First things first, I removed the bodies from the pans. This car is a 1970 Standard Beetle, Autostick. It had about four different paint jobs layered up on it.
Floating bodies are always fun and exciting.
This is the second car. A 1973 Standard Beetle. (I ran out of film and only had B&W.)
The chassis was stripped down to bare bones. I removed all of the drivetrain, brake lines, and anything else that got in the way. Then I cut out the floorpans. Spot weld cutting fun!
This chassis is for the rear half of the limo. I cut it right behind the head where the axle-beam bolts on.
This chassis (background) was cut for the front half of the limo. I cut it approx. 2" in front of where the backseat frame rests. I did not cut the clutch tube and accelerator-cable tubes so that they could extend into the rear chassis.
I welded the two parts into one long chassis using a complex formula consisting of sight lines, two pieces of angle iron and a hammer. The joint is strengthened underneath by two pieces of 1/4" angle iron. Extensions were added to support the floorpans. The clutch and accelerator tubes were inserted into the rear half and connected inside. A cable tube for the heater control was extended closer to the front where rear facing seats will be mounted later.
I welded in the floorpan one side, then the other. I stitch welded them from underneath because trying to simulate the factory spotweld look was a pain in the butt. The front pan was custom cut on the back half to fit the shorter space for it.
The other side is welded in. The front pan is not yet attached to the rear pan on each side because the rear pan needs widened with the rear body so that the entire car has a continous line down the side and not a caterpillar look that I have seen on other VW Limos.(What a sentence.) You will see how the pans are cut when I get to cutting the body. Then I will go back and fill in the spaces between pans in Chassis Phase II.
This is the guy that does all of my welding. What a Guy!
