Removing the RUST

I need a little advice on removing rust, and keeping it from coming back.

The floor in front of the driver has a bunch of little holes, and the seam of metal that follows those holes is rusty too.



At the bottom of the drives door there was a little hole, shoving a screwdriver in the hole has made it much bigger, and has caused a lot of rust to pour out. I’m guessing bad rubber around the door hinges caused the rust.



What would you do?

So, remove all the rust I can, cut out what I can't, weld in new metal, then use Por-15.

Finsih it off using bondo or fiberglass?

That simple?

I'm going to have to cut a section from the door frame to get to that rust aren't I?

Hello Scott.
I had a similar problem with my floor. Some may have a problem with how I dealt with it. But I wire wheeled it de- greased it real well and used "Rust Doctor." Then fiberglassed over the weaker pin holey part. I figured it is the floor and it didn't need to be real pretty

The rust under the driver's feet may be caused by leaky windshield. Also check out the fuse box - it may show signs of rust as well (mine does).

I have used Jasco metal etch to convert surface rust to iron phosphate - it turns black and then can be primered. I used this procedure on the wheel well platforms on a '50 Plymouth and it's stayed rust free for about 14 years now.

I haven't looked at the bottoms of the doors on my '67 chevy van, but I'm wondering if there are weep holes down there to drain out any water that gets in (a lot will get in via the windows). Often I've seen such weep holes plugged up by tree leaves/debris and it seems that's where the door bottom trouble can start.

The windshield needs to be replaced, so if moisture is coming in there it will be fixed anyway, I’ll check out that fuse box when I get home.

As far as the doorframe goes, I don’t know if there was a weep-hole there or not, but putting one in may be a good idea. As long as the bare metal is coated afterward it shouldn’t start rusting.

I’ve bought Etching Primer, but that’s not what your talking about is it?

I don’t think I’m going to be able to get all the rust out of that seam, the metal looks layered there; I may have to cut that part out and weld in new metal. Just didn’t know how effective the Metal Etch stuff would be, like would it penetrate the thick seam. My guess is that it won’t, that it will just change the rust it comes in contact with, and the rust beneath it will continue to grow and make the floor weaker

Covering it with fiberglass is something I considered too; just don’t know enough about it to know how effective that will be. I guess I would need to do both sides to keep the rust from growing on the bottom too.

I’m typically far to cheap to have it proofed by a professional, but after doing what it takes to get the rust cut, welded, fiber-glassed, whatever, I will probably be more then ready to fork out money to keep it from happen again.

It looks like the hinges have to come off to put those rubber grommets on anyway..
Right? Or are they cut on the bottom to reach around the hinge?

That might be the time to cut a slice from the doorframe to see how bad the damage is on the inside.

Time to start saving my lunch money for a Mig welder?

There's two ways to deal with rust. One is rust removal. The second is rust encapsulation.

The best is a combination of both. Remove the rust, then encapsulate the metal where the rust was, and where any small amounts of rust might still be.

Sandblasting, wire wheeling, chemicals (Picklex-20, Evapo-Rust, Naval Jellies, etc.......they all work well to remove the rust. Then use a product like Master Series Silver, Por-15, Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator, Rust Bullet etc. to seal the metal. These paints offer an oxygen barrier preventing oxygen from getting in, so rust can't continue.

Which products are best? It's all a matter of opinion. I've had good luck with Por-15, but I've also had really bad luck with it. I've had the same results with Master Series Silver. I think I like Master Series the best because of it's ease of application and UV resistant properties.