Shortening a Pan

[rustybutterknife]

just a quick question what do you guys measure off of to ensure that the frame gets welded square and doesn't look like it's going sideways down the road is there anything suitable to use as a reference spot measuring diagonally?
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What, they don't sell purple locktite? Just mix the red and the blue together.

[JayinMI]

Here's how I did mine (based on Nicolas' style):

http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1026...highlight=

I still haven't figured out my floors the way I want yet...I wish someone would actually supply measurements with those drawings. I think I'm going to switch to some diamond plate and rectangle tubing and make my own.

Jay

[manxdavid]

Hey Nicholas!!! Greetings from way back!!! Hows it going old friend???

Dave.

[benchracer1]

Where are the fuel lines located and how are they dealt with?

[widefive63]

Hi to all

Thanks to all for your feedback on the Z cut method I describe in my home page “http://www.dunebuggynostalgia .com”( http://membres.lycos.fr/dbn/) .

This method came to my mind almost ten years ago when I started my Manx project. At that time, I had no internet access but the few straight or angled shortening work I had seen in mags or on the rotten buggy floorpan I was starting from, told me I had to find something else. As I live in France were buggies are not very common I had nobody to advise me. I worked first with the enlarged picture of the vw pan were I tried different cutting lines that were cut with scissors for test fit. When I had the right line I started the real job.

As the floors of my frame were history I started by chiseling them away. The work became then very easy . I shortened the tunnel first and then I shortened each floor before welding them in place.

I hadn’t thought that the few snapshots taken then, later put online thru my small home page would almost ten years later inspire and help people building their buggy project. But that’s what internet is all about!

All that said my Manx is still not finished (don’t laught) but little by little I have managed to find all the neccessary parts to achieve my target , a mid/ late 60’s looking Manx. My last find is a NOS ABS dash found in Texas last week. What is missing is a only time! I hope someday I will find time to update my homepage to show the progress.

Best regards from France.

Nicolas

[Oil_Eater]

[lostinbaja]

When properly welded, butt welding the panels is just as strong as the "Volksmagic" method but alot quicker and easier. The "Volksmagic" method will look cleaner when completed because of the one piece tunnel bottom.
I have seen a buggy the went off the road at 50mph, backwards into a ditch. The shortening job was nothing more then a straight cut across and weld, no gussets and no tabs. The tunnel ripped in half at the "E brake". The tunnel weld was straight and uneffected.
I think people are reading way too much into thie shortening process. All the different cutting methods do is basically make the finished product more asthetically appealing, not stronger. The E brake area of the tunnel is not as strong as a butt welded tunnel.
Jerry...

[manxbuggy]

There is a lot of great information in this thread that I wish I had when I shortened the pan for my buggy. I used the delta cut method, but also removed the top side of the tunnel from the handbrake to just forward of the shifter and moved them back about 6 inches so the handbrake is about 1 inch forward of the VIN stamp. This made the driving position more comfortable for me as my seats sit low and all the way back on the stock tracks, I don't have to reach for the shifter. A $30 4 inch grinder from the local home improvement store with thin cut-off wheels made for quick, clean cuts with minimal grinding needed for final fitting. The cautions about not cutting the control tubes inside the tunnel are a good thing to remember. A little persuading with a 2 lb. sledge after tack welding got everything lined up pretty well for final welding. I had a lot of trouble getting my shifter rod cut and re-welded with the right alignment until somebody recommended using the $10 adjustable weld-on shifter adjuster.

Next time I will use the laser layout method for cut lines, move the shifter back an additional 2 inches by removing the extra space between the shifter and handbrake, add a gusseted (doubled thickness) round access hole for clutch cable replacement on the passenger side of the pedal assembly, and reinforce the clutch cable tube at the pedal.

[shermer-high]

This is how I did mine.I drilled out the spot welds on tunnel and separated upper and lower.This helps with tunnel alignment and ads strength.Then I used extra tunnel piece to make reinforcement.My dads buggy was done in the 60s with straight cut and arc weld not very pretty.When the car was hit head on at 45 the shifter area shattered and bent the frame head but never hurt the weld.

