Patching holes in the floor

[Rivetboy]

Originally Posted by gs1949

I was wondering that too. I've removed all the old heater hoses that were inside the bus and the heaters in the passenger area too. I plan on running the new hoses to the big heater in front underneath along the frame, so several of my holes are about 4 inches across. I don't see how you could patch something like that without putting something in there.

Remember that next can of corn you open

[gs1949]

Post 1988 pennies are a sandwich made of a piece of zinc between two thin pieces of copper. They are a perfect galvanic reactor and will disappear in less than 2 years if buried in damp soil. The part of the penny that is exposed to the hole in the bus floor will obviously not be exposed to moisture all the time, but the galvanic action will stop when it gets too dry and restart when the moisture comes back.

Also, none of the patches I made for my bus were smaller than an old silver dollar. I made them this size because almost every hole had fairly deep rust pitting around it.

I would never consider using a penny, or any other modern coin to patch holes in a bus floor. When my step-grandfather died in 1976 he had nearly 2 gallons of 1943 steel pennies. Nobody really knows what happened to them. They just disappeared somewhere. That's too bad, because they would work fine for patching very small holes.

[gs1949]

Yes, a piece of tin can would be far better than a coin, but I'll stick with the galvanized scraps I got quite cheaply from a local sheet metal shop. My patches are all made. I just haven't got them all glued down yet. Too cool here for slow curing epoxy today. Supposed to be 70 degrees and we never got above 64.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by gs1949

Post 1988 pennies are a sandwich made of a piece of zinc between two thin pieces of copper. They are a perfect galvanic reactor and will disappear in less than 2 years if buried in damp soil. The part of the penny that is exposed to the hole in the bus floor will obviously not be exposed to moisture all the time, but the galvanic action will stop when it gets too dry and restart when the moisture comes back.

Also, none of the patches I made for my bus were smaller than an old silver dollar. I made them this size because almost every hole had fairly deep rust pitting around it.

I would never consider using a penny, or any other modern coin to patch holes in a bus floor. When my step-grandfather died in 1976 he had nearly 2 gallons of 1943 steel pennies. Nobody really knows what happened to them. They just disappeared somewhere. That's too bad, because they would work fine for patching very small holes.

Damn, my grandmother had 100s of those 1943 pennies, too - they were ridiculously fascinating to me as a kid. They also disappeared somewhere.

[gs1949]

Yeah, people saved those. They were unique. They made them to save copper for bullet casings, but I never saw anyone have more than George. He had a one gallon wine jug completely full of them, and an identical jug about 2/3 full.

I haven't seen a steel penny for years. I wonder what they're worth now since so many of them seem to have disappeared.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by gs1949

Yeah, people saved those, but I never saw anyone have more than George. He had a one gallon wine jug completely full of them, and an identical jug about 2/3 full. I haven't seen one for years. I wonder what they're worth now since so many of them seem to have disappeared.

A quick search says maybe 10 cents for circulated ones, 50 cents or more for uncirculated, up to $10 for mint. It would probably take a really long time to sell a couple of jugfulls, though.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by gs1949

Yeah, people saved those. They were unique. They made them to save copper for bullet casings, but I never saw anyone have more than George. He had a one gallon wine jug completely full of them, and an identical jug about 2/3 full.

I haven't seen a steel penny for years. I wonder what they're worth now since so many of them seem to have disappeared.

I've got a roll of steel pennies. Even got one in my change buying smokes one day.

[HazMatt]

Correction:
1982 was the last year Cu slugs were minted, after that the virtually valueless Cu coated Zn slugs were stamped.
I know, inferring pennies are worth anything...
iMi dos centavos!

[Rivetboy]

Originally Posted by HazMatt

Correction:
1982 was the last year Cu slugs were minted, after that the virtually valueless Cu coated Zn slugs were stamped.
I know, inferring pennies are worth anything...
iMi dos centavos!

That penny encapsulated in JB weld will last longer than you. Encapsulated being the key word.

[HazMatt]

No doubt!

Originally Posted by Rivetboy

That penny encapsulated in JB weld will last longer than you. Encapsulated being the key word.

I have some turn of the century (not millennium) pennies that, being in excess of 100 years old & unencapsulated, are in far better shape than I am!
Not that that's a difficult feat to beat, might wanna raise the bar, some...

[gs1949]

I'll stick with my galvanized patches, but I am using pennies temporarily in this project.

As I'm gluing the patches down, I'm finding holes I missed at first. So I need a way to mark them. Chalk was my first thought, but I quickly discarded that. My second thought was putting beer bottle caps by holes I missed, but I could not find enough beer bottle caps.

But then I remembered the large antique Chinese brass bowl that sits on the chest of drawyers in my bedroom collecting pennies and nickels.

So I am very pleased to announce that I've been wrong all these years, and pennies are not useless.

