The Great Aluminum/Epoxy Resin Laminate Rusted Floor Fix Caper"

Another thing that I've found is that one doesn't have to wait till the resin is cured to continue the aluminum laminate build up.

Hey Guys! I think that this may just work GREAT. Only time will tell if the aluminum won't adhere to the epoxy. If it does, this is a pretty neat fix for holes rusted in the floor!

Hope you all are well.

Jc I know that fiberglass won't adhere to aluminum foil because when I fixed a hole in the floor on my 73 suburban I used cardboard covered with aluninum foil for the big holes I put that underneat and poured the fiberglass reisen on the cloth on top to keep it from driping through and once it hardened I was able to remove the cardboard and foil easily. It made a great floor I had that truck for 10 years and it never leaked or cracked.

Originally Posted by 64Ragtop

JC, I know that fiberglass won't adhere to aluminum foil because when I fixed a hole in the floor on my 73 suburban I used cardboard covered with aluminum foil for the big holes I put that underneath and poured the fiberglass resin on the cloth on top to keep it from dripping through, and once it hardened I was able to remove the cardboard and foil easily. It made a great floor I had that truck for 10 years and it never leaked or cracked.

Hey 64RT, I can see how that would happen. BUT, the aluminum foil that I'm putting down is sealed at the edges and isn't "hanging", but rather "lying" on the surface. I don't think it will slide laterally, and with a pad, and carpet on top of it, it isn't going to go anywhere. And even if the epoxy doesn't adhere to the foil, it will cure into the complex shape of the floor, and if I would just lift it out of position, it would be much like a piece of formed metal.

I've got five coats of resin, and four layers of foil so far. And what I'm finding is that even though the resin is pretty thick into the curing, I can go out and push on it and do a better job of forming the foil to be more like the original floor shape.

I'm even thinking that after I get it all laminated to where it is about 3/32" thick, that I may put a short pop rivet in each corner.

Actually, I'm pretty much satisfied with the quality of this Disneyland (read that M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E) fix.

I'll put some undercoating on the bottom side, and with the carpet over the top, one will never know what has been done to it.

Still, tomorrow when it's all cured, I may give it a bit of a test to see if I can get it to turn loose.

I'll let you know how that goes.

Hope you are well.

JC

Originally Posted by ShotRod64

Never know, but the edges where the epoxy escapes the foil sandwich might also help to keep the layers from separating.

Hey mon Deb,
I'm thinking the same thing.

Being under carpet once you are done will help with the longevity if it works out well for ya.

Well, in doing the forming of the foil, I push on the top layer, and I can't tell where the hole used to be, it's THAT strong!

I have noticed that there are sometimes air bubbles under the foil, and I can either "chase" them to an edge, or I can do what we used to do with vinyl signs, and just poke the bubble with the point of an Exacto knife, and then rub on the bubble and the air escapes through the hole.

Deb, I think this is going to work! But what bothers me is like I asked Gary: "Do you think that whom ever gets the 3.14 when I've gone to the great Bread Van in the Sky is going to say: 'Would you look at what this A$$HAT did with all that aluminum foil!'?" Of course, it isn't going to make me lose any sleep then, now will it?

Anyway, it's about time for me to go back out and do the final press-down of this layer of foil.

There isn't going to be any difference in the JPG after eight layers of foil and one layer of foil, so I don't figure on making any more JPGs of this operation.

I've just got four more places to patch. I think I'm going to pop rivet a solid piece of aluminum where the accelerator pedal attaches though. I don't think that a foil laminate would hold up there very well.

Hope you are doing well.

JC

I never looked for JC. LOL

JC, what can the future owners say? Some people still use tin can lids to cover mouse holes and i remember old houses with newspaper under the linoleum I guess for insulation so they might just be amazed and think it was done way way back. And if they think you were an a-hat, heck with them, you do what you gotta do.

I was told to get a life recently because of car talk in a group of 30 women. Think I should take up crochet. quilting or needlepoint? That sounds pretty durn lively to me! LOL No wonder I never fit in with women, too much liveliness!

