Rusty Boot

[The VHK]

Hey All,

I got myself a new car well not new but new in 1983 it was hehe

Its a VH SLE 253 4 Speed

Just wondering if anyone has repaired the boot floor before? My boot is very rusty as you can see the fuel tank in some areas. I have done rust repairs before but not sure what i could do here to make it look nice and last

I was thinking of just putting new metal and cutting the old stuff out where bad. The problem is that the rust is in alot of places so its really got me stumped and i dont want to like have peices here and there if you get what i mean

Any ideas?

[SL/ENUT]

Well have you stripped everything out of the boot, and stripped the paint away to see how far the rust goes?.
Basicly you need to take the fuel tank out, cause thats in the way. But yes you can cut out the rusted crap out and replace it.

Now tell me is the 4 speed from factory?.

[Goon]

You could do it with a new sheet of metal and cut out the rest, then rust convert it etc, maybe even bog, i havent quite tackled my boot yet "the rust is just surface by the looks of things "

But ive done the cars out body area panels and near the tyer area.
The way i did my work around these areas were either in these steps - cut the rust, convert, bog .. I'm about to shape the bog soon with sandpaper and maybe even fibre glass , but thats about all the experince i have done & know so far.

I'm sure it doesnt hurt to weld sheets of metal on aslong as they cant be notice and the jobs done right..

[The VHK]

Yes it is a orignal 4 speed manual.

Well what i was going to do is fill up the holes with bog or what ever rust convert it then just paint it black with tar stuff what do you think?

[craigvk]

Years ago I did some body repairs using body filler and some fibreglass sheets. I haven't seen them in years but the sheets came in a box with gooey stuff you add to the sheets. They can be a pain to stick onto the body if it's vertical because it's runny and very sticky. What I would do is suss out how far the rust goes and cut it out and use the fibreglass gooey sheets and then bog over it after the sheets have dried and then sand back and paint. I think using fibreglass sheets along with bog make it very strong. Or if you are a total pro, get some steel sheeting cut to the exact size needed and mig weld it together.

[craigvk]

That tar stuff is body deadener. I used some a while back inside the corner of my boot to cover over some bog from previous owners. I got a 1 litre tin for about $17 at Autobarn and it's a K&H brand. Watch out for other brands because the rest of it I gave to my cousin to paint his petrol tank with and he got another brand of the stuff and it was very poor compared to the K&H brand.

Overall the stuff works well. It comes in aerosols too but I would recommend brushing it on instead.

[Goon]

What does body deadener do? & when would be a good time to use it?

my boots coated with it in some areas..

[craigvk]

It basically deadens the body. Ummm. Because it is much thicker than paint, it acts like a blanket and is good for covering metal work and fuel tanks. Could also protect the body from rocks and it's good in the boot if you then put new carpet over it and it's long lasting. Not really sure how to fully describe it. Because it's thicker than paint, it was useful for me when covering up some ugly bog work in my boot and because it's thick, it fills in cracks too.

[tigervh]

Rare spares stock replacement boot floor sections. Best bet is to get a panel beater to spot weld it in, If the cars a shitbox just bog it up, If the cars any good get it done properly.

[The VHK]

Thanks for all your help,

I will see what i can come up with. The car is not a bad car very orignal and i love it to death so i want to make it last for a long time.

What i was thinking is that i have a friend with wrecked VK that has a good boot for spares is cutting the boot part out of the old vk and fitting to VH .

Just cleaning up the VH boot and removeing the bad parts and just putting the old boot from VK over it and welding in place then painting it with some of that stuff you guys where telling me about.

What do you think?

[phat_com]

Rare spares stock replacement boot floor sections. Best bet is to get a panel beater to spot weld it in, If the cars a ####### just bog it up, If the cars any good get it done properly.

yea rare spares is the go
just cut ya old boot floor out and weld in the new (plus they come with rust proofin paint to stop em rusting again )

[summernats2010]

body deadner can be put on bare metal once it is cleaned back to a state of which normal paint would stick, body deadner stops the areas from rusting of where you put it on also because it is thick it does act as a protectant for your car body also body deadner acts as a sound deadner to stop you from being able to hear roadnoise from inside your car and it stops your sound from your radio cd player etc from escaping as easy. to everyone in this forum esopecially if you live in seaside areas i recommend you apply this to your acr and fisholene inside all your doors, quaterpanels, inside of your mudgaurds to also prevent rust if your car body is in good condition its what i did because rust is the main enemy to a kind of car

also i reckon for a car like yours rare spares brand new panel is the go, have it spot welded in a body deaner around all the edges of the new panel to seal it in.

when and if you use fisholene or bodydeadner make sure you buy the best quality stuff available, nevr forget the time my mate and i fisholined his car with cheap shit and there was some left in the 4 litre container, heaps actually and after six months the bottom of the drum rusted out still with the fisholene inside (rust preventitive). the his whole car rusted, turns out the supwercheap company mixed the fisholene wrong and it actually then sped up the rusting progress