Replacing a VW Beetle Floor Pan with the body on:

Video Transcript:

0:00hi I'm s jbugs.com and in this video0:02we're going to replace some floor pans0:04with the body on this 19670:10Beetle this is a driver side floor pan0:13what we're going to do or what I'm going0:15to do is cut along this seam and along0:19this0:20seam all the0:22way0:24down to the back rear crossmember and0:26then I'll cut there right here where we0:28have the pedal assembly we need to very0:30cautious because we actually have the0:31brake line coming around we don't want0:34to cut that brake line through so I'll0:36be very cautious with by cutof wheel0:38along here and along here and then right0:42here I'll actually come in and cut all0:47the way up to the heater Channel through0:49the floor0:50pan so that's the process of doing this0:54with the body on noting this indentation0:57for the pedal assembly in the floor and0:59how close to the brake line is to it and1:00then this bolt and how close the brake1:03line is to right here we want to be very1:05very cautious not to cut up through that1:07when we're installing our floor pan I'm1:10going to bend this tab here and this tab1:12here and pull this brake line up just a1:14little bit to make sure we don't cut1:22it and always leave that guy there give1:26us a little bit more room along there1:27and there so when I cut along this line1:30I know I'm not going to cut through our1:31brake1:40line so it gives us some good Cuts there1:43and I want to do the same thing at the1:45back section so when I get back there I1:47can worry about that when I get there1:49whatever I'm just going to take the saws1:50on and get to1:52it hopefully I didn't touch that brake1:55line looks like we're clear get that1:57wheel and tire out of the way2:01there we go just like that and then2:03we'll come in after we get the floor2:04pans unbolted and we'll cut that last2:07bit of the floor pan without cutting2:08into the box so all here is good all2:10here is good now I need to go all the2:12way down that2:13way put that in place there make sure2:17that he is safe and tucked away because2:20there is a lip on the tunnel and this2:22brake line sits above that lip we should2:24be safe all the way down to the back2:28side2:38seeing as this cable on that side's2:41already broken I'm not going to be too2:42concerned about cutting through this and2:44seeing as it's all rusty I'm not2:46concerned about it either uh in most2:48cases we would actually cut this loose2:50from the floor pan pull this out pull2:52the cable up just disconnect it and pull2:54it out but again this one's already cut2:56I'm not too concerned about it right now2:58so I'm just going to continue cutting2:59cutting all the way back up to this3:01point and then we cut down here all the3:06way out to right here we leave this3:08piece in3:11place let me continue3:19on now about right before the heater3:22line so we're going to expect a little3:24bit more resistance right through there3:25again obviously make sure that we're3:27safe and not cutting into the brake line3:29but we need to stay up on top of this3:31lip not down on this3:58lip4:00so now we've got the floor pan cut from4:03here all the way to all the way back4:07into right4:10in there so from this point to the4:14tunnel leaving that lip along the tunnel4:17to the rear crossmember out to the4:19heater Channel this floor pan cut4:24free leaving this old lip in place which4:27the fun part is going to be coming back4:29and Hammer and banging that out but4:31we'll get to that after we get both four4:32pans out of the way maybe I'll just show4:34it on just this one side the right side4:37is exactly the same as the left just4:39flip-flopped and since there's no brake4:41line to worry about it's actually much4:44easier and you don't have to remove the4:45pedal assembly this is the more4:47difficult side we'll go very very in4:49depth this is actually the old floor4:50plan welded on top of the tunnel spine I4:54will pry this up and I'll show you guys4:55that process as well so we're cut from4:57here all the way to the back now I'm4:59going to unbolt all the floor pan washes5:01underneath underneath I'll show you what5:02it looks like here we've got the floor5:04pan cut to right here but not through to5:08this Edge yet cuz we've got this5:10reinforcement washer in place all the5:13way across and all the way along the5:16tunnel all the way to the front of the5:17car and all the way out through the5:20floor pan there and through the floor5:21pan there but not cut right there yet5:24we're going to cut that once we get5:26everything unbolted all the way one two5:29three four five 6 7 eight nine of those5:34bolts we're going to5:45remove this floor pan is almost5:49completely free of the body what we're5:51going to have to do now is cut through5:54here and along the bottom side of this5:56to that line but not cut into the heater5:58Channel and if we we got a little piece6:00of wood under there that's awesome well6:01we'll get rid of that in a moment that's6:03why I don't actually like using these6:04jack points cuz they jack up your body6:07structurally overall it's still strong6:09enough but I just I don't like these at6:11all and I don't like installing them but6:14for vintage sake I will put them in I6:16just not a fan again on the outside of6:19this line straight up to6:22there straight up to