Fixing More Holes in the Van

 

Fiber Glassing Rust Holes.

The last couple of days I have been working on some holes that rusted through in the top at the back corners of the van.

When I first bought the Van over thirty years ago It was pretty rusted out.  I had to fix many rust holes in the body at that time. Now I have to do it again.

Pictures

I didn’t take any pictures of the job until I had the rust all cleaned up and sprayed with rust restorer but you can see the holes.

 

By the time I got this far it was to late in the day to start the actual glassing.

I covered the whole thing with a plastic garbage bag so it would stay dry over night.

Cutting Patches.

The next day I cut patches out of some fiberglass cloth and made sure that they would cover the holes.

 

Applying the Epoxy.

The next thing was to mix up a little epoxy and paint onto the area to be patched. Then put the cloth patches in place and cover the whole area with epoxy, working it in to the cloth with the brush.

Trimming and Sanding.

Once the epoxy set up I trimmed the excess off the cloth and gave the whole area a light sanding.

The whole area looks like it is sealed. That’s good because it is supposed to rain tonight (Saturday) so I hope it is all sealed.
Tomorrow if it dries out enough I will do a little more sanding and apply another coat of epoxy and once that dries I’ll squirt some paint on it.

Disclaimer.

There are probably some people that are saying,
“this guy doesn’t know what he is doing”.
To that I’ll say you are more right than you know.
I never have been any good at body work. I just don’t have the patience for it or the knowledge. Having said that, I might point out that the last time I did this repair was almost 30 years ago and it only failed now. Not to bad for a guy that doesn’t know what he is doing.

Next.

Once I get the sanding and painting done I’ll show you how it turns out. I don’t think it will be pretty but hopefully it won’t leak for another 30 years.