Shoptalkforums.com

Hi folks,
I have a 73 Ghia that had the body unbolted. I'm putting it back on, and I wondered if there was a pan to body gasket from the factory? Can i just use weather stripping, and shape it to fit?

Also, the car came with factory alloy wheels that I've never seen before. Are these wheels common? I'm familiar with bugs, but not Ghias. Any help would be appreciated.

Paul Watson
Ridegcrest, CA

This is a portion of my earlier post on "My 72".

Those that have done off body restorations and other body work know that you have a body seal that has to be put down in order for the body to seal to the floor pans and the chassis cross members....Well I have been thinking about the rubber seal from time to time, and would have ordered one when time comes. The only problem with the rubber seal I saw was, you have to fasten it down, and have perfectly cut joints. I have seen the flat rubber seal material screwed down using a large galvanized washer under sheet metal screws. That would be lot of work.
Well, today I was looking for something in my shop, and you know how you say I need to throw this away, and then think, I better keep this I might need it one day....Well take a look at what I have kept for sometime. A box of what is called DENTITE. It's a peel and press material and is used to seal out moisture, air, and is used for weather stripping as well. It will compress and stay in place without a problem.....The original material used by VW on the body to seal around the pans and across the frame members was a real sticky mess....I plan to use this rope caulk for my body seal. It's not sticky, and is pliable enough to fill any joint, etc....If you are familiar with the clay bar, it's almost like that, except a little firmer. I know it will work just fine.....The old box still has the price sticker where it came from Lowe's....You can see on the left side the light edge of the piece where I pulled off two strips for it to be the right width....


This product (A) is now only sold a Ace Hardware....It's packaged by the same company, W T Dennis, but under a ACE Label..... As for the Wheels, post up a picture in the Ghia section and someone will answer.

I am not sure if that is a good idea Lew (this is my opinion though and you know what it is worth ).

The stock body seal/gasket has an inner and outer bulb seal in it. The gasket is not just to seal irregularities between the body and the pan but is used to keep the weather outside of the vehicle.

You do have to fit it by “Vee”/notching cutting the (inside) corners (do not cut the gasket into pieces, leave it as one continuous piece starting and ending at the center of the Nepoleon’s hat area. Remember, the gasket is going to shrink (seemingly) when you put the body and pan together so leave some extra to make the join at the top of the “hat” area (seamless) but just carefully trim it to make a good corners and joins. The bulb that is on the outside should not be trimmed, cut or anyway mutilated as it is what keeps the most moisture (unless someone spills in your to) out of the gap between body and pan. When you notch it for the corners do not cut clear to the outside bulb as it will form OK with some stretching.

If you have a leather punch (we are not talking about Doc' off0road fearless leader here); you know, the scissors/pliers type with a rotating head for cutting different sized holes, then use it to make the bolt holes (several over lapping small trims to make one hole) making the holes slightly smaller than the bolt for water tightness (if you have to buy one it is worth having around the garage. You may not use it all the time but if you have to lengthen or shorten a belt… well there you are!).

I think you can use weather strip glue for bonding it down. It should not take a whole lot but finish making the whole gasket before you bond it down... it will save frustration. I used masking tape when I did it before the final bonding and it is frustrating enough (like any other battle of man vs, inanimate objects).

I hope this helps.

Lee

By-the-way, I've seen the body gasket for sale as low as $10 plus tax and license (shiping).

Lee

I hear you, but I still plan on using the roped caulk. I have many owners that like the idea. You have to understand this will compress but will not squeeze out. It will leave a air tight fit. This caulk is actually used in Refrigeration applications. This is good stuff. You have to actually have it in your hand to appreciate how good it is. It's not sticky! If you notice in my picture there are 6 rows of caulk, the perfect width. My plan is to use 5 more rows laid in the seams of the six making up the proper seal. I have seen way to many of these rubber seals screwed up and don't like the difficulty of trying to install one. They may be cheap, but a pain to deal with from what I hear from owners at shows.
As I also mentioned in my earlier post on "My 72", VW used an adheasive of some type to seal the body to the pans. It's was some messy stuff. Below are pictures of the seal you mentioned. The owner of the car pictured said, he didn't like it and it was way to much trouble. When you drill holes in your pan to hold down the seal you also create a problem with future rust. Note how the seal has been cut to curve around the rear.
Click pictures to enlarge!

I don't think I took any pictures as, at the time I really didn’t think it was important enough to document; I'll have to look and see if I did take any. I did make the entire body gasket in one continuous piece (actually I made two body seals, one for under the body lift and the other one was between the lift and the body itself) nor did I feel the need to pin/fasten the seal down (I agree with you on the holes just being another place for rust to take hold; I just glued it down in spots and used the body lift to hold it in place while it seated and formed to the contour of the two pieces.

I’m not too far away from doing it again, this time I will take pictures (within the next two years I think by the way things are going ).

I guess it doesn’t matter which way to do it, just as long as it keeps water out of the pan itself.

Lee