While stripping out the old holey vinyl flooring in my truck ( i got a new one ) I noticed that there was a bunch of tiny pinholes. I think 1/4 is the biggest one.
I seen some have used Bill Hirsch Miracle paint or POR 15.. these paints are very watery in nature, working on the inside of the truck is not a problem, but how would i go about applying it from under the truck ? or would i have to do the underside ?

 

The problem with the waterproof floor covering is that when it gets wet underneath, it stays wet. That's how my floor rusted through from the inside out. You could use the "screen door boat bottom" spray stuff but you would just be buying a little time. Absolutely stay away from POR 15. It is arguably the best product out there for rust prevention. You absolutely must read and follow all label directions. To use a good rust preventative , you'll have to start with good metal.

My "holey" mat got torn up where my heel rested on it. Years of rain or melting snow got under it and I was left with rusty metal. I bit the bullet and welded in a patch panel. Painted inside and out with the same paint I painted the rest of the truck with.

 

If you don't want to mess with putting a floor pan in place, you can go to the store and get some fiberglass resin and hardener, and a piece of fiberglass mat or cloth. Working from the inside, clean the rust off with a wire wheel or brush. Blow it off, and then mix batch of hardener and resin in a small container. Get a brush and paint the mixed resin on the area to repair and cut your cloth to size and press it onto the area you just painted. Then take the brush and paint more resin on top of the cloth , making the resin soak the cloth.

When it dries it will strengthen the area with the pin holes, and seal it off also. You can paint it or whatever on top, and I would undercoat or paint the underneath to stop it from rusting anymore. Makes a nice strong repair if you don't have the tools to mess with a metal patch, especially since you have a lot of metal still there.

 

Boy, using this website on a tablet is extremely slow..
I'm starting to think I might need to get someone to help me work on this body work,, i think it's a bit over my head.
I might be able to do the inside, but the underside I'm not comfortable doing..
Here are some pictures of the floor
the floor looks worse than it is...a lot of the batting stuck to the floor..

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What's wrong with the underside? Once you fix the inside, all you have to do is slap some undercoating or paint on the underside correct?

 

A lot has to do with the how you want the job to look when finished, the tools at hand and your skills.
From the sounds you don't have a lot of tools or the skills to make it look factory and that is just fine.

Also know when you start cleaning the floor pans the holes will get bigger and more will show up.
The hardest part will be the under side for cleaning and fixing.
I think for you the fiberglass rosin & matt is the way to go. Use the matt top side and just rosin on the under side
then coat both with a brush / roll on bed liner for protection.
Also pull the metal plugs on the floors as that is access to the front cab bolts and if you glass them in you will never get them off.
Do all the repair then put the plugs back in.

I have the tools I skill so I took the cab off the frame to do my floors, rockers, cab corners, and rear door post.
After welding them in I used 1 coats of seam sealer on the edges top and bottom and 2 coats of bed liner top and bottom.




Dave ----

 

Oh I should say once you have either rubber mat or carpet no one will see the top side and if the get under to look kick them and run LOL
I was given a used carpet and floor matts that matched the truck color so I installed them after I did a over drive install & transmission swap.
It is so quite now with the carpet over the bare bed lined floor.

Dave ----

 

See all those factory dips and bumps in the floor? If you take your time and slop the resin on there good and work the cloth into those dips and bumps, when it dries and you give it a coat of paint, the fiberglass cloth method doesn't look too shabby.

 

If you just fiberglass over it, I'd get some phosphoric acid or some kind of rust converter and apply that before the fiberglass.
Try and kill as much rust as possible first.

 

Franklin II >> Yes,, that was what i was thinking to do,, but applying to the underside might get all over myself as well..I guess undercoating would be the easiest..
I don't plan to travel in the bad weather, as this truck will just be just a back up vehicle, and a hauler, or trailer puller for when i need to carry stuff ( like a load of dirt, or trash run. )
the truck will be under cover most of the time..
I could order me some phosphoric acid to stop the rust.
Was planning to use a wire wheel / wire brush to clean up a lot of the rust.
Still may take it to someone that knows more than i do.. I'm more able with electrical, and fairly good with mechanical, so long as i don't have to go internally
Thanks for the advice..

