I has a small hole in the floor where water has come in through the t-tops and the water has taken its tole on the floor. For the mean time as a quick fixer we put and old licensed plate there just so we could go out and drive it without worring about put our foot through it. But as you can ?imagine? it looks like a real bubba fix. What is the proper way to fix a C3 floor panel? So that it looks good from the inside as well as underneath?

 

I thought the floor was in fiberglass too??

 

The "Right" way is to replace the floor panel with a new one. In my humble opinion an acceptable alternative is to find how extensive the rust damage is by removing the carpet and seats. After you find how bad, cut out the offending metal with a skil saw. Then cut a piece of metal of the right thickness to cover the hole. Some people have pop riveted the new metal over the old some have used epoxy and others have fiberglassed over the holes. If you have access to a Mig welder, cut a piece of metal that fits the hole and weld it in then grind the welds down flush on top and bottom (welding sheet metal is a PITA, you have to do it in sections to keep from warping.) Then cover the patch and the rest of the floor with Eastwood's Corrless or POR-15 anti-rust paint. Then paint over it with chassis paint.

 

The easiest way is to buy our 76. We just replaced the floors with 16 guage (way thicker than stock) welded all the way around and 'glassed over. Super strong, HUGE PITA, Never doing that again. Just sell that car, I am sure you need a windsheild frame, and my repaired car is just $3500.

Brian Cooper
803-714-5517

 

Holy crap, I just looked on the webpage and I'm not paying the much for a new floor. It's in no way going to be a showroom car so I might as well not do that. The plate we have in right now is pop riveted in, it just looks like crap. I have already cleared the carpet from there. the rust doesn't go back under the seats, and maybe half way up to the pedals. Not that much I guess. I may try finding a different piece of metal to replace the current plate or maybe I will put fiberglass over it. I'm not sure at this point.

 

Sand the floor, get some fiberglass mat, resin, ($20) and patch it up. Dont have to worry about how it looks cause carpet's goin over it! I just finished mine...its very solid....Its lighter, wont rust, and way cheaper then cutting and buying a new floor. The right way is not always the best way. :blueangel:

 

Anyone got an idea on how to fix a fiberglass floor??? Mine has a split in the floor where it meets with the upward section of the floor board. Any clues??? :confused: :confused: :confused:

 

I rolled some stainless floor pans for my 76'. The holes were about a foot wide when I took the carpets off. :eek: After fitting the stainless I pop riveted it in and epoxied it to the rest. Then I painted and carpeted it up.

 

I dont suppose that you would have some pics that you could show us do you?

 

I've posted on this before, but it's been quite a while so here goes. I agree that if you need perfection for show, then you should install a new floor panel. But my car is a nice driver and when I found a hole in my floor board, I opted to use a product by Lord Corp. called "Fusor". I mader a repair panel out of 18 gauge sheet metal that would cover the hole. On mine, I had to hammer out a round corner but you might be able to get by with just a flat panel. After making the panel, lay it in place and trace the outline. Remove the panel and retrace the cut line 1/2 inch smaller than the traced line and cut away the bad metal to the inside line. Now the new panel should overlap the original floor board by 1/2 inch. Position the panel to match up with the original traced line. Drill some small holes at about 4" intervals through bothe the repair panel and the floor pan. These holes will be used to screw down the panel until the epoxy "Fusor" sets up. ("Fusor" comes in a double barrel type caulk gun with a place for two tube that inject each part of the epoxy through a singular tip. The tip mixes the two part together before being expelled.) Now it's time to clean the mating surfaces of paint and crud with a grinder or sander. Once both mating surfaces are prepared, then apply a bead of "Fusor" on the floor pan all along the 1/2 inch overlap. Lay the repair panel in place, screw it tight, and take a plastic spatula to level off the squeezed out "Fusor" (Leave it a little high). Once the "Fusor" sets up to a rubber like consistency, remove the screws and fill the holes with a little more "Fusor". Let it set over night to be sure it's totally set up. Grind off the excess "Fusor", place a small amount of body filler to feather out the seam. Sand it out, prime and paint it. If you do this, only the most critical eye could ever see that it's been repaired (Anyone that looks that close deserves a good kick in the back side). By the way, "Fusor" is supposed to have something like 300# shear strength and 84Ftlbs torque strength. Hope this helps. It really does work. Good luck.

