My first order of business is to to fix the floor pans and I am conflicted on what to do. Do I somehow patch the holes that I have or do I just cut both sides out and put all new in? I am very mechanical and understand a lot but I am not knowledgeable about unibody cars in particular other than there is no frame and structural rigidity is all in the panels welded together.
Next is sealing the seams, as I have removed most of the crumbling tar like material from the factory. Clueless n this.
The next thing I have is sealing the rust. What is the best way long term. I’ve scoured the forums and I get basically 2 options, POR 15, or epoxy “primer”. Open to other options but as you can see by the pictures, I am dealing with a lot of rust that I am wire wheeling the bulk off of down to bare metal in places and sanding existing paint with 120.
With rust it’s usually worse than you think. What shape are torque boxes, cowl area, rockers and trunk area like? Condition of some of those pieces help determine what you do with floor pans. Hard to tell what you’re up against with one pic. A search here on others projects might be very helpful for you to what others have done with rust repair. Hope it works out and you get to enjoy your Dad’s Cougar.
I have all of the necessary tools, welders, painting equipment, two post lift. I have fairly decent skills in everything except painting which I have an experienced uncle to lean on for that. My worst fear is having to completely strip the car down to bare bones and turn into a 5-10 year project. I would just assume that everything is in the same condition roughly as the picture above. The entire engine bay was painted 30 years ago and still looks ok. The trunk is being completely redone.
I’m a new member so it only allows one photo per post for now.
Epoxy only works if the metal is all clean and free of rust. POR15 has its pros and cons, but the biggest con is that it is nearly impossible to strip once dried; the advantage is that it can cover surface rust. If the panel is rusted through, no product will suffice except welding in new metal. Seam sealer (usually 3M type) is applied after all prep and then (epoxy) paint is applied.
With a lift, welders and tools sounds like you’re in decent shape. If bottom looks like interior photo then you should be able to get it done. Go for it!
