What sealer do I use for the floor pan seal

Did the search thing to no real avail. Can someone tell me the best sealant to use for the floor pan to body seal. Have read article in VW magazine, but he glues the seal in place. Is this a good idea or not.

Will the sealant hold the seal in the correct place on just the floor pan as I want to put the seal on now, but wont bolt the body down for the final time for nearly 3 months. I need to put the body on and off several times for checking things prior to painting and dont want the seal to move and want it on there to stop scratching of painted floor pan.

Thanks, Kevin

Hi

I've never had anything to do with taking off the body
and the seal
but it seemed like a good idea to me to glue it into place
[one side only]

My Son painted his chassis with POR 15 first, which is the hardest paint known to mankind... lol
so, taking the body off and on won't scratch the chassis if its POR 15..

I have heard that replacing the rubber seal is one of the hardest jobs on a beetle...

to stop noise, I have padded My beetle with layers of the blue EVA yoga mat You can buy at Go Lo BigW etc.
I have 2 layers over the roof, in all panels, in the doors
around the engine bay inside and out, even under the bonnet and carpet as I like the noise from My twin straight thru pipes from a standard muffler , but My Wife didn't .. so, now she thinks I have quietened My beetle's exhaust... lol

cheers Kev

LEE

cant remember exactly what we used, but im sure sikaflex would be the go, it dries but stays flexible

Thanks guys and I have heard before that the sealant needs to stay flexible.

Kev

used sikaflex on mine

barls wrote:used sikaflex on mine

X2 for sikaflex

Hi

Whatever you use make sure its non acidic. Maybe a windscreen sealant?

Are you supposed to still use tacks like the factory did?

Steve

yeah its still tacked into place, and make sure u seal the open ends of the body to pan seal with sikaflex as well

sikaflex is mans best friend👍

Marc

sikaflex is the best and you can get it at bunnings

Thanks for all the input. Does sikaflex stay flexible when cured ?? I thought it was just a strong adhesive, maybe the name suggests the answer.

Cheers, Kevin

it stays flexible for nigh on forever. its also a pita to get off anything you dont want it on like hands

If you use your hands to put it on,put some liquid soup on your hands

Thanks again. Bought the Sikaflex and am going down to start sealing.

Cheers, Kevin

If you are not going to finally bolt the body down for a while and if you are going to remove the body a few times, I'd seal it to one side only, otherwise getting it off will be big messy hassle.

I'd seal it to the pan and then be careful about how the body is removed.

Either way doesn't matter, I suppose.

uze r all crazy, dont uze sikaflex, think of the poor bastard 20 years from now trying to do a body off resto, hes never going to get it off, sikaflex sticks ike shit to a blanket just uze normal non hardening w/s sealant and it will be fine!

Hi Guys,

Scuize my ignorance. Did the original assembly use a sealer (or just a seal tacked in place?).


Newt

rexy wrote:uze r all f#%King crazy, dont uze sikaflex, think of the poor bastard 20 years from now trying to do a body off resto, hes never going to get it off, sikaflex sticks ike shit to a blanket just uze normal non hardening w/s sealant and it will be fine!

we also use sika at work and dont have any problems with it and we use it on deck plates and burps. they come up every 3 months

Camo wrote:Thanks again. Bought the Sikaflex and am going down to start sealing.

Cheers, Kevin

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I cant believe I was going to seal the floor pan 2.5 yrs ago and still haven't done it 😢 Amazing how life occurrences can change everything.

Now I read on the sikaflex that it only has 9 months shelf life and is expired. Back to the shops again 😬

Kev

I'd check it first, I've used Sikaflex way out of date, if it comes out of the tube ok (no undue force) then it's still ok.

Thanks donn, I will check it out now.

Kev

the same kev, we have used tubes at work that were on the shelf for over a year. so long as its still liquid its fine.

use wurth not sikaflex as it is acidic and will corrode if given the smallest amount of bare metal to work thru (scratches)

Use those vinyl "tough" gloves

Thanks again all, for the replies.

Hellbugged, (Dave) VW54 said to use house roof gutter sealant or similar as it was non-acidic so I guess you make a good point about the sikaflex.

Cheers, Kev.

wurth make a lot of Volkswagen sealers
Like Wurth seam sealer and you can even buy a bead spreader nozzle. about $20 a cartridge.

Sikaflex is to hold windscreen glass in.🤪 and fixing holes in your work boots😂

Camo wrote:Thanks again all, for the replies.

Hellbugged, (Dave) VW54 said to use house roof gutter sealant or similar as it was non-acidic so I guess you make a good point about the sikaflex.

Cheers, Kev.

Silicon non acidic translucent sealant...
usually sold as roof/gutter/bathroom sealant..

best to use gloves with this stuff...

looks like silastic acidic sealant but smells different..

best thing about it Kev...
if You needed to pull it all off.... it would all come off in one go.. not like the acidic silicon...

then again I've never had any problems with the original acidic silicon... no rust etc as once it sets....
its on for 10 years... lol and no air can get to it....