 

I found the website. Is #108B/#109B the stuff that you bought? How much was it? I can't find a price on their site. From your description, I think that that is what I'm going to do. Thanks in advance.

 

Jonny, I´ve just done the drivers' side. It was a PITA.
It was the most difficult bodyrepair on the whole vette until now.
I cut out the rusted sections, and welded in a complete new floorsection which I made on my own. I´ve to admit that you will maybe need a machine to bend the sheet metal, I was lucky because I had access to different machines in my company. After cutting, shaping, designing :smash: I finally got it to look perfect.
And I´d do it again.... NO MORE BUBBA ON MY VETTE :D :D
Oops, forgot that I have to do it again on the passenger side :jester

If you have the ability to weld try to go my way. It´s difficult but it´s the only proper method to keep it stock looking. Further more there might be some heat problems if you glass over the body. Just think of your catalyst right below the loor panels...
A pic of my repaired floor is on its´s way....



Markus


[Modified by MARKUS_P, 6:30 AM 8/9/2001]

 

Like I said, if you are going to show your car then you need to replace it with a new floor panel, but I disagree that my method can't look just as good as a welded in repair. With the "Fusor" method there is no heat warpage that you get with welding and it's as easy as anything to do. No matter which method you use you have to make the panel. When you use "Fusor" to repair it, the making of the panel is the hardest part. When making your panel, if you need to do a rolled corner, get a piece of wood (a stump works great) or a sand bag and use the round end of a ball-pien hammer to shape the round. A little practice and then smooth it out betweem two hammers (or body dolly and hammer if you have that). Honest, give "Fusor" a try, it's great. You can get it at most auto-body supply houses or Eckler's also has it. The gun is about $60 and the "Fusor" is about $40. One set of tubes does a lot. I'll have to look at which type to use. I have both. One bonds metal to fiberglass and the other is metal to metal. I think if you get the metal to metal, it would give the strongest bond. I'll post the type later this evening. Good luck.


[Modified by bfrance, 7:20 AM 8/9/2001]

 

Hey Tony
If your floor is like mine ('71) and the upward section has seperated from the floor section (like the seam has come apart) you might try what I just did. I cleaned everything with gunk and thinner to get as much of the road oil out of the cracks. Then I wire brushed (on a dremel tool) the area around the crack. Then I braced the firewall back into position from below and drilled 3/16 holes about every 2 to 3 inches through both panels (they overlap at the seam). Then I removed the brace, filled the crack with weather strip adhesive (much stickier and dries harder than silicone), and replaced the brace, lining all the holes back up. Then I used 3/16 rivets through all the holes I drilled. I went through the inside with the rivet and passed the rivet through small hole fender washers on the underside for added re-enforcement (so the rivet must be long enough to get through both floor panels and the washer). That seemed to hold everything together very solidly. I then proceded to lay down 2 to 3 coates of fiberglass over the seams for added strength and sealing. I repaired other 'cracks and holes' with the fiberglass while I was at it. I was able to do all this (both sides) by myself in about 4 hours, tho a helper on certain parts would have been nice. I am sure all the rivets don't look pretty from the underside but I don't think my floor will be coming apart again! And now my firewall is pretty much completely and solidly sealed up and I layed down new foil insulated padding and new carpet to finish the job. I should be back on the road this weekend to give it a try without engine heat pouring through the firewall...should be nice.

 

71roadster, thanks for the help...I will try this...I was also wondering about those wheels ya got on your vette...17" look great...did you have to use any spacers?? What brand are they??