Advice on Repairing Floor of Used Car

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Semper Fidelis

2 Timothy 2:24-25
Staff member
Definitely not the typical PB question, but I know there are a lot of resourceful people here.

I just bought a used car for my teens to drive and the floor on the driver side has a divot where the heel was. I intend to put some floor mats in the car but I'd like to get some advice on how to "fill" the divot. It's about 3 inches in diameter and 1/4"-3/8"deep. I don't know if an epoxy or some other product could fill it.
 
Definitely not the typical PB question, but I know there are a lot of resourceful people here.

I just bought a used car for my teens to drive and the floor on the driver side has a divot where the heel was. I intend to put some floor mats in the car but I'd like to get some advice on how to "fill" the divot. It's about 3 inches in diameter and 1/4"-3/8"deep. I don't know if an epoxy or some other product could fill it.
I would use an steel epoxy to fill it and then grind/sand it even to the floor.

I have used this in the past and it’s strong stuff: https://www.homedepot.com/p/J-B-Weld-2-oz-SteelStik-8267/300136541?
 
Definitely not the typical PB question, but I know there are a lot of resourceful people here.

I just bought a used car for my teens to drive and the floor on the driver side has a divot where the heel was. I intend to put some floor mats in the car but I'd like to get some advice on how to "fill" the divot. It's about 3 inches in diameter and 1/4"-3/8"deep. I don't know if an epoxy or some other product could fill it.
Use JB-Weld metal putty to fill the hole. I have used this product for "ugly" metal repairs and it works great.



P.S. Ignore me, what Bob said:wwbd:
 
Suggestion: If you haven't already, pull up the carpet and check and make sure it is a dent instead of a rusted out hole that goes all the way through.
 
Rich, I sell these type of products and concur with J.B. Weld. If there is surface rust on the metal get a wire brush or sandpaper and use them to remove the rust. If the divot is not actually a whole through the metal, then apply J.B. Weld per instructions. After it cures sand it down so the filled divot is now even with the surrounding metal. That's it.
 
Can you upload a picture? Now you’ve confused me. Are you repairing metal or a polymer?
Unfortunately, I have the car at a shop. They're installing MobileEye.

I'm repairing the carpet/pad that's built into the floor. Sorry if I was confusing. I suppose I should have found out if I can just pull out that section and find a new carpet pad that goes over the metal floorboard but I didn't know if there is some sort of thing that could be used to fill in a foam/carpet divot.
 
Unfortunately, I have the car at a shop. They're installing MobileEye.

I'm repairing the carpet/pad that's built into the floor. Sorry if I was confusing. I suppose I should have found out if I can just pull out that section and find a new carpet pad that goes over the metal floorboard but I didn't know if there is some sort of thing that could be used to fill in a foam/carpet divot.
Hmmm.... you could try and Aerosol foam from Home Depot called Great Stuff. Now it is kind of messy at first and expands a lot, but you can shave it down very very easily after it dries. Put a little super glue in the divot and then hit it will a shot of foam.:2cents:

P.S. A picture may be needed to find the perfect redneck fix.
 
Just to be clear, the "divot" isn't all the way into the metal. It's just worn out carpet and padding.
Just get a new floor mat to put over the carpet - with one caveat. I recall one car where there wasn't enough clearance between the gas pedal and the floor - the pedal would get caught on the floor covering. Make sure there is enough clearance, and that the mat doesn't slip.

Here you go - Toyota recall for that (more than one model). Looks like only 3.8 million cars were impacted...
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2009/09/toyota_recalls_38_million_cars.html

Fortunately, my Toyota is too old for that problem. In any event, they killed fewer folks than GM did with the key issue that they covered up. There should have been mass arrests at GM for that one.
 
Thanks @Herald , @Seeking_Thy_Kingdom , @G, @Edward , @ZackF , @timfost

Just to be clear, the "divot" isn't all the way into the metal. It's just worn out carpet and padding. Does that change your recommendation or would you still use the products you recommended?
Rich, that does change things. You have a number of options. You can purchase a floor liner from Weathertech or the Husky brand which can be found on Amazon. Both are designed for specific make and models. The benefit of these floor liners is that they prevent dirt, water, and snow from getting on the carpet. They are easily removed and cleaned. I have them on all three of our family's vehicles. Because they are custom designed for the specific make and model of your vehicle, they fit like a glove and will not get caught between the driver's foot and gas pedal and/or brake pedal. Another option is a repair epoxy which you can purchase online or at Home Depot/Lowes. However, my recommendation is the floor liner.
 
You would have thought this was changing out Warp nacelles. Poor Rich.
Right. The only proper fix is to remove the entire carpet and pad, magnaflux the sheet metal, sandblast rust spots, weld reinforcement armor plating in weak spots, repaint metal with epoxy primer, and then reinstall pad and carpet....

Or...you could keep the divot. It took me 80k miles to get a proper divot in my rig. It fits my heel perfectly.
 
Wait - you are retrofitting Mobileye on a used car for teen drivers?
Yes. I've installed Mobile Eye on all my used cars. It's been shown to not only reduce accidents but to help train on following distance and lane drift. Add to that the fact that it alerts if the driver is distracted and can't see that they are bearing down on something.

Also, with my macular degeneration I wear special glasses for driving that help me sight out 2X so I'm allowed to legally drive. MobileEye provides an added benefit that my depth perception isn't always very good.
 
Rich, that does change things. You have a number of options. You can purchase a floor liner from Weathertech or the Husky brand which can be found on Amazon. Both are designed for specific make and models. The benefit of these floor liners is that they prevent dirt, water, and snow from getting on the carpet. They are easily removed and cleaned. I have them on all three of our family's vehicles. Because they are custom designed for the specific make and model of your vehicle, they fit like a glove and will not get caught between the driver's foot and gas pedal and/or brake pedal. Another option is a repair epoxy which you can purchase online or at Home Depot/Lowes. However, my recommendation is the floor liner.
We have some WeatherTec for our mini-Van. I have some mas on order, I just didn't want to put them on top of the foamish divot. I suppose I'm probably making a mountain out of a mole hill (or a pit out of a divot as it were).
 
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