Re: Floorboard (Update)

[dleesel]

So to make a long story short.....

I brought an apple to work yesterday but while driving to work it fell under my passenger seat, once I got to work I forgot about it. Remembered the next morning and found the apple chewed up in a couple spots. I haven't seen ants in my car so I got a little curious and decided to take my seats out and pull the carpet up to see if there were any surprise vermin or ants. While doing this I sadly found a bunch of patches of rust and a lot of moisture in the front passenger seat. It was moldy and stinky.....yuck. Also found lots of little spiders lol.

So I'm determined to clean this out and fix the rusty parts. There are some holes but they are about a half dollar small or smaller. I have a few friends that weld but I want to hear from you all first as to some ideas to fix this.

I've also thought about taking the floor/carpet to the dry-cleaners or to some upholstery shop to get cleaned since it still looks new but I don't know if that is a good idea or not. Under the passenger seat I found a board with felt under the board that was all moldy and wet and under that there was two cushiny plastic mats. Don't know what they are but I'm guessing they will need to come out at least to be cleaned, the moldy felt board will be going in the trash.

So this is my plight and would like some advice on how to fix. Don't know if I've explained myself well enough but ask me for me details and i'll try to answer. Thank you fellas

[bscutt]

see my post on this in Projects from June through August. I did not realize what leaks I had in my 82 and like you discovered problems unexpectedly. That lead to much larger discoveries and replacement of both front floorpans and half of a rear. I still have a leak from my raintray I have not been able to stop so I keep a magnetic cover over the louvers and don't drive the car in the rain anymore. I did extensive rust repair, welding (not great but functional and strong), seam sealer, POR15 paint, undercoating, rust cavity spray in the rockers. All told about $200 in materials and $150 in refreshing tools (welding helmet died midway through, bought wire brushes, face shield, etc). I have many pictures of the project but only a few posted

[vwtyp133]

A "repair" all depends on how exacting you want to be. An ex-roommate (a now-retired VW/Porsche dealer tech) had similar issues with his '68 beetle, so he wire-brushed the areas around the holes (top & bottom), used a 'rust converter' liquid, let it cure, laid down fiberglass & resin, let that cure, rattle-can painted the top, sprayed the bottom with 'rubberized undercoating', put the carpet back down & has been driving it for about 35 years since then with no ill effects or return of rust holes.

Not even close to a concours quality restoration, but that bug could easily win many local & area club shows! It now has over 500K original miles & looks great/runs great.

YMMV

[bscutt]

Yes my son did exactly the same thing on his G60-powered 87 Golf and it's solid as a rock. Not sure for how long but a million times less work than what I went through on my 82

[dleesel]

Quick upadate and a plea for help lol

The install of the new floorpans is going great so far both front and rear have been installed with just a little welding left to be done. I will try to post pics once done.

But I've run into a snag. I'm not sure what the part is called but I believe it may be called the "seat cross member" or something like that. Its the bracket mounted to the floor that adjusts the seat. These are rusted out bad and I'd like to get new ones or find an alternative or just get some that are used if possible. So I'm calling out for help. I will be visiting a junk yard today that has an 89 gti but that is a gamble that I'll be driving an hour for

Please let me know if you have any suggestions, thanks.

[Fatmobile]

Usually only the base goes bad (on Rabbits),.. where it meets the floor.
I've used angle iron to bridge this gap on Rabbits.

[bscutt]

I don't know of anywhere that sells these. I agree with Fatmobile, get some 22 to 26 gauge steel or some steel angle and fab up what you need to patch it in. Paint with [primer, POR16 and some krylon to topcoat it, undercoat all the underside of your new pans and keep driving.

[dleesel]

Thank you for the suggestions guys.

Update: I took the trip out to the junk yard to check out this 89 GTI, honestly I had very low expectations for this but if I'm doing the rest of it right I didn't want to skimp anywhere else. Thankfully and to my surprise the floor was brand spanking new (looking). So now to find what other parts I can snag off of that beast....I'm thinking the sway bars, rear brake calipers, mounts, and so on.

Thank you once again

[Fatmobile]

Ahhh, good fortune.

[dleesel]

So here is the semi-final update. Still have some more work to do but most of the work, the most important part, is done. Thanks to everyone that chimed in with some tips. Like you'll see in the pics I decided to buy the floor-pans and get it welded in. Here are some pics from start to where we are now.

[dleesel]

[TylerDurden]

Good on ya!

Man, that's a bit of work.

[surfcam]

Another one saved from the smelters, way to go! This will inspire others including myself.

[dleesel]

Yeah, this took about a weeks worth in hours spread out into a little over a month. Did Rhino Liner on top and bottom, classy and rock solid.

[TylerDurden]

I imagine it's gonna be very quiet too... My 86 has thin replacement sheets that really let the road noise though. :-\