LEE

I woud suggest a wind screen sealant like butal mastic, it will stay plyable until you mount the body, sikaflex will set to hard to compress after the three months if you use to much of it, the original gasket was nailed to the pan with no sealant and a mastic sealant used in the corners where the rubbers joint, i have used the mastic several times with no issues, simple clean up with turps

vwo60 wrote:I woud suggest a wind screen sealant like butal mastic, it will stay plyable until you mount the body, sikaflex will set to hard to compress after the three months if you use to much of it, the original gasket was nailed to the pan with no sealant and a mastic sealant used in the corners where the rubbers joint, i have used the mastic several times with no issues, simple clean up with turps

funny you should say that...
I was just thinking of butyl mastic as used on windscreens in the 60s...
excellent stuff... pliable...

Lee

Ah, butyl mastic, I have about 6 tubes on the shelf, been there for 20 years, I go out and look at it from time to time, I just love seeing it siting there slowly dieing, it deserves a very slow death, I hate the stuff.

if you want to smooth out sika flex or any silicone products use a fresly cut potato, cut to the desired shape and it will not stick to the spud. use 11fc as it is more flexible. I build concrete water tanks and sika flex around cast in fittings where the concrete has shrunk away from the fitting.

vwrallycar wrote:cant remember exactly what we used, but im sure sikaflex would be the go, it dries but stays flexible

I use sikaflex on lots of stuff. But I wouldn't use it on the pan seal. 🙅
you will never separate the body again without damaging something lol 😂

the sealant that VW used is a bitumen based no curing sealant. its used on most modern cars and is available at most auto paint and restoration suppliers.

its kind of like sticky blu tack. comes in black and grey normally

i used selleys windscreen sealant. Great stuff 👍 Just use turps to wash off hands. It was great until supercheap had no more on the shelf and the deuch bag across the road at Beenleigh autobarn gave me K&H windscreen sealer (cos its the same... 'apparently') till 3 days later i was scratching my head as to why it didn't cure into an adhesive. (sealer not sealant... Serves me right for trusting a salesman, gets me stung every time)

Should make the dude come to my garage and clean the crap off😬

I think he did you a favor. you don't want it to cure.

I am pretty sure vw knew what they were doing

vlad01 wrote:

vwrallycar wrote:cant remember exactly what we used, but im sure sikaflex would be the go, it dries but stays flexible

I use sikaflex on lots of stuff. But I wouldn't use it on the pan seal. 🙅
you will never separate the body again without damaging something lol 😂

the sealant that VW used is a bitumen based no curing sealant. its used on most modern cars and is available at most auto paint and restoration suppliers.

its kind of like sticky blu tack. comes in black and grey normally

bullshit we use sika at work to seal soft patches on a boat. we never have any problem getting them back up.

yeah thats a boat not a floorpan.

I am just saying if you use sikaflex its going to be pretty much permanent.

im talking on fibreglass panels on a fibreglass boat.
if you dont he repairs right the first time do you really need to separate the pan again anytime soon after mounting it

ok🙄 20 years down the track I might.🙂

the longer its there the easier it is to lift trust me. ive been doing this for 11 years and have never had one that wouldnt lift.

we made a concrete building for victrack that they wanted the roof to be able to be lifted off so we glued down the roof panel with sikaflex. fast forward a few years they tried to remove the roof and they lifted the whole building! weight of concrete building about 8 tonne.

Exactly😂

see I told ya so.

mactaylor, what materials are you talking that the panel was made out of. if it was porous of course its going to stick. we are talking about sticking 2 almost perfectly smooth surfaces together. they separate a little easier than a porous pair as they have more surface area.
the trick is to only use a thin bead around the whole seal then bolt it all together so that its an even thinner layer once squashed down.
ideally id only use it in the corners where the joins are as the seal should do its job every where else. so we are talking about a 2inch section at the most.

off form finished concrete! like a highly polished concrete floor, it sticks like shit to a blanket, but you can remove it its just a pain. there is a primer if your worried about adhesion but ive only used it a couple of times. ive never used it for car related jobs but its a great product for concrete!

primer if methyl ketone and not sold to public as its a great poison..liver/kidney

sikaflex is a great flexible sealer used through industry inc cars, trailers, boat often used to hold together panels instead of welds.

Best was to remove is to slice with a knife then lift and slice again. No problems.

Turps weakens bonds too, so not the best for prep work.

Products available to lift/semi-disolve sikaflex but once again not to general public. Personally never need them. Usually once your under an edge it can be pulled of and added with a knife scrapper if needed.

I guess its each and every to their own.😵‍💫

oh no not MEK or aka butanone. I used that at work few time. so toxic 🙅 Glad I stopped working.