Rusted floor. How bad is it?

[alexbeatle]

Hi folks,

Just took off a woodboard which was covering the floor of my recently purchased VW bus, and it doesn't look too too good.
There're some holes, some surface rust, and rust that became a hole. Any suggestions on tackling this or how bad is it?

Thanks in advance.

[wagohn]

[orwell84]

It depends on what your goals are for the bus. If there were just a few areas that were rusted through, I would weld in patch panels and wire wheel the rest, treat with naval jelly and the rust paint of your choice.

[alexbeatle]

[alexbeatle]

[Abscate]

If you have to ask.....

Treat and paint, install gear, and go camping.
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[HoboBus]

As for how bad it is... doesn't look too bad to me.

Look at some photos in the gallery, some guys can put a basketball through their floor when they bought their bus.

Everybody's different--- I like to wire wheel everything, wire wheel on a hand drill. Even dig a good screwdriver in to the rust to try to scrape it all.

Then I like the brush-on rust converter. Even Wal-Mart sells it. After that use a good brush-on rustoleum.

As for holes, welded patches are good if you have the capability. If not, screwed in covering patches are ok. I actually like screwed in things rather than pop rivets because you can remove the patch to retreat if needed. I've even used nuts and bolts with big washers to fill in holes.

If its not structural, its just the floor. Things don't always have to be perfect.

As others said, patch it up and get camping.

Good luck
Hobo
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Just a beach-oriented camping Hobo with a bus.

[jlrftype7]

[skills@eurocarsplus]

this is a rusted floor

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9411897#9411897
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[alexbeatle]

So using a wireblush I was able to get rid of the loose rust parts and got some portions to shine. But some, in the centre of the rust sports remain black. Am I not done brushing or this is as far as it goes?

[busdaddy]

Sounds like it's ready for some Ospho, Rust mort or phosphoric acid. Once that's had a day to react and is rinsed off move on with the Rustoleum.
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[orwell84]

[alexbeatle]

[alexbeatle]

Maybe I'm a noobie at this, but the more I brush off, the worse it looks. Or is it about the time to apply POR15?

Looking into investing into sanbluster

[Lil Lulu]

How’s it look from the bottom?

Floors in both buses looked similar to yours. I patched and patched and then Masterseries metal prep (phosphoric) and Masterseries silver. Then paint. All coatings were applied within a 24 hr period to take advantage of the chemical bond.

I really feel confident that I have stemmed the rust forever if I take care of it. Masterseries is a hell of product.

Looks like you have a date with a MIG. I used metal from other VW vehicles. Sandblasting takes a whole new skill set and you’ll never get all the sand out.
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[alexbeatle]

[Abscate]

[danfromsyr]

it's 'cute' what you california guys think is 'rust'.

really frikkin cute..

[orwell84]

When I did my cab floor, I I had to patch a small section. For the rest, I filled small holes with MiG welding and ground them down. I also added metal with welding to deeply pitted areas but it requires a light touch. I didn’t sandblast because I was sick of getting sand out of my bus. Master series will prevent the pitted areas from rusting just as well without sandblasting.

[cmonSTART]