the body not6:24through the body ever so6:28cautiously6:34and there we go that gives us a little6:38bit of safety so we can continue cutting6:40that last bit right6:42there like6:46so all right and now up at the front6:50basically like we did here except this6:51is a little bit easier now that the6:52floor Pan's out of the way we'll cut6:54through that last section at the6:58front7:04didn't even have to cut it just had the7:06tear it out now we'll come back in and7:08touch up the7:09remnants there we go so with that our7:12old floor pan is out well 98% of it the7:15other 2% still left on the tunnel and7:17the rear crossmember I got to work on7:18getting that out of the way and then we7:20can put the new floor pan in we do want7:21to save our old pedal stop there we go7:24and you can see a lot of the old seam7:26sealant that VW used and we're going to7:28go through and7:31do the same thing but7:44now I don't know if you can get in with7:46close to this but we got 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 87:509 10 little spot welds and they're7:52basically7:53every inch and a half inch and a/7:56quarter that's what holds the factory7:58floor pans in place is just spot welds8:01every inch and a quarter or so so keep8:06that in mind when you're welding uni for8:07pans in you can drill along the edge and8:12you know drill a hole every you know8:15inch and a half and do a little rosette8:17weld or what I'll do is actually just8:20come in and do a little seam about every8:23inch and a half just a little qu inch8:26seam and all welded on the top side8:30to hold the floor pan in8:58place all right so from there to there9:03is9:04done now I just got to do all that over9:08there wasn't that9:28fun9:37PW Beetle 58 to 70 well it's technically9:40you can use this as early as 54 seat9:42rails are the same floor pan left hand9:45side these are our heavyduty floor pans9:48that looks to be a little bit more solid9:50than our other pan doesn't it seat rails9:51are already welded in place holes are9:53already drilled out we've got our pedal9:55stop Nutt welded in place that's the pan9:58itself I honestly have no idea what that10:00is I know what that is and I don't like10:02it I know what that is and I don't need10:04it there is unless this piece is10:07completely rusted out in your car don't10:09cut it out it is seam welded against the10:11tunnel here and here and out at the10:15frame horn at the end of the spring10:16plate housing right here it is much10:18easier just to leave this in place on10:20your car or on your chassis actually10:23than it is to try and reuse this you10:25know they come with them it's awesome if10:27you need them but if you don't don't cut10:29it out it's much easier to do a floor10:31pan without cutting that piece out this10:34guy obviously welds in like so I will10:36weld this one in place but I just don't10:39ever recommend using these I'll get a10:41measurement off of this passenger side10:43which is still in place from this hole10:45or this hole to this point and we'll10:47weld it in but now we'll go through and10:49we'll get some measurements from our10:51tunnel to our holes tunnel to our10:54holes because in all my experience I've10:57had to cut along this lip on virtually10:59every single car uh where this is going11:02to be seamed in the back this is11:03typically going to have to be cut and11:05often times this area right here will11:07have to be trimmed down as well to get11:08this up in place in the car but we'll11:10figure that out as we go from that body11:13bolt there to the center line about 311:15and 1/2 in back which should put that11:17right about there right about11:22there when the time comes to our tunnel11:2613 and an8 let's make sure that's11:29relatively Square kind of hard to see11:31down there 1311:33and8 to that first body hole 2 3 four11:37let's go to the fourth body hle 18 and11:40A4 five 6 7 we go number eight actually11:45no I'm about to go seven on a straight11:47portion of the pan uh 20 on the dot11:52basically so 20 13 and an eth to the11:55center line of that hole right about11:58here two three 4 we were something in a12:02quarter I think it was 18 and a quarter12:05yeah 18 and a12:07quarter and four five 612:107 and I think it was 20 in on the dot12:14and this is kind of actually that's12:16pretty stout so 6412:19and2 plus our overhang at the front and12:22the overhang at the rear 3/4 and 3/4 so12:28an inch and A2 66 in overall length and12:32we are 66 and 3/4 so front to back we're12:36definitely going to have to trim as well12:38and the hard part is is where do you12:40trim12:43from seeing as the seat rails look to be12:47in the identical spot I'm guessing our12:49front is over long but let's go from12:52here to there 27 1/2 more or less versus12:5728 and 3/4 so we have uh 27 and 3/8 plus13:04we'll add 5/8 so we'll go out to 28 in13:07on the front13:12basically13:14well no time like the present let's13:16stuff it in and see where we're at yeah13:18we're13:21uh too long I can't get it in that13:24way13:25so if we were to come in here13:29right13:32there you can see our front to rear is13:35that going to actually line up over our13:37Fender or over our bolt hole in the back13:39I got to check that right now the answer13:41to that is no by about a quar of an inch13:46I'm going to start by trimming about a/413:48of an inch off the back of