The cabinets were poorly installed and a hole underneath them allowed water from the wheel well to get under the rubber / foam mat.





Took the wire brush to the rust.





First layer of POR-15 black is now down!

 

POR-15 rocks! Had a lot of help from Mamuka at Auto Papa Care in Rockville MD for the prep work. We burned through 2 power tools while removing the rust from the bed.

 

That van don't look too old - Nice job on the finish paint - I used the por 15 several years ago on my f-250 oil pan which was badly rusted also from salt , still holding up good.

 

Hope the POR15 holds up underneath the van as well. I am planning on covering everything under there. My van is a 2008 with 220k miles.

 

Your van looks a whole better then my 96 E250 does!!

 

Also a big huge & large fan of POR-15---incredible stuff! When I did my '03 E250 complete floor I opted for the silver color---much, much more solid content. When used as directed by POR-15 to the letter its easy to apply and finished results better than expected.

I disagree slightly as to what caused most of that rust. Certainly holes in the floor left untreated contribute but the biggest culprit here was the OEM padded mat, front and rear. The padding absorbs moisture to the point it becomes saturated over time, never drying out. Because the floor is in constant contact with water rust forms inside, almost always unseen until significant damage has been done.

Holes in the floor aren't good naturally but if you've ever looked under a van during wet driving weather the underside of the floor is remarkably dry. Of course wheel well areas with holes get slinging water thrown against them the rust shown more towards the center probably wasn't caused by those holes.

Anyway good progress---just don't reuse the OEM mat and make sure your front seat area is also inspected and treated as needed. It suffers from the same disease.

Here's a link to my own odyssey: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-por-15-a.html

 

What is this rust you speak of ?

 

Its a common thing where ever there are more than two seasons!

 

Did you patch the holes? I live not to far from Rockville! This is some pretty good stuff too, and a bit cheaper. I like getting it in dark grey and then top coating it with Black rustoleum.

Paint Over Rust to Stop Rust Permanently With Chassis Saver Truck & Auto Underbody Coating