need help with my floors!!!!

[tim fox]

hi my name is tim i am looking for good floor reinforcment rails all mine are rotted away cant get them i just need sections not the top floor pans. any help would be great. i have a 1965 convt.

[ralfwho]

Clark's Corvair in Mass. sells replacement floor panels. Google for the website. By the way, after you fix the floor, paint both sides with POR. Make sure your dash isn't leaking - many Corvair floors fail because moisture on the INSIDE (held in by the carpeting and padding from a leak somewhere) rots the floor from top down.

The late late-model Corvair body (65-69) suffers from a couple of design 'issues'.

The valence just in front of the windshield is a source of many leaks. This area is accessible somewhat from under the front air-intake grill. You'll have to remove the windshield wipers to do this. Clean and dry the area and slap on a good quality (3M) body sealer. Lifetime silicone sealer will work, too. If you have small hands or can steal a 4 year old for a few hours, so the same in the opening for the hood hinges.

There is a drain in the body panel under the windshield reveal moulding. Buy a moulding reveal remover tool and pop-off the trim. The drains will be in the hidden area just inside the A-piller, just under the windwhield glass. This drain allows collected water to drain down inside the fender, just behind the interior vents. This is the same place that water that enters the grill (under the wipers) drains to. This water travels inside the rockers and exits thru a vertical hole that is just forward of the REAR wheel, on the INSIDE of the rocker. There is always a lot of crud that collects there. Clean it out by running water into the grille and poking your fingers into the drain (near the rear wheels) until the water runs clear. There is a small rectangular flap at may still be there. It was supposed to keep debris from occluding the hole. More often than not, however, it act to keep crap in. I have always removed the flap and flush this drain monthly.

The rear windows also drain into the rocker 'sewer' that ultimately drains at the rear wheel.

The front floor vents are supposed to be sealed to the body so that water that drains from the front windshield grill (as described above) will not allow water to enter there. This is also a prime leak area. Remove these plastic panels, but before resealing them (with silicone), clean out any debris that has collected in the area between the opening and the fender. You'll figure it out.

Check for rust under the trunk mat. Many Corvair owners remove this vinyl permanently so that any water that enters the drunk isn't held there to promote rust. Water in the trunk usuallt comes from a bad trunk perimiter seal and secondarily from bumper bolts and the front trunk-lock escutcheon.

There are also a couple of rot opportunities in the rear of the car. Inside the rear fenders, just behind the rear wheels are some body plugs that can be removed. IF there is water that has collected in the lower areas behind the rear wheels, remove these and allow the area to dry out. Replace the plugs afterwards. You can check for moisture by reaching down into this area from inside the engine compartment, to the left of the battery and to the right of the spare tire, bothouf which you may have to remove.

You should figure out where the water is coming from and fix it. Most often caused by a bad engine compartment seal.

There are also two drains under the rear air intake grill. These oblong holes are supposed to have a rubber flap-seal and metal support to keep air and crud out of the engine compartment. Keep these drains clean.