Ed Hughes

A few weeks ago, I was "nut and bolting" Ruby for a track weekend. I noticed an ugly sore underneath in front of the fuel tank. I dug around a bit and made a finger-sized hole pretty quickly.

Today, I dug deeper. The undercoating was somewhat comprimised in the vicinity, and when I got off that which would come off pretty easily, I saw a 2" X 4" area of damage. So, I cut it out to where I had pretty good metal left. I stuck a mirror up to see what it looks like inside, and there was corrosion evident, but seemingly in the center of the low part of the front pan. The area surrounding the A arm connection seems good. I don't know if that will make a difference in the breadth of the ultimate repair, or not.

So, armed with the knowledge gained, I sprayed Krylon Rust Reformer around inside-hoping to arrest the disease or at least retard it. I then cut a patch and formed it a bit to match the old. After cutting back the undercoating, I tacked it in place. The fun part here is getting to use some of my metal tools and my "el cheapo" mig welder. Although, it wasn't fun working around the gas tank. I put some wood up around the work area to protect everything and took it slow.

After I got the patch in, I knocked the welds down a bit, primered and then sprayed some Wurth undercoating on. Pics of all of the steps below.

The bottom line: I just ordered a new front pan from Restoration Design. I don't know if it will be better to replace the whole pan, or to cut out the center channel between the front A arm mounts and use the front pan as a donor for that portion. I'm going to leave that to a professional. There are a couple of good P-car body shops in these parts (gotta love SoCal), so she'll go in for repair by a pro. She's good for the time being. Keep your eyes open when poking about your cars!

justinsrx7

FYI Ed, I was quoted around $3,500.00 US to replace my pan with the same issue as you. And that was provided they did not find anything elkse while they were in there.

cal44

Ed, nice job. If you find no more problems by looking, ice pick test or any other device that finds the dreaded beast I think you are good. Patching happens all the time in the car restore world.
Shoot a little undercoat and forget about it. IMHO

theiceman

great work , that looks finished to me . throw the pan in the rafters and use it in 20 years if you need to .

Ed Hughes

I'm pretty sure I can do the center portion only. I'd remove the gas tank-no way it could go over $1K if this indeed is doable.

Undercoat is done-last pic. It just doesn't all match right now.

I'm thinking that's what may happen for at least a few months. I'm gonna watch it like a hawk.

HarryD

Ed,

If I am not mistaken, that is the area where I should find the battery. If so, probe the area around there to see if there are any other issues. If not, don't worry... be happy... You may have stopped it in it's tracks.

As idle curiosity, when you say '"el cheapo" mig welder', which one do you mean? A HF Mig 90?

g-50cab

Nice work Ed - Again.

Brads911sc

Nice work Ed.

HarryD

Ed,

One more thing, you want to coat the inside of the patch (especially where your weld is located) as well since there is bare metal inside the car. Over time it will rust if left unprotected. In fact, the rust has already started and you will need to arrest it before it spreads.

Ed Hughes

Its actuall back a bit behind the battery, and more to the center, but I think it is battery damage from several years ago. It is a HF flux core mig, not sure on the model #.

The patch was painted before going in. I know that some of the primer burned off. I'm actually going to run my fuel tank down and then lift it up a bit for a backside inspection.

theiceman

those damn California rust bucket cars !!

which reminds me I am heating more of the atmosphere than my interior .. better look at replacing my cancer riddled exchangers.

justinsrx7

My price quote was from the dealership, so right there it will be more expensive, and it was to have them do everything. You can save a ton if you do some of the work yourself. Most of the labour is the re/re of all of the suspension and other parts.

HarryD

Sounds like you may be in good shape. If the welder is the 110v unit, not a bad deal.

Hope it all turns out ok.

Daniel Dudley

Nice shears.

For those of you considering a Mig, once you get one, there is no going back. They pretty much pay for themselves every time you use them. I put mine in ''storage'' at a friends for a few years when I was working in Arizona. When I went back to claim it, his teenage son had taught himself to weld, and had rebuilt several New England rust heaps, using up a ten pound spool in the process...

Peter Zimmermann

Ed: Brace's Auto Body in Culver City has done many apron replacements (including many for my shop), and is an expert at finishing not only the outside, but the inside also in order to make it a true long-life repair. He will normally make the necessary cuts about halfway back along each side of the gas tank (about halfway between the front and rear control arm mounting points), so the new section will be a large "U". He also is very familiar with foreign made (China, etc.) pans, and would never use one of those. His phone number is (310) 823-2474, might be worth your time to talk with him.