XJ cancer(rust), worth keeping?

He guys, I am at a sort of crossroads with my 87 XJ.

I pulled the carpet in preperation for herculiner and found rust in the drivers side floor board. Cleaned it up today and cut most of it out. the results:
The first signs:


I put a white sheet of paper in the "frame" rail on this one:


Without the paper:


the rest of the Jeep looks fine, save along the rockers just in front of the rear fender wells. I have my state inspection comming up in April, so I need to do something soon. It has a brand new radiator, new hoses, expansion tank. I also have an OME 2" lift waiting for it. Still on the list is a new clutch. Other than that it is a Stock 1987 Canadian spec XJ with the carpet out. As I see it, I have a few options. I just had to pay taxes, so money is short right now. Bear in mind, I come from the south, where cars don't realy rust. rust is a new thing to me.

Options:
1. Use sealant and self tapping screws and screw in a patch to pass inspection (cheap but probably won't last long)
2. Find someone who can weld in a patch. (probably best repair, cost???)
3. Scrap it and look harder for an MJ to replace it.

Any thoughts or suggestions on what would be the best option?

thats nothing, mine was WAY WAY WAY worse, heres whatcha gotta do, get a piece or metan and pop rivet it in there, then cover it top and bottom with roofing tar, then stick some newspaper to the tar, and put your carpet back in... goos as new... sorta....

Littlewhitexj said:

thats nothing, mine was WAY WAY WAY worse, heres whatcha gotta do, get a piece or metan and pop rivet it in there, then cover it top and bottom with roofing tar, then stick some newspaper to the tar, and put your carpet back in... goos as new... sorta....

Click to expand...

In my experience self-drilling sheet metal screws with hex heads work better than pop rivets, but otherwise I agree with the above.

My truck is way worse too. I sandwiched the offending holes on the passenger side with stiff aluminum sheetmetal above and below, then bolted the two sheets together. But then, I don't have state inspections, I just want to keep my passenger's feet *inside* the cab.
Jeep on!
--Pete

P.S. Roofing tar sucks cause it takes FOREVER to dry. And I'm not talking about hours or even days here.

yeah, i used pop rivets on the drivers side, then I used self tappers for the rest, I like the rivets just because I dont have screw sticking out of my floor (it really hurts when I catch my arm on them when i am under the jeep)....

my floor is not bad up front but out back there is some.. i'm going to pull the carpet this summer, cut and weld in new metal then put down bedliner then put the carpet back in. my rockers are a different story

In the past couple of years Chrysler put out a TSB about floor replacement, it lists the part numbers and other information. My guess it is a common problem and the TSB goes back to 84 models.

You may want to pay your dealer a visit, the replacement panels may be less than you expect. I'd recommend you replace the rust panels just to restore the vehicle intregrity and keep you from Fred Flintstone mode!!!

tenaflyjeepmoparparts.com......$150.00 for floor pan....this is a big job....I'd just cut out the rot and make sure to treat the rest of the floor pan to prevent further rusting, cover the hole in whatever manner you choose, I welded mine and pop riveted some other spots, passed NH vehicle inspection, any hole big enough for a child to get a finger in must be repaired or covered. Good luck and welcome to NH....home of rusty XJ's

Hey, it isnt only NH with rusty XJs. I don't have floors. Thats that. Cancer got the best of it. Allright, maybe a little is there. But hey, it now has a 4.5" RE lift, so welding the floor in will be way easier. And what is the deal with the whatever on the floors? What will the dealer do? Do they replace them for me? When i did my lift, i could pull up carpet to make sure the welded in nuts werent spinning with the bolts.


Where is that floor pan on that page? I can't find it.

heres some pics of the XJ i just retired because i broke the floor pan too much to fix it.. the drivers side quarter panel was totally seperated from the floor and the body was over an inch wider than the hatch..
needles to say, it was time to say goodbye to it..

http://www.fototime.com/inv/E287DE771D26CAD

Go out and buy some POR 15. The stuff holds to rust and makes it as strong as real metal. They have some specal matting stuff to re build floor boards and such with. Should be much cheeper than new floor pans.

with these being a uni-body construction, replacing the floor plan is a big job, and the dealer is not likely to do it free of charge. all the panels on these vehicles are an integral part of keeping it true and square, but we can fix them, we as XJ owners have learned to improvise, "McGiver" has notning on us. POR is good, Eastwood has a similiar product that I think is better. do a little research and I'm sure you can fix the floor and if it's not right just do it over....it's an XJ....theyr'e immortal.....lol. Moved here from Mass....same rust prob. there.

thanks for all the info. I ended up sandwitcing some 18ga steel, and sealing with fiberglass reenforced roofing tar. I'll try to get some pics soon. I am going to keep my eyes on it and see how it does.

Copperhead

hey PFunk, that looks all to familiar...but i am not that bad. Close. No passenger side floor, very little drivers side, good deal missing in the rear. So didnt you say they had floorpans for like $150 or something on that webpage? I am fine with everything except making the bends up for the hump in the floor.

Well, I finished the repair and took some pics. The hex screws were definately better than rivets. Now if the Herc stink will go away.

The floor repaired and covered:


First coat of Herculiner: