Older VW Bugs ?????

[hammersley]

A friend of mine is restoring a 69 VW Bug - I mean really restoring it -- I thought these were uni-body BUT he tells me that they actually have a chassis that you can remove the body and have something to drive!! I was thinking this wasn't the case..... who's right????

 

[catoiler]

Yep the VW dubs have a pan that you can drive with out the body! Remember the fiberglass dune buggy body's kinda like the one in scooby doo they just bolted on in place of the stock body!http://farm1.static.flickr.com/190/491998760_15ce47b47d.jpg?v=0

#ad

 

[Stake Man]

Yes, the shell can be seperated from the pan by undoing 4 bolts. Thats how you get early bugs with IRS(1969 and later rear suspension).

 

[PToombs]

Cool! The pan only was right hand drive!

 

[cap-n-cray]

The pan gets it strength from the center tunnel design. The pan will flex and the pan does get strength from the body. When you make an old fiberglass dune buggy there were strengtheners on the outside rails and you shorten the chassis.



I have had a body off a pan. Mine was held on by many bolts all the way around. There is even a gasket between the body and pan. You need to support the steering wheel, but you can drive it.



I still have my wife's first car. It's a 63 sunroof bug or type 1. I just started it after it had not been running for 10 years. Got a new 6 Volt battery and it started right up. I had to jump it off the truck. Didn't change the oil or gas. I had changed the oil just before we stopped using it, so it looked new. Runs and drives great.



SWMBO wants to drive it around the island.



Cary