1993 Ford Club Wagon (Juanita born again)

[Queen]

Good deal! Also, if you have allergies, remember to wear a mask when you pull up the floor, you will be releasing a ton of crap into the air.

 

[AbuelaLoca]

^^ Good idea! My kids and I are all a little sensitive to mold! That's one of the reasons I thought to just leave it... because none of us were sneezing or sniffling or smelling anything moldy. But it's always better to be safe than sorry (and I've drilled that into my kids' heads)!! So, up comes the floor!!

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Spent about an hour at the van. I cannot shout loud enough that I HATE diseases! I wanted to get allllllll the floor up and out of my way, but the little I managed to pry up took every bit of energy I had. I did finish the last reflectix covering before I started prying up floor! Good news; the floor is not glued down! Bad news; the floor is screwed down and every hole has some rust!



Because the wood was wet, the first few chunks were relatively easy.



Pretty floor beneath the wood and no glue! Some surface rust.



Some mold, but since there was only a small section of wet wood, I'm going to guess the leaks have not been happening for years, but maybe just for months??



The pry bar is scratching up my pretty floor. I'm sure whatever I use on the hole rust can also be used on the scratches to keep them from rusting too!?!

Again, I'm gonna whine a little... I hate that I can only do some superficial crap and have to wait on manual labor to get to the meat of the matter! I guess I'm getting into a little funk regardless of the little things! I did enjoy sitting on a lawn chair in the van with all the doors open and pretending that the yard was a National Forest somewhere and I was already livin' the dream!

 

[Almost There]

Pretending is important! Lawn chair time is also important...

Those leaks have been happening since the wood floor was put in - someone screwed in  to the floor without sealing the screw holes...duh!

Where there's screw holes and no  rust, it just means that it's above something that stopped the water from bouncing up off the road.

You'll develop a technique for removing the wood soon!

Don't worry about the scratches, you're going to end up, after you seal the holes, throwing a coat of paint on the floor anyways to stop the rust so a few more scratches won't mean much in the long run!

 

[AbuelaLoca]

LOL... for sure the screws were not sealed! Nor were the great big bolts that run through the floor. However, the wet wood is from a leak above the side window. There's a leak on each side, actually. I can't tell if my seal repair solved that problem yet.

I'm going to go to my van every day and sit in that lawn chair! Only fun I've had since I got home from Colorado!!

 

[Queen]

I'm going to go to my van every day and sit in that lawn chair! Only fun I've had since I got home from Colorado!!

Now that is a quality plan!  Gotta dream and relax a little, makes the waiting much more palatable.

 

[masterplumber]

LOL... for sure the screws were not sealed! Nor were the great big bolts that run through the floor. However, the wet wood is from a leak above the side window. There's a leak on each side, actually. I can't tell if my seal repair solved that problem yet.

I'm going to go to my van every day and sit in that lawn chair! Only fun I've had since I got home from Colorado!!

See, that's the problem, you left Colorado. It's finally starting to get nice here. But seriously, sitting inside your van and dreaming is an important part of the planning process. Just make sure you keep moving forward on little things as you dream. As for the floor, once you get the plywood up and the holes sealed I'd run a wire wheel on a 4'' grinder over the whole thing and really scuff it up. Then paint the whole floor with something like Chassis Saver or one of the POR products. That will seal it and stop any future rust. Then you can cover it however you had planned.

 

[waldenbound]

Hey Abuela, you can also dream about getting a knock on your door in the middle of the night.
Can't believe that happened to me, I was in a campground of all places, first night in the van, and I get a knock on the door in the middle of the night.

I remember doing my floor last fall. I had to seal the holes, but with what? I took some quarters, and nickels and glued them down with JB Weld. I can imagine during some van build someone asking "Ummm, waldenbound, why do you have coins glued to the floor?"

 

[Ballenxj]

  I took some quarters, and nickels and glued them down with JB Weld. 

I would think that if the screw holes are small enough you could fill them with the JB Weld or other epoxy alone?
One thought about the rust, I would recommend using a wire brush and cleaning as much rust out of it as you can, then use a spray can of Kilz on the affected areas, and let that cure before filling them.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Masterchem-12-Oz-Kilz-Aerosol-Primer-Set-of-12/19212200

 

[waldenbound]

I would think that if the screw holes are small enough you could fill them with the JB Weld or other epoxy alone?
One thought about the rust, I would recommend using a wire brush and cleaning as much rust out of it as you can, then use a spray can of Kilz on the affected areas, and let that cure before filling them.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Masterchem-12-Oz-Kilz-Aerosol-Primer-Set-of-12/19212200

Yeah, I scrubbed with holes with the wire brush before I filled them. It's just funny to think at the time I needed some round piece of metal, and I thought, "coins." Doing that build required lots of out of the box thinking, that's for sure.

 

[AbuelaLoca]

I read that about using coins so had already decided that was the way I'd go!! A hundred years from now, when archaeologists find the rusted out bones of my van, I want them to ponder the reasoning behind the coins glued to the floor!! LOL

 

[rvpopeye]

I remember gluing a quarter to the sidewalk was a great way to get some entertainment when I was a kid.
Maybe that's something they might guess???

 

[Ballenxj]

I read that about using coins so had already decided that was the way I'd go!! A hundred years from now, when archaeologists find the rusted out bones of my van, I want them to ponder the reasoning behind the coins glued to the floor!! LOL

They will probably think the owner was rich, and in a hundred years, those coins might just be valuable.

 

[AbuelaLoca]

I could use my wheat penny collection since it's not worth anything LOL

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Didn't last long trying to pry more flooring up, so decided to measure the inside of the van again. Then I came home and measured the pieces of furniture I want to use. Then I scribbled a "to scale" drawing of the set up. I was really thinking about not having upper cabinets, but with windows all the way around, nothing is taller than 30", so storage is at a minimum. I will be making a shelf above the cab to provide some storage, but it won't be much... or enough? Anyhow, here's my scribble:

 

[GotSmart]

Just remember that the walls are curved.  

The distance across at floor level is different than the one at 3 feet up.  

That really messed up my first attempt.  :blush:

 

[AbuelaLoca]

I measured from the shortest distance between both sides... It does actually go 71" in the rear, 74" in the middle and then like 72 or 73" just behind the seats. I will be placing straight backed furniture in the van, so no need to worry about curves!! The upper cabinets will be a whole different story, though!!

 

[masterplumber]

If you know an electrician, the knock outs in metal boxes are about the same size as nickles and quarters. They would probably save them and give them to you free. That would be a lot cheaper than coins of the realm.

 

[Ballenxj]

That's a good idea, but how big are the holes we are talking about? If regular screw holes of 1/4" or smaller I still don't think you need anything more than an epoxy filler.

 

[AbuelaLoca]

I have so many holes of varying sizes that all of these ideas are needed!! There are some small screw holes less than 1/4" (too many to count) and then there's some bolts that went through the floor (maybe for the bench seats) that are well over 1/2" and then there's a large hole that cables came through from underneath (and this one may be needed in the future).

The best part of yesterday is that I found a salvage yard within 50 miles that has 2 E350 vans that I *might* be able to get parts off of... not sure they're Club Wagons, but hopefully have barn doors for those striker plates. Otherwise I'm going to need someone to make them for me... would that be a machinist?