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73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Body, Glass & Paint => Topic started by: andyglines on October 09, 2001, 12:22:00 pm
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As per typical the floors in my '82 1 ton are rotten. The passenger side floor and rocker are really bad. It was originally my idea to put a piece of heavy gauge sheet metal down with self-tapping screws to repair the hole. My dad suggested that I may want to lay the area up with fiberglass instead. He said that it should be plenty strong and it won't rust. What do you think about this idea? I'm considering fixing the inner fenders using the same method.
BTW I did install a replacement rocker panel.
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Andy, as cheap as floor pans are for that truck why not do it right and put pans in it? I know the rockers aren't but about 20 bucks each and last time I bought floor pans they weren't much more. You can go aftermarket on that stuff usually pretty well because you have no body seams to line up on. Check the local parts guys and see. Heck, if anything just rivet the new floor in. It's a whole lot better than cold air coming through!!!!! Good luck, Bill
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I would definitely go with new metal. I did some body work with fiberglass over rust and the long term results were less than favorable. I'd say that if you plan on keeping the truck longer than a year go with new replacement pieces. If you plan on getting rid of the truck soon, then fiberglass is the easiest way to go. The problem with fiberglass is that it doesnt stop the rest of the metal from rusting away. The metal will rust out from under the fiberglass, leaving an even larger hole to fix. I put new cab corners and a rockerpanel on my truck this summer and it only took about a week (keep in mind thats evenings and weekends). The cab corners were like $15 each and the full lenght rocker was $22.
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For the strongest repair you definetly want to go with new metal. Make sure you remove as much rust a possible before installing the new metal pieces. You don't want to have to do the repairs again. As for parts, we have the floor pans, rockers, cab corners, etc. available online for much less than you'd pay from most other retailers. Check out the selection and prices by clicking here www.73-87chevytrucks.com/cabs.htm.
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put in new metal
Edited by: 1979blazer at: 4/21/04 11:46 pm
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Thanks for the answers. I screwed in some heavy gauge Aluminum and will undecoat it well. If it is typical of most small blocks I should get enough leakage from the valve covers to protect against rust.
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hey yeah thats right about them chevy small block valve cvrs hey
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Edited by: 1979blazer at: 4/21/04 11:46 pm
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Hey, you guys laugh about the oil leaks but here at the shop we think of it as GM's way of having long-term corrosion control!!!! At any rate, another alternative to undercoating is (beleive it or not) roofing tar. We had a 70 ss454 Chevelle we did some new floor pans in many years ago and the guy insisted that we coat the NEW pans with tar when we got done. I would've never done it myself but the end results were really nice. Put some new carpet jute over it, then new carpet and it will NEVER leak!!!! I can't imagine what it must've smelled like in the heat of the summer though :0
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great ideas Edited by: 1979blazer at: 4/21/04 11:46 pm