Floor and carpet clean up/rust proof project - questions for the experts

[Stevehose]

My apologies for hijacking another thread with my plea for sympathy regarding water in the driver side floors from a long drive through bad rain. This has prompted me to pull the carpets and insulation off both driver and passenger sides to check condition of floors, then dry and treat accordingly. These have not come out since the car was built.

Driver's side got very wet due to the rocker cavity filling up with water and not draining, this crime scene is depicted here after removing a rocker cover screw:

I pulled the carpets, removed the now soaked "sponge insulation," and chipped off the tar mats to get to the metal. On the driver side water not only got all into the sponge stuff but also seeped through the cracks of the tar layer and was touching bare metal. Nauseating. Here is the driver side sponge mat:

Close up cross section (imagine this full of water and never drying, providing a never ending source of rust fuel):

Chipping out passenger side, this came out quite easily with a putty knife as it had dried out and was brittle, which allows water past it, this side did not get wet:

Fortunately floors are solid:

Frame rail access with cover removed:

So my first question to the experts: I'd like to not put the sponge stuff back in, I plan to use dynamat equivalent for the tar mats, should I leave it at that or do a second layer of dynamat for extra sound deadening (instead of the sponge stuff), or is the sponge just for cushioning not sound? What have others done for the 2 layers?

More to follow as I etch the metal, silver POR-15 the pans, and etch and cavity wax the frame rails and rockers (there are 3 access holes, coverd by plugs, for the rockers). The boroscope will be used also to check what the innards look like. Thanks.

 

[RMP]

I have one layer of dynamat, then carpet and Coco mats. No issues to date.

 

[Ohmess]

I have a layer of dynamat equivalent, carpet, a set of carpet like floor mats the prior owner used and cocomats.

Steve -- is it possible the water came in around your windshield and down?

 

[DWMBMW]

Steve, your floors looked very solid and it must have been your first water event. I on the other hand had many water events before I (think) I got them sealed up.

I discarded the original sponge insulation years ago and put down a thin rubber underlayment material for insulation and sound deadening. This way I can always lift it up to inspect below. I also did drill a little hole in the low point for drainage.

Doug

 

[Stevehose]

All dry up there in the dash and foot wall area, only in the floors, based on the initial evidence, since the rocker was full of water, I believe it filled up from hours of rain down the rear window then got in the floor possibly through one of the access caps, it was off when I got in there, or any number of other spaces between the two sections. The other side drained properly as the carpet was dry.

Steve -- is it possible the water came in around your windshield and down?

 

[TREMK]

Steve,
I used summit racing brand it comes in different thickness. I opted for the thickest rather than building up layers not sure if its supposed to stick to the foil.
Makes a big difference.

 

[Sven]

Steve - that is one nice looking floor. Have you cleaned out the 4 or 5 weep slots at the bottom or the rockers. A small screw driver should work.

I used two layers of Dynamat foam. The first layer, at 1/4" thick, was laid in the depressed portion of the pan, then the 1/2" layer went over everything.

 

[Stevehose]

That's what I will look for when I get the car on jack stands this weekend, and how many frame rail drain holes should there be? Thanks.

Steve - that is one nice looking floor. Have you cleaned out the 4 or 5 weep slots at the bottom or the rockers. A small screw driver should work.

I used two layers of Dynamat foam. The first layer, at 1/4" thick, was laid in the depressed portion of the pan, then the 1/2" layer went over everything.

 

[Sven]

Looking at the attached photo there appear to be 3 of them. Two smaller ones under the door and one longer one near the back. They are about 1/2" to 3/4" long. The outer rocker panel portion cups underneath the drain slot. Sometimes they are bent from improper jacking of the car and gummed up with paint.

 

[Sven]

Here is a better view. You can see one along the bottom edge. You need to get something small into it from the other side to clean it out (i.e., from under the car)

 

[Stevehose]

Great, thanks

Here is a better view. You can see one along the bottom edge. You need to get something small into it from the other side to clean it out (i.e., from under the car)
View attachment 27090

 

[climbernyc]

I used a zip tie end to clean similar ones in my Landcruiser


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mulberryworks]

View attachment 27086 View attachment 27087 View attachment 27085


I discarded the original sponge insulation years ago and put down a thin rubber underlayment material for insulation and sound deadening. This way I can always lift it up to inspect below. I also did drill a little hole in the low point for drainage.

Doug

I'm wary of putting any holes in the pan. If I did, it would have a tube leading down from it to help keep water from spashing/weeping up into the hole. I've seen these on later cars, they fit the hole snugly with a fat base and flange, then taper a bit to a small opening and are about an inch an a half long, maybe two. It might have been our Z3 where I saw them, or another car, but I know they are around.
Our X3 has drain holes engineered into the doors since no window seal can keep out all rain. Water flows down the inside of the door and out the bottom. Don't know about the rockers but it would seem to be shortsighted to try and make our rockers water tight as that also prevents any air from circulating. I believe that some drain holes should be maintained in the rockers to allow any errant water to escape. Certainly we should treat the interior with all of the available paint, anti-corrosion treatments and waxes that are available, but still have a few places water can escape.

