repairing floor pans
10-29-2010, 11:43 PM
#2
Burning Brakes
I have no link or pictures but I can give you basic instructions.
Materials you will need:
: Quart of SMC approved polyester or epoxy fiberglass resin.
: Fiberglass mat (woven or chopped)
: Quart of M.E.K ot Acetone.
: Disposable 1.5" paint brushes.
: Rubber gloves.
: sand paper.
: Wax paper (Household, kitchen style)
: Masking tape
You will need to raise the car because you need to clean & fiberglass both sides. You will need to remove the carpet and lift the car enough for you to get to the damaged area to work. Don't just lift one side because you could run the risk of twisting the floor pan. Drive on ramps will be fine.
Evaluate the damage and remove any loose fiberglass pieces that may be present. The floor pan may be pushed up or down. If it is, use a floor jack with a block of wood and a rubber mallet to level the area back to normal. It may require you to remove some material from the cracks before it will seat back normal. (You can do this from the interior.) Use a orbital sander or a die grinder to bevel the edges of the cracks. You can do this by hand but make sure you use a sanding block. DO NOT try to sand it by hand with loose paper. Fiberglass is like Glass and will cut and stab you. If the area will not stay level, you can screw pieces of wood across the area either from top or bottom just make sure you don't screw into anything important.
After the area is nice and level where it should be, you want to sand the whole area with 60-80g making sure to get at least 6" around the cracks. (interior and exterior). Use a shop vac to remove any dust and clean the area with MEK (Methyl Ethel Ketone) OR Acetone. DO NOT use lacquer thinner.
Once cleaned, you will want to start fiberglassing in the interior first. (for the practice). Only do one side at a time. Doing both at once is a major PITA. Cut the fiberglass mat at least 6" around the cracks. You can use multiple pieces so don't spend all day trying to get one piece to fit. You want to cut enough mat for three layers.
Mix the resin with the activator. Make sure you follow the recommended mix ratio from the manufacture. Too much activator can be worse then not enough. It only a few drops.
Mixed resin only last about 15 mins so make sure you got everything ready before you mix.
Use a disposable paint brush and brush the resin over the whole area. Once coated, start laying the mat. Use the paint brush and a plastic spreader to lay the mat without any air pockets. repeat until you have three layers then coat the final layer in resin. Once dry, sand away any high spots or lumps that you could feel under the carpet.
The bottom side is done the same way except it is much more of a pain because the fiberglass resin is going to drip and the mat will fall. An easy way around this is to tape kitchen type wax paper over the final coat of resin to hold everything from falling. If the area is large and tape wont hold, You can screw paint stir sticks to the floor to hold the wax paper in place. Just remember to go back and fill the screw holes with resin after your done.
sand smooth, prime and paint and your done.
The biggest issue will be with the SMC fiberglass. It is very important that you use a fiberglass resin that is SMC approved. Bondo brand is NOT smc approved. If not the fiberglass will not stick to the repair and you run a risk of further damage.
If you have any questions, or need anything else feel free to PM me.
Materials you will need:
: Quart of SMC approved polyester or epoxy fiberglass resin.
: Fiberglass mat (woven or chopped)
: Quart of M.E.K ot Acetone.
: Disposable 1.5" paint brushes.
: Rubber gloves.
: sand paper.
: Wax paper (Household, kitchen style)
: Masking tape
You will need to raise the car because you need to clean & fiberglass both sides. You will need to remove the carpet and lift the car enough for you to get to the damaged area to work. Don't just lift one side because you could run the risk of twisting the floor pan. Drive on ramps will be fine.
Evaluate the damage and remove any loose fiberglass pieces that may be present. The floor pan may be pushed up or down. If it is, use a floor jack with a block of wood and a rubber mallet to level the area back to normal. It may require you to remove some material from the cracks before it will seat back normal. (You can do this from the interior.) Use a orbital sander or a die grinder to bevel the edges of the cracks. You can do this by hand but make sure you use a sanding block. DO NOT try to sand it by hand with loose paper. Fiberglass is like Glass and will cut and stab you. If the area will not stay level, you can screw pieces of wood across the area either from top or bottom just make sure you don't screw into anything important.
After the area is nice and level where it should be, you want to sand the whole area with 60-80g making sure to get at least 6" around the cracks. (interior and exterior). Use a shop vac to remove any dust and clean the area with MEK (Methyl Ethel Ketone) OR Acetone. DO NOT use lacquer thinner.
Once cleaned, you will want to start fiberglassing in the interior first. (for the practice). Only do one side at a time. Doing both at once is a major PITA. Cut the fiberglass mat at least 6" around the cracks. You can use multiple pieces so don't spend all day trying to get one piece to fit. You want to cut enough mat for three layers.
Mix the resin with the activator. Make sure you follow the recommended mix ratio from the manufacture. Too much activator can be worse then not enough. It only a few drops.
Mixed resin only last about 15 mins so make sure you got everything ready before you mix.
Use a disposable paint brush and brush the resin over the whole area. Once coated, start laying the mat. Use the paint brush and a plastic spreader to lay the mat without any air pockets. repeat until you have three layers then coat the final layer in resin. Once dry, sand away any high spots or lumps that you could feel under the carpet.
