'51 Standard Chassis Restoration

[johnshenry]

{Note: this thread was originally entitled "Tear down complete- bare std pan". I changed the title as I will continue to post some pics and details of the chassis restoration here.}


I got the '51 11E chassis all torn down. Thank God for air tools and pressure washers! What a mess.

I guess I should have realized it but std chassis are specific to stds since they have the cable brake tubes.

This chassis has some issues. The fuel line is rusted out at the back end, I'll have to replace it front to back. Perhaps that will be easier since I will have to cut the tunnel open quite a bit. A previous owner hack-cut the front section of the tunnel. I am looking for a donor section to weld in there and cut out all the bent steel and glob welding.

Question: Is the contour of the tunnel between the shifter and pedal cluster symmetric left to right? I can't tell with what is left of mine. I'd expect I could use a section cut from just about any early chassis, don't know of any split unique features in that area. Anyone got a good close up pic of that section on an unmolested split?

Do you think that driver's side pan is worth anything to anyone. The back part is pretty solid (the seat rails were riveted on) except for a bit of perf in the outside corner. If it is worth something, I'll remove it carefully. I have some very very nice '54 pans to put in. Would be a pain, but I could carefully remove it be drilling individual spot welds.

The frame head seems to be in good shape. The sheet metal over the very back of the tunnel (bends down to the tranny mount) will probably need to be replaced, again, probably a common part.

There is lap seam in the frame head that I don't remember seeing before (red line in pic). Is that a std only thing? Or just the normal frame head to tunnel weld? Maybe a butt weld on later cars?

The front sway bar is obviously not original. How about those seat belt eyelets??

Anyway, I have set u p a photobucket album that is now linked in my .sig for the "'51 11E Standard Sunroof" link. I'll keep the pics in order and add some comments, but it won't be a play by play.

Taking apart the front beam and tranny next.

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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[Rich's 50]

Cool i cant wait to see this one come together

[caseydenise]

Nice work. It looks like you got your hands dirty this weekend. Any pictures of the body?
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Central Jersey Volkswagen Society - President

[oldsplitvw]

Fantastic John! Great to see some work getting done on the "E"

[Rich's 50]

[johnshenry]

Originally I thought I would do the body first, then the chassis, but the way things are looking this winter vehicle storage wise, the body will need to be stored outside the shop so it will be a good time to get the chassis done. I have to keep bays open for the bigger snowstorms in the winter here.

Its fun to be back at work on it too. I am turning away some Zar-work now just because I NEVER have seemed to have time to work on my stuff. I wish someone would pay me to work on my cars, then it would be easy. I have also resigned that the '50 sunroof will go for sure, probably next spring I'll make a better attempt at selling it.

I'll get the new pans in, then have it sandblasted and go over it again for the finer work. I find assembling the chassis to be a lot of fun, as it is mostly all "mechanical" and not so much cosmetic.
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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[54ovsemi]

gonna be a fun ride watching this build.....

[geneL3c]

John , It looks like you've got your work cut out for you ! I will be watching very carefully , I am facing a similar job on my '50 Standard , my pans are in pretty good shape , however I have the same problem as you with some butcher work on the tunnel . The fuel line has been replaced internally with rubber hose , and the accelerator cable now runs through an external copper tube ! I noticed that the exit for your internal tubes at the rear of the tunnel don't extend beyond the tunnel , I assume there is no preload tube for the clutch cable ( I have terrible clutch chatter ) ? You apparently are cutting the tunnel opposite the pedal assembly exactly where mine has been butchered , I'm interested to know what you find , I'm pretty sure we're both going to need major surgery ! I think you are making the right decision doing the chassis first .

[nlorntson]

John, I have the body and pan of our 49 separated right now. It has cable brakes also. I believe the tunnel is symmetrical, (an upside down U)

This is what we started with, I can take additional pictures or measurements if you need.

I could use the rear portion of the drivers pan if you do decide to save it.

Good luck!

[Louis]

John, what are you gonna use for pan?
did you find another original one?


good work!
i will be doing the same real soon on my 54...
your pic are giving me hope... my pans are rust free


will keep looking at this build!

cheers!

[eurodub]

i thought standards did not have seat rails, but those clamps with wing nuts?

that pan can be repaired, but as you said in so many previous occasions, media blast it first and then take the decisions to repair/patch/replace anything.
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1960 1200 model 117 deluxe ragtop
1976 MK1 Golf

[Louis]

i didnt know someone is making split pan half?

[ZwitterND]

phew...I am glad my pan didn't look like that, I would be out of the pan an into the pot..
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Bill

[Brezelwerks]

[eurodub]

[johnshenry]

Your pics look eerily familiar Nancy! Thanks for posting the pics. Definitely the "dirty" stage of the resto. Yes eurodub, someone riveted seat rails to the drivers side pan and was using a deluxe seat.

I have a set of '54 pans that are totally rot free that I will be using. They are deluxe, so I will have to cut the seat rails off and weld the studs (have NOS ones) in.

Yes the surgery will be tough, but the time to do it is when the pans are off, and it can be opened up and supported up high for easy access. I will certainly post pics of the details. Its almost a blessing that such a large section of the tunnel was already hacked. I will section out about a 22" long piece and have good access. Welding in a donor section will not be hard since the metal is so heavy.

If this were not such a rare car, I would never have attempted it. I have seen pics of, or heard of only about 3-4 other split standard sunroofs.

Thoughts on the viability of that drivers side pan? I won't use it, but it seems there is some usable donor metal there for someone doing a partial. The issue is finding all of the spot welds and drilling them out one at a time and carefully removing the whole pan. I did this already with the donor chassis and it was tedious. That, and the only real way to uncover the spot welds is to media blast IMO, and I am not planning on having this pan blasted until the surgery and new pans are in place. I could just blast the area where the pans are welded I suppose, but that is still a PIA and I don't want to do it unless I think it is worthwhile. It is way easier to just bulk cut away the old pan in pieces and then chisel off the welded strips and grind.

I'll have to inspect the drivers side pan further to see just how solid and thick it is on the back end. If it is think all over, then it is probably junk.
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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[johnshenry]

[ovals4ever]

I dismantled my 49 split last weekend. The upper section of the floor pan on the passenger's side is pretty much gone. The driver's side is restorable. What was the last year they've used this type of pans?

See red arrows. Anyone seen these before? It looks like they've been there for a long time.

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Always on the hunt for pre 1950 literature and other rarities!

https://www.instagram.com/49standard

[Bengt H]

[johnshenry]

Here's a small album of pics that I had forgot I put up in 2005 when I tore down the body.
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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab