 1 to 1 1/2 inches on either side of the seam. If you can push the two panels apart, you can slide the sandpaper between them to clean up the mating surfaces.

Apply a 2 part epoxy to the prepared areas. Again, if you can push the panels apart, work the epoxy in between them.

There are many, many choices for the epoxy. Some will recommend Vette Panel Adhesive which is a good choice. I use 3M 08308.

Jarhead 74 Vette

I agree with 69L88, use 2-part epoxy to make the seam repair.
If you want to reinforce the spongy feeling floor, then I’d also clean the area up and repair/reinforce the area with several layers of epoxy resin and fiberglass cloth sheets.
Id never done fiberglass work before, but had a pretty large area on my firewall that was fire damaged during a PO’s timeframe.
I had tu cut out the bad areas and bought a West Marine 105 epoxy resin kit with pump nozzles for a super easy mixing ratio.
I applied the resin, then some cloth, fully seated the cloth in resin using a cheap chipping brush, then another layer of resin, then more cloth.
I did this until I was pleased with the results.
There are YouTube videos put out by west marine as well as others on the proper technique.
Just be sure to use SMC epoxy resin, NOT poly resin, and be sure the areas are cleaned and dry before starting.
I used acetone to prep it, but it will remove paint, so proceed with caution around painted body parts.



Firewall with existing fire damage

Fiberglass repairs complete. Ended up with 6-7 layers of fiberglass to fill the open holes.

After I painted the firewall.


Here’s the kit I bought from West Marine. I tried the woven matte fiberglass at first, but I despised how the fibers came loose and stuck to my brush. After swapping over to the “shiny” looking fiberglass cloth material, I was amazed how easy it was to work with!

Just my first time experience with fiberglass work.
I liked getting to practice in an area that didn’t have to be perfect, like body work. Firewalls are not smooth or flat, so was easy to make it look good and blend in.
Best of luck!

jpatrick62

Thanks guys, I'll rebound the seam. Seems l
ike one thing leads to another. To think I was just going to replace the carpet and put in new battery cable studs...

Jarhead 74 Vette

Yeah, my resto started out as a positive battery to starter cable replacement.
Two years and $15k later……

jpatrick62

i know that feeling - or this "carpet replacement" job I now have:

1; Replaced the outer seat belt reinforcements.
2. Installed new 3 pt seat belts with the shoulder belt of course and had to re-tap the rear shoulder harness points.
3. Remove the seat reinforcements and fix the corrosion on them.
4. Replace the rusty positive battery cable studs.
5.Replace the hard vacuum line to the rear Aste Vents.
6. Replace the rear wiring harness. "While I am there..."
7. Fix some of the floor fiberglass issues.

All for the love of a car. There aren't many people as foolish as I am.
Next year I have to lift the car on each side off the frame to replace the gas lines..

forman

Also you can use a jack under the car to apply pressure to the area to hold the two sides together once you apply the fiberglass resin

jpatrick62

Thanks - I was thinking of doing something like that. No easy way to completely sand the separation in the floor seam, but I've been using 60 grit and running it
between the 2 fiberglass seams, flipping the sandpaper over to get both sides. Any ideas on getting enough of the bonding adhesive in the tight area between the seams?

69L88

When you are ready to start applying the sealant, insert a screwdriver blade in the middle of the area and carefully twist to spread the panels apart. Push the sealant in the seam and remove the screwdriver, then continue applying the sealant along both the top and bottom sides along the length of area.

derekderek

You might want to come up with a bag of sand or similar to put on top of seam while jacking the underside up with a hunk of plywood or similar cut to size underneath. Then get some foil type insulation. Like thinner dynamat. Every bit of heat you keep out of interior is that much better.