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Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:38 am

Greetings All Sambians,
I am determined to finish this project no matter how long it takes.
But first, let me explain why we are here.
It all started with this thread and me asking what my options are on finding a replacement front floor pan for my '71. As most of us know, they do not make front floor pans for '74 and earlier bays. So I had posted to find out if anyone knew what the difference between the floor pans were on a '74 and my '71.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=389435

I got a reply from Gerson (I'll refer to him as Awesome Mr. Gerson from here on out).

Awesome Mr. Gerson says he has the original plans to manufacture an exact replica of the '71 front floor pan. Could he be serious??? I dunno, let us investigate:

Well I'll be damned, Awesome Mr. Gerson aint no liar, nor does he take his time.
I received the very first (I think) early bay front floor pan from Awesome Mr. Gerson in a matter of 2 weeks!!!!

Now, lets get down to business.
Here is what I started with:

Not very pretty unless you like swiss cheese for your floor board.
Sooo, I started by removing the steering wheel

Can you see that labeled bag? Very important for someone like me who likes to drink and stuff while workin on ole Rita.
I have seperate bags for the pedals, the doors, the dashboard, the steering, and the hand brake. This oughta help a little when putting everything back together.

Here everything is removed from the floor:

Now the fun begins. Remember boys and girls. PLEASE WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES AND GLOVES. Metal is very sharp. Ask me how I know.

I started by cutting right into it. I like to do things so I have no choice but to continue. One I made this cut, I knew there was no turning back:

Ok.. what have I gotten myself into now?
No worries, just keep cutting.
Now, I have all the tools I think I need for this: sawzall, cutting wheel, tin snips, dremel. I prefered to use the tin snips first as I don't want to risk cutting into the frame so early into this project.
I did however use the cutting wheel on some parts where I new I was safe. There are also cables and the main wire harness under there. Be careful!!!!11!1!!

Most of the sections came out pretty easy but where the pan sits on the frame, there seems to be some spot welds (or maybe the rust is so bad it welded itself??)
You see the triangular section on the left? The pan was connected pretty good here. I had to use a cold molded chisel on this (GOGGLES PUHLEASE)

Also, the middle section where the hand brake goes. Specifically the part of the frame that runs front to back has some more welds we need to chisel:

And, the bracket that the brake servo rod goes through has some pretty good welds there too:

Let me take this moment to point out a very important part that does not come on Awesome Mr. Gerson's floor pan. This is a pic underneath right below the gas pedal. There is a bracket that is welded to the pan from underneath that holds the pivot in place for the accelerator cable:

I'm going to have to drill this out and weld back in place on the new pan.

OK.
Here's the progress so far:

I'd say we are about 70% there.
Now, the part at the front where the pan is connected to the nose piece. I believe there to be a bunch of spot welds on this as it is not coming out easy at all. Also, I need to figure out how to get the heater tube out. I don't see anywhere in the bentley to remove this. There are, however a couple welds on this tube on the top of the floor pan. I'll use my dremel to cut through these:

More to come. Please stay tuned...and just another reminder
WEAR GOGGLES AND GLOVES

Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:25 am

Lovely Rita! I always though that if I had another VW I'd name it "Rita."

Bus is looking great so far 8)

Tue Dec 22, 2009 7:16 am

What a great resource thread. Keep us posted.

Tue Dec 22, 2009 7:38 am

Looking good! to remove the heat tube you'll need to remove the defog ducts in the dash and the plastic Y, then there's a couple of small bolts attaching the top of the tree to the fresh air box near the wiper motor. Once the tree is lifted out grind away those welds where the elbow meets the floor pan.

Tue Dec 22, 2009 7:41 am

Thanks busdaddy.
I got some things to do this morning but I'll be back out there this afternoon.
Hope it's ok to leave this in the bay forum. I was thinkin maybe it should go in the body forum but its so much more comfortable here 8)

Tue Dec 22, 2009 7:54 am

Very nice and informative.

Tue Dec 22, 2009 8:14 am

Yep, keep the pics and details coming. This will be a great resource for future floor replacements! Looking good! Thank you.

Is Mr. Gerson making baywindow panels now? If so, awesome!

Tue Dec 22, 2009 9:11 am

This is exactly how everyone should do how-to threads. Awesomely documented, and I really like your fearlessness - can't wait to see how it turns out!

Tue Dec 22, 2009 9:15 am

Ras,
Great work and excellent photos. That's a massive project.

Your website is great too. I spent some time in the St. Pete reggae scene a few years ago as a drummy for Badda Skat. Good times.

