95 Classic SWB....Soaked front carpet

[boxer]

I own a 95 County classic SWB and recently bought a second one. Both had soaked front padding and rusted floor boards. Is this a common problem? I hear it is from clogged air condition drains. If anyone has had this problem I would love to hear what you did. I think I am going to pull up the padding, address the rust, dynamat the floor boards and put back new insulation under the carpet.

If you have never checked you classic you should go out and stick you finger under the padding....you might have the same problem and never knew it.

Thanks in advance!

[John C]

It could be the drains but it could also be a leaking windshield (common problem). First thing I do to all my rovers is remove the carpet and foam.... just herculine the whole interior and I won't have to worry about rusty floors.

[OkieRover]

^^^^^x2
The kind of free float the windshield in the rubber and eventually it leads to leaks. I have a page about removing the carpet on my site, www.okierover.com.
There are lots of little bolt holes in the floor board as well and sealing them will help with the water off the road coming up into the padding as well.

You'll definately want to put some kind of padding and heat shield down when you pull up and replace the old stuff. The floor gets hot in the summer and the sound deadening is also important for ride comfort.

[sven]

I have a 95 RRC with the same problem. Its not the AC drains or the windsheild. Remove your hood and decker panel. Under the decker panel is a welded seam that rusts and allows water to enter from under the padding. I siliconed mine 2 years ago and it temporarily helped. But it came back again. The right way to seal it is by cutting the rust out and welding in new metal. I plan on doing this sometime soon..

[deadboy1977]

sven
how far is this welded metal seam down from the bottom of the windscreen?
i have this same problem. When I had a new windscreen put in a year ago, installer said there was rust around/below windscreen and there were no guarantees.....

[deadboy1977]

sven
how far is this welded metal seam down from the bottom of the windscreen?
i have this same problem. When I had a new windscreen put in a year ago, installer said there was rust around/below windscreen and there were no guarantees.....

[sven]

You have to remove the decker panel (cowl) to even see the seams. Its a few inches in front of the windsheild.

[das]

hey OkieRover, where on your site are the directions? I have the same problem, looked quickly at your site, but couldn't see how to remove the carpet....

thanks

[daway]

also check inside of your wheel wells and around were the front mud flap brakets r located. i had a small hole that started under the driver side mud flap bracket that caused h2o to come in and make the carpet damp. i took the bracket off (PIA!) and patched the hole w/ alum sheet, self tap'n screws and alot of heavy duty silcone. i should have got the underbody coated this fall but will do next this winter or next summer.

[hermanpj]

Reusing this thread instead of creating a new one. Working on interior of my Classic so I took out all the foam and rubber insulation pads. Overall very little surface rust. However, to my alarm, a huge mofo-ing hole in the passenger floorboard. you could literally stick your foot through it and touch the catalytic converter.

I've cut out all worst rust, and am cleaning off the surface rust in preparation for patching the hole. Some Questions:

1. is floorboard steel or aluminum? It seems highly magnetic and was a bitch to cut through with Dremel tool, so I'm guessing steel but can someone confirm?
2. my plan is to cut a patch out of sheet metal - what thickness, anyone know?
3. planning to attach the patch with pop rivets and a some kind of silicone sealant designed for high heat. is that good idea or bad idea? I dont have welding tools or experience, and don't want to pay a ton of $ for someone else to patch it.
4. is there supposed to be a heat insulator/reflector between the cabin and the catalytic converter? there aint one and i was wondering whether this contributed to the metal rusting out.
5. what is recommended simplest practical way to seal small screw holes in the floor boards? solder? putty? jbweld? Will be putting down a coat of herculiner on entire interior floor so I just want something that will seal these holes so water doesnt get up in anywhere.

thanks

[OkieRover]

Aluminum is non metalic. So your working with steel.
A cheap welder is only 89$. So I'm not sure what you thought you'd have to pay to get that welded. Check with your local muffler shop. They weld stuff for me all the time and only charge me 10-20 bucks.
http://www.bostonindustrial.com/arcwe150amp1.html just for reference.
Heat and rust?
Ummm. I'd say the water is your worst enemy. Heat would assist in paint removal...maybe if it was close enough and got hot enough.

I wouldn't try to do it with rivets. After you get it patched putting herculiner on it is a good idea. Lots of guys are doing that. If I had to take mine down again, I'd do the same.

[hermanpj]

Originally Posted by OkieRover

Aluminum is non metalic. So your working with steel.
A cheap welder is only 89$. So I'm not sure what you thought you'd have to pay to get that welded. Check with your local muffler shop. They weld stuff for me all the time and only charge me 10-20 bucks.
http://www.bostonindustrial.com/arcwe150amp1.html just for reference.
Heat and rust?
Ummm. I'd say the water is your worst enemy. Heat would assist in paint removal...maybe if it was close enough and got hot enough.

I wouldn't try to do it with rivets. After you get it patched putting herculiner on it is a good idea. Lots of guys are doing that. If I had to take mine down again, I'd do the same.

Thanks. So I'll see about whether muffler shop near me will weld a patch panel for me. Thanks for the recommendation. I am definitely doing the herculiner - matter of fact that is what I was prepping for when i discovered this problem.

[roverandom]

Remember to seal the outside of the patch panel also (under the truck), after all that is the source of all the water (hopefully, and not as noted above). I guess you could use the truck bed liner if it can handle the exhaust heat or get some of the do-it-yourself undercoating spray or your new panel will rust out again from the underside in time.