FUZZFACE2 >> I had to do a double take, as i didn't realize that was your truck...looks great..

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a $30 angle grinder with a wire brush will clean off that rust in no time at all. POR15 is expensive stuff, but I've always had good results. I've used POR15 degreaser/cleaner and metal prep and followed the directions and havent had any issues. I'm in the middle of using it on a tool box "restoration". If you clean up the rust really well, fibreglass is probably the quickest/simplest. If there were just one or two pinholes, I myself would just JB Weld it, but it looks like you have a pretty good area to cover.

 

The truck had been sitting for years, bad door seals, leaking under the dash etc.
I got the leak under the dash fixed.. I don't know if the Miracle Paint is the same as POR15.
I had scraped away all the rust that i could. and just painted on several layers of the stuff, and then I bridged the gap with cloth..
What i did was paint the cloth and then waited til it was tacky, then bridged the gap with it, let it dry. then later did a few more payers over the cloth..
the stuff hardens pretty well. I did 2 layers of cloth and a few more payers of the Miracle paint. I doubt that will ever leak again. I was impressed with it..
I was thinking to do the same, since i have no fiberglass experience..
my biggest concern was to find an easier was to paint the bottom side without it running all over me..as the stuff is very watery..
was thinking under body spray, but i do not know how well it works..does it stay rubbery or does it harden, sticky ?

 

I'm not sure about Miracle Paint, but POR15 chemically bonds with rust. In fact, once all the loose rust is gone, straight over rust with POR15, and then top coat it with anything you want. Just do it while the POR15 is just barely tacky. POR15 doesnt react well to the sun, and some people will say that you wont need to top coat it on the bottom of your truck, but if you park it on concrete there will be reflection. I'm not a fan of underbody spray, especially over rusty surfaces. The rust will grow underneath and you'll never see it until its WAY bad. If you arent going to remove the rust underneath, either use POR15 or a rust converter. Otherwise it'll bite you in the *** down the road. There are a ton of videos on youtube on how to use fibreglass. May seem intimidating with no experience, but it really is simple.

 

Don't know why you are afraid of fiberglass, it's not that difficult. And when you are done you will have a strong repair since you have a lot of metal still there.

Just buy the cloth and the resin, the little tube of hardener is in the top of the resin can lid. This can all be bought at the car parts store.

Lay the cloth out and cut it to fit the area to repair. That metal is thinner than you think, I would try to cover a good bit of it.

Get a small plastic container, a cheap paint brush.

Pour some resin in the container, and then squirt a little bit of hardener in the container. Read the directions but you can estimate the amount of hardener. Then stir it up good.

The directions will tell you to soak the cloth and then install it. That makes too much of a mess. I found the best way is after you mix the resin up, eyeball the area where the cloth is laying, and then take it up out of the way. Take your brush and paint the whole metal area where the cloth was laying with the resin. Then lay the cloth back down and take the brush and push it into the resin on the metal, while gettng some more resin out of the can and soaking the cloth with the brush. Work it in good.

If you run out of time, the resin will start getting stiff. Hurry up and get done what you can, and if you did not get done or you ran out of resin, get another container and another paint brush, mix some more resin, and keep going. I recommend you go to dollar tree and get some cheap brushes and small plastic containers.

When you get done, leave it overnight. When you come back in the morning you will be impressed with your repair. A little paint or undercoating and it will look great.

 

I'm nervous about doing it..
so i'm gonna ask a few more questions before i bite the bullet...
Ok.. about how much working time do i have with the resin once it's mixed ?
Is the stuff sold as a kit ? or do i have to buy all individual parts ?
As for the containers, what to use and avoid ?
Also,, what attention will the underside need if any ?
You make it sound easier than I think..
Thanks for the encouragement... I'll keep yall posted.

As for that POR15..it sounds exactly like the same stuff as the Miracle Paint
Maybe someone knows the difference ?