this and then13:51we'll go from there to get this hole to13:53line up with this hole at the back I13:55need to take off about 1/4 inch all the13:57way across I you can always cut more off14:00it's a little bit harder to put more14:01back on so we'll start14:03small and trim from14:11there let's see how that14:17fits all right getting better well if14:20the floor pan sat further that way my14:22oval hole at the back would be in the14:24perfect place so that's a good start and14:26getting a good idea of how far we've got14:29to trim up here so one major spot is14:32right here and then right here I know14:36it's not really straight up and down but14:38that's kind of a reference of where our14:41lip is and of course we need to overlap14:43that lip this one I can't overlap so14:45that one's just going to basically be14:46buted right up against that section14:48right there this line here is where14:50we're going to butt up to that frame14:52horn piece where we cut this thing at14:53the heater Channel and I'm going to14:56leave it a little bit long just so I can14:58gently massage it with a hammer later15:01and this is the front of our floor pan15:03now and we want to overlap that by about15:06a/ an inch so we'll come in right about15:13here and then this section we're going15:16to come up and over to right there just15:19to leave that again to butt up we're15:20going to use a lot of seam sealer right15:22here once this is installed because this15:25isn't actually welded all the way to the15:26tunnel but it will be sealed up believe15:33me let's give that a test15:39fit obviously lengthwise we're having15:42issues but if I can get a long enough15:44body bolt I can try and bolt these in15:46and then get a scribe on there but let15:48me see what I can come up with as far as15:49a couple bolts to hold the floor pan up15:51in place so I can scribe our tunnel to15:53make sure we get a good scribe line15:57there yeah hold that for a little bit16:01all right that's better a little bit16:03better idea of how this is going to fit16:05in16:11here all right now we're going to kind16:14of have to eyeball but that'll give us a16:16really good idea we're going to go a/16:17inch out on that line and then take that16:19all the way16:27back16:30that should hopefully give us a nice fit16:32all the way16:35around Notch that corner right there so16:38that this can pop up and hook in right16:40around there and then I can massage that16:42in but either way as much Brewing as16:44this is going to take to get in first16:46I'm going to go through and clean that16:47rail up on the chassis hit it with a16:50little cor seal real quick and then uh16:52then I'll come and lay the floor pan in16:54that way I'm not wrestling it just to16:55have to pull it out back out once I get16:58it back in in place and as far as our17:00panda body seal I'm going to stick some17:01weather strip adhesive on here when I17:03bolt it back in place and we're going to17:04call it17:12good and honestly I know that's going to17:15have to come back too on the standard17:17floor pans you could just bang that into17:19shape but on the heavy duties it's not17:21going to so let's just trim that17:24down and since I don't like rust that's17:27a wonderful thing17:49couple17:54more there we go make sure our panda17:56body seal is in place down here17:59and uh I'm going to go get all the the18:00body bolts in place that's almost all18:03the hard part I mean honestly it is the18:04hard part welding at this point pretty18:06dang18:09simple everything's back in18:12place18:15overlapped overlap that tunnel piece all18:18the way across the back butt it18:21up and slightly overlapped on that front18:24seam and sitting inside the pan all18:28along the tunnel we trimmed that out18:31I'll come back and persuade that little18:32lip right there and then we'll get some18:34seam sealant right here and in this Gap18:36right here and obviously on the inside18:37and that is good to go I haven't ground18:40anything down in here for the most part18:43anyway we got a couple spots that are18:45ground so hopefully hopefully I'll have18:48enough bare18:51metal to Arc18:57out19:27d19:33there we19:35can19:36see it's welded on the back two legs19:40welded on the front legs and the19:43brace is welded on the19:48top the back and the front and we've got19:52welds all the way back in there all the19:55way up seam welded that and that that19:59every inch and a half or so even20:01including back behind the seat rail20:03where it's nice and tight all the way20:05across the front or all the way up to20:07the front rather and across the front20:09and even seam welded that guy all the20:13way up the front there again doesn't20:15really matter cuz all this is going to20:16get seam sealed but before we do that20:18we're going to use some cor20:27seal20:29all the way back all the way along the20:33tunnel all the way to the20:35front with20:37that I got one side done the hard20:41side I got to do it all again on the20:44right side but at least you guys now20:46know the process you don't have to pull20:48the body off to get a floor pan done20:51showed you guys how to do it relatively20:53easy no reason why if you have the right20:56tools and some time20:58you guys can't do it in your own cars at21:00home without pulling the body off it's21:02not that hard until next time guys21:05thanks for21:12watching