How To Repair a Rusted Out Floor on a Ford Econoline Van and Prevent it from Rotting Out again

As I removed the interior of my 1996 Ford E-350 Club Wagon, I was happy to find that the floor appeared in good shape with no significant rust. Unfortunately, I was saddened when I Removed the front carpet and found the floor was just starting to rot out in front of the driver's seat. On the bright side, it was not nearly as bad as it could have been when compared to other vans. Instead of getting upset and canceling my van build, I thought I would use this as an opportunity to increase my skills. I show How I was able to properly cut and clean out all the rusted-out areas. and make new patch panels to weld in. having to work with the body mount attachment for sure made this a bit more challenging. I also show how to coat all the exposed steel to prevent it from rusting further in the future. This project actually turned out better than I had expected even though I have very little experience with this sort of thing. I hope This video was helpful and inspires you to take on rust projects. Even if you have way more rust than I did fixing it can still be done but may take much more time and effort. It seems like this is a super common rust area on these vans but unclear exactly what the cause is. Thanks for watching!

Warning:
Welding can be dangerous, do this at your own risk. You are solely responsible for your own actions. Always use proper safety equipment for the job.

Disclaimer:
work on and modify a vehicle at your own risk. You are solely responsible for your actions. Always use proper safety equipment for the job.

Check out the Eastwood stuff I used below:
Eastwood XL View Auto Darkening Welding Helmet:
The Eastwood Welder that I'll get someday in the future. Can do MIG TIG, stick, and flux core! The best welder you can get that runs on 120v only. Eastwood 140 Amp Elite MP140i Multi-Process Welder:

Check out other Stuff I used here:
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4WheelKid
P.O. box 286
Sedalia, CO 80135

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[elliotfrank]

Good job with the repair - very thorough. I saw you said it had been 8 months and no more leaks so that is good. Just as an FYI, I had the same area on my econoline rust out and I found the leak was coming through the grommet in the firewall that the wires were coming in through up in the back behind the pedals and the shroud. Additionally, I found a little crack in the seal of the firewall in that area behind the brake booster and the coolant reservoir. I didn't do anything fancy just a strip of eternabond tape on the outside and on the inside and one year later no leaks still.

[skumancer]

Did this whole thing back in 2021...Whole lot of freaking work in the exact same areas. Incredible Ford has not fixed this in 30 years...goob job!!

[ryanmiller]

Had similar condition on a 01 e350 7.3, rust through floor so bad I had to wear ear pro when driving…. My solution was cut out entire floor from another van (had a very open minded junk yard close), cleaned up rust, then laid right over old floor and spot welded, then painted. Worked great! Fun to see you tackle this!

[adventurecapture]

Love getting to watch this build come together both here and your IG channel. Thanks for letting us come along for the ride.

[hockeyfreak]

U have done stuff that I myself wouldn't tackle, to afraid I'd screw something up..u did an awesome job.like ur vids..keep it up my friend

[ArcticJeff]

Nice work Wes! Very meticulous and your attention to detail is impressive. I love following this build, but I really can't wait to see some video's with you taking it on tdub camping trips.

[birdmandave]

Cant wait to see you do camping and stealth camping videos in this.
Great job… that van will outlast me after your done with it

[daved]

Looking great. Keep up the good work! Thanks for the video

[dan-oeyw]

I have a E250. All Econolines rust in tat spot. The water is not coming from the windshield or from underneath. It is a design flaw by ford. The plastic step cover sits on top of the rubber cab flooring allowing water from the drivers feet to run underneath and sit there and the padding underneath acts like a sponge. Nice fix!

[NewLife-qjmx]

more than I woulda done, lol
but nice job young man 👍

[Maples]

Water comes down the pillar posts on both sides of your windshield, its due to the seam below the gutter, of coarse the windshield, being glued it, it could be leaking too, you aren't seeing it now due to you resealed your gutters, so you may have sealed up your leak, I know, my 99 leaks there, and several have discussed the same issue with theirs.

[ThingsAboutMusic]

At first viewing, it seems like lots of work. But in review it was a lot of grinding and painting, with some cutting and welding. Not to under mind how cutting the plates and matching them to the van body wasn't time consuming.
Great job!

[ricardogarage]

Ótimo trabalho estou fazendo isso no meu econoline 1998

[markbyrd]

What would you do if yours was rotted out like the in the picture you included? Kine was kind of like that I've been cutting our and grinding down the rust as much as possible and treating it as well and covering the holes

[Maples]

This is nothing, I had to put new floor pans in the front of my 89 E150, the doghouse had nothing to seal to, huge hole at the engine, I fiberglassed the floor in the rear, was not as bad as the front, windshield was leaking really bad, previous owner screwed the trim around the glass breaking the seal and cracking it in several places. I put bedliner paint down on the floor and ordered a reproduction vinyl mat for up front, dropped heavy diamond plate aluminum in the middle of the van, have a bed built in the rear now, sure is loud inside, I should have put dynomat on the entire floor before I covered it to deaden the road noise.
Check your passenger rocker panel at the rear wheel, water spays in and rusts it, you may want to make a wheel well liner from a pond liner, buy it from Home Depot.

[birdmandave]

Hey Wes, did you go to school for this?