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jdenglish Member
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Group, I got off lucky in the trunk, just some pitting. Flushed with success I crawled under the car and got a real shock. The floorboards were rusted all the way through. Thick open cell foam carpet pad and carpet did their job. I know I've got to cut it out, but the rust seriously penetrated the longitudinal box beams. I think the undercoating may be all that's holding it together. I scoured the list but couldn't find a related article. Is there re-bar and epoxy in my future? Thanks, John |
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JodyKerr Member 
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John, What you're describing is a common problem. I've got to do the same thing with my blue Jensen Healey when I work on it. Jim @ Delta has the necessary weld in replacement planels for the floorboards and the seat supports. When you say longitudinal supports, are you referring to the two "beams" that run front to back on the chassis underneath the floorboards? I'm not certain if those are available anywhere. From what I've seen in the past, generally those are salvageable with a fair bit of cleaning. The welding itself is pretty straightforward if you know how to weld. Post pictures for more commentary. Jody |
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jdenglish Member
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I'll give Jeff a call this morning. It is in fact the ones that run front to back. My theory on the box beam literally would be 1/2" epoxy coated rebar placed inside and an injection of colloidal exoxy to fill the voids. I'll post some pictures after the autopsy has been completed |
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Jensen Healey Super Moderator 
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LOL! That's the first time I've heard of re-bar used in car repair! Why not build a concrete beam? And don't forget the lally columns. Seriously, just have your local sheetmetal shop bend some galv 16ga into a hat channel and weld or rivet it in place? I covered the bent up originals that some moron had been using for jacking points. Kurt |
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Judson Manning Member 
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Rebar and Angle Iron... My similar story is continuously welding two 3/4"x3/4"x1/8" pieces of angle iron down the "frame rails" to tie the front and rear suspension pick-up points together. Add in a little plate steel and 13492's undercarriage is ready for battle. Sheet metal finished out the floorboards. Of course this is overkill, but i was motivated to go to such extremes after i noticed the passanger footwell was bowed up about 3" after a few laps at Talladega. Before then I really didn't know a monocoque could twist like that! |
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LambandAndy Member 
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Attached is an excert from an from an article I wrote for the JHPS magazine some time back. It might give you some pointers (perhaps on how not to do it). Andy |
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LambandAndy Member
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Seems like the attachment was too big. Send me your email address (to limey01@aol.com) and I'll send it to you. Andy |
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jdenglish Member
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I just received my replacement floor pans and seat rails from Delta. Since there is virtually nothing left of the front to rear floor rail stiffener on either side, I'm wondering just where to cut particularly at the rear suspension attachments and not risk misaligning the whole thing. What materials to use to make the new stiffener. I presume the replacement would be welded in place first and the floor pan welded to it. Spot welded or continuous? How to keep the thing from rusting out again from underneath ? What to put on the topsides..Dynamat, Ethefoam? Thanks John |
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jdenglish Member
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The process started by making an exoskeleton of rectangular steel tubing that was welded to the outside rails to stabilize the monoque when thefloor pans were removed. Floor pan were cut and spot welded in place. I extended a piece of heavy gauged rectangular stee tubing between the sub frames. Under coating reapplied and soon the old lump will be reinserted. Had the great luck the use of a frame lift during the process. Kids, don't try this at home! Still have scabs from learning how to weld. |
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chiromaster Member
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I am in the same rusty boat. Any updates on the process and progress? Any pictures |
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jdenglish Member
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The project was just completed last week. The Delta pans were for model years 72-74 and since mine is a 75 they required a lot of hand fitting. The small pneumatic body saw at Harbor Freight ($19.95) was invaluable. It cut the panels like a hot knife through butter. Used a couple of tubes of 3M body seam sealer, undercoated with 3M Body Schutz, sprayed the inside with "Lizard Skin" ceramic coating and over that applied Fat Mat - similar to Dynamat and then the Delta carpet kit. After wiring was completed everything worked but the fuel gauge. It was started and ran great although it has a very load induction growl below 3000 rpm. I use past tense because my Conversion Components NZ clutch release bearing failed after 30 minutes........I'm trying to summon the courage to take it all apart again. I was not a careful documentor but I do have some pictures. I'll try and put them together and burn a CD. Leave me your contact information at jdenglish@comcast.net |
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