Sealing up floor holes.

[Calypso]

So my step van is now empty and obviously she once belonged to the Pope as she is as hokey as ever. (We really need gif options here).

What’s the best way to plug up and seal the holes? I have the ceiling panels that I could cut into squares and glue own with silicon and pressure. There are some areas where it’s just a line of holes and some were missed attempts upon missed attempts if you catch my meaning.

There’s rust in the drivers foot well, but that’s always expected. Guess I clean that and paint. Should I just throw down a coat of something over all of it after I’m done? Then do the PoG water drilling test? I’ll have to keep the access areas open for battery under seat and in the rear. If I need holes later I’ll deal with that.

I was going to use Amazon basic sound dampening or the grace ice shield rolled material (not the little square mats) on floor and just forego board insulation. My priority for floor is sealing it and dampening the sound, the priority for roof will be insulation.

So …. Sealing holey floors. Best method?

Please and thank you,
Caly

 

[tzagi]

https://www.amazon.com/Bondo-420-Fi...t=&hvlocphy=9031163&hvtargid=pla-435834441481
The cheapest most effective and last the longest .

 

[user 423]

If you have a lot of holes or somewhere else to fill, they sell Bondo in a quart size also.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Where are the holes and how big? Your van is aluminum, except for the driver side firewall and under the pedals. Weird, think they have that from the GM factory as they sell these things as rolling chassis and then whatever company buys them and throws their aluminum body on it.

 

[Calypso]

Idk.. there are the size of a dried up pea, some are garbanzo beans, a few are like kidney beans… none that are butter bean size though. There’s some rice size holes and now I’m thinking of having rice and beans for dinner.

They are all over the floor, the big ones on the upper walls where the bolts were for the hangers. There are some in the wheel wells, some around where the exterior lights are. The big line of them is behind the driver seat where the bulkhead/wall was. All across the width. I did stop at lowes on way home and grabbed this flex tape paste stuff, they didn’t have the bondo kit just big bottles or mass amounts of fabric of each part and was like $60 for probably way more than I need.

I still haven’t washed the floor but will just clean the areas that need it. It’ll be a bit before I can pressure wash it. Then I can check if it all cured right and where other holes are.

The area by the pedals is rusting, the area by the doghouse is eaten away a bit. But I’ll deal with that later. This stuff doesn’t seem to have temp requirements, as it’s still getting down to mid 30’s, I think high today was 48 in the sun.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Ok so we're talking small bolt and screw holes in the aluminum. That aluminum is pretty thick. The best way to patch them is to TIG weld them shut, but I'm assuming you don't have access to one and hiring a welder is out of the question. My suggestion is to clean the holes up really well, go to Home Depot and get a propane torch and a pack of Alumanoy rods and patch them with that. Super easy. Just as fast and easy as Bondo or other kinds of pastes, but leaps and bounds better. The proper way to work with aluminum. Return that Flex Tape crap. Having a small portable torch will come in handy on other projects you'll have down the line.

 

[Calypso]

Ok so we're talking small bolt and screw holes in the aluminum. That aluminum is pretty thick. The best way to patch them is to TIG weld them shut, but I'm assuming you don't have access to one and hiring a welder is out of the question. My suggestion is to clean the holes up really well, go to Home Depot and get a propane torch and a pack of Alumanoy rods and patch them with that. Super easy. Just as fast and easy as Bondo or other kinds of pastes, but leaps and bounds better. The proper way to work with aluminum. Return that Flex Tape crap. Having a small portable torch will come in handy on other projects you'll have down the line.

But when I saw it on TV it worked, even sealed up a submarine. I’ll keep flex paste for something else.. the TV said it works for everything. TV said.

Okay propane torch .. and I can use it on my crème brûlée later.

Thanks buddy

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

I read things on the internet all the time too! Must be true! Haha

Oh, save me some creme brulee! The yellow MAPP gas torches work way better than propane btw. Heats up 5x faster and you will cuss less.

 

[GotSmart]

JB Weld. Clean it well and mix up the two part filler. Once the holes are sealed then you can paint and insulate.

 

[Calypso]

I’m thinking JB weld should always be in my box, esp with this rig. You know I saw that yesterday and was like, idk, it’s just holes not like a tow hitch. But maybe I’ve always been over confident with that stuff and it’s strength, like it’s some kind of Hephaestus. And I’ve always wanted my very own blow torch, so I’ll get one of those too. I mean, why not?!

I’ll save the flex paste for next time I go out clubbing, that way I can actually laugh whilst I have my “face” on.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

My suggestion is to clean the holes up really well, go to Home Depot and get a propane torch and a pack of Alumanoy rods and patch them with that.

I would be very careful welding aluminum.
1. you need to match the alloy of welding filler with the alloy of the base metal.
2. you need the proper metal prep; again based on the alloy of aluminum.
3. you need the proper temperature, both for heating and annealing.
4. you need to anneal to eliminate stress fractures from forming over time.

I worked with aluminum my whole career. It requires skill to heat, especially thinner sheets. It is very easy to make the problem worse.

My suggestions:
for small holes: get caulk made for aluminum roof gutters. You will need to experiment to see how big a hole the caulk will bridge. A two part epoxy like JB Weld will work too, a two part epoxy putty will bridge a large hole.

for larger threaded holes: fill with proper set screw, can use above caulk as seal and thread locker.

For bigger holes you are going to have to make a patch or use epoxy putty.

Tapes like Eternabond or FlexSeal will work too if it is going to be covered (they don't take to being abraded well).
Bondo will work. Get the stuff with aluminum in it.

In all of the above prep is 90% of the job if you want it to last.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Alumanoy is not welding. It's brazing because you're not melting the base material. Those rods work on any and all alloys. It's also thick material that we're working with. But you're correct about proper cleaning. Any solution that the OP does will require cleaning.

Oh, JB Weld will work well. That's probably the easiest thing to do! But again, really need to do the prep work still.

 

[AmargosaWayne]

Pennies and epoxy glue for small holes.

 

[CosmickGold]

Some floor holes are intended to let moisture out you know. Probably shouldn't fill those.

 

[Calypso]

I have a ton of pennys and had thought the same. The weld paste actually worked pretty good, as did the torch method. It was kinda fun trying different methods. Defiantly found a few more cracks the closer I got down to the ground. The floor will be sealed up Nice and Tight. No more holes. And the doghouse is looking better too.