I have a 1990 RX7 GXL with over 292K original miles. The car spent most of its lifetime in northern Virginia near DC. We do get some snow (15" average annual snow fall) and they do use salt on the streets. As a result, my car has developed some small rust holes near where the floor pan meets the firewall. I need to get this fixed by June otherwise the car will not pass the annual VA safety inspection. I searched the web for aftermarket floor pans, but apparently none are available. Also, I doubt that Mazda has them (as I find that lots of parts for this car are no longer available from the dealer) and I wouldn't want to pay ridiculous dealer prices anyway. I was wondering if anyone had a similar problem and what they did to fix the rusted pans. If it comes to it, than I'll just rivet some aluminum sheet over the rusted areas. Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
Hot_Dog

 

Simply put, you need to cut out the rusted metal and weld in new metal. Just regular sheet metal that's the same thickness as the OE metal and galvanized to prevent rust and then painted.

You'll need someone who knows how to weld and has the tools.

 

If you can find one that isn't rusted in a junkyard, take a battery powered sawzall and cut out some sections bigger than you think you need. Take those to someone who can trim them up and weld them in after cutting out the cancer.

(Don't let the Florida location fool you, I grew up in Ohio. I know rust.)

 

Pics? You might be better off buying another shell and swapping parts over. There's probably a lot more under there than you think.
If you just want to pass safety, fiberglass over the holes. The law is there to prevent exhaust fumes from entering the cabin, not to keep the car from falling apart.

 

You're right...there's probably a lot more rust under the car than I'm unaware of. I don't want to go through all the time and effort swapping shells. I'll probably hold on to the car for a couple more years.

Ok...thanks for the info regarding fumes entering the cabin. I'll look into the fiberglass patches as a possible temporary repair.

 

Yeah, but you really don't know what you're getting at a junk yard especially in this area. I work with a guy that has a old VW beetle which were notorious for rust. He suggest buying sheet aluminum and pop riveting it over the rusted area.

 

Yea, you have to figure if its in the junkyard it may be as bad or wore than yours. Worth a look though, you never know. I'm still like a kid in a candy store walking around yards down here seeing all these cars that I would have dreamed to have a clean example of in Ohio.

"A 1976 AMC Pacer!, Why the hell is that here? It's cleeean!

If you are going to go the rivet route to buy time, get some 20 gauge steel instead of aluminum. Its thin enough to bend easily in to place. I'd go to Homey's Race Supply and get some silicon caulk/sealer(big orange building, I guess they sell building supplies too)

 

Thanks for the Homely reference. I'll check them out.