This is similar to the one I had mind. It's from a Honda airbox.


Ian

 

[Stevehose]

Yes I am planning on clearing all drain holes in rockers and frame rails and then coating liberally with cavity wax, i think it is important to let them breathe. The floors just got POR-15 metal prep then will apply silver POR-15, cavity wax, and Dynamat type stuff. No more sponge insulation.

 

[Stevehose]

Today I cleaned the rocker and frame rail drains, so nasty I posted a separate thread on it:

http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/threads/check-your-rocker-panel-drain-holes.25566/

The frame rails and rockers now have POR-15 rust converter on them to nuke any ill-intended oxidation, then will be cavity waxed when dry. Then the floors get the POR-15 silver paint, I will post pics when this goes on.

I've also gone all in and removed both rear windows for cleaning/greasing again, and my driver door window randomly opened twice during the rain last week, it was a faulty relay, all windows run on relays and I am going to replace the fine quality chinese "Yong Lin" relays with something better, perhaps German:

Having the window open twice by itself during a torrential rainstorm was not amusing.

 

[Cornishman]

I have a question about dynamat and other similar floor coverings. I can see how they are excellent at sound deadening and heat insulation. But if they are stuck to the metal do they seal out water totally, if not and they get wet the water will be trapped underneath and take an age to dry out. Any one have experience of this or advice?
Lose floor coverings that can be removed but as effective sound and heat insulators?

In some places where there is an option to not take the car out in the rain you are Lucky, but in many places that means to not risk taking the car out at all. Today I took mine to Brands Hatch, baking hot and then a storm 5 minutes after I got home so I was lucky to keep the car dry this time.

C

 

[Stevehose]

A good argument for nothing permanent, my front hood seal is not glued in and it is nice to be able ot pull it off to dry off below. Today I did some serious rust proofing, I plan on using heavy dynamat but will keep it dry.

I have a question about dynamat and other similar floor coverings. I can see how they are excellent at sound deadening and heat insulation. But if they are stuck to the metal do they seal out water totally, if not and they get wet the water will be trapped underneath and take an age to dry out. Any one have experience of this or advice?
Lose floor coverings that can be removed but as effective sound and heat insulators?

In some places where there is an option to not take the car out in the rain you are Lucky, but in many places that means to not risk taking the car out at all. Today I took mine to Brands Hatch, baking hot and then a storm 5 minutes after I got home so I was lucky to keep the car dry this time.

C

 

[Stevehose]

After the metal prep dried overnight, today the POR-15 went down, 2 coats about 3 hours apart, went on nice and dries rock hard. This will keep the metal away from any moisture from above.

Then the cavity wax in the rockers and the frame rails, took about 1.5 cans of KBS cavity wax to do the rockers and frame rails, it comes with a 3 foot wand and 360 degree sprayer and this stuff gets everywhere. Into the rocker:

2 of the 3 rocker access holes, also sprayed down into the rear side window area by the wheel housings (easily accessed when the windows and frames are removed):

And excess drips out of the freshly cleaned drain holes.

Next up will be the dynamat.

 

[TREMK]

I have a question about dynamat and other similar floor coverings. I can see how they are excellent at sound deadening and heat insulation. But if they are stuck to the metal do they seal out water totally, if not and they get wet the water will be trapped underneath and take an age to dry out. Any one have experience of this or advice?
Lose floor coverings that can be removed but as effective sound and heat insulators?

In some places where there is an option to not take the car out in the rain you are Lucky, but in many places that means to not risk taking the car out at all. Today I took mine to Brands Hatch, baking hot and then a storm 5 minutes after I got home so I was lucky to keep the car dry this time.

C

I have a question about dynamat and other similar floor coverings. I can see how they are excellent at sound deadening and heat insulation. But if they are stuck to the metal do they seal out water totally, if not and they get wet the water will be trapped underneath and take an age to dry out. Any one have experience of this or advice?
Lose floor coverings that can be removed but as effective sound and heat insulators?

In some places where there is an option to not take the car out in the rain you are Lucky, but in many places that means to not risk taking the car out at all. Today I took mine to Brands Hatch, baking hot and then a storm 5 minutes after I got home so I was lucky to keep the car dry this time.

C

Just so you install the dynamat correctly it becomes one with the metal. Remove all air pockets with a small roller and firm pressure. I recently redid the carpet in a car I had done ten years ago the dynamat was still perfect and in the same place.

 

[mulberryworks]

Before you close everything up, I'd suggest you get some cloth tape to wrap up those extra wires. I got some German made Coroplast that I've been using on my Boxster to redo the harness on my Boxster project. They'll take up less space and be less likely to abrade.
Here's a link for some on eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/COROPLAST-8...166160?hash=item41b297c950:g:hagAAOSwgmJX0zpv