[o1marc]

Put a light under the bus at night and walk the floor, holes will be obvious that you may not have seen in the daylight. I found 20 year old pennies in the bus, all looked untouched. In galvanic corrosion, there has to be disimilar metal and an electrolyte. How does the electrolyte get through the copper first to start the conversion? I used pennies and construction adhesive, I'm not worried at all about any reactions. IMHO JB Weld is too expensive for this process.

[gs1949]

I'm not sure how it gets through. Maybe because the copper is so thin. But it does get through. I've seen pennies my dad or brother found that were barely recognizable as pennies.


And I found a Canadian twonie in my bus that was slightly corroded. It was in a place that would get wet every winter during the rainy season and then dry out during the dry season. It definitely wasn't wet all the time. I have no idea what twonies are made out of, and don't care enough to look now, but I assume they must be a sandwich.

[Sawi777]

Originally Posted by gs1949

My bus is nearly 25 years old, and has no rust anywhere on it, except for the floor, which was pretty rusty from water from the windows. There were no rust holes, but there were a few places that looked pretty close.

So I've also been working on my floor for the last while. I spent several days with a 4.5 inch wire brush on my angle grinder, removing every bit of loose rust and as much as possible that wasn't loose. Then came ospho amd rustoleum.

Now I'm patching with patches cut from variously sized pieces of 20-24 gauge galvanized sheet that I got cheap from a local sheet metal shop. I cut patches to fit all the holes, then etched all the patches by soaking them in vinegar for several hours so paint will stick to them, rinsed all the vinegar off and gave all the patches a coat of rustoleum primer on each side and then a coat of rustoleum enamel topcoat on one side.

Now I am using epoxy to glue the side of the patches with the topcoat to the floor, which also has one coat of rustoleum primer and one coat of enamel. After the epoxy has cured for a couple of days I will paint all the patches with the same gloss black enamel, and then when that has hardened for a few days, I will paint the entire floor with one more coat of gloss black.

I realize that I am being fussier than a lot of people, but I intend to live in this bus for the rest of my life, and I want a solid floor that is as close to leakproof as I can make it, so that's why I am being so fussy now.

That's an intense flex. No rust???? Wow. Mine is 9 years old and looks like I salvaged it from the Dead Sea.

[HamSkoolie]

Originally Posted by gs1949

I'm not sure how it gets through. Maybe because the copper is so thin. But it does get through. I've seen pennies my dad or brother found that were barely recognizable as pennies.


And I found a Canadian twonie in my bus that was slightly corroded. It was in a place that would get wet every winter during the rainy season and then dry out during the dry season. It definitely wasn't wet all the time. I have no idea what twonies are made out of, and don't care enough to look now, but I assume they must be a sandwich.

I run a metal detector. When I find a penny that's intact its pre zink or been in the ground (or just on) not very long at all. Most zinks I find are a crumbling mess. I'd never consider them for plugging holes.
Pre 82 pennies and some 82's are worth more than 3 cents just in melt value.

[HamSkoolie]

For our bus I purchased plastic plugs to fill the seat bolt holes and wide flange 1/8" blind stainless steel rivets to fill the holes from the screws that held down the plywood floor. They'll be covered in polyurethane sealant and then inserted in the holes.
Larger holes from refrigeration lines and such will be sealed with galvanized sheet, that is blind riveted and sealed with polyurethane.



Rivets: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Plastic plugs: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by HamSkoolie

I run a metal detector. When I find a penny that's intact its pre zink or been in the ground (or just on) not very long at all. Most zinks I find are a crumbling mess. I'd never consider them for plugging holes.
Pre 82 pennies and some 82's are worth more than 3 cents just in melt value.

I used zinc pennies and liquid nails, none of the metal coin touches any of the metal floor. Plus the primer went down before the pennies.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by HamSkoolie

I run a metal detector. When I find a penny that's intact its pre zink or been in the ground (or just on) not very long at all. Most zinks I find are a crumbling mess. I'd never consider them for plugging holes.
Pre 82 pennies and some 82's are worth more than 3 cents just in melt value.

I also do some metal detecting.
I pulled a 1911 wheat out of the ground after a 100 year old house was torn down. It was in the same "hole" as an old Spanish 5 Centavos piece.
Both are in really good shape all things considered.

[HamSkoolie]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I also do some metal detecting.
I pulled a 1911 wheat out of the ground after a 100 year old house was torn down. It was in the same "hole" as an old Spanish 5 Centavos piece.
Both are in really good shape all things considered.

We bought an $800 detector and other than some more modern coins..... and a million bottle caps..... we haven't found jack.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by HamSkoolie

We bought an $800 detector and other than some more modern coins..... and a million bottle caps..... we haven't found jack.

I bought my basic lil Tesoro Compadre for $115 about ten years ago and its been great. I've found stuff as old as 1880's. Not a ton, but enough to keep me interested in the hobby.
Tesoro went out of business, unfortunately. They made really good stuff for not a ton of money.