Re: BigKev's 1937 115-C Convertible Coupe
Posted by BigKev On 2025/3/19 9:05:18
Yesterday while the site was down, I figured I would get that tack strip out and replaced.
The tack strip sits in a V-shaped floor channel formed where the front metal floor and the rumble seat compartment floor flanges are spot-welded together. The slotted wood screws were so rusted that the slots were gone. But the wood was so degraded that it pretty much just came apart in my hands, and then I was able to grab the screws with vise grips to remove them.
It's pretty rusty in there, so I cleaned the channel with a wire brush and then painted it with some rust converter paint. From this angle, it looked pretty good.
Then I went around to the backside to make sure I got the paint everywhere, and after the wire wheel had done its magic, rust holes appeared that were not visible from the front view.
So, I will have to cut that channel out and weld in a patch panel. If I can find a piece of 18/19 ga pre-bent "angle iron" sheet metal, that would work perfectly. Most likely, I will spot-weld it in and seam-seal it. It will have to go in from underneath, as that is really the only way to do it without breaking that flange between the front and rear floor pans.
That tack strip, which I am positive must have been to secure the carpet/floor mat in the rumble seat area, is the low point. So any water that gets in there ends up in that channel underneath that wood, rotting both the wood and the floor pan over time.
The tack strip sits in a V-shaped floor channel formed where the front metal floor and the rumble seat compartment floor flanges are spot-welded together. The slotted wood screws were so rusted that the slots were gone. But the wood was so degraded that it pretty much just came apart in my hands, and then I was able to grab the screws with vise grips to remove them.
It's pretty rusty in there, so I cleaned the channel with a wire brush and then painted it with some rust converter paint. From this angle, it looked pretty good.
Then I went around to the backside to make sure I got the paint everywhere, and after the wire wheel had done its magic, rust holes appeared that were not visible from the front view.
So, I will have to cut that channel out and weld in a patch panel. If I can find a piece of 18/19 ga pre-bent "angle iron" sheet metal, that would work perfectly. Most likely, I will spot-weld it in and seam-seal it. It will have to go in from underneath, as that is really the only way to do it without breaking that flange between the front and rear floor pans.
That tack strip, which I am positive must have been to secure the carpet/floor mat in the rumble seat area, is the low point. So any water that gets in there ends up in that channel underneath that wood, rotting both the wood and the floor pan over time.
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