Painting

Bondo applied to side of vent

Today, I applied the Bondo on the sides of the lower vent hole where so much of the rust was.  It is very easy to do, but you have to be quick.  I just put some of the main stuff in the cup that is the cap with a wood stick, then a line of the hardener, stir until it is all pink and swipe it on.  I put maybe an eighth of an inch on it and spread it smooth with the spatula.  My flat ice cream stick worked better than the spatula they supplied  but that might work better on a bigger area.  By the time I started on the other side, it had already started hardening so I had to junk that and mix up a bit more.  The hardened stuff came out of the cup easily as it doesn't adhere to plastic.  20 minutes later and it was ready to sand.  The metal feels substantially stronger.

Cavity ready for primer

Metal primed

Outside metal primed - messy looking but
the rust had to go

Cavity all primed

I used a Rustoleum metal primer for rusted metal that I hope is good for this.  It is a brown color.  It takes 24 hours before the next coat so I have to wait until tomorrow for a light sanding and to decide whether to go for 2 coats of primer.  I had sanded the melamine coated particle board walls and put Zinsser primer on it.  It isn't really necessary but I like to put paint on the inside for a protective coat.

I cut the new floor using the old floor as a template.  I also measured all the cuts and made them a bit less deep.  I then sanded the plywood and coated it with the primer on both sides.  It will help protect the plywood and keep it more stable than bare wood would as LTV had done.

New floor

Once the painting is done, I can put the vents on and install the refrigerator.  Getting close to the end of this project.