drilling holes to drain water from the pan

[Malcolm]

I'm sure this has been discussed before but I can't find the thread.

When water leaks through the side and rear windows, it settles in the floor pan thing (what's it called? the thing with the series of holes along the top that supports the front edge of the rear seat).

Drying it out is tough and I'm wondering if it would make more sense to drill holes through from underneath to act as a permanent drain.

Any advice? Good idea? Bad idea? And how would you stop the edges of the drilled holes from rusting?

Malcolm

[Kevin]

Drying it out is tough and I'm wondering if it would make more sense to drill holes through from underneath to act as a permanent drain.

The important thing here is to replace the rubbers as this is the only way to stop the water leaking into the car in the 1st place, because rust under the rear seat is one of the worst places to have a repair done.

[rayofleamington]

Kevin, Have you been borrowing Chris Morleys computer or are you just determined not to slip into 3rd place in the top-poster stakes??

Drying it out is tough and I'm wondering if it would make more sense to drill holes through from underneath to act as a permanent drain.

I have done this on a fair number of Minors. You want the holes just behind the upright section otherwise they won't be at the lowest point of the box section. I tend to do one towards the prop tunnel and one at the outer edge of this area (near the spring mount). ie 2 per side, 4 in total. Anything up to 10mm should be fine. You need to debur the inside edge of the hole otherwise it will act as a lip and not be good at letting water out. The metal inside is likely to be bare and rusty but feel free to protect the fresh cut hole with red oxide or hammerite etc..
Once the water is out of the area and it is VERY dry andf you have scratched free and hoovered out any rust flakes, you are well advised to waxoil the inside of the box section.

Contrary to popular opinion, this area is easy to repair, however as the spring mount needs to be strong and should also be passing the loads directly to the box section, it shouldn't be done in a random / slapdash fashion. (Bad repairs in this area seem to be prevalent, although a good repair is not very hard to do)

Then also make sure the sills have adequate drain holes!

[Chief]

Contrary to popular opinion, this area is easy to repair

Though I havnt done it, it looked an easy job, does that mean a reasonably good condition one can be cut off, the rusty area scrubbed away, primed and painted and then box section welded back on? I should follow your advice and waxoil the area again (last time the waxoil ran out:D) but if it was a cheap enough job to do the above would it be worth it to get rid of the bright orange rust?.

[chickenjohn]

I would think its not too hard to do that box section in the middle of the car- SR did his, and I repaired the spring hanger at one side on my Traveller- which involved one end of the underside of the section.

Its just flat plate after all, lap welded to the floor on both sides. Just need a large piece of flat steel.

I agree with above though, that best to avoid this by replacing the rubbers to stop the leak, as re-sealing them only seems to last a year or two.

[rayofleamington]

Its just flat plate after all, lap welded to the floor on both sides. Just need a large piece of flat steel.

I agree with above though, that best to avoid this by replacing the rubbers to stop the leak, as re-sealing them only seems to last a year or two.

agreed on both counts

[SR]

theres a pic of rebuilt box on my welink malcolm

[Chris Morley]

Kevin, Have you been borrowing Chris Morleys computer

You're well out of date Ray, there's been no double posting by me or my computer since I ditched Internet Explorer about 6 months ago!

I would think the repair of the box section would be very difficult if it went anywhere near the spring hanger plates, plus it means grovelling right under the car unless you've got a roller. Of course the sensible advice is to stop the leak ASAP!

[rayofleamington]

The area can be done using a single piece of thick steel under the spring hanger, making sure it is properly connected to the edge of the box section, floor and the sill (unlike the previous bodger's repair which was just a cover plate sitting in thin air, hence not lasting very long). All done in about 2.5 hours
This may be 20 times better than the average garage repair and last many years but is only a 'temporary' fix as a full repair section is the neater way to go and that will be done in due course.

[Kevin]

Kevin, Have you been borrowing Chris Morleys computer or are you just determined not to slip into 3rd place in the top-poster stakes??

Ray what double posting and as for the top poster stakes thats lower down my order of priorities than weeding my garden or sweeping the pavement outside my house !!!!!!!!

[Cam]

Sorry for the confusion. Kevin, you did do a few double posts in the last few days, but I have removed them. It seems that Ray saw them before I removed them!!!

[Willie]

RAY, that's the prettiest shade of rust I've seen in a long time!

[Kevin]

Kevin, you did do a few double posts in the last few days, but I have removed them. It seems that Ray saw them before I removed them!!!

Oh dear wasnt aware of that

[rayofleamington]

RAY, that's the prettiest shade of rust I've seen in a long time!

Why thank you Fred
I figure those of you with waxoil need to be reminded of what would happen without it ;-)
If the sills weren't 2 or 3 layers thick I'd consider it myself, but not worth it until they are done properly. Fortunatley I can leave the car tucked away in the garage if it looks like rain.

[salty_monk]

Ray, how thick is that "thick piece of steel"??

[rayofleamington]

Ray, how thick is that "thick piece of steel"?

I didn't measure it, but I couldn't bend it by hand, so it seemed 'thick enough'.
It's a section from a hefty 50 gallon steel drum - as advised in the other post.

[salty_monk]

Ta...!