br1anstorm
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- United Kingdom
Took out the seats and front-area carpet from my 1993 XJ a while back, and found the usual problem - rusting floor on the passenger side. So I had a local workshop cut and weld in a patch, and then I cleaned down, primed and painted the inside surface, undersealed the whole of the underside of the chassis, and put the carpet back.
So far so good... and no sign of any leaks to make the carpets wet again. But I decided to check the floor periodically to make sure, and I've just taken the whole of the inside carpet and trim out. The floorpan is in pretty good shape for a 14-year old vehicle. But there are spots of surface rust on the original part of the passenger side floor, and some similar surface rust on the rear luggage-deck floor - especially around the spot-welds and where screws go through the floor eg for the spare-tyre support bracket (it really is pretty cheapskate of Jeep to put bolts and self-tapping screws straight through the chassis floor panel where they get exposed to water, mud and salt...)
Anyhow, I'm going to clean and treat the rust, and sand, prime and repaint the whole floorpan. Might use POR-15 if I can find it over here in UK. Then I want to put the carpets back - it's a daily driver, I want the sound and heat insulation, and offroad I do deserts, not muddy rivers. But the felt lining bonded under the carpet is deadly stuff for holding any dampness and is the prime cause of rusty floors. So I'm thinking about alternatives. (does that mean I should be posting this in the "Modified Tech" forum?).
Even though the underside is pretty well sealed, I don't want to Herculine the interior - because there's a risk that even the slightest bit of rust left lurking on the panels, or the tiniest seam or joint left untreated, means that rust could then spread totally unseen. Once the liner is on, there's no way of checking what state the metal is in underneath it.
So here's my question: what else can I use as underlay between the floor panel and carpet that will insulate, but won't soak up and hold any water that happens to get in? I've seen people refer to Reflectix, Peel & Seal, and stuff like Dynamat (in the UK the brand-names are different...). What experience have others had with alternatives to the factory-fit felt underlay stuff? Any suggestions as to what else I might use?
br1anstorm
So far so good... and no sign of any leaks to make the carpets wet again. But I decided to check the floor periodically to make sure, and I've just taken the whole of the inside carpet and trim out. The floorpan is in pretty good shape for a 14-year old vehicle. But there are spots of surface rust on the original part of the passenger side floor, and some similar surface rust on the rear luggage-deck floor - especially around the spot-welds and where screws go through the floor eg for the spare-tyre support bracket (it really is pretty cheapskate of Jeep to put bolts and self-tapping screws straight through the chassis floor panel where they get exposed to water, mud and salt...)
Anyhow, I'm going to clean and treat the rust, and sand, prime and repaint the whole floorpan. Might use POR-15 if I can find it over here in UK. Then I want to put the carpets back - it's a daily driver, I want the sound and heat insulation, and offroad I do deserts, not muddy rivers. But the felt lining bonded under the carpet is deadly stuff for holding any dampness and is the prime cause of rusty floors. So I'm thinking about alternatives. (does that mean I should be posting this in the "Modified Tech" forum?).
Even though the underside is pretty well sealed, I don't want to Herculine the interior - because there's a risk that even the slightest bit of rust left lurking on the panels, or the tiniest seam or joint left untreated, means that rust could then spread totally unseen. Once the liner is on, there's no way of checking what state the metal is in underneath it.
So here's my question: what else can I use as underlay between the floor panel and carpet that will insulate, but won't soak up and hold any water that happens to get in? I've seen people refer to Reflectix, Peel & Seal, and stuff like Dynamat (in the UK the brand-names are different...). What experience have others had with alternatives to the factory-fit felt underlay stuff? Any suggestions as to what else I might use?
br1anstorm
