Thread: Rust problems

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Well now that I have the frame welded in the car, I started trying to fix some other things. I cut out the dash and have removed the fresh air box under the dash. This was almost totaly rusted out from water and other junk getting in to the vent in front of the window. This is where the problem comes in, the top part of the vent box is the metal that runs in front of the window.
Now since most of the seam which there were three pieces of metal spot welded together, was rusted. The three pieces are the metal in front of the window, bottom of the heater box and the sides of the cab which are forward of the pillars below the front window. The part that runs in front of the window is pitted and really thin due to rusting from the inside out.
Since most of the seam was rusted thru I cut it off and decided to weld a piece of flat bar acrossed the front of the cab.
I then shaped the flat bar to follow the body lines in front of the cab.
Because the metal is so badly pitted on the bottom I am trying to weld it up higher and have cut the lower part out. I have cleaned up what is left
and have welded the flat bar on the front of the cab.
It was a good thought, but because the metal was thined so bad the welder
even on it lowest setting wants to blow thru.
So I ended up with a messed up weld beed where I had to try fixing parts that wanted to blow thru the thin metel. Instead of the clean look I was looking for. I could grind it down and throw down a fat beed weld all the way acrossed or should I just cut out the whole thing and start again.
Oh and the window vent is so cut out and sealed up.
I'm not going thru this again. Kurt

a photo would be good to see what you have. i have done some stuff like what you have the last job i did was a 63 vette bird cage that was bad they found better parts for me to make a nice fix to weld in. welding up holes on thin metal is more work and you are better putting a new chunk of metal in. all the grinding by the time your done you have very thin metal . on parts that are very hard to make or find. get the steel clean by sand blasting keep far way and low psi or you can make it go way if you blast in to hard .then lay up fiber glass it works good for jobs like this lay it up from the inside use some tape on the other side as a backer to help plug the holes when it start s to set up peel the tape off this save time on clean up you can trim the glass to with a sharp knife box cutter when its allmost set up save grinding on it

Don't quit too soon if it isn't what you will be satisfied with. Heavily pitted metal concerns me, and if it can be replaced and make the job better, I would do this.

Thanks Pat and Deuce4Papa; This is just more like a cap to the firewall and front sides of the cab. It come out about a foot in front of the windshield and 4 inches down.
It's allready been sanded down and treated on the inside with that green rust Inhibitor.
The bottom 1 1/2 inches of this cap was cut away to get rid of the really bad rust, the top part is solid just very thin. Everything below the 4 inches will be new 14 gage sheet metal, Firewall and floor, sides are still in great shape. Pat, I am planning on fiborglassing
the the walls and floor inside after all the sheetmetal is complete. This way if I have any issue's with a heater core or moister from A/C condencer, it will not rust again.
The weird thing is the floor was rusted thru on the drivers side not the passenger side like one would think. The fibor glass will be a new thing for me, I've only ever used it in a bondo type mix to keep moister out. Never used that matting type. Kurt

i work some with glass and smc did all the big truck flip hoods at a shop i work at and other stuff as well .i have worked with steel for many years working in the rust belt as a body man .for the repair i can not see how you could go wrong with a glass repair with some mat lay your mat in first as a dry run trim to fit .one trick that works good is use masking paper for you patterns trim them till you get them to fit in then lay them out on the mat and cut it out your paper patterns set the glass mat in dry and use a brush to work the resin in to the mat with a sticking or jabing action a small 2inch brush works good work the resin in the mat till it go s clear and move on till done

Pat where do you buy the big paper and fiborglass stuff from?
I don't have a digital camera but I had a picture before
I cut everything out. It is on my link, you can tell what I'm
talking about. Kurt

Originally Posted by vara4

Pat where do you buy the big paper and fiborglass stuff from?
I don't have a digital camera but I had a picture before
I cut everything out. It is on my link, you can tell what I'm
talking about. Kurt

there two paint stores here in town thats is were i pick up my stuff up from .but i have seen fiber glass at hard ware stores and boat shops i used alot of fiber gell you may like that stuff was made by swiss works like body filler i used alot of this for over head work and on smc on the semi trucks you work it in to the matt or cloth but if there alot of angles corners you will have a hard time with it

Sorry forgot the site Pat. Kurt

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtvara/