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Joined: Apr 2003
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stock49 Offline OP
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Greetings . . . 50sChevy's post on his 302 swap brought back memories of the 'dark times' of my build.

As I have mentioned in other posts there are certain aspects of restoration that are quite rewarding when complete - but a total drag when one is in the middle of them. Floorboards are high on that list.

I was somewhat surprised by the materials&techniques used at the factory in this area. The toe boards were topped with die cut press-board - alot like the material one finds in the back of an old radio or tv cabinet. The stuff absorbs water like a dry sponge:


Underneath was a layer of tar-paper apparently glued down with hot tar:

The tar-paper remained mostly well adheared - even after 60+ years. But it was hiding rust:


It is as if Chevy hired a bunch of roofers to prep the floorboards. All of the beads were filled with strips of tar paper - so that the layer above was supported:

Hours of tedious scraping revealed rust underneath most areas subject to foot traffic (low spots):

Only the high spots (underneath the seats) remained rust free.

The wheel wells and the floor above the axle were covered with a heavy coating of gooey tar . . . scrape - scrape - scrape!

After a thorough scraping and sweeping the floors were treated with a generous coat of POR15 and then top coated with Eastwood's gray.

Given all of the moisture that seemed to have collected here over the years I decided that a vapor barrier was in order . . .

Running into a limit on photo links so I will continue in a reply.
regards,
stock49

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stock49 Offline OP
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Once the paint was dry (cured for a week) I plugged the floorboard holes with fresh rubber. There were a lot of holes . . .

Next I cut 1" strips of the Eastwood Xmat to fill the beads in the floor. Where there is likely to be heavy traffic - I put two strips to raise the valley of the bead to almost level:


I also used the X-mat to insulate the floor hatches.:


Work continued into the back seat and into trunk. There were at least 30 rubber plugs:


The result is a completely insulated floor with a foil vapor barrier:


I think the floors should be good for the next 60 years . . .
regards,
stock49

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Nice job 49. Maybe your floors were a little worse than mine. However, looks like you repaired it nicely. The only panels needing replacement on my car were the two front ones under the driver and passenger’s feet. My toe boards were in good shape and didn’t have the paper/tar materials. My trunk floor was solid and did not use insulation.


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