that would be funny. i try and avoid stuff like that regularly. she's getting a little bored with my truck.

on a good note i visited my welder. he welded the four new bolts on that piece that goes from the handbrake drum to the propshaft flange. they wont spin anymore and with the new u joints all should be tight over there. truck should be rolling tonight.

also, he had a piece of diamond plate right there. he can definitely do my floor cheap if I do all prep and make the template.

 

3M and a DuPont (along with a few other companies) make panel adhesives that alot of manufacturers use to glue quarter panels, roof seams, firewalls etc into place. I've used 3M Fusor before and it is very very strong if applied correctly. We glued two peices of 1/8 mild steel with it and then put it on a frame machine to test strength just for kicks. The 1/8 mild steel ripped before the bond gave out which amazed the crap out of myself. I'm a certified welder so I am always skeptical of products like this, but that stuff does work. You would really only need to apply it where new metal meets old at the factory seems, so pretty much around the edges. You do need a special applicator gun to apply the stuff and it needs to be tightly clamped for a while to insure a good bond.

 

As far as the formed peaks and valleys as you called them, they are primarily there for strength of the floor panels. Since yours are in fairly good shape, you could just lay the diamond plate flat on the floor and do a perimeter weld. You would have a very strong floor. You don't have to worry about it being an exact fit.

I would undercoat the bottom of the vehicle real good to seal it from below so no water splashes up there and gets to the bottom of the new floor, you don't want it to rust in between the old and new layers. You could maybe have him weld some patches on the bottom side if it has good access to where the holes are.

Those factory pads are like giant sponges. They hold a tremendous amount of water once they get wet.

Like S10LR said, those new adhesives are incredible when applied and cured properly.

I wouldn't even rhinocoat the inside, but that is up to you. I wonder how much weight the new floor will add. Put a ZEBRA striped rug back there for the safari theme.

 

Good point about the factory padding, that stuff is garbage and should be thrown away. There is some stuff available that is still acts as a damper for sound but is 100% waterproof. Most marine shops carry it but its crazy expensive for padding.

Funny you'd mention the Zebra rug, there's one on craigslist near where I live that has had the carpet from front to back replaced with a persian rug. Looks like the taj mahal inside.

 

Thats not a bad idea. I have some nice marble tile that was salvaged from a rolloff when Macy's just remodeled at the Mall near me. I seriously may lay that in the drivers and passengers footwells. Mine is gutted for now. I am rerouting wire bundles and doing a few other things.

My Cutty Sark Wooden Case Console is working out well. Just need to finish locating the seat heater switches and the window isolation switch. I made tight fit cutouts for the driver's and front passenger's window switches so they are on the front of the case. I attached the top from the old console to the top front half of the case, and a wooden top on the back half of the case. The switches for the seats are under the console lid in a piece of hardwood veneer. Still need to mount the back seat window switches as well. They will go in a slot I cut out for the parking brake handle above the area needed for the parking brake to clear.

That whiskey case is from the 1940's or so. My wife's grandfather bought a case of Cutty Sark and sipped it a little at a time for years. He kept the wooden crate and I found it in the basement. My console was in rough shape so i replaced it with the whiskey case.

 

Danny....You're not allowed to talk about the Chivas box and marble floors until you get your camera working.

I feel like I should fill those valleys with some sort of foam or something so water and air don't get up in there. Good point on the undercoating.

The biggest benefit I see of using the adhesive is I could forget about blowing up the gas tank or fuel line or something. Also, I would not have to worry about the heat of the welder undoing any of the rust treatment/paint underneath. I guess I could "caulk" the perimeter with the stuff so it looks nice and clean. Why no rhinocoat? I'm liking that stuff and I surely need something for the rest of the truck floor.

 

As this had become my schizo rust/drivetrain thread I'll add a last-ish note here on what happened yesterday.

The "bolt holder" pictured here, lost it's ability to keep the bolts tight (and from spinning) due to wiggle wear on the bolt head and cylinder it brushed up against...which resulted in a wiggling of the propshaft. We removed it with the handbrake drum and took it to the welder. He welded the bolts back into place without removing the pressure positioned cylinder. We slipped the c clip up to get some room and then replaced it when the bolts were in place. Slipped it back into the brake drum and attached the propshaft nice and tight. No more wiggle.

But I'm getting a squeak (slight groan type) from the front u joint. Mechanic has isolated the squeak and says we should replace that new u-joint. Says he didn't break it but who knows. So, he'll be doing the front again. No vibrations and otherwise all else runs nice and tight.

 

Very interesting. Apparently the 3M panel bonding adhesive stuff has rust inhibitors while the spot weld is subject to greater rusting. Bro, stuff rusts fast here...you have no idea...just look at the top of the can of my rust inhibitor product a couple pics back. I'm liking adhesive. I wonder if I can use it as filler for the valleys of the floor.

What about the sides. Use this as the "caulk" finisher too.

Here's the vid I just checked out. That gun is a doosey.

3M Panel Bonding Adhesive - YouTube

 

I'm doing it. I'm going to cut the diamond plate perfectly by making a template and I'm gonna stick that #$%* down. And unless you convince me otherwise I'm going to Herculiner (or preferably less sparkly other version) the entire floor. I may or may not make thick, sound deafening mats for the floor. That or cover it in marble.

 

That 3M stuff is very impressive, now I know how I am going to fix those rotted out places in the side door/wheel well areas that are common to our Discoveries. Looks like a good way to plug those small rusted thru areas just below my Alpine Windows as well.

My only concerns are the availablity of the material and the cost of those cool applicators. 3M is the leaader in adhesive technology, they have been around for a heck of a long time. Wonder if we can buy directly from 3M to avoid huge markups. May have to form our own little company repairing rusted thru Rovers.

As far as filling those valleys, if the area is completely sealed from below and around the edges, I would not be concerned about filling those voids. But if you do, you would have a hell of a bond area. That floor would outlast the reat of the vehicle.

When I did corrosion control work on the aircraft, we sprayed thinned out RTV in a layer over the treated and primed metal using a Binks air gun and then applied the paint over the RTV.

Rhinoliner or similar product could be a good durable top coat. Or do like the classic pickup truck restorations and apply some pretty sealed hardwood pieces. Maybe oak parquet even.

My grandkids school building is on it's last year of use as they are building a brand new 65 million dollar facility in what was a pasture right across the street. The family that the school is named after (Pivik) donated part of their family farm for a new facility. I am talking with the school counselor trying to set up a plan to recycle the materials from the old school so they do not get destroyed and sent to the land fill like most major demolition projects these days. The current building has a full size basketball court with beautiful hardwood floors. I have my eye on getting as much of that as I can manage to save from the wrecking ball.