Worth Chasing #'s?

[Mark Evans]

My '55 ragtop is on a '65 pan. The pan itself is in good shape and I am readying to pull the body off this winter. I saw a recent ad for a '55 pan for sale in the classifieds and was wondering if it would be worthwile to exchange for this pan. The #'s wouldn't match, but would be within 20,000 of mine. What would that help or hinder for originality? Or no change from the '65?
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'63 Ragtop

[Rusties]

I'm in the same situation Mark, wondering if I should search out a year appropriate pan for my 56, which now sits on a 63 pan. Thing is I just finished my restoration after 7 years of part hunting, collecting and refinishing. I believe it is the right thing to do, but my current pan is mint, hmmmm decisions decisions.

You however are starting the pan off procedure, and would have a year appropriate car, however... the numbers would still not match. ;]
Good luck ... and take pics! Lots of em!

[Matt K.]

I think that it is a toss up. One side is that the pan has been changed for whatever reason and the #'s do not match. On the other hand even if the pan you track down is correct for the car the #'s still do not match. I guess if it were me i would prefer the pan that is correct for the car but it is really a judgement call.
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This is my 23rd year in the Auto Body/Paint Game!
*Take a look at some of my custom paint: http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n119/mrpaint_2006/ .( NOTE: these are some older jobs but still neat.)

[coad]

It still won't be original and the numbers still won't match, so what do you gain? It's like being a virgin, once it's over there's no going back.

[Mark Evans]

[druid57]

For my two 'penneth I'd say go with the early pan.

Yes the numbers won't match, but in essence you'd have a 'correct'
car with the exact same parts and look as when it left the factory.

In my opinion a 'correct' car is better than a generic beetle beetle made up from bits and pieces of cars from different eras. The early pan would have the correct pressings in the floor and would look the part.



You have the luxury of being partway through your restoration, therefore you still have a choice. The most important thing is that you make the right decision - one that you can live with.

[EverettB]

I'm not an expert on 55s but isn't the 55 pan significantly different? Position of the heater knob, etc. ,etc.?

If that is true, it's worth swapping back to a '55 pan, even the wrong one.
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[vdubinit]

[Bruce]

[RareAir]

Is your car going to be a daily driven car or a show pony? The later pan will give you more options on performance upgrades whereas restoring a Pre '55 pan can be a very expensive route. The braking system alone can easily deflate a fat wallet.
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1947 Typ 11a
1954 Typ 117
1956 Typ 151
1959 Typ 117
1959 Typ 265
1961 356B
1966 Typ 151
1966 Typ 241

[Mark Evans]

Bodywise, it will look a '55, but I already have a 2007 with Weber's, Airkewlds's Bad Ass brakes all around(in boxes). Have 4.5's and '6" Fuch's. No, it won't be mechanically correct in those ways, but ALL my sheetmetal is. Another issue with the earlier pan is having to run correct seats, where as now I have good early lowbacks. As mentioned, the looks of the correct positions for the heater knob and e-brake handle is another concern I had, but I'm running a Gene Berg shifter, so would that really matter?
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'63 Ragtop

[RareAir]

[steven wood]

I would change the pan to the '55 pan. I hate seeing a split or oval with a 60's pan. It's just something about it.....50's and 60's put together. I think it would hold a better resell value if you ever decide to sell it. If you swap the seats to a set of H pattern seats, atleast you will not have people telling you that you have the wrong seats.

[Alan Willis]

I would also switch to the '55 pan. Another benefit is that in states like California where they register the car by the pan, your title would be correct, and you could run '55 plates!
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die schwarzen Schafe #666

[RareAir]

[Mark Evans]

I bought the car from Washington, when I registered it here, I managed to get it titled as a '55 but they used the '65 Vin #. I think what I dislike most is the positions of the dual heater controls.
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'63 Ragtop

[billmetric]

I remember Shawn Supanich had a '53 with a later pan, he had a fake heater knob glued down behind the parking brake !
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There is an idea of a Billmetric; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable... I simply am not there...