The bottom side is done the same way except it is much more of a pain because the fiberglass resin is going to drip and the mat will fall. An easy way around this is to tape kitchen type wax paper over the final coat of resin to hold everything from falling. If the area is large and tape wont hold, You can screw paint stir sticks to the floor to hold the wax paper in place. Just remember to go back and fill the screw holes with resin after your done.
sand smooth, prime and paint and your done.
The biggest issue will be with the SMC fiberglass. It is very important that you use a fiberglass resin that is SMC approved. Bondo brand is NOT smc approved. If not the fiberglass will not stick to the repair and you run a risk of further damage.
If you have any questions, or need anything else feel free to PM me.
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L71Maynard (04-17-2017)
10-30-2010, 04:14 PM
#4
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The biggest issue will be with the SMC fiberglass. It is very important that you use a fiberglass resin that is SMC approved. Bondo brand is NOT smc approved. If not the fiberglass will not stick to the repair and you run a risk of further damage.
If you have any questions, or need anything else feel free to PM me.[/QUOTE]
How can we tell if it is SMC approved resin?
Most suppliers in the Uk don't know what you're talking about when you mention it!
Thanks, nick
If you have any questions, or need anything else feel free to PM me.
[/QUOTE]How can we tell if it is SMC approved resin?
Most suppliers in the Uk don't know what you're talking about when you mention it! Thanks, nick
10-30-2010, 04:54 PM
#5
Safety Car
Here you go ... just grind around the damaged area, then tape the bottom side of the car. Then just clean the grinded area and start laying fiberglass. Not to hard to do ....
then any high areas of unwanted fiberglass just sand them down and re-contour the affected area.
Here is my passenger side,
then any high areas of unwanted fiberglass just sand them down and re-contour the affected area.
Here is my passenger side,
10-30-2010, 11:53 PM
#7
Thank you very much for all the info lush and jeff. One more question, are those areas with the big "x" and the bottom ones, are they metal? I can't raise my car up atm to see. Gonna fix up my interior, and figured I should start by fixing this.
10-31-2010, 12:03 AM
#8
Safety Car
anything forward of the front seat track bolts if fiberglass and whole area under seats is metal
10-31-2010, 12:05 AM
#9
Burning Brakes
Im not sure about in the UK, But here most will say on the can somewhere. If not, You can go to the manufacturer's web site and download the "product data sheet". If it don't mention anything about SMC then it is prob NOT SMC approved.
SMC fiberglass is not the norm, so many don't know anything about it including most well trained painters and body repair men. Unless you repair corvettes or boats often then chances are they have no idea what SMC is.
Don't let anyone tell you different and never listen to tech support unless they say it is SMC approved, Even when they say "You can use it for any type of fiberglass repair" If their is ever a doubt, then move to another brand.
Also never trust a product just because it has "Vette" in the name. evercoat's "Vette panel adhesive/filler" and USC's "Vette-glas" are products for the older corvette's that don't have SMC fiberglass. They are NOT smc approved.
The best resin on the market is the one mentioned above. Evercoats SMC resin. Although it also is the most expencieve.
The pictures that jeffp1167 posted is a perfect example of how to repair a floor panel correctly. Nice job Jeff.
10-31-2010, 02:26 PM
#10
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Member Since: Mar 2009
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Im not sure about in the UK, But here most will say on the can somewhere. If not, You can go to the manufacturer's web site and download the "product data sheet". If it don't mention anything about SMC then it is prob NOT SMC approved.
SMC fiberglass is not the norm, so many don't know anything about it including most well trained painters and body repair men. Unless you repair corvettes or boats often then chances are they have no idea what SMC is.
Don't let anyone tell you different and never listen to tech support unless they say it is SMC approved, Even when they say "You can use it for any type of fiberglass repair" If their is ever a doubt, then move to another brand.
Also never trust a product just because it has "Vette" in the name. evercoat's "Vette panel adhesive/filler" and USC's "Vette-glas" are products for the older corvette's that don't have SMC fiberglass. They are NOT smc approved.
The best resin on the market is the one mentioned above. Evercoats SMC resin. Although it also is the most expencieve.
The pictures that jeffp1167 posted is a perfect example of how to repair a floor panel correctly. Nice job Jeff.
SMC fiberglass is not the norm, so many don't know anything about it including most well trained painters and body repair men. Unless you repair corvettes or boats often then chances are they have no idea what SMC is.
Don't let anyone tell you different and never listen to tech support unless they say it is SMC approved, Even when they say "You can use it for any type of fiberglass repair" If their is ever a doubt, then move to another brand.
Also never trust a product just because it has "Vette" in the name. evercoat's "Vette panel adhesive/filler" and USC's "Vette-glas" are products for the older corvette's that don't have SMC fiberglass. They are NOT smc approved.
The best resin on the market is the one mentioned above. Evercoats SMC resin. Although it also is the most expencieve.
The pictures that jeffp1167 posted is a perfect example of how to repair a floor panel correctly. Nice job Jeff.
