Drivers side outrigger now in place

On the last update I mentioned that I was frustrated by the fit of my passenger side pan. I have since asked around for advice and got some really helpful feedback. Most agreed that the pan fitment looked fine, but cautioned that I should really double check my dimensions before plug welding them into place. I have now added a few technical diagrams to the 'useful resto info' page of this blog following extensive online research. In order to check the accuracy of my dimensions I decided to plough on and fit the other outrigger which would allow me to assess how everything was looking:

I then flipped the chassis over and welded the u-shaped torsion bar bracket to the support foot I previous fabricated:

Cleaned up and zinc primed:

Spent a great deal of time the tape measure assessing the distance between the two outermost holes in the outrigger sections. Made some notes to compare against the technical diagrams that I sourced and concluded that I was 4mm in total (i.e; 2mm on either side). However, the tape measure had to go over a slight hump (centre of the chassis tunnel) and would probably account for the extra width I was detecting:

It made me consider whether the diagrams had been drawn up with this aspect in mind or not. That would make them open to interpretation and so my findings will remain inconclusive for the time being I guess. Ultimately I would have preferred the gap to have been a couple of mm smaller so that the pans butt against the tunnel tighter, but I can live with what I have and make it work 

....I hope this doesn't become a statement that I haunts me further down the line!

One step forward (or possibly two back!)

Got the first of the rear pan outriggers welded into position recently:

However, not all is well in the garage of Los Rhysos! When I offered up the floor pan it did not fit snugly into the lip as I would have liked:

I used some red primer to mark where the pan sits and removed the pan to assess how much overlap I was getting:

The gap is about 4/5mm in the widest places, which is enough to really bother me! With this narrow overlap it will be difficult (not impossible) to make suitable plug welds. It is far from ideal, but then I have high expectations. At this point I really don't know if the perfectionist in me is clouding my judgement! After all, if I get hung-up about the fit about every little part then the resto could stall and never get done. At the end of the day I would rather have a car that I could drive and enjoy, but that is a little 'off' in discrete places, than a car that remains unfinished because my vision outstrips the reality of an amateur DIY restoration. Food for thought, but I digress....  

Essentially I am not sure whether to leave this outrigger as it is and hope for the best or grind it off and start from scratch. I think I need to take a step back and conduct some research and ask around on vw forums for advice before welding the pans into place.

Cup of tea time!