I have a rusty hole in my floorboard about the diamaeter of a ballpoint pen. It is the only spot of rust that I have on my floorboard. Is there a way that I can prevent the spread of it? I already painted down a coat of that rust preventer stuff, but this seems like the area is just ready to flake more and more pieces off. I dont want to replace the floopan. Any tips for a good fix? Cosmetics not necessary because it will be covered by carpet anyway. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Oh also, I m going to need to replace my roof! The infamous rust right around the windshield and rear window areas. When I get my car painted are they any ways to keep the rust out for good?! Theere have to be some because I see a lot of beautiful Camaros out there. Thanks

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68 Base Coupe v8 Camaro got for graduation. 327 60 over with sucky gears in back.

It has been my experience that if you have one hole of the size you say, you have other areas that need attention also. You're right about the carpet covering the inside of the floor but it won't cover the outside (underneath the car) where it is even more exposed to the elements.
I understand the "out of sight, out of mind" theory, but I suggest you attend to all rust problems the correct way and that is to get rid of it completely.
Replacing the roof panel is a straight forward job for someone that knows what they are doing. It's a little more work, but painting the interior of the roof panel, as you would the exterior, will serve to prevent rust better than most other ways.

Cut and weld a patch panel for the floor pan.

POR15 is another good alternative.

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Rick Dorion
69 RS Conv,355,M20,4.10's

If the metal around the hole is in good condition, weld the hole shut with a MIG welder. I saved a rusty caliper mount that had many pin hole spots of rust last weekend using this method. It didn't turn out too bad after ginding and painting.


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Racer#00

Plain Jane 67
76 Trans Am Stock Car
74 Z28 (Basket case)

POR 15 is the way to go. You can get it done for $15 to $20. I don't see the logic of doing the whole pan if you just have a small hole. You can always go back a replace it later. The prep work is time consuming but not difficult, and it seals like a rock. They make a POR putty that is easy to use to fill holes. They also make a floor pan repair kit that has mesh for larger holes. They did a test in one of the car mags and they said it worked excellent. If you follow directions it should work fine.

green 68' is right, i have used this stuff and also used the mesh they sell as well. hard as a rock is almost an understatement. the stuff is excellent, i painted the whole floor of mine with it. would do it again in a heartbeat!

I just want to add that the correct, best and usually most expensive way to fix it is to cut it out and put in new metal. If you do that, I would still hit it with the POR to seal it up forever. POR works because it seals out oxygen so no more rust. It only seals out the oxygen if you prep correctly. It does not change what is already there, but does stop spread and adds some strength as well. I'm assuming that you are going to fix the problem that is letting the water in, and then monitor the area periodically to determine that it is not spreading. We can't actually see what you are talking about, but don't POR it and ignore it for 5 years then realize the whole floor is now shot.

I agree with TheGreen68,

Cut and weld a patch panel solid, then Por-15 the panel. To me, I think Por-15 putty or patch is just a band-aide or cover up. I use Por-15 a lot, but never to patch holes. I knew "liquid" patches were bad, that's why I took a class in welding. If you wanna fix old rusty cars, you gotta learn to weld the right way!!!

can you primer and paint over that POR-15 stuff?

i only use Por-15 on panel that are not going to be painted, like floor pans inside panels, etc. If it has to be body color, remove the rust and then prime.

You can primer but you should use their primer made for that purpose.

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Rick Dorion
69 RS Conv,355,M20,4.10's

The Por-15 putty is excellent. I strongly recommend using it. I used it after I sandblased the infected area and it works great.

If you dont have acess to a mig welder or if you do you better be careful that sometimes can be hard to do because you can burn a hole in the floor. So like everyone else I would use POR-15!

I had two pinholes in my trunk pan. I drilled them out to about 1/4" while the tank was out. Then I crawled under and held a thick copper plate over the hole, while my buddy mig welded them up. After grinding and sanding, (no bondo) you can hardly tell they were welded up. After splatter painting, I'm sure no one will be able to tell. I'm doing a Yenko clone, which does not use a trunk liner, so I want it to look "perfect." I am very pleased with the results.