Anyone know where I can get a floor pan for an A2 Golf or Jetta?

You can find them easy for bugs and Rabbits but I can seem to find on for my

87 Golf. My floor rusted out to my surprise. I was driving down the street and bling! the left side of the driver seat bottom went through the floor and I was not even aware there was a rust problem there. Then it took me an hour in the cold to get the seat back up where I put a temporary small bit of a metal 2 by 4 to hold up the seat across the floor good parts. It is working fine now but I need this to go through inspection in a couple of months.

P.M.

Reply to
P.M.
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If your floor pan has rusted out the way you described, the car is probably about ready to rust out everywhere. A rust bucket is just not worth fixing, so before spending any money on repairs, take a really close look all over the body, around the window edges, lower quarter panels, trunk floor, etc.. If all else is OK, try a junk yard, or have a new floor pan fabricated. Also take a look at the VWvortex forum. There are many experts there.

Reply to
Papa

That undercoating is pretty deceptive in that it tends to hide really nasty body rot. On my 95 I noticed some darker areas on the undercoating. Started to pick around and there were a few repairable rust spots - which is pretty pathetic since the car is well detailled and bottom blasted in the winter. In one section total body rot through as it formed a hole about the side of a quarter through the floor. Only recourse for you is to first really start investigating with a icepick and check any questionable areas for soundness. If your car has gotten that bad theres bound to be some serious problems in other areas. Check around the seams and rocker panels bound to be problems as well. For a quick fix I'd probably rec just getting a piece welded to GOOD steel - the undercoating has to be either media blasted or heat gunned off then weld a plate. If the rest of the steel is unsound the plate will eventuall fall out as the bad steel start to rust through. The salvage yard route is a pain but if you have a decent yard and good measurements they can cut it out for you. Bottom line is that unless you plan on either spending $$$ to stabilize the rust it may be time to move on - otherwise a repair will only hold for a year before it starts all over again.

Reply to
Stephen Timinski

"P.M." wrote

Though there are exceptions, unless it has been a car near the ocean salt or used in heavily north salted roads chances are it is only a floor issue and perhaps other minor issues. Generally VW metal stays well together unless it has an aftermarket fender after an accident or body part welded on, then usually that will rust out first, years later.

If you have good metal around the rust out, (remove ALL rusted metal) the classic way is to have a piece or floor pan welded but riveting with pop rivets a shaped piece of flat metal is usually underestimated IF you can lay the new piece on *top* and form/bend/hammer it into shape being as cheap as buying some sheet metal - perhaps even at Home Depot. (not the classic fix).

It can be expensive to have it welded as it is a hell of a long weld, but using pop rivets (some will disagree to use this method), lay the new metal over AND with plenty of overlap, and shape it into place. Bend/hammer keeping in mind the dimension across the bottom of the seat, so the seat rail can be also riveted to the new metal and the seat fits to slide back. If need be, take the passenger seat out as a template.

Rivet around the perimeter of the new metal putting the rivets about 1 to 2 inches apart. You may want to consider NOT using stainless steel rivets because they can be a bitch to drill out if you make a mistake. Prime/paint/undercoat the new metal on the bottom (looking up from the ground) you may also want to consider using a sealer around the perimeter right before you lay the new metal in place like a silicone. When done, put the carpet and seat back into position. Make SURE you have the correct dimension betweet the seat rails BEFORE you affix the rail back on to the new metal.

All you need is an electric drill and a pop riveter.

Harry

Reply to
Harry

Genuine VW front floor pans are available new from 1stVWParts

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which is the storefront site for AuburnVW. At $214 plus shipping, I'd be cruising the junkyards.

Todd Seattle,WA '86 GTI, Red of course. (exciting racey car) 261,000 miles '87 Golf, Polar Silver. (boring work car) 542,000 miles

Reply to
racertod

Update. Thanks Harry!!! My dad had a pop riveter and I bought some sheet metal. Took out all the rust and banged the metal into shape and pop riveted around it. It worked great!!!! I bought a can of undercoating type spray and sprayed the bottom and a couple coats of primer on the top. Thanks again!!

P.M.

Reply to
P.M.

You might also want to use some fiberglass to water proof the metal. I like the short hair (kitty hair) type which you can buy under the bondo brand as short hair. Tiger hair and kitty hair is long and short respectfully, but harder to find and more expensive. I did my 1994 Jetta drivers side with POR15 and short hair fiberglass. I have to do the passenger side in spring. It's the way VW uses seams which lets water get in.

Reply to
Peter Parker

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