Keep the updates coming!

Tue Dec 22, 2009 9:40 am

Nicely done. Gotta love that Awsome Mr. Gerson. :D

Tue Dec 22, 2009 9:42 am

oh Dred, thanks heaps for putting this thread together! this will help me out loads.

good call with the baggies, i like to drink and stuff too, and forget to torque things before I install them...

any chance you can get some shots of how it looks at the base of the seat pedestals? like from the front of the bus towards the rear..kinda like at your heals I mean, wheneever you get a chacne if you dont mind

anyhow, this is awsome, I look forward to the finished product!

Kris

Tue Dec 22, 2009 10:30 am

Great how to thread. Keep it going

Tue Dec 22, 2009 2:46 pm

Hey thanks for the support. I just want to say I would never have the courage to try something like this if it weren't for this forum. I have learned a lot from all you peeps. Anyhow, may this be my contribution and hopefully when some other crazy-ass tries this, it will make it that much easier for them. That being said, let it be known I have no ferkin clue what I'm doing. Enjoy the ride!.....

dreadnot: Much respect to de brederin' Reggae is my life, well, and Bays. Couldn't imagine not having it. Actually, they go together real well. Damn, I'm so lucky.

rustbus: Not really sure what you had in mind but maybe this helps?

Onto the progress.
So, this next part wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I removed the heat tube by removing the 4 bolts towards the top of the tree. In hindsight, I think I only needed to remove the bottom two.

Then I pushed the black y tube up a little and swung the top of the tree out, then pulled up to slide off the bottom tube. I didn't need to remove anything else:

After that was out, I continued to cut the rest into sections for easier removal. I'm going to have to try to chisel away at the lip section or I think I might just grind away at it.

Here the important piece. I tired to preserve the area around it for measurement. The underside has the bracket and the rubber stopper for the brake pedal arm (once again, notice the glove?):

Here it is with about 99% of it cut out, which brings us to the next dilemma:

Did you see all that rust under the front? I ordered this piece but I'm scratchin my dreads tryin to figure out if its supposed to be the same piece or not:

Also, the doglegs are pretty shot on the inside. I'm going to have a go at replacing these while I'm at it. Just the bottom section. I have the replacement parts but they sure as heck aren't from Awesome Mr. Gerson. They look so shoddy compared to his work.

Now comes the surprise. I recently found out this bus has been hit in the front end. How did I find out? Well, I picked at a little rust spot on the nose and found this:

There's about 3 layers of different types of bondo on this section. You can also see this piece is bent inside. Must've been hit pretty hard. Look right in front of the steering box. Maybe it is supposed to be like that. I dunno but it looks out of place to me. Anyhow, I am going to assume I need to replace a section of that nose and the lower-inner section with all the rust:

Tue Dec 22, 2009 3:23 pm

This type of work is not for the faint of heart :)

This is a damn fun read! Can't wait for the next installment

Tue Dec 22, 2009 3:26 pm

Freggin AWESOME write up!!! deffinately helping me build up the confidence to do the same...

Tue Dec 22, 2009 3:32 pm

Yes, great write up. Whats the story on your wheels? I just noticed them.

Tue Dec 22, 2009 3:42 pm

Kirk wrote: Yes, great write up. Whats the story on your wheels? I just noticed them.

I bought the bus in Miami a few years ago. The gentleman who sold it to me had put the rims on her and did the poor mans way of lowering it by removing the rubber stoppers on the rear and the front torsion leaves (I still need to put those back in :roll: )

Anyhow, he gave the rims to me as well as the original 5 rims with brand new tires, although I don't believe them to be the right load tires anyways.

The PO said the rims came of a gti or golf or something but they fit pretty well. It just makes the steering a little harder to turn. And I realize the steering colum bushing is cracked. Can't say the rims do or don't have anything to do with that, but its safe to say it's not helping.

I like 'em.

Tue Dec 22, 2009 3:50 pm

do NOT use those dog legs. you are better off making your own out of some real steel. i had the 'pleasure' of working with them (check my sig) holy hell did they fit like shit. after about a day of getting the as close as possible, i gave up and welded them in. the floor looks great! 8)

Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:52 pm

Professor,
awesome work so far, although I might suggest if you can invest in an air compressor and a cut-off wheel, it'll be so much nicer than using a dremel. I found when replacing all my metal, that these buses aren't perfect from the factory, and all the extra time and care you put into the sheetmetal work will most likely be superior to what they churned out en masse. Just take your time, measure twice, cut once, and practice welding. 8)

Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:17 pm

Dread, Your the man!