Rust Repair

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william
Posts: 515
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 9:39 pm
Location: Rochester, Indiana

Rust Repair

Post by william »

I was wondering what guys are doing to fix rust problems on the floor pan. I have two or three quarter size rust holes on my pan and can see the fiberglass sheet from the hole. The under pan (below the car) is fine with no issues. The cars at the body shop now.

Dam that fiberglass sheet!!!
William
1979 Avanti s/n Rqb-3016
1962 GTE s/n 3447
1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider 1495*09775
Rudy van Daalen Wetters
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Post by Rudy van Daalen Wetters »

William,

You may want to speak with Kare. He replaced some sections of the floor on his GTE not too long ago.

Rudy van Daalen Wetters
1963 GTE s/n 4001
1966 330 GT s/n 8705
oldfart3
Posts: 54
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2003 9:04 am
Location: Gunnison, Colorado

Rusted floor pans

Post by oldfart3 »

Does a GTE have a two layer floor pan like a Lusso? If so, there's probably a lot more rust than the visible holes. I fabricated new floor pans and completely replaced the old ones. I can post photos if anybody's interested.
John Tarr
Michael Greenspan
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Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2003 7:57 am

Post by Michael Greenspan »

I am in the midst of replacing the exterior floor panels on both sides. The rust that was very evident was in the back outer part of each side. But, when we removed the panels it was clear that three of the four of the panels were badly rusted. The much hated fiberglass was intact in three of the four panels, not showing any signs of water damage. I think that the more damaging factor was that the lower floor panels were tack and stitch welded. Remarkably, on the right side there were only welds on three sides of the rear panel (must have been done near lunch time in Modena). The sealing of the seams appears to have been left to the undercoating applied. Once the undercoating was damaged, water could easily get into the seams and then be wicked by the fiberglass. I also have two holes on each side somewhere under the seats that appear to be the mounting holes for seatbelts - they are on a steel spacer/strengthener - these were open so I am sure that water was also getting in there.

Once the lower panels were removed using a cold chisel to break the weld spots and the fiberglass (and middle piece of havy duty aluminum foil) taken out the interior floors were in remarkably good condition. They have a reddish paint coat on them which looks to be brushed on.

The form of the lower panel is like an inverted box lid with the sides of the lid going into the box rather than outside the box sides. Some of the corners were hammer fitted.

Finally, the lower panel is made of pretty thin gauge metal and we have made spacers for the seatbelt anchor holes so that we don't collapse the space between the panels. We are probably going to put the fiberglass back for sound dampening and heat control with another layer of some more modern material. But we will seal the lower panels completely and plug the unused mounting holes.

Doing all of this was made easier since we had already removed the exhaust system otherwise a real inspection of all four of the panels would be pretty messy.
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David Booth
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Post by David Booth »

I believe nearly all PF bodies from this era have the infamous upper and lower floors with the insulation in between. My GTE and my cab certainly do. I think everyone here would be interested in your pics.

A previous owner replaced the original floor pan sections in the rear of my GTE with a simple piece of galvanized sheet laid over the x-braces and didn't bother replacing the lower section. A pretty crude job, to be honest.

During the metalwork phase of my cab's restoration process, the floorpan had some rust holes in the upper section just like yours, and the lower section below it was pretty swiss-cheesed. The body man fabricated triangular patch panels and folded down the edges, in order to fit nicely inside the x-braces that support the floor, as described by Michael above. You can see one in place here. The upper section you can see laid open in the picture was just a rectangular patch panel.

Image
1960 SII PF cabriolet #2105GT
1963 250GTE #4799GT with 330 America engine #5033GT

"...Luigi follow only the Ferraris.."
william
Posts: 515
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 9:39 pm
Location: Rochester, Indiana

Post by william »

Thanks everyone.

John I would love to pics of the repair.

