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MG MGB Technical - Replacing Flooring Items - 1980 MGB


Advice sought - Again! I want to prepare my floorboard interior for new insulation, carpet, and mats for my 1980 MGB. I am large - 6' 2", 290 pounds. Getting in and to most of the area is difficult. Anyone know of a film and/or advice about sanding and/or steel-wooling the floor?

Grateful in advance,

Jerry
Jerry Chandler 1951 TD

I don't know if you have much rain in Tennessee but over here the footwells can get wet with the inevitable tinrot. After years of using and re-using conventional
paint I have applied a heavy zinc coating. Over here it's available as a paint - haven't had any rust for years.
Roger Walker

Jerry
Here is the answer to your problem--
A mate of mine is right into hotrods and has shown me how he cleans floors up--works a treat--
I don't know where he got it from but he arrived at my place with an esky full of dry ice, put his big gloves on and tipped it onto the floor of the car about 1/2" thick all over and just waited for a minuite or two, then you could hear the old paint and proofcote cracking as it shrinks from the cold
Then he had a wooden scraper and just scraped it all off, gave the rusty spots a brush with a wire brush -vac'd it all clean and then painted it with a cold galvanizing spraypack which was about 90% zinc---one p/pack was heaps enough to do both sides of the car
Hope this helps
willy
William Revit

Willy,

That is a bizarre solution. I would never have guessed that it would work like that. Was the dry ice left to evaporate, or was it removed to allow scraping? Am I correct that an esky is a cooler?

Charley
C R Huff

Hi Charley
Yep a cooler- picnic fridge thingy
He just scraped around while the cloud of cold was floating around---gloves on
You can actually hear the paint/underseal cracking and releasing when it's ready to flick off
The paint comes off in sheets like the size of shoe, even up the sides of the tranny tunnel --crazy to watch
I've never done it myself but to watch him do it, it looked real easy/quick
He said he learnt how to do it off youtube so I guess a bit of searching on there would show how it's done
willy
William Revit

Very cool, Willy. Yes, I said that.

Charley
C R Huff


Thanks to Roger, Willy, and Charley for the recommendations, and so quickly! I really appreciate the suggestions and will pursue as soon as I can.

Jerry
Jerry Chandler 1951 TD

Willy, Did the extreme cold and resulting contraction not also dislodge the coating on the underside of the floor?
Allan Reeling

Allan
I thought the exact same thing, but no, it doesn't seem to worry it
I guess most of the cold is on the paint etc and not so much on the panel itself
I'm no expert on this, I've only seen it done a couple of times and haven't done it myself
Just threw it in here as an option/suggestion
willy
William Revit

This thread was discussed between 02/10/2017 and 05/10/2017

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