So you just go on with your bad self and patch that hole with your tinfoil. Maybe I'll learn in the mean time how to crochet and make ya a little teeny beenie hat for the tip of your antenna. Probably not though, couldn't handle the excitement! Just have to wrap the yarn around it and call it macaroni! hahaha

JC, the real question is can you be satisfied with the patches? That is what really matters here, not what someone in the furture may think about the repair. As I have said before that is not the way I would make the repair but guess what I made new patch pannels for my floors and had a guy this week tell me he would not habe butt welded the pannels in he would have overlapped them. I had to tell him I did the repairs for me not for him and that if he would like them some other way on his car then he was more than welcome to do them his self. He decided that my way would be ok.
The point is it is your car to do with what you wish.

Scott...

Originally Posted by one37tudor

JC, the real question is can you be satisfied with the patches? That is what really matters here, not what someone in the future may think about the repair.

Hey Scott,
Thanks for the reality check.

I went out last twilight, and perused (looked at and put my hands on) what I had done, and I thought to myself: The patch that I've gotten four layers of foil on feels like it's about a 12 gauge metal patch. I tapped it with my finger right over where the hole is, and it feels and sounds like it's a metal pan welded in there!

It's not just because I came up with this idea, because I'm way past having "pride of authorship" about things, but I'd recommend this method to anyone who HAS to do some patching, and doesn't have access to a lot of technology or funding.

As I have said before that is not the way I would make the repair, but guess what, I made new patch panels for my floors and had a guy this week tell me he would not have butt welded the panels in. He would have overlapped them. I had to tell him I did the repairs for me not for him and that if he would like them some other way on his car then he was more than welcome to do them his self. He decided that my way would be ok.

Actually, butt welding them in IS the PROPER&CORRECT way to do that. So I'm with you on this one.

The point is it is your car to do with what you wish.

If I could do what I wish, I'd have done what YOU did. Alas, if you wish in one hand and pee in the other, you'll see which one gets full first!

This fix is pretty much a "temporary" MICKEY MOUSE type of thingie. And the only real virtues that it has is that it is quick, easy, and when it's finished, it does all the stuff that fixing it right does, AND best of all, it doesn't show! I mean, when it finally gets covered on the bottom with undercoating , and padded&carpeted on the top, not even Mr. DeadHorse doing his ultra-critical 100 point concours evaluation would be able to tell that it's aught but "tin-foil" (as Deb calls my Alcoa Heavy-Duty .457mm Ultra-High Performance Aluminum Foil), and Bondo brand epoxy resin "make-do".

One more thing. I'm out there yesterday messing with the last (which is not to say the "final") layer of foil, you know, pressing it down, and getting the bubbles and wrinkles out of it as best I could just before the epoxy got too hard, and the thought occurred to me: "Isn't this FUN?" I mean, there I was, being as intimate with my old Gal as one can get without removing her 'pan" and reaching past her windage tray and caressing her bearings, and she is just sitting there letting me do ANYTHING I want. What a GAL!!!

Anyway, I'm having the time of my life doing all this stuff. And after all, isn't that what this "Old Car Hobby" is all about?

BTW, if you go to the Hemmings web page, and do a search for Police Interceptors, Ms. American is not only the oldest one, but is the most unusual one of the group.

Hope this finds you doing well.

JC

Back to the floor repair: wouldnt it be just as easy to use fiberglass matting instead of tinfoil? Probably 20 times the strength and just as easy to use. Just my 2.75 cents worth. (thats the Canuck equivilant to 5 cents U.S.)

Originally Posted by danv

All these capers...............I think we need to call in Batman and Robin.

I'm more in favor of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy! lol

Originally Posted by colkerr

Back to the floor repair: wouldn't it be just as easy to use fiberglass matting instead of tinfoil? Probably 20 times the strength and just as easy to use. Just my 2.75 cents worth. (that's the Canuck equivalant to 5 cents U.S.)

Hey Mr. C,
I'm glad you brought that up! Actually, it probably WOULD be easier to use fiberglass matting, and it WOULD probably be twenty time stronger, BUT:

Then I couldn't say that the 3.14 was built when they used real metal instead of plastic.

