69ttop502

OK, while getting ready to put my interior back together I decided to replace my front carpet. When I pulled it out I found a long but not severe crack in the drivers side floor near the clutch. I have never done any fiberglass work before. Should I do this repair in the interior or underneath the car or both. I did a search and only came up with severe cases of this. Mine really isn't bad as I pushed hard on the area and it still felt solid but I would be dumb not to fix it now. Please tell me how you experts would repair this. Thanks for the help.


Bill

65LS6C4

Bill,

You need to make the repair on both sides. Just feather the ends around the crack making a wide valley with the crack at the low point of the valley. Try to make the valley about 3 inches wide to add enough stability to the repair. Make certain that you do not have any paint left in the area that you intend to place fiberglass. Fill the valley starting with progressively wider strips of glass soaked in resin (example 1", 2" 3"). Lay the most narrow stip first, then lay the next wider strip.. and so on until you fill the valley. Allow the repair to cure, then sand smooth. Make the same repair on the other side. There should be some fiberglass tutorial examples online. This type of repair is not difficult to make. If you are in a rush you can lay one wide sheet of glass on one of the repair sides (without feathering, wait for it to dry and then just feather the other side very well to make a more integral repair on that side. good luck

Summerfun

Corvettes White

Best place to start, on the floor where you will not see it. Go for it.

69ttop502

Thanks a million guys. I will give it a shot tomorrow. I assume it is OK to use any generic auto parts store fiberglass repair kit? Thanks again.

Burgundy 69

Bill,

I ran into the same problem with my 69. Both floor boards were cracked, and the passenger side was nearly broken out (floor pan was cracked on three sides). In my case, I used a jack to raise the damaged section from below and forced the pan into position before doing repairs.

Since this area will be covered by both a pad and rug, unless you lay the cloth on REAL thick, you shouldn't need to sand when done.

Mark

69ttop502

Thanks Mark.

Corvettes White

For '69's this is fine. I think later cars need something different. also use matt for repair, not cloth. works better and not a "Bubu." Watch the mix ratio and timing on the resin. Read the directions. The worst that can happen is that you scrape it back out and do it again. Also buy a gal of acitone for clean-up.

Take a look at the battery box since you are back there.

69's rock!

George

Burgundy 69

Good point on the battery box. Mine was cracked and needed to be repaired as well.

Mark

Red 69

Here is a tip you will appreciate: When doing the underside, lay your fiberglass on a plastic sheet, like a drycleaner bag. Have all your pieces precut and layer them with resin on the plastic sheet. Whet the prepared underside area with resin before raising the plastic sheet and placing the resin coated fiberglas against the underside. Roll it down over the plastic sheet to get out the air bubbles and slowly pull the plastic off at an angle. You may need to roll it again to remove all the air pockets. Ferget trying to lay-up the fiberglass layer by layer underneith, it won't happen.

stingry

I had a similar problem. I went to a steel shop and had a piece of 1/16" steel cut (aluminium would work too but is hard to bend) and then riveted that in place with resin between the steel and floor. I cut out holes for the floor drain. Use large rivets with washers as backers on the underneith side and a backer on the steel side. This clamps the steel in place while the resin dries. Then I laied 2-3 layers of matt over the top of the steel to gain back some insulation properties. Solid as a rock. I did the floo and the firewall (about a 45 degree bend) and now it doesn't crack or creak when you get in the car. I have pics if you want. Just send me an email address.

Cheers,

Pete

stingry

I had a similar problem. I went to a steel shop and had a piece of 1/16" steel cut (aluminium would work too but is hard to bend) and then riveted that in place with resin between the steel and floor. I cut out holes for the floor drain. Use large rivets with washers as backers on the underneith side and a backer on the steel side. This clamps the steel in place while the resin dries. Then I laied 2-3 layers of matt over the top of the steel to gain back some insulation properties. Solid as a rock. I did the floo and the firewall (about a 45 degree bend) and now it doesn't crack or creak when you get in the car. I have pics if you want. Just send me an email address.

Cheers,

Pete

69ttop502

Thanks for the replies everyone. I feel armed with the info to get it done now.

aussiejohn

Bill,
When I got my '74, I found that the floor on both sides under the seats had been pulled UP !!! It would seem that the seatbelts had been worn when the car stopped suddenly and the force had pulled the steel plates UNDER the floor through the (fibreglass) floor. I pulled all the carpet out and the battery as well. Most of the floor in the battery box was corroded or missing - it was a wonder that the battery didn't fall out.

SO. I suggest that you take 999's advice and check the battery box as well. As for repairs, I didn't lay glass underneath, just put several layers over the top and guess that the floor is at least 10 mm thick in some areas. I did "grind" the floor clean for good adhesion first. To stop the resin falling through the gaps, especially in the battery box area, I used lots of duct tape UNDER the floor to make a "water-tight" barrier to keep the resin where I wanted it. Good luck!

Regards from Down Under

aussiejohn

Grinchia

Pics would be great, I'm looking at a similar (more severe, involving the lower edge of the firewall as well) repair this winter when I pull the engine. E-mail me at :

grinch@iw.net


Thanks in advance!


-Roy