Re: ghia floorpan???

[David Yaghoubian <goob@home.com>]

At 09:40 PM 7/12/2001 -0700, you wrote:
> David,
> you mentioned that you put a ghia florrpan in your T3.  How was the
> fit?  How long did it take to install.  Thanks
> Jack      '65 square with rusty
> floor

Hi Jack-

I figured I'd reply to the list in case others had the same questions.
The extent of the rust on my car included a rotten floorboard between the
battery tray and the rear passenger footwell, as well as a 12-14 inch
long rusty seam (running up along the passenger side rear wheel well down
below the rear seat mounting point) where the water had been coming in.
The passenger side bracket for the rear seat (which attaches to the
floorboard next to the battery) was also totally rotted out. I obtained a
ghia floor section (the right rear quarter section... $69 at
Motorworks... Bill and Steve's has 'em too) and had the work done by an
experienced VW restorer (Tim Supriano, who manages Buggy House, AKA BH
Motorsports in Hayward, CA but also does his own restoration work in San
Jose. Highly recommended!) over the weekend for $500. This included
fitting the ghia floorboard to match as best as possible with the T3
undercarriage (IMHO he did an amazing job), welding sheet metal to fix
the rusty wheel well seam, adapting sheet metal to fix the rear seat
bracket and reweld it to the new floorboard, and applying black
undercoating all the way around (top and bottom). Originally, the
estimate was $350, but I also decided to have Tim straighten, reweld and
strengthen the spot in front of the pedal assembly where the adjustment
plate mounts (woohoo! my pedals don't sag anymore), weld one of my seat
rails that was loose in spots, and drill out a few broken body bolts (the
two lower bolts that fasten the front section of the quarter panel to the
body). Overall, I'd say it was very reasonable for the extent and quality
of work provided. I'm not sure how much more the cost would have been had
I not done almost all of the prep work myself and removed the seats,
quarter panel etc so he could access the wheel well, so that's something
to consider if you are going to be paying someone else to do the
job.

As for the fit, from the top there is absolutely no noticeable difference
between the sides, especially after reinstalling the tarboard. From the
bottom looking up at the floorboard, aside from a thin seam of weld, the
only difference between the two sides that I can tell is a slightly
different "pattern" in the way the metal is stamped. Both sides
curve downward at the same spot and are level with each other when they
flatten out under the rear seat. As I did not perform the work I can't
say how difficult this was to match, but Tim did say that he had to do
lots of work around the edges of the ghia floor section to get it to fit
at the back of the battery compartment.  

I'll be posting BEFORE/AFTER picts soon so y'alls can check it out!
:)

Cheers,

Dave Y.
68 Square








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