Vannin' Home Forums General Discussion Generic How To ..... Stripping the floor

Hey guys. This question is kinda directed to those that live in the cold and have winter. I want to start with stripping the van floor. Now there is minimal rust, mostly around the doghouse and bits throughout, not right through, mostly surface. But me being maticulous, I want to do it all from scratch. Now, I want to start but cant prime or paint until it warms up in the spring and dont want to have to redo it all because rust started to form even though its in my shop. My shop is not heated, just a small heater to take the chill off when I'm out there working. Is it a good idea to wait until spring to start stripping it or will rust start to form once its down to the bare metal, because I dont want to do it twice. Has anyone experienced leaving the panels or floor, or any metal or steel parts for that matter, unprimed or unpainted for a long period of time, like over the winter, and rust starting to form even though it doesnt get wet? The humidity is 80% or more but will NEVER see rain or get wet.

Bare metal will rust quick. You could keep treating it with oil, but that gets to be a pain in the butt. I'd suggest holding off until warmer spring weather before stripping, so you can get primer and paint on immediately. I've got no heat in the garage either, and it sucks not being able to paint in there for sure. I feel like patience will pay off there though.

I agree about waiting. When we repainted Black Magic I had to do it in the yard. Over a week or so. I was amazed at how fast rust tried to form on the bare metal.

Thanks kursed. Well I guess I can start tearing apart the dash and suspension and all the other components. Taking lots of pictures and bringing the plastic in the house to clean up and watch the wife freak-out...lol. I do have a corner in the basement to put some parts.

Thanks lukester

If you can find it Jasco prep and primer. It's no longer made but still out there. Follow the directions. I still have a little left when I did the floor in the brown van. It's a rust converter and puts things on ice till you are ready to paint.

Well once you have the rust removed to your satisfaction get some of Evapo Rust’s Rust Stop. Will temporary seal your rusty areas for up to a year and when ready to paint follow the instructions for rinsing off the Rust Stop.
But my opinion is the floor (I assume) when the van is finished is going to be covered with some type of floor covering so it’s a lot easier to just remove the loose rust, clean the floor and coat with a good quality rust stopping paint primer then apply some sort of top coat color of choice and it’s ready for covering.
Good luck