Very slick repair David.
William
1979 Avanti s/n Rqb-3016
1962 GTE s/n 3447
1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider 1495*09775
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330 America
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Location: Texas Hill Country
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Floorpan Pic's Needed (250 GTE)

Post by 330 America »

Guys - Symbolic Motorcars is trying to fabricate new upper & lower floorpans for my 330 America but the old ones were thrown away by the prior Ferrari shop who was working on the restoration. Hence, we have no template to use.

Can someone please direct me to some photo's (or a guidebook) for 250GTE floor pans?

Thanks in advance,

Steve Patti
(SN 5061)
spatti@euro-rs.com
214 693 3276 mobile
Steve Patti
Ferrari 330 Americ (5061) - SOLD
1988 Porsche 944 Rothmans Turbo Cup (ex-Bill Adam)
1988 Porsche 944 Rothmans Turbo Cup (7UP guest car)
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David Booth
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Post by David Booth »

Hi Steve:

I'm away on vacation at the moment so I can't check, but the Pininfarina parts book may show something useful - anyone else have it?

There's also a section view of the complex rocker panel area in Len Miller's literature compendium for the GTE. Will be glad to scan and forward or post that here if anyone needs it.
1960 SII PF cabriolet #2105GT
1963 250GTE #4799GT with 330 America engine #5033GT

"...Luigi follow only the Ferraris.."
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330 America
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Post by 330 America »

David - thanks for the offer........I am not familiar with either text you noted, so if you could scan and email to me at "spatti@euro-rs.com" I would be grateful.
Steve Patti
Ferrari 330 Americ (5061) - SOLD
1988 Porsche 944 Rothmans Turbo Cup (ex-Bill Adam)
1988 Porsche 944 Rothmans Turbo Cup (7UP guest car)
kare
Posts: 547
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2002 11:34 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland, Europe

GTE floor

Post by kare »

Bob Weeks took these photos for me years ago. Haven't heard of him for the past 10 years or so, but I believe he wouldn't mind me sharing them.

The photos show the bottom of the car with the outer floor panels and belly pan removed.

http://koti.welho.com/kpietil4/floor/

Best wishes, Kare
250 GT 2+2 3197/GT
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330 America
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Post by 330 America »

Kare - I really, really appreciate this help!
Steve Patti
Ferrari 330 Americ (5061) - SOLD
1988 Porsche 944 Rothmans Turbo Cup (ex-Bill Adam)
1988 Porsche 944 Rothmans Turbo Cup (7UP guest car)
Melchior
Posts: 149
Joined: Thu May 03, 2018 11:44 am

Re: Rust Repair

Post by Melchior »

I have the floor panels of my 250 GTE redone currently and need pictures to support the work. Unfortunately all links here seem dead and the email adress posted doesn’t work either.

I also need information about the mysterious fiberglass mats. Which material did you use for replacement? Any help is appreciated.

Best regards, Martin
250 GTE #3631 (series Ii)
250gtgt
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 7:33 am

Re: Rust Repair

Post by 250gtgt »

Hello Martin,
Maybe you can recognize something on this pictures below
All those panels has some profile groves for sabilasation (SICKEN auf deutsch).
Best

C.
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IMG_7782.jpg
IMG_6153 2.jpg
250gtgt
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Re: Rust Repair

Post by 250gtgt »

Sicken is dutch. my mothers tongue
Grooves englisch
Rillen. german.
sorry for the confusion.

ciao

c.
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tyang
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Re: Rust Repair

Post by tyang »

Melchior wrote: Sun Nov 13, 2022 3:19 am I have the floor panels of my 250 GTE redone currently and need pictures to support the work. Unfortunately all links here seem dead and the email adress posted doesn’t work either.

I also need information about the mysterious fiberglass mats. Which material did you use for replacement? Any help is appreciated.

Best regards, Martin
Hi Martin,

The original fiberglass insulation was simple glass fiber insulation, and may not have been the best choice considering how much it absorbed moisture and retained it to rust out the floors. There are plenty of insulation products used in the automotive restoration business today that can be used to substitute. It won't be seen anyway in between the two layers of floorpan.

Tom
'63 330 America #5053
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