I was cleaning up and sanding the underside of my XJ so I could paint it with primer then Dupli-Color bed coating and found this rusted through hole on the driver's side floor. I'm trying to find out what's the best way to fix/patch it without a welder. I have a Lincoln 140 mig, but I only have flux core. Plus I'm not very good at welding super thin sheet metal.
I have some thin stock sheet metal and was thinking of covering the hole with a cut piece and using some kind of gasket/sealant maker or some kind of waterproof adhesive and then paint over it.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

 

I had a very large hole in my driver side floor pan. I also didn't want to weld because of the gas, brake and transmission fluid lines in the vicinity.

I ended up using similar guage sheet metal panel with 1/4" rivets every 1" or so and panel seam sealer (NAPA). I had my entire interior stripped and worked from the inside. For a small area like yours you might be able to put a patch on the outside and make the edges looks smooth enough to not be noticeable. The seam sealer is thick stuff but can be tooled fairly easily. After I finished the patch I coated the entire underside with Rustoleum undercoating. Came out real nice and a lot quieter to boot.

Good luck,
John

 

Thank you! Can I find this "panel seam sealer" at any auto parts store? I don't have a NAPA around me. Also, does the seam sealer only work on clean bare metal or can it be used on painted surfaces? I've got some RUST-OLEUM rust reformer that instantly converts rust to a protected, printable surface. Wondering if I could spray the rust reformer on first, then use the seam sealer and a piece of patch metal on top. Then paint over everything after it's cured.

 

The seam sealer that I have will stick to just about anything solid. The actual maufacturer is Martin-Senour, the paint company. Lots of manufacturers have a similar product. 3M has one but it's fairly expensive. I'd definitely look at your local parts house. Stay away from the RTV product. It doesn't dry as hard as the panel seam sealers do.