VolksWatson

Today the weather was unbelieveable and I had some time to drag out the chassis, so I did a little work, and I had a lotta help! I figured out the best way to clean the 40+ years of crud off—Slave Labor!!!

After it got dark, I got going on my floor pan replacement…

In case you have never done a body off pan replacement, join the club. This is my first one. A few things I learned so far: Get a good hefty compressor, a sawsall, an air chisel, some vice grips and an angle grinder. These will help you with old crusty pan removal. I wish I had gotten some pics before the cutout, but I didn’t. I cut out the old pans around the inside with the sawsall, leaving about an inch all around.

Why? because the pan sits on a “lip” that runs all the way around.

see? Ok, once I got the old crusty pans out, I next had to remove the leftover trim that sat on the lip. This is where it got interesting. Once I got a piece of the scrap pulled up, I took the air chisel to the spot welds holding the old pan in, and used the vice grips to grab hold of the the scrap. Now, there is a technique to this that is hard to describe, but here it goes: As you pull with great force on the scrap, chisel away directly under where the scrap meets the lip. Don’t yank too hard on the scrap or it will tear off, just apply enough pressure to pull it loose and let the air chisel do it’s thing…
You will be left with a bunch of old spot welds and some scrap full of holes, but it will be clean!

Ok, next I got my angle grinder and sent the spots wells into flying sparks of madness. (um , I ground them down to the pan lip) Why? So that the new pan will be able to sit down flush so dirt, water, snow, cold air, and other junk can’t get in between.

Make sense? Now it’s a great time to fit in your new pan and admire how great it is looking. ( and to test fit the pan)

So that’s where I am right now. I will start the other side asap, and see if I can get the rest of the pics to fill in the gaps. From here we will start working on fitting and then tack welding them in!!!

Until next time!

Der VolksWatson

Greetings all! I am a new 63 Karmann Ghia owner (but had a 73 superbug for years) and am doing a complete restoration. I began really getting into it in July and August, splitting the Body from the chassis. I have tried to start a resto before, but failed because I lacked focus. This time around I came up with a plan, and am sticking to it well. I am going to start with a firm foundation (chassis), and work my way up to the body.

So, as I mentioned, I have the car split, and the old pans are cut out. I am in the process of cleaning the extra lip of metal off so I can weld the new pans in. Once that is done, it is going to be blasted and painted…

I am really excited to see this site. I hope that I may shed some insight and encouragement on those who find my ramblings. The best advice I can offer right now for anyone looking to do any kind of restoration is: BE PATIENT. Unless you have more money and time than sense, it will take you many hours and plenty of change. In the long run, you will be satisfied with a job well done!

I currently have no digital camera, but as soon as I get one, I will post my progress…

God bless you all! Thanks for listening to a serious VolkNut.

VolksWatson