Pulling the mat, clear up some rust

[hillcountryflt]

Had planned on ignoring the little bit of surface rust I found under the floor mat of the 1969 F100 I recently acquired. But decided to do something about it after having a master cylinder fail last weekend. I discovered one of the issues with the master cylinder on the no power situation, is that it can leak its fluid between the firewall and the floorboard.
Well, lifted up the driver's side mat today. Seems to be a bit more rust under there than I care to let go.
I hate cutting the mat to get around the clutch rod, but have not found a simple way of disconnecting it.
Plan to pull the mat and the sound deadener than scrape the rust spots and spot coat with primer and then paint with some basic paint. I have some body color paint, but not sure I want to waste it under the floor mat.

[duaneo]

My truck is saddle tan metallic. I had some floor painting to do, and went with a "close enough" gold metallic rustoleum. If I ever get the cab painted professionally, I'll have the addressed, but it's good enough to cover up the mouse-stink that was in my cab.

Cheers,
Duane

[hillcountryflt]

I don't know if I accomplished much - other than tearing my floor mat up some (Dennis-Carpenter/LMC here I come - again). But removed the mat. More rust on the passenger side, but essentially surface rust. I am guessing the heater core leaked at some point. Silly me disconnected the clutch shaft and then realized the mat had been cut for it.
Basically, scraped and sanded some, vacuumed some more, wiped down with Por 15 thinner and then coated with por 15 (not 100 percent coverage). Then installed some dynamat and put the mat back. Should be good for a while. Will be buying more dynamat (used some in my driver's side door - what a difference and I only covered about half to 3/4 of the area).
Decided not to top coat the por 15 (not really needed, I am told, when not exposed to UV.

[jimmy828]

good to hear you are doing something to extend the life of your floor and to give you a peace of mind that the job is done. I did not use dynamat but instead used the Frost king from Lowes. When i installed the Frost King in doors, i did one complete door and compared it to the door that was bare and there was a big difference in sound. I installed it all over the inside of cab.

[GTWilliams]

I just did this last week and installed a custom molded carpet for $150. I highly recommend first applying Ospho on the rust. I like to see the rust gone before I apply primer. Next day it will be black. Steel-wheel it down a bit (not a grinding wheel) but no need to go crazy. I then went with Rustoleum flat primer. I even went up the back of the cab to the window. Then put carpet in. When my custom paint arrives, I will paint the 4" below the cab window and the dash (if I can get the glove box bevel out).
Trust me. Remove the seat and do it right. Seatbelt bolts needed a lube, impact drill with large torq bit AND vice grips to get it loose. Be sure to lube the seat tracks and primer the metal while its out of the truck. Remember to run the middle seat belts down through the seat before you tighten the bolt. If you are by yourself and need to move the seat on the track, tie a string or rope on the adjuster handle. run it back behind the seat. While standing in passenger side door pull the string and move seat up or back for room to work.
See my recent post for installing carpet tips.

[hillcountryflt]

Thanks for the tips. Will review your suggested post on carpet install. Sure it applies to rubber floor mat as well. I am looking at a floor mat that covers the entire cab as opposed to the factory mat that simply covers just below the seat up to the firewall pad.