Floorpan Replacement

I'm now at the point where I'm going to replace the floorpans on my bug, preferably with the body on. Anyone have any pointers or tips they've learned while doing this? Also curious if anyone undercoats them. Been looking on the samba for tips and most people use POR15 to fight off the rust on the underside of the car and under the fenders so rocks don't chip your paint. Some are recommending to put a noise dampener material or truck bed liner from a can under there as well but then of course some are saying that can cause more rust. Just thought I'd ask here to get more opinons. Thanks for the help!

-Michael

I did the ones on my Bug last year or so. I did them with the body on. It worked out fine. I just painted the underside on mine. Seems to be working out ok. I did use a roll on bedliner for the inside of my floors for something different. That seems to be doing fine as well. But I believe the POR-15 is the way to go. Pretty much every time I see floors being replaced, the person uses POR-15. Another thing I always consider is how long did it take for the floors to rust out to begin with? 20 years? I can replace my floors again in 2030, I will have gotten my use out of these floors.

Dann replaced a pan half with the body on. I did mine body off. While I'd say it's easier to do the job with the body off, It's not such a huge difference that I'd recommend taking the body off just to do it. POR-15 is a common choice as is just painting them. I did some research and I went with Masterseries (which is still sitting on my shelf). Although I have not applied any of it yet, there are alot of people that swear by the stuff. It can be brushed on or rolled on just like POR-15 but with better results from what I've heard. And it's UV protected so it wont oxidize. Just remember, whatever route you go, make sure to take your replacement pieces down to bare metal before you do anything. The factory or shipping primer they come in is not tough enough to paint on or put into service.

Thanks for the tips guys. I guess I'll get them in and then decide on the rust proofing. Like David said it did take them 20+ years to rust in the first place. I got my black friday (should be black Nov) order with CIP1 all set up for more parts so I should be attempting this project soon. I'll be on the road one of these days!

I did mine with the body on. My biggest problem was getting the pan gasket back in. I had to cut and splice it to get it in. In hindsight, it might have been easier to finish unbolting the body and jack it it up a couple of inches to put the gasket in. Just my two cents...Good Luck.

You can splice the body gasket back in and then seam seal the whole perimeter of the pan. It wasn't too bad at all.