Floorboards - Why so hole-y?

[Redskinsjbs]

Ok, so I am re-doing the sound dampening in my floorboards and whilst the old rotted stuff was out I figured it would be a goo time to repair / add preventative measures to the floorboards.

Now, my Gt's floorboards are in near immaculate condition; only a little surface rust here and there, none larger than the size of a dime.

I am going to POR -15 the entire floorboards, but I was wondering if the drain holes are at all useful? I see them as a potential area for rust to spawn, so I am wondering if I can fill them and if I can how? I cannot weld for both lack of equipment and materials, but if there is another fix to fill them ins somehow I would really like to know what it is. Thanks!

[PROPEL]

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your question, but what's wrong with the original rubber floorplugs? They make drainage easier in case you get a bunch of water in there for some reason.

[Redskinsjbs]

Well can't water from the road go the other way too? And I see that as a more frequent occurance.

[yellaopelgt]

I just replaced all the rubber plugs in my floor pan not too long ago...And yes,it is a place where moisture collects. Luckily, there was just road grime around mine and no rust. But its a stupid concept in my opinion. The chances of a car needing to be drained like that are almost nill while the chances of rot are 100%. I sealed them with silicone and then undercoated the whole mess from the outside just for fun! should be good for another 30+ years.

[First opel 1981]

You guys will be thankful for those drain holes if you ever accidently drive your Opel GT into a reservoir while heading to a campground at 10:30 at night.

Well, at least I appreciated them.

[wrench459]

They come in handy when the heater core starts leaking.
Or when old timers comes into play..nice summer day and then the rain comes guess who didn't roll up the windows

[Redskinsjbs]

Ok, I am going to plug them up if there isn't another reason other then to let the rare water that enters the car out. Like I said, I plan on using POR - 15 on the floorboards, so any water that does enter will be in a sort of bathtub - - until it either evaporates or is soaked up with a sponge. Thanks Guys!

[jerseydave]

Can you say "shop vac"

[yellaopelgt]

OGTS sells the plugs for a coupla bucks each....no welding involved.

And ....if you have a "moment" and have to drain the bath-tub. Just poke a screwdriver in it.


(for some reason...that sounds funny?))

[Redskinsjbs]

OGTS is such a crutch! I will order new plugs next week and seal em up with silicon.

[OriginalOpelGTOwner]

The drain holes (The ones that have solid rubber plugs) in the floor pans are there to allow the body assembly to drain at the factory after body wash prior to painting. There was no dipping the bodys in E-coat tanks in those days but the bodys did go through a wash to clean the metal. The drain holes in today's cars are even larger to allow the E-coat to drain once the bodies leave the E-coat tanks. There is really no reason why these drain holes cannot be welded over and permanently sealed. I guess one could always leave a rubber plug in one just in case you drive into a lake or the car in caught in a flood.

[opelnut_1]

the other thing would be a minor weight savings holes filled equals more weight for a fixed amound of pwer to move. there for car will go faster an accelerate better with the holes

[First opel 1981]

Originally Posted by opelnut_1 the other thing would be a minor weight savings holes filled equals more weight for a fixed amound of pwer to move. there for car will go faster an accelerate better with the holes

But would that be offset by the drag coefficient of the rubber hole plugs extending below the plane of the floor pan?

[opelnut_1]

or the drag created by leaving the holes there an leaving the plugs out


hmmmm

need further testing

Originally Posted by First opel 1981 But would that be offset by the drag coefficient of the rubber hole plugs extending below the plane of the floor pan?

[tomking]

I suspect the holes are also there to aid the stamping process that was used to make the floor parts in the first place.

[Dirk]

I would never close em up as a die-hard chicagoan. The factory could send a letter telling me it was 100% fine to seal em up, and i would still be paranoid about it. One week in winter up here and your floorboards are filled with melted snow that takes forever to go away.

[Redskinsjbs]

Finally got a day above 50 here in DC. SO today I painted the entire floorboards (Not the tranny-tunnel) with POR-15. I first stripped all of the old paint off, and I then used the company's Marine CLean and Metal Ready prior to painting the floorbaords.

On the list for tomorrow is patching minor holes and applying the Damplifier. I'll post pics once they have been loaded.

[traytodd]

I would not use RTV silicone rubber to seal up the plugs. When RTV cures, it produces acetic acid (the characteristic smell of RTV) which will cause more corrosion than using nothing at all.

Terry

[Redskinsjbs]

So today I applied about half of the Damplifier to the panels of my car.

[Gordy]

If your GT has not rusted around the round floor hole plugs in the last 40 years, as is indicated in the thread above, what would make one think that that area is more prone to rust than any other area of the floor? Rather than tamper with I'd be inclined to leave things stock and as they were.

[Redskinsjbs]

Originally Posted by Gordy If your GT has not rusted around the round floor hole plugs in the last 40 years, as is indicated in the thread above, what would make one think that that area is more prone to rust than any other area of the floor? Rather than tamper with I'd be inclined to leave things stock and as they were.

Well my GT is a Cali Car, and now it resides in swampy Washington DC, so the weather it will encounter has changed.

[Gordy]

I see. The job looks like it's coming along very nicely.