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Fiberglass Floorboard Repair
Topic Started: Mar 10 2013, 11:37 PM (3,275 Views)
Cardinal Grammeter
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Most people don't use fiberglass to repair steel bodies. That is too bad because fiberglass is polyester which sticks just like Bondo/TigerHair AND it has structural strength - they do make fiberglass body cars!!

The cool think about rusted out floor boards is that it is very easy to pull up the carpet, sand the rusted areas with cartridge rolls for good contact, and then just start laying up about 1/4" of fiberglass plies.

If you want to extend beyond the floor board onto frame supports etc. design your mat layup so that you have fibers holding stuff together, not just the resin and its bond.

This method really works well when you have a car that is basically shot in the floor boards. If there is enough "swiss cheese" left to hold the layup, you can basically layup a new 1/4" fiberglass floor. Fast and Easy. Will cost a few bucks for materials though.

Another nice thing about fiberglass is that if you are repairing a body hole, you usually sand, then countersink the edges and pop rivet or lap weld a patch, then cover with bondo. The problem with that is the lap joint will collect water and precipitate rust.

If you do the same repair with f/g, the mat will cling to the entire countersunk area eliminating any "adjacent surfaces" which hold water due to capillary attraction.

Frankly, its a lot of fun to lay up mat. In no time, you have a structurally sound repair that is rust resistant.
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evmetro


I love fiberglass, but I love sheetmetal even more when it comes to floors. ICAR training seems to stick with you when you work for years as an ICAR certified tech...
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Mr_Coffee
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I've worked on car bodies for years. If it was a small hole, I might glass it. But on a floor there's the issue of weight and stress so it may fail where it joins the steel. Fiberglass is very brittle especially if you don't sqeegee the resin out when laying it up.

I would choose patching it from the outside with steel and pop rivets, then seal off the underside around the patch with some bondo or seam sealer calking like Auveco, then undercoat with a thick undercoating. I wouldn't use silicone sealer because the undercoating won't stick to it.
Edited by Mr_Coffee, Mar 12 2013, 12:06 PM.
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dayle1960
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Fastest Hampster EVER

I'd go for steel on any floor panel. Hate like heck to have something pop throught the fiberglass floor panel if the car got in an accident and got squeezed like an accordian.
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t3ragtop
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker

i hate welding on a fiberglass "repair" to do it right after "mr. fixit" does his thing. :shake

out of all of the things that can shorten your life, fumes from plastic resin are right under fumes from expanding foam insulation. :x
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Metro Josh
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evmetro
Mar 11 2013, 01:55 AM
I love fiberglass, but I love sheetmetal even more when it comes to floors. ICAR training seems to stick with you when you work for years as an ICAR certified tech...
Yeah I'm with evmetro. I'm down with doing some DIY for yourself repairs that are for your own vehicle that aren't exactly with the "book", but this is one where it crosses a line that I strongly recommend against.
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3tech
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Cardinal Grammeter
Mar 10 2013, 11:37 PM
fiberglass is polyester
Is it fiberglass, or is it polyester? I'm so confused. :stoner
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PTA2PTB
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I'm totally awesome! I swear.

Well, after discovering what I was hoping not to, when I pulled up the carpet and started poking around, I really must do - something :hmm , to try and arrest the culprit, before my Geo gets sentenced to an early death. I was sorta leaning toward Cardinal Gram's "fiberglass" fix, until I read this thread; now, I'm not sure what to do with it. At the moment, I'm not so concerned about it structurally, I just don't want the rust to progress, and I want to seal off the floorboard area from moisture or fumes. Fortunately, it's confined to the passenger side. In the year I've owned it, I have yet to have anyone volunteer to be a passenger in it. So if some outstretched thumb-wielding, devil-may-care attitude sport'n, hitchhiking interloper, should suddenly fall through the floorboard and drop out onto the highway, C'est la vie, ya bum!

So, what would you recommend to fix this? I really don't want to do an metal cutting and patching/welding, if I can at all help it; I just want to effect a reasonable repair, and slap it back together and get it on the road. My other thought was filling the affected area with Bondo. Probably not the best idea, huh?

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snowfish
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Basic GearHead

If you're dead set against welding, then fiberglass will work fine. ^o) No bondo. :shake Stuff is meant to blend imperfections. No fill, and bridge, gaping holes. :deal

Clean, clean, clean, rough sand (80 grit) well beyond the rust,(3 inches plus) hit it with some rust encapsulating paint, or Permatex rust treatment, let dry, and have at it. :gamerz

A couple layers of fiberglass cloth will add structure too. ^o) That's what some boats are made of. :news Doesn't have to be pretty. The carpet is going over it anyway.

You will not stop the rust. :banghead But we can slow it down a lot. :tumbleweed

It took 20 years to get that far. Should be good to go long time. ^o)
Edited by snowfish, Nov 23 2013, 02:53 PM.
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91 ragtop
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Here's your answer.
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Ken......
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PTA2PTB
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I'm totally awesome! I swear.

91 ragtop
Nov 24 2013, 01:02 PM
Here's your answer.
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Ken......
:ahh
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ijosef
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It's nothing a few pop rivets can't fix... right?
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PTA2PTB
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I'm totally awesome! I swear.

91 ragtop
Nov 24 2013, 01:02 PM
Here's your answer.
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Ken......
How much is that floorboard in the window
The one with the raggedy edge
How much is that floorboard in the window
I do hope that floorboard's for sale


:hmm I'm half-way considering trying to cut out the bad section and doing it right, but with the weather being what it is right now, I may just pop-rivet a patch over it, and put it off until spring time.
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