more cancer

[smg1986]

Ok so picked this baby up before i found this place. 1986 xls 2.5l 4X4. I recently after two moves and six months of just driving it around i started to dig in to it. Pulled the carpet and found, what else but massive rust and a present from the PO. Yes that is a block of wood in place of a driver side floor board. SO basically going to cut out all non surface rust, grind the heck out of everything, replace with sheet metal, and POR 15 the floor. Is this the way to go or are there better routes. I'm not looking for looks more just functionality. If it will drive and my foot won't go through the floor ill be happy.

 

Also my passenger side frame rail is almost rusted through in a 2ft section. any fix ideas?!

 

 

truck(bad shot)

 

 

driver side

 

 

 

 

pass side

 

 

sorry for the massive pictures, sort of a newbie!

[btm24]

Ive alway liked big pics that way you can see every thing :clapping: any ways, Do you have any pics of the frame rail?

Yeah you have a good idea on the floor. If you really wana do it right you may want to look into some weld in floor pans. That way you just cut, weld, paint put back carpet and done. Also don't for get to find out if there is any water coming in to prevent any more rust from happening. A good way to do that is to put some baby powder around down there and leave the truck out in the rain. That way you can see where the water (if any) is coming in. Hope that was a help

 

Brandon

[SouthShore440]

i would find a better vehicle to work on. when they need that much metal repair it just is not worth the time. you can find reasonably solid drivers for around 2000 or less.

[smg1986]

I've seen way worse rust than this. I'll get a frame rail pic up sometime today. I'll be grinding and cutting this afternoon I'll keep pics coming

[smg1986]

so i've got metal cut out to fit holes. What is the best method to do this? Do i POR 15 the floor one coat then put down metal and seal it. or do i weld metal in, seal up all seams, and then POR 15 it? What is a good adhesive sealant to use?

[btm24]

so i've got metal cut out to fit holes. What is the best method to do this? Do i POR 15 the floor one coat then put down metal and seal it. or do i weld metal in, seal up all seams, and then POR 15 it? What is a good adhesive sealant to use?

 

Weld it all up 1st. you shouldnt need any sealant if you weld all the way around. But if you do use any kind of sealant don't use silicone it attracts moisture witch causes more rust. Put the metal down, weld it in, get lunch, go back and put down the POR 15, wait at least a day and go put back the carpet :thumbsup:

 

Brandon

[smg1986]

progress made slow but steady. cut out all bad metal, grinded the crap out of floor pans. now time to find a welder or decide to rivet/sealant route. then POR the whole thing and throw down some heavy duty rubber mats. i am thinking of leaving the giant wood board in the driver side floor as dumb as that sounds. its solid as rock and would literally need to be sawsall/torched out. it's sealed airtight and held for 2yrs+ if it ain't broke don't fix it right. also its not prone to rust ;) . pics of cut out metal

 

driver side (notice wood)

 

 

 

pass side (worse of the two)

 

 

 

 

let me know what you think on either weld or rivets. i really am thinking a combination of the two. rivets where there is overlap or good metal and weld where there is no overlap and seal the seams on all both in cab and underbody.