[rick.d.brown]

Here's a picture of part of my chassis being shortened by Volksmagic in the UK:

For an overview of a few different chassis shortening methods, see...

http://www.shining-wit.net/rick/buggy/design/body

There's also a full slide-show of my chassis being shortened, using the 'Volksmagic' method, at the bottom of the page.
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Rick.

Wotton-under-Edge, UK
http://www.shining-wit.net/rick/buggy

[mach4]

If you use this cut plan it will fit together a lot nicer.

I've forgotten where this came from originally, but it is a very well thought out plan. The jogs put the two halves together as close as possible with a minimum of persuading.

This picture shows how close the two halves on the tunnel will match

There are a few pictures on our build site that might be helpful

http://www.mach4.com/manx/week2.htm
http://www.mach4.com/manx/week3.htm

Good luck

[phatbstrd]

Thanks, I'll give it a shot. All of the books I have read just said to slide it back together. They tend to leave out instructions on making it fit back together at the tunnel.

Thanks again for all your help and quick response.

Matt

[EMPIImp69]

You need to hammer the front part which is square into a more rounder shape like the rear half in order to minimize the gap when welding the halves together. It is easier to hammer if you heat the half up a bit, take your time.
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1963 Ragtop Bug

[phatbstrd]

I cut the pan and am now in the process of welding it back together. Everything went well with the cutting, but the shape of the tunnel halves obviously doesn't match up. Is it correct that I need to do some reshaping on the back half to match the front, or am I missing something? I don't want to mess anything up at this point, the body fits well, and the cuts are straight.

Thanks for your help.

Matt "The Newbie" Purvis
Oilton, OK

[DSC]

Here were some photos from when I did mine a couple of months ago.

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1993 RX7 pT-67 .81 a/r
1308cc Two Rotor motor
430rwhp@16psi
Street Buggy currently under construction.

[bim55]

If you've ever worked with the metal floor pans, it's hard to believe that either a straight cut or a delta cut adds any integrity to the structure at all. They are just too flimsy even without any cuts.

The strength comes from the boxed tunnel section and the section or height of the sidewalls in the fiberglass body itself. Think of or visualize an I beam, the top and bottom plates control compression and tension.

But without a doubt, the two halves will match up better and require less work if you use the angle or delta cut.

You can cut the whole VW chassis with any metal cutting blade in a recip sawl, jig saw, circular saw, just about anyhting will work. As stated, be carefull in the tunnel section, and a small mig works perfectly on this gauge metal.

Also, great photos in this thread, nice to see projects like this.

Boston Bob E.

[MURZI]

I left a tongue on the bottom of the rear half of the pan that was about 8 inches long. I feel that it really strengthed the whole job. I like the idea of the flaps on the sides too. If I had to do it over I would do the flaps and the tongue. I wasn't concerned about the pans because I used sheet metal and 1x2 box tubing. EDIT--If I had to do it over I would buy a BERRIEN chassis. That job was a b*^%ch!!!

MURZ
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62 vert
2276
Tim’s welded heads
45 Dells
A1 sidewinder
Fk44 cam

[Jimmler]

The pan is not officially welded back together yet, so there's not much more to tell at this point. I have a broken clutch tube I'm repairing.

I probably will not brace over the weld with a section of removed tunnel. In this last picture you can see I left some "tabs" from the rear section. I think by bending those in and welding them to the sides of the tunnel, it will reinforce more than a strip across the top. The tunnel is stamped in that area that almost makes it look like those tabs are supposed to go there.

Most of the cutting was either by a sawzall or an air powered body saw from Harbor Freight. The tunnel is some pretty tough stuff. Buy plenty of blades. Also be careful not to slice the various tubes. That's the wrong place to shorten them!
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-Jim
Nipomo, CA

[UncleBob]

Great Pictures, Jimmler. Nothing like seeing the real thing. Did you use some of the 'liberated' tunnel section over the tunnel joint for reinforcement? What did you use for cutting?

Feel free to post the rest of the pics and the finished product.
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OG JHC

don't worry, the ciggaret is fake.

[Jimmler]

Here's some real life photos of how I did mine:

Here's how I made sure all the lines were nice and straight and properly aligned. I used a Craftsman Laser Trac and a white paint pen:

The rest is easy!
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-Jim
Nipomo, CA