73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Body, Glass & Paint => Topic started by: bigtee72 on March 04, 2008, 07:05:22 pm
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I recently purchased a '74 Chevy pickup. Good shape for the year. My problem is I ripped up the carpet(damp) on the passenger side floor. There is a whole about 1 1/2"w x 3" long. It starts right at the edge of the fuel tank and goes from there. My brother and I are going to sheet metal it from the underside with a good thick piece. I want to treat it with something then coat it. Does anybody have any reccomendations? By the way, Spent all the money on the truck. Kinda of a tight budget.
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Why not just buy a replacement panel from Chris. By the time you screw around trying to get
" a good thick piece " to fit. The short money for the correct patch panel will be well spent!
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I'm kinda new at this. I don't know who Chris is. Is this something I have to weld (don't know how anyway) or can I rivet it in?
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Welcome to the site. Chris owns, & runs this site. You can rivet the floor patches in. I have done that in the past. Cut out the bad section, overlap the new panel, and rivet it down where ever it overlays the old floor and or the floor support. seam seal it up, scuff it, & paint it. Check the catalog out here.
http://store.73-87chevytrucks.com/merchant2/
Should be able to find the parts you need.
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Why not just buy a replacement panel from Chris. By the time you screw around trying to get
" a good thick piece " to fit. the short money for the correct patch panel will be well spent!
+1
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I appreciate your hospitality. Now is it better to place it inside the cab or do it from underneath?
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I overlapped mine inside, but I welded. Here is my writeup - with alot of help from Blazin ;)
http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=5661.0
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Put it down from the inside unless you want to do allot of work. Plus if you try to put in up from below you will need a a welder, and most likely a new cab support too.
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Yeah my cab support is there but kind of holey. Well thank you. We'll see how it goes. Any sealer you recommend? It has a rubber mat on the floor with a 1/2 inch carpet underlay under it.
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Any auto body sealer will work. I would ditch the carpet and just have rubber mat if it were me. The carpet is the reason its rotted out. holds all the water.
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Alright Blazin, your my new buddy. I appreciate all your help. Now I have a new question. We just had a bunch of rain. Now I went out to check the floor and I noticed it was wet on the floor board (passenger side) Right where the floor slopes up. Right where the floor meets the side panel. EVERYTHING else is dry. Could it be running down the outside firewall and then in somewhere?
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It could be the heater box, but most likely you have rust in your cowl area. If you look down in where your wiper transmission assembly is I would bet you will find rust holes there.
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Alright I'll give it a look see.
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Well I looked. I noticed a drop of water on the floor vent right near the open handle. Then another one right above the floor vent itself. I just can't locate where it is coming from.
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I have a '74 F/S Chevy pickup. The front winshield seal doesn't meet the body at the corners. This last rain we had I found water drops on the foot kickboard above the floor vent on the passenger side. Is this possible?
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Yes it is possible that it is leaking from there. Is the glass/gasket new?
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Open the hood and look down in the cowl area under the plastic screen. See what is collected in there and clean it out. If there is holes in there you found your problem.
I am Chris BTW.
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Hey Chris I noticed that the windshield seal doesn't meet the body in any of the corners. Is this a possibility?
I am Troy.
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No I'm guessing they are original, Or at least a couple years old. The only reason I ask is I noticed the dashboard doesn't attach at the end. Plus is this typical or not?
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Not quite sure what you mean by the dash doesn't attach at the end? The dash and windshield don't have any thing to do with each other. I have seen windshield gaskets that don't fit well into the corners, but never had that be a leak issue.
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I didn't think I explained that too good huh? I thought the ends of the dashboard fit up snug against thr body near the front of the doors. But I've seen they don't. Therefore I thought water could link in at the top or bottom corner of the windshield and leak down the side of the kickpanel.
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OK that area is not a perfect fit. Even if it did fit well water would get past it. I would put money on it you have rust hole, or holes inside your cowl area. I have seen them have rust issues down inside there even on a truck that is very clean every where else.
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Alright, Thank you Blazin'. I will definately take a better look and let you know how I made out. Thanks for your patience.
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How many post do you have on this? I know I mentioned looking down in the cowl area for holes and debris that could cause a rusting issue...
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I believe I found the problem. I removed my glove box and looked up in. I found a hole that looked like a grommet used to be in there. I stuck a screwdriver in it and reached my hand down into the cowl and felt the tip sticking out. It had some light water marks below it so I siliconed it shut.
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You probably want to invest in fixing that with some good metal, until you remove the rust, it will keep growing.
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Bigtee, The water is the reason the floor rusted out, without it, you have no problem. A few additional places I have found that have been a problem: As you asked, the windshield, water can come in between the glass & the rubber or between the rubber & the body, it can be hard to see with the dash pad on, but look at the very lower corners on the inside (maybe remove the dashpad), the cowl vents & screws & the 3/8" holes in the cowl, just ahead of the fender bolt in the door jamb (you can hardly see it with the fender in place). Cab lights (if equipped) are another possibility. Good Luck, water leaks can be tough to find, Lorne
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Thank you Lorne, I appreciate the input.