And the way that I'm doing this (making the aluminum foil/epoxy sandwich) is by putting four layers of aluminum, with three layers of epoxy, and then letting them start to cure. Then when they are almost cured, putting a layer of epoxy on the underside of the sandwich, and a layer of epoxy on the area to be covered, and then delicately massaging the sandwich down into all the indentations, ridges, compound curves, and etc. And you see, rubbing on the top of the sandwich is clean because there's no resin can get there. If it were fiberglass matting, it would be messy, and almost impossible to get it to follow the contours of the original floor pan.

Had I done it with fiberglass matting, in order to get the contours, I'd have had to come back later and sculpt the ridges, indentations, and compound curves with a grinder, or some other abrasive device.

This way, when it is finally cured, all I have to do is just etch, primer, and paint the aluminum along with the rest of the floor, and if I put bed-liner on it, you won't even know that the aluminum is there. It'll look like a stamped floor pan.

BTW, this morning, I tried to remove the area that I did yesterday, and I have to report that the only way one is going to get that to come out of there is with a grinder! No, HONEST!!!

Anyway, I've done two more areas this morning, and I need to get out there and get to massaging my Gal.

Also this morning I also got a coat of primer on the underside of the Package Tray Fiber Board Panel. Once it is dry, I'm going to paint it matte Black. And then I'm going to start laminating the top with the vinyl that used to be the headliner! Hardly any of the original material is going to go to waste!

Also last evening, I got the finish coating of NAPA Performix Plasti-Dip Rubber Spray Coating on the heavy rubber mats that were on the floor under the carpet and padding. They look BRAND NEW!

Also, I had a PM from Brad about the Metrinch tool set that he is so generously contributing to this project, and I'm beginning to have that "magic" feeling that the top bolts holding the Exhaust Manifold to the Cylinder Head Flanges are just going to come right out without a breakage, or anything. It's just the feeling I have.

AND the biggest news of all: I have just won the Nigerian Lotto, worth $40,000,000 , and all I have to do is give them my Social Security number to prove that I am who I am, and my bank account number, so that can direct deposit the money, and my PIN so they can access my account. I'm going to be RICH I tell you, RICH!!!

What a GREAT life I have! Isn't this fun?

Hope you are as happy as I am!

JC

Hey All,
Well, I just got back from massaging the aluminum/epoxy laminate sandwiches into the indentations, ridges, compound curves and etc., on the 3.14's driver's side front floor pans. It came out wonderfully. And what I did this morning took less than an hour of actual working time. Try THAT when welding in REAL floor pans!

Now all that's left to do is one large area on the passenger's side and "The Great Aluminum/Epoxy Resin Laminate Rusted Floor Fix Caper" is finished.

Then what has to be done is to pop rivet an aluminum plate to where the Accelerator Pedal mounts, and the floor in Ms. American will be ready for whatever coating is decided to be used.

Also, I got the underside of the Package Tray Fiber Board Panel coated with NAPA Performix Plasti-Dip Rubber Spray Coating. It is curing, even as I type. This is going to make the PTFBP BETTER than when it was new.

Next is to use the 3M Brand Car Care General Trim Adhesive to adhere the vinyl from the old headliner to the top side of the PTFBP, and then cover the splices with nicely formed and finished wood stiffeners, screwed on from the bottom. It's going to look GREAT!

Then comes the reinstallation of the Heater/Defroster Unit with all that THAT entails (heater hoses installation, connecting the fresh air rubber boot to the H/D Unit, hooking up all the cable and electrical connections, and etc.) and then the decks will be cleared for getting to the Exhaust Manifolds off the engine in order to have them planed to where they don't leak.

I am running red lined in overdrive, using the energy that has been pent up over this last Winter.

What a GREAT life I have, and what a way to spend it! And BOY! Does that Extra Dark, Extra Rich, Dark Roast Colombian Yuban Coffee taste GOOD!

Hope you all can keep up.

JC