saving the old seat pedestals

So today I cleaned up my shop a bit, put all the tools away, swept up the huge amount of rust that had fallen out of the car, and did a little bit of work on the actual beetle! I first cut the old seat pedestals out since I need to re-use them. Full 1/2-pans made from steel that is the original thickness are no longer available. However 1/4 pans that are made from the original thickness are. The only problem is one, you obviously have to weld them together. That's a bit more work, but I think the lap weld actually makes them even stronger than the original pans. In my opinion, the thicker pan is worth the trouble of a welded seam across the center. Second, the 1/4 pans don't come with seat pedestals or jack supports. The original seat pedestals are in good condition, and since they're $45 a piece it was worth it to re-use them. I had to cut the spot welds to free them from the original floorpan metal. I have temporarily laid the 1/4 pans on top of the original pans just to see how they look. I had to order the special 12 point CV joint removal tool today in order to be able to remove the transaxle.