'63 body swap to '72 pan - (lots of pics)

[atye]

Here's some pics of the process as i did it...

10-20-05
Day #1
$2500
1963 VW Beetle - 40hp
an average "driver"

This is not a show car, nor will it ever be one. I wanted to build a reliable daily driver that I won't be scared to take anywhere. I could have spent a ton of money and time on this stuff, but I did a solid job that should last a long time.

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This is the '72 IRS pan I had to work with (meaning FREE)

cutting the rusty half off

done with the hard part

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welding the new half in
(using the ever-popular "point and squint" method)

and the early model seat rails
(1971-72 rails will not work with early lowback seats)

new seat rails welded, seam-sealed, and painted

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coating the pans with Duplicolor truck bedliner coating
I used some cheap paint brushes, but now I've found they make a spray gun kit just for this stuff

done

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finally together

this was an early "test fit"
you can see how much difference there is in height on the rear

this is the rear body mount on the IRS shock tower
it is 1-2" too tall for the early body, but dead on as far as alignment goes

as my car was a little rusty and will need bodywork in the future, I removed the body mounts for now and will re-install them ASAP.

and with the rear mounts removed for now

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now it's mainly the engine I'm concentrating on...

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Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to show an idea of what all is involved in this. It's not hard, it's just time-consuming. I had to do most of the work at a friend's house on weekends and that in itself slowed me greatly.

If anyone has any specific questions, let me know. This was the second pan swap I've done. I did a '63 convertible on a '64 hardtop pan about 15 years ago.

Alex


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Alex

1990 Audi 90q 20v sedan
1998 Suzuki Sport Sidekick
2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara
2005 Subaru Legacy GT wagon 5spd Turbo AWD

[sammyphsyco]

Just curious what was wrong with the O.G. swing pan? I would have thought it easier to convert swing pan to I.R.S. rather than swap pans. What did you do about vin#'s and title?
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[makinbakin]

say it aint so.....
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OST KÜSTE

[atye]

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1907768
(from my previous thread)

Well, the pan on the '63 was HAMMERED. I mean it was in sad shape. The frame head was welded on after what seemed to be a hard front hit. It was done so poorly that:
A) the front beam had some sort of reinforcement bars, almost like subframe connectors running from the torsion bars to the pan
B) the whole beam was actually re-welded about 2"-3" towards the rear from the original spot. You could tell by the paint overspray where the shock tower USED to be.
C) the front left king/link pins were way beyond shot.
D) The PO had installed rubber 3/8 fuel line OUTSIDE the pan, along the running boards, held up with cable ties. This was not done recently, either, looked like maybe 5-10 yrs ago.
I will say, however that as bad as the pan looked, the body is not bad at all. Someone must have welded a whole front clip on or something, but there is only a light crinkle in the front spare tire well, maybe even from a later bump?

I had a 1972 body with a halfway decent pan sitting w/o a motor.

Also, for a daily driver, I prefer the IRS and BJ combo. I've got adapters so that I can run my American Eagle Fuchs wide-5 replicas, so after it's all said and done, it should still look like it did before.
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Alex

1990 Audi 90q 20v sedan
1998 Suzuki Sport Sidekick
2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara
2005 Subaru Legacy GT wagon 5spd Turbo AWD

[makinbakin]

why not just find another linkpin pan? IMO i would rather have it on the same type pan it came with.
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OST KÜSTE

[atye]

and as for the VIN and title...

Doesn't GA have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy??


I'm just gonna take my chances. I don't have a title, just a bill of sale (perfectly legal on older vehicles here) and I can't think of a reason why it would ever be a problem. The body number is still legible and I'll just leave it on the books as a '63.
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Alex

1990 Audi 90q 20v sedan
1998 Suzuki Sport Sidekick
2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara
2005 Subaru Legacy GT wagon 5spd Turbo AWD

[makinbakin]

[atye]

IF... I ever decide to sell, I'd advertise the car as a '63 on a late model IRS pan. I'm not breaking new ground here. I think it's been done once or twice.

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Alex

1990 Audi 90q 20v sedan
1998 Suzuki Sport Sidekick
2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara
2005 Subaru Legacy GT wagon 5spd Turbo AWD

[Rome]

You work dang fast! BUT you might kick yourself in not replacing the front-to-rear brake line (left side of tunnel) and the short cross-piece at rear (goes over front of tranny) while you had the body off, expecially considering how rusty the pan half was. You'll never have such easy access, and it would've been a prudent preventative measure that would';ve only take you a few hours at most.

I hope brake line rust does not happen for your sake!

"a little rusty"?! WHERE? Your cars in the south are so much more solid than up here in the north, though I have been in junkyards in coastal Florida where there was alot of rust on VWs.

Wishing you lots of fun driving the Beetle! Are you considering going to front disc brakes (Ghia parts) now, even if you keep 4-bolt wheels?

[atye]

One of the first investments after I get the motor squared away is DISC BRAKES. I had them on my last beetle, a 1969, and it was the best money I ever spent on that car. I think with the larger engine, I will need all of the help I can get in stopping the car anyways. I plan on keeping the wide-5 wheels I have, too. The ones that were on the '72 are some sort of 13" wheels off of a Honda or Golf with adapters. They are only temporary.

As for working fast, that was a "weekend job" that turned into 6 months.


I have new rubber lines for the front AND rear now, just haven't gotten to the brakes yet. Working in a parts house as I do, I try my best to have everything in good working order.

By the way... NAPA has a new line of steel brake lines that are incredible! They are coated in such a way that you can bend the steel lines by hand w/o kinking, bend them back flat, and do it all over again. The coating is also a rust barrier. I have had a sample in my store and it's amazing. I plan one day down the road to replace all of the lines, but that's way down the road.
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Alex

1990 Audi 90q 20v sedan
1998 Suzuki Sport Sidekick
2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara
2005 Subaru Legacy GT wagon 5spd Turbo AWD

[jaxvert]

Great post Alex. the pictures help.
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1963 Original Anthracite L469 vert.

1963 Ragtop (stolen years ago) low life fuckers !

[Jason C]

[atye]