Driver's floor touch-up

[tosoutherncars]

Hi all,

In the long list of things that Milo needs... the new carpets are waiting. So I pulled the driver's seat to see what the floors looked like. The rear half looked pretty good...

but the front floor looked a little grotty. Pulling up the carpet and the ashphalt soundproofing revealed a fair amount of surface rust in the front section.

I have some Eastwood Rust Encapsulator, and some of their metal prep. So I wire-brushed up the rust, which was all pretty superficial.

The metal prep has to be kept damp for at least 30 minutes, so I soaked a cloth and covered the floor.

Turned out very well, I'll get some "after" pics in the sunlight tomorrow. The prep has been washed off with turps. Rust Encapsulator next, then (maybe) a spray can of color-matched Vermillion if I can find some. Then new soundproofing, and carpeting.

Oof. Off to bed... work tomorrow.

-D

 

[racingenglishcars]

If only people would do this type of maintenance more often, then there would be more good Spridgets still on the road.

Ahh, now I get it. You want your car to last longer than all the other guy's cars. Very sneaky.

 

[jlaird]

yep, you are doing it right.

 

[tosoutherncars]

Haha... yes, but not too many people consider interior & carpet removal, rust removal, chemical treatment, paint etc. to be maintenance! Of course, this was a walk in the park for me, compared to my VW.

See the whole story in my signature...

-D

 

[jlaird]

I would say that floor looks great.

 

[tosoutherncars]

Thanks Jack... those pictures show cause & effect! I was so tired of working on the rusty VW, that I went down and bought a pretty much rust-free Northern California car. Now a floor repair takes me two afternoons, not two years!

-D

 

[tosoutherncars]

Just to contrast the previous pic... here it is with new floor, front & rear rocker! Glad I didn't have to do this on the Midget!

So I found a local motor factor that can supply MG Vermillion. Dan Cheresna at Euro Auto Paint here in Ottawa. For those interested, that's BMC / BLVC 118, Gipgloss 32781, ICI FC57 / GE 40, PPG Ditzler 60932, Dupont 45471 and Glasso 9732R.

The Rust Encapsulator may go on tonight, if it stays warm enough, with topcoat tomorrow.

-D

 

[Morris]

Ha! I saw your Rabbit pictures above, but did not read your post closely. I thought to myself, "Holy cow! What kinda MG has this guy have????"

 

[tosoutherncars]

So here's the update! Got the floors painted in Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator. I used the silver version (high solids) simply because it's what I had on hand.

The front pan, which was the problem area, covered very nicely.

the rear pan (under the seat) covered fine too, although the paint had already started to thicken at that point (maybe 7-10 minutes after starting to paint.) I will probably thin it slightly before use, next time.

Still have to go by my local paint shop and get some colour-matched Vermillion to top-coat it, before the new carpets go on!

Best,
Duncan

 

[tosoutherncars]

When I'm done the floor, here's what's next...

Just surface clean-up! Gotta love California cars!

Now, to confirm; the whole engine bay and the floors should be body-colored?

-D

 

[jlaird]

Yep.

 

[racingenglishcars]

I think so, but I was actually considering doing mine in black.

 

[tosoutherncars]

Here we go, spent the day in the driveway getting it done.

Two custom-matched cans of paint at my local euro paint store were about $50. (Seemed a little steep to me.)

For both the floor and the inner wing, I wire-brushed, rust-converted where necessary, and brushed / rolled on some silver Rust Encapsulator, as previously discussed.

Pretty much the same thing with the floor... Two coats, with just enough time for it to tack up between coats (maybe 15 minutes).

So that's that. The clutch / brake bracket was pretty gnarly, so I've stripped and painted it. I'll reinstall that tomorrow, then remount the fender, and start in on the header install, Weber conversion, and ignition revamp.

Phew.
-D

 

[regularman]

looks like you done good

 

[jlaird]

Really looks nice. Well done.

 

[tosoutherncars]

Thanks very much, guys. Hmm, hey Jack, Miss Agatha doesn't like younger guys, does she? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif Milo's single...

-D

 

[jlaird]

Miss Agatha is so happy to return from the scrap heap she likes everyone. Her smile says so.

 

[JPSmit]

pretty impressive

 

[kcbugeye1275]

Ya gotta feel goood about that!!!!!

 

[DrEntropy]

Thanks very much, guys. Hmm, hey Jack, Miss Agatha doesn't like younger guys, does she? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif Milo's single... -D

Hmmm... So, Milo goes fer th' older gals then... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif