[59RAMBLERSUPERWAGON]

Hey guys,

So glad I found this forum, I started my journal at Hot Rod Photo Journal - 59RAMBLERSUPERWAGON's Journal

In entry two you can see the cancerous floor rot I am about to start dealing with. four main sections driver and passenger floorboards front and rear.

I am a capeable welder and have fabbed up many different parts and peices over the years. I have not however ever had to address rotten floors in #1 a car which you cannot buy ready made patch panels and #2 a unibody car. I am in no way affraid of the project, but I certianly can use any input you guys have on how to tackle this rusty situation.

Luckily the rusted areas are in sections and I assume that I should tackle one section at a time to ensure structural integrity. I have made note of where bracing in under the rotten areas and belive that I should trim around the bracing carefully first and clean the braces up and patch if nessicary.

I have some access to bead rollers and a sheer so that should help a ton. Tomorrow I will take more detailed photos of the individual sections for you all to see what I am up against. I know that there are some experianced people here and any help would be appreciated.

Scott

 

[DanTwoLakes]

Moving this to Body-Exterior.

Dan

 

[boatbob2]

Rusty Floor........

Hi,when i did my 48 ford coupe,i put the car on jackstands,and leveled it,(8 jackstands)then welded re-bar in a X pattern,front to rear,and side to side,my rockers were also rusted out,i cut the entire floor out,leaving the trans tunnel,which was good metal,then replaced rockers first,then I made up a floor section,front to rear in 1 piece, welded ON TOP of trans tunnel(overlap) about 1 inch,then same on rockers.then at the overlap,i used seam sealer,came out great...

 

[MARTINSR]

Scott, I have to say you have the cutest helper EVER, OMG she is darling, what a little sweetie!:thumbup:

On the floor, I would need to see more of where it needs to be replaced, the holes I see up there in the front are no where near any bracing or floor supports to speak of so being a unibody means nothing, just replace the rusted areas, no big deal. It doesn't have to be perfect you will never see it again after you put the carpet back down. :mwink:

If it's rusted over a floor support it still is no big deal, drill the welds out and remove it and weld in a new piece.

I have a 59 Rambler too, by mine is the lowly American not a big and fancy Super Cross Country like Kaitlyn gets to work on.

On my floor it wasn't as bad with only small rust holes so I did a quicky sand blast, epoxy primer then fiberglass job over it.

By the way, one trick to locating all the rust is to clean that floor all up then when it's a little dark put a drop light under the car.

Brian

 

[swvalcon]

Scott. From the looks of your pictures it looks like a mn car. If your rocker panels are good I wouldn't be to worried about cutting out the floor. I would still cut it out in sections but most of the stringth in a unibody is in the rocker panels. The hard part is trying to do a nice job on the underside when you can't turn the car over and all the work has to be done laying on your back on the floor. Just be sure what ever you do to seal it up good and try to get some epoxy on it before you undercoat. Lots of times I will epoxy both sides of new floor before I weld it in that way all you have to worry about is where you weld.

 

[farna]

Not quite swvalcon -- the old Rambler bodies have rails much like frame rails that run the entire length of the car. Only the newer models (63+ for Ramblers, except the 63 American, which was old style) from the early to mid 60s are built in the "three box" method (engine box, passenger box. trunk box) with the rockers being the main support for the passenger (center) box. I tink Mercededs may have been the first to make unit body cars using the three box method, not sure. I don't think AMC was the first US maker to do it, but they were the first to make "unisides". The door frame sides are all one welded piece. There is a large stamping, but a lot of reinforcement is welded in. Then the whole side unit is stood up on the edge of the floor/platform and welded on. Almost all of them are made that way now.

Just cut the floors out in sections. The rear floors aren't real bad. If you're building this as primarily a driver/cruiser you can use some type of rust neutralizing treatment or paint then put a piece of metal over the center of the rear floor (where it's rusted away) then fiberglass over the whole thing. As long as the rusted metal is sealed away from moisture and air it won't rust any more (rust is oxidation -- no oxygen, no more rust). Fiberglass on top to bond it all together and seal, rubberized undercoating underneath. But of course since you have the tools and skills simply cut one floor out at a time.

The rails pass under the front floors at an angle. Easy to see once you're underneath. There are also cross supports under the front seats. As already suggested, cut around those then clean and weld new material to the supports. As long as the main "frame" rails are reasonably solid you're good to go. those old Rambler bodies are a lot stiffer than the newer unit bodies.

 

[59RAMBLERSUPERWAGON]

Faena, most deffinatly a daily driver. Once the project is completed I will hand my 1990 subaru wagon over to my 15 yr old son and I will drive the rambler.

Sad that the rambler gets better mileage than the subaru Haha.

 

[59RAMBLERSUPERWAGON]

Ok guys I posted new photos of the floorpan up close here Hot Rod Photo Journal - 59RAMBLERSUPERWAGON's Journal

you can see some of the floor trusses and the ground hahaha

 

[farna]

Those front floors are definitely bad on the sides, but can be fixed. Before you do much work on the floors pull the front fenders. You're going to find a lot of rust through where the front inner wheel panels meet the firewall. Those rust then let water in at the cowl. Stuff gets trapped under the fender and eventually causes rust. Design flaw? Not really -- takes 20 years to rust out, and the cars were never intended to last that long. Early Mustangs have the same problems, took 20+ years for those problems to develop though.

 

[59RAMBLERSUPERWAGON]

Farna, thanks for the heads up, I will inspect as recommended. I just wanna stave the dern thing.... Habana. Well I've waited over 25 years to have a classic, guess a lil longer won't kill me.

 

[farna]

Another member decided against rebuilding one due to the rot under the fenders. It always looks a lot worse than it is in those cars, mainly due to the full length rails. The cowl area isn't as major a structural part as it is with newer unit bodies. Take some pics and post them if you find some rust under the fenders -- I'm pretty familiar with these bodies.

 

[farna]

I was just admiring your work over in your journal -- great job! That under floor bracing that you uncovered was spot welded to the floor. You need to either drill a few holes and weld them up (creating new spots) or get underneath and make a few 1/2" or so welds along the edges at 4-6" intervals. That should get it back to factory stiffness.

When you need help with that OD let me know! The most common cause of a non-functioning OD is dirty contacts in the governor and the solenoid. There are two sets of contact points in the solenoid and one in the governor. They get a little burned over time and the OD ceases to function. They usually just need a good cleaning (file/sand, as when cleaning ignition points). If the wiring and all looks good that's probably what's wrong.

 

[59RAMBLERSUPERWAGON]

Hey Farna, thanks I really enjoy doing the journal, I really want to document the work how ever slow it may be. I will address the od soon so I will hit ya up. I wish there was a place for comments on the journals, would love that feedback.