Rust Repair

Got the vitals of the van running ok, now just cosmetic work. I want to do a more thorough job but don't have time or the resources (like a garage) right now.

Engine's good-just need to get it rejetted is the word. Here's what I've done so far as to fixing front floorboards and rear door pillars of rust:

Before:




As you can see I had to grind a lot of it away; a lot of layers.

And after: The primer's the same color as rust; I put fiberglass over holes



and with mats in place:



Def looking forward to getting underbody coated!

Here's the back pillars:



I've heard the Chevy vans always get corroded in this driver's side back pillar.

And after: We'll need to do something more eventually but I treated the rust & leakage:



I'm not mechanically savvy tho have some shop/fab experience. We bought this van b/c I love old cars & wanted a beach van, but we didn't know what we were getting into! It's definitely a "learn as you go" project, but it's ok though, it's been a blast so far.

BTW, what is a Basket Case? I've heard the term mentioned and it does not sound good. I'm hoping my van isn't one!

The term "Basket Case" comes from the days when a motorcycle or an old 30's car was completely disassembled, then given up on and sold to a new owner. The new guy got all his parts, nuts, and bolts in bushel baskets and had to figure out how to put it back together hiself. A lot of parts came up missing or were replaced with the incorrect part. It made putting one back together a challenge. It could also mean a car or bike that was assembled from odds and ends, mismatched pieces.

Duane in Tennessee.

These are just my thoughts and others may disagree. My van was in perhaps worse shape from what I have seen pics of . To me, I call mine a resurrection not a restoration. To have saved it from the jaws of death and get some more road time out of it is a labor of love. The bonus being it can be fun if you look at it the right way. With a lot of rust repair and patching it will never be like a near pristine restoration but it will get the same head turns and thumbs ups. Also it allows you to do all kinds of things to it you might not want to do to something in "better" condition. JM2C

" It could also mean a car or bike that was assembled from odds and ends, mismatched pieces. " LOL Then Mine is a basket case !

The looks from people are great. Seattle has notoriously bad drivers but folks love seeing it on the road & will let us into traffic etc.
I'm glad to find out the (other!) meaning of "basket case"- I think mine might be one as well; that's ok though, because I'm really knocking the dust off of all my tools! My SO loves it as well-reminds him of his days on the farm lol.
We're definitely in for the win with this one- truly is rewarding work but would have been much more difficult w/o this site. Resurrection is the perfect word for the amazing work I've seen on here. I'm aiming at preventing further damage and installing an interior for now. We've just installed a new 12v outlet that will be attached to an auxillary battery, pics & diagram to follow