Rusty Battery Box advice
 

Hey paint and body work guys,

Over on the technical forum I had posted and got some responses about the battery box in my '81 SC. At first I thought I had more rust than what was there. Most of what I saw was discoloration of the rubberized coating. There is however a hole that has caused a gap about 1/4-inch wide by an inch and a quarter or so long. (If I knew my way around the forums better I'd link to the photo with my other post)

I have begun using a wire brush to clean the couple of places of exposed metal - which is still in solid shape - and plan on treating the metal and painting it with the POR-15 kit that's on the way to me.

This question deals with the rubberized coating. I had planned on stripping with the wire brushes the entire bottom of the box down to bare metal, then doing the POR-15 bit as well as closing up that gap with JB Weld or some such product. But the factory coating is still bonded so strong on the biggest portion of the metal... Should I take it off anyway or leave it and treat around it.

I am also wondering since the gap Is there, even though I can see no light shining through when looking at the underside of the car making me believe there's no hole underneath, would I be better off treating the bare metal and leaving the gap there until I could find a highly qualified body man to assess the part under the box? I wouldn't want to cover up a bunch of corrosion I can't see and then later find it'd eaten through.

Someone sent me a link to his story of hidden corrosion and it has me worried somewhat. He cut away portions of his box bottom and saw the damage which was really extensive. I'm hoping mine isn't like that.

Any opinions?

It looks like you got a boat load of advice on the tech forum. You need to do what you feel comfortable with.

After waiting 6 years to take care of a "small rust hole" I am now preparing to replace a lot more than I bargained for.

My thoughts. Its a small project, do it right the first time and forget about it, otherwise everytime it rains or the car gets wet you are going to be worried about it.

If you are any kind of DIY'er you could probably do most of the tear down yourself and then have a welder come in to cut out the rust and replace it with new sheet metal. You do the re-assembly.

Thanks for your reply, "sailchef!" It's appreciated very much,
--Jeff