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Old 10-14-2009, 01:09 PM   #1
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Quick question: rust inhibitor and plugging holes

Hi:

Got my van back from having the 12V work done so I'm ready to begin my serious work (prior to the 12V work, all I had done was pull the absurdly heavy bench seats and sell them to a salvage yard, remove the seat belts, and clean, clean, clean!)

Today I pulled up the carpet, padding and cardboard layer between. Scary. There will be some more serious cleaning to be done!

RUST. A couple of the floor bolts/washers that were under the carpet & padding are rusted. After I attack them with a wire brush, what should I paint them with to inhibit further rust development?

HOLES. There are 12 bolt holes from the seat brackets; you can see the road below. I could put a bolt into each one to fill/seal them, but in some cases the hole is on the ridge of the floor, not in a trough, so that would play havoc with putting down my plywood layer. Is there another, flatter way to seal the holes? Maybe a hole-less washer (ie metal disk) attached with some sort of really good adhesive?

Thanks!

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Old 10-14-2009, 01:44 PM   #2
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Re: Quick question: rust inhibitor and plugging holes

dont know about the holes
but POR 15 is the Gold Standard in the VW restoration part of the world
for rust

http://www.por15.com/

bw out
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Old 10-14-2009, 02:15 PM   #3
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Re: Quick question: rust inhibitor and plugging holes

Just get someone with a wire welder (Mig) to weld them shut then a little grinding, then primer and paint. Hey Presto, no more holes...
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Old 10-14-2009, 03:28 PM   #4
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Re: Quick question: rust inhibitor and plugging holes

Easy go... about the holes if you want to fit seat belts to your SMB/RV setup why not use some of them?

About rust I use Brunox epoxy treatment with either Tectyl or Waxoyl (those are European products...) Or Dinitrol is supposed to be the best... that is what all german cars come off the line with nowadays...

How about some pics? Even the empty van... I would be very interested to see what a stripped Ford looks like...

Congrats for the electrical installation... I still have to do mine... but I rely on my "Jenny" for now
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Old 10-14-2009, 03:53 PM   #5
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Re: Quick question: rust inhibitor and plugging holes

I used bolts in the troughs, and siliconed some cut-to-fit extra flooring material over the remaining holes. You could stick anything over there, so long as you seal it up very well. Alternatively, if you can reach the holes (I seem to remember the non-trough holes being near the edge of the floor) you could screw a bolt in from below.

Re: rust inhibitor - why not buy new stainless steel hardware instead? Your local Napa should have it in stock, for a few bucks.

Cheers!
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Old 10-14-2009, 07:59 PM   #6
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Re: Quick question: rust inhibitor and plugging holes

Thanks Saabman & Mike!

I will try getting some pictures tomorrow and putting them here (also a new adventure). I'm afraid that there isn't much to look at yet, other than a very dirty floor! And my roof fan!

I will not need additional seat belts (just the two front seats will suffice), but I do plan to use at least four, possibly six, of the bolt holes to secure the bunk and cabinets using Simpson Strong-ties (number A31, I believe). The remainder in the troughs I will simply put bolts in, secured by a dab of silicon sealer. For the holes on the ridges, perhaps a thin piece of sheet metal (electrical knockout?) held in place with a healthy dose of silicon sealer will do since the plywood will be screwed firmly on top of them.

I hope I can source the M12 x 1.75 bolts at Napa or Carquest. Like an idiot, when I disposed of the seats and brackets at the salvage yard, I forgot to keep the bolts.

As for replacing the two rusted bolts, I assume that they are, well, holding something important on the underside of the van. If I remove them, then the important thing would, presumably, fall off or at least dangle in a precarious position. So, since I am working alone on this and have no one to send underneath the van to catch the (undoubtedly large) important thing, I think I will have to settle for cleaning and rust-inhibiting any more rust formation, rather than replacing the bolts.

By the way, the carpet came up rather nicely (if you don't count all of the fiber padding stuck to the underside) so it will be an excellent template for cutting the plywood.
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Old 10-14-2009, 10:33 PM   #7
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Re: Quick question: rust inhibitor and plugging holes

About those bolts. They attach the body to the frame.
This is what it looks like from underneath:

Yours underneath probably won't look this rusty.
I don't think they salt the roads in Texas as much as they do up here.

Be sure it's just the bolt head and washer that are rusty and not the area around it also:


My van came with several deck holes from where the PO had installed shelving.
These holes came with their own rust issues.

Here is the method I used.
Grind off the rust at the top of the hole:


Underneath the van scrape the hole with a wire brush.
Treat both sides with a rust converter.
I used Purple Power deruster from Advance Auto.
WARNING: Don't get it on your concrete.
After the converter dries cover the bottom of the hole with duct tape:


Cover the hole from above with the all powerful BONDO:




After the Bondo sets, sand and paint.
Since this will be hidden by decking I used off-the-shelf white auto spray paint.
Not worried about color matching:


Underneath the van, remove the duct tape:


Paint over the area with Rust Bullet:


YMMV
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Old 10-15-2009, 04:27 PM   #8
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Re: Quick question: rust inhibitor and plugging holes

WVvan, thanks for taking the time and effort to post all the photos and write up -- very helpful!


Today I tried to source the bolts to fill the 22 holes that I will not be using for cabinets. Locally I have two options:
1. basic black unplated, ungalvanized bolts at $0.25 each from a local bolt shop
2. zinc plated bolts at $1.46 each from Home Depot, which becomes quite pricey for 22 bolts.

Carquest and Napa did not carry M12 x 1.75 bolts in stock.

My concern with (1) is that they will rust. However, the fellow at the bolt shop said that after screwing them in, I could simply coat them with a Rustoleum-type primer, and then a coat of enamel, which would prevent any rusting (the threads may rust, but who cares? these will never be removed as they will be under the plywood.)

Does that seem reasonable? I'll be buying product to treat the rusted bolts anyway, so I will have that on hand.

Thanks!
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Old 10-15-2009, 05:45 PM   #9
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Re: Quick question: rust inhibitor and plugging holes

Just a little help, If you use duraglass (it is waterproof) instead of bondo it will last longer.
Good Luck, Looks Good...
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Old 10-15-2009, 06:57 PM   #10
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Re: Quick question: rust inhibitor and plugging holes

Thanks for the tip Spurious.
Since I finished off that can of Bondo I''ll try the Duraglass next.
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