early 911 question

fricker · 09-02-2006, 08:05 PM

Hey guys, I'm removing the sound damping material and the undercoating from the floors of my 70 911E. Its takings awhile but my question is- are the floors galvanized for that year?
It appears to be but i'll not sure. If they are, is there anything other than paint strip that I can use to remove the black base coat off and keep the galvanize.
And what material is recommended to paint the floors with again.
Chris

pwd72s · 09-02-2006, 08:29 PM

Early (pre 1974) 911 cars were NOT galvanized. Sorry, I have no suggestion on a stripper... The mid level car guys here would know for sure, so don't hold me to this...but I think galvanizing first appeared in '75???? First a partial treatment, then the full dip in later years???

HarryD · 09-02-2006, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pwd72s
Early (pre 1974) 911 cars were NOT galvanized. Sorry, I have no suggestion on a stripper... The mid level car guys here would know for sure, so don't hold me to this...but I think galvanizing first appeared in '75???? First a partial treatment, then the full dip in later years???

Paul,

I beg to differ, as I think they started galvanizing the lower portion of the car in the early '70s. The exact year eludes me but it is my understanding that your '72 and my '73 have galvanized floors.

Bob's Project · 09-02-2006, 10:55 PM

Starting in 1970 the sections that make up the inner fenderwells and the floor pan are galvinized.

Pele911 · Pele911's Garage

Galvanized or not you can very well still have a lot of rust after 36 years!

Matt-Man · 09-03-2006, 07:07 AM

I think the best way to remove is still heat. Torch is the best but you could also use a good heat gun.

Matt

wreckah · wreckah's Garage

i used a heat gun (one for stripping paint of wooden stairs etc...), and that worked great. The leftovers i stripped with a very powerful stripper. worked a treat, but use a gasmask please, it's dangerous stuff!

plenty of rust underneath the pedalcluster, as that is the lowest point. be sure to do that while you're in there.

here's where is started:

remove the rest with stripper:

cover the whole floor in rust-stabilisor:

and finish with coating:

good luck, it took me 2 days to do this

BK911 · BK911's Garage

I used a propane torch and a 1" wood chisel to remove most of it. Then I used a wire wheel for final touch up. It took about 4 hours to remove everything.

Scott Clarke · Scott Clarke's Garage

Your floor pan may or may not be galvanized. The Reuter built cars had some galvanized panels starting in '70, but the Karman built cars did not. The VINs with and without galvanized panels are listed in the factory workshop manual. I don't have mine handy, but establishing who built your car would be a first good step.
-Scott

Zeke · 09-03-2006, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fricker
..... is there anything other than paint strip that I can use to remove the black base coat off and keep the galvanize.
And what material is recommended to paint the floors with again.
Chris

Your local welding supply will carry a variety of these.
They are available on several online stores, too. Beware, cheap ones are cheap, that's all. Any they spray loose wires around like miniature missiles that can stick right into your skin. Watch your eyes and face around these until you know they are good quality. You still need to cover up. They will take the undercoating off quickly, but save any plating unless you really bear down. Then, they will remove the plating as well. You can see this happening in time to remove any undo pressure while operating the wheel. they have lots of shapes and sizes, but a cup brush in one of my favorites and doesn't seem to be as dangerous. This is a very messy, aggressive process, but you asked if there were alternatives. I would take as much off by hand as reasonable w/o suffering a lot of work and then grab the 7" angle grinder and finish it off.

AFA painting, super cleanliness is the key. Plus a light etching or scuffing. The wire wheels tend to burnish the metal, shining it up, if you will, and that's not what you want for good paint adhesion. For toughness, any urethane paint system will be good. If there's no rust, don't bother with POR 15, but you should be familiar with the product, if you aren't. It Googles quite easily. There are many substitute types, similar types and a lot of them can be very good if applied correctly.

fricker · 09-03-2006, 04:01 PM

Thanks guys for the great info
My car is porsche built and I checked the floors again and they are galvanized. I removed most of the material with a torch and a scraper. I was hoping not to use a paint stripper because of the mess due to cleaning it off with water but it sounds like thats the best way to safe the galvanize. I have a couple of spots of surface rust so I was going to use my vacuum sand blaster to clean them up. Can I use a etch primer from a spray can? or does it have to be a better type of etch primer?
Chris