MkI floorpan Q

[nealtovsen at yahoo.com (Neal Tovsen)]

On Thu, 2003-09-18 at 22:08, John C. Worden wrote:
> The floorpan in the MkI has some holes in it so I am going to replace it.
> Since the MkI and MkII are both A1 chassis I am assuming the floorpans
> are identical.  Any reason for this not to be true?

The floor pans are NOT 100% identical throughout the years. However, 
they are close enough that you can use them. I used the floor pan 
out of an '85 in my '77, and here are the differences I noted:

- The front seat mounting bracket is different. AFAIK, the seats all fit
either one but the old style places the nose of the seat in a slightly
more rearward/downward position and may limit the forward-most point
that the seat will slide. The center crossmember itself where the
bracket is mounted is nearly identical.

- The metalurgy is slightly different. When they went to the space-saver
spare tire configuration, they appear to have changed the alloy for the
car. I think it may be galvanized or something. It seems slightly
heavier, slightly thicker, and more (lack of engineering degree here)
"brittle". It seems easier to cause fatigue cracking. I suspect that
many of the front crossmember cracks are on later cars for this reason.

- Sound deadening materials (rubber undercoating on outside, tar matting
inside) are different quality.

- The reinforcement ribbing is slightly different, with a "slash"
pattern in the floor, instead of a "vee" pattern. In my case, I hammered
both mating surfaces flat and welded them together as a flat piece. No
issues.

- Some of the layers that make up the center tunnel are slightly
different.

That's about it. Nothing you can't work around anyway. I would avoid the
Cabby floor pans, as I hear they have a lot of extra bracing and such,
which would make life more difficult.

Good luck!
-- 
Neal Tovsen
'77 Scirocco G60
SCCA Solo2 Street Modified
Special thanks to:
http://www.KompressorKanada.ca
http://www.SNSTuning.com
http://www.parts4vws.com
Cars and Concepts of Tampa