floorpan repair
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 204
Likes: 3
From: Bristol Rhode Island
floorpan repair
Unfortunately,I just discovered the PO had
Jacked the car,an '89 from the passenger floorpan.
There are 2 slices about 4 inches long at the front rh
Corner.I am getting conflicting reports.the body shop calls
The material fiberglass.A friend says it is another material
Called SMC,which cannot be repaired with traditional
Fiberglass methods.I've researched ,and can obtain,I think,
An SMC repair kit.
Does anyone know definitively WHAT material
The 1989 floorpan is?
Jacked the car,an '89 from the passenger floorpan.
There are 2 slices about 4 inches long at the front rh
Corner.I am getting conflicting reports.the body shop calls
The material fiberglass.A friend says it is another material
Called SMC,which cannot be repaired with traditional
Fiberglass methods.I've researched ,and can obtain,I think,
An SMC repair kit.
Does anyone know definitively WHAT material
The 1989 floorpan is?
Race Director
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 14,924
Likes: 9
From: Merritt Ils Fl
SMC. Go to a decent auto paint store and tell them your problem, They can fix you up in short order. Procedure is the same as fiberglass but the resins are different. Your damage is not that uncommon, several threads with pics have been posted in the past.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,660
Likes: 22
I repaired mine with fiber glass gel that had short strand hair mixed in...
cleaned the wound/crack, applied the gel and pressed it into the cleaned out gouge and used heavy tape to hold it in place on the underside. After set-up, ground down excess inside, and ground away excess outside and covered the outside with a layer of under coat spray to seal out water. So far its held well. I'm not sure that the floor pans are SMC since they are drop in parts and not part of the shell or body. SMC is usually reserved for things that need to be smooth and pretty...painted stuff.
cleaned the wound/crack, applied the gel and pressed it into the cleaned out gouge and used heavy tape to hold it in place on the underside. After set-up, ground down excess inside, and ground away excess outside and covered the outside with a layer of under coat spray to seal out water. So far its held well. I'm not sure that the floor pans are SMC since they are drop in parts and not part of the shell or body. SMC is usually reserved for things that need to be smooth and pretty...painted stuff.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 204
Likes: 3
From: Bristol Rhode Island
Thanks for the replies. A Corvette specialty shop i found
nearby looked at it today.
They suggested "tiger hair" a mixture of
Fiberglass strands and a gel like substance.
They DID agree the pan material is SMC,but
Advised the substance above.
nearby looked at it today.
They suggested "tiger hair" a mixture of
Fiberglass strands and a gel like substance.
They DID agree the pan material is SMC,but
Advised the substance above.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 10,036
Likes: 346
From: Anaheim CA
Put plastic wrap over cardboard and tape it to the bottom. The plastic wrap keeps the resin from sticking to the cardboard and the cardboard supports the patch while it's curing.
Then fill the hole(s) with fiberglass matte and cloth from the top.
This is what I did after I ran over a piece of metal on the freeway and tore a hole in the bottom of my car.
Then fill the hole(s) with fiberglass matte and cloth from the top.
This is what I did after I ran over a piece of metal on the freeway and tore a hole in the bottom of my car.
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Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,014
Likes: 7
From: Ft Wayne IN
You can make your own ***** hair
Just chop up some mat and pull apart. You can make it as long/short as needed depending on size of repair. You can then mix it with some SMC resin at whatever consistancy you need, easy peazy! Grind the patch area down to the fiberglass matt and V the edges, clean the surface with acetone before you repair. The chopped mat will conform to eregular shapes better than the fabric style mat. Go for it! It's in an area no one will see and if you screw it up or don't like it all you do is grind it back out
Wear a mask when grinding. Fiberglass hairs'dust is hell on lungs, about as bad as asbestos.
Just chop up some mat and pull apart. You can make it as long/short as needed depending on size of repair. You can then mix it with some SMC resin at whatever consistancy you need, easy peazy! Grind the patch area down to the fiberglass matt and V the edges, clean the surface with acetone before you repair. The chopped mat will conform to eregular shapes better than the fabric style mat. Go for it! It's in an area no one will see and if you screw it up or don't like it all you do is grind it back out Wear a mask when grinding. Fiberglass hairs'dust is hell on lungs, about as bad as asbestos.