1974 SB Convertible Floor pan replacement surprises

[ncpi]

Working on replacing the floor pans. I knew they were bad when I bought it and could see bondo, fiberglass screen, resin and tar/rubberized coating. Got the passenger pan out and the body/chassis didn't look too bad. A little rust repair needed on the inside of the body shell and the napoleon hat...ok.

Then I crawl underneath to see and here's what I found on both the passender side and the driver side between the napoleon hat and the frame head bottom plate (at least what's left). Once I peeled the tar and fiberglass screen back.....Wood sticks, paint brush, square metal tube...basically anything that could be used as a form to lay the figerglass screen, bondo and tar on :-O

[anthracitedub]

Wow! That’s some top notch work. Looks like they left you with some opportunity though.

[ncpi]

[infiniteLoop]

Is the welder a MIG and uses shielding gas? If you post some practice welds you can get feedback on how you are doing and guidance on how to improve.

[ncpi]

[infiniteLoop]

There's a samba thread where a member replaces the floor pan with the body on and patches the heater channels. I did not immediately find it but it does have some good images of the work that was done.

[Tvättbjörn]

I would get a complete frame head. I replaced lots of them back in the late 90's with the Denmark made units. They did fit very good back than. They also have a large buttom plate going back all the way including the bolt holes. The way it looks, you will have to replace the napoleon portion also. Do it right once. Better to remove the body of the pan for doing the napoleon head. However you will need a jig to place the frame head correctly otherwise you are going to have fitting issues afterwards. No job for a beginner relating to welding. It is a structural part. Maybe you have a specialized aircooled VW body shop near by and just drop off the plate. Just do some VERY GOOD research first about the place you pick before dropping off parts for work,

Did you notice the rust on the heater channel reinforcement panels?

How bad does your tunnel look on the inside along the buttom plate ( remove shifter and inspect with flashlight) ?

Any other major rust along the heater channels??

Check the front of the frame head where the sway-bar bolts on. That area is usually also rusted out.

Just asking, because I did a couple total restorations and they did not turn out cheap.

[ncpi]

infiniteloop - Thanks! However, I searched thru the forums and didn't find the pics you mentioned except one pic from a guy on somebody else's thread who shows how trim out the rear cornes of the new pan to fit. I have found a few videos on YouTube. doesn't seem too bad...for the floor pan part

Tvättbjörn - good questions and Thank You for your input. I have contacted a couple shops and may do that but I am really kind of looking forward to learning/practice. You are right, if I have to remove/replace the entire napoleon hat, I absolutely need to pull the body...and I don't have room really in my garage which may force me to take it somewhere. From the way it looks and from hitting it with a chisel, it really only seems like the bottom is bad and the rear arm section of the "lower frame head bottom". The heater channel on the passenger side looks really good considering how bad the pan was. The convertible reinforcement beam is completely solid on that side as well. I haven't taken the pan out yet on the driver side (which was in better shape), I expect similar conditions...except there is one round hole at the front of the reinforcement rail that will need to be welded up. you can see it in the one pic. The tunnel looks to be in very good shape.

[infiniteLoop]

I found the thread but it's not as relevant as I wanted it to be.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=606052&postorder=desc

Tvättbjörn makes some great points on the condition of the car. It would be wise to go over the entire car and get it down to close to bare metal to evaluate the car as a investment in time for the sake of the car. However ,if you learn and hone skills that is going to be a great investment as well even if the car has a 'practice on value'.

I have two methods I remove thick rust with and or find spots that have to be replaced. One is a Pneumatic Rust Scaler. A compressor is needed for this. I have a cheap Powermate brand I got from Amazon but Harbor Freight sells a model as well but it is not a pistol type. A much simpler but slower method is to use a Automatic Center Punch and HF sells these as well for about $7. They're worth owning in any regard. With this tool you just press it into a spot and let the internal mechanism 'click'. It will either put a pinpoint hole in thin metal or knock a decent amount of scale off. It maybe just as good as a pneumatic method and you can't beat the low cost.

If you take on the easier repairs first, you will gain experience for the tougher parts that you saved for later.

[infiniteLoop]

I came across this utube page for flux core welding body panels that looked good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H87b1xlGofw

[ncpi]

[infiniteLoop]

Most of the videos for anything really , are just going to give a general idea and can't be followed to a T. For instance with the video patching the bottom of the fender. Why didn't they put a flange on the edges? The only thing to learn there is they did a series of tack welds: which keeps the panel from warping and limit's heat otherwise, with the flux core welding process so we know both things are possible. But, they did a overlap joint which has drawbacks that out weigh the benefits if the scope of the entire repair is concerned. It is possible that, that welding machine will not even do a butt joint ,at any skill level with thin gauge , and they forgot to bring their 'flanger' to the studio.