The rebuild begins

[Mikemrb]

Loving the box section; good opportunity to get things right when you are starting from bare metal.

Yes the original pans were getting a bit thin and would of meant patches all over not ideal and its never had a lowered floor

[Mikemrb]

That’s going to be a really neat solution, a great way to achieve a factory looking solution.

Hi Jim
it also gives a bit more protection to the water pipes running under the centre spine I hope although the original poly pipes have survived for over 30 years without damage

Mike

[BlueNova]

Yes the original pans were getting a bit thin and would of meant patches all over not ideal and its never had a lowered floor

I never liked the view of my dropped pans beneath my Mk2 body. I'm considering extending the sills to hide them but I'm going to wait till the body and chassis have been re-united before making any final decision.

I know there's a difference between how the Mk1 and Mk2 sills sit with the chassis but I can't recall what that is. I managed to lift my Mk2 body from the chassis without removing the sills but I don't think that's possible with a Mk1.

You've not (effectively) dropped the floor as much as the Nova Manual recommends so you might get away with it .... or are you planning to extend the sills anyway?

.... or possibly trim the sills, because now that I think about it, weren't the Mk1 sills bolted to the pans?

Alistair

[Phill]

I know there's a difference between how the Mk1 and Mk2 sills sit with the chassis but I can't recall what that is. I managed to lift my Mk2 body from the chassis without removing the sills but I don't think that's possible with a Mk1.

I'm pretty sure the MK2 had an extra inch added to the height of the tub - that along with the extra inch added to the roof resulted in 2" extra headroom inside the car. The increased height of the tub means the sills are no longer deep enough to wrap under the floorpan. That's my understanding anyway

[Mikemrb]

I never liked the view of my dropped pans beneath my Mk2 body. I'm considering extending the sills to hide them but I'm going to wait till the body and chassis have been re-united before making any final decision.

I know there's a difference between how the Mk1 and Mk2 sills sit with the chassis but I can't recall what that is. I managed to lift my Mk2 body from the chassis without removing the sills but I don't think that's possible with a Mk1.

You've not (effectively) dropped the floor as much as the Nova Manual recommends so you might get away with it .... or are you planning to extend the sills anyway?

.... or possibly trim the sills, because now that I think about it, weren't the Mk1 sills bolted to the pans?

Alistair

Hi Alistair The car is a Mk1 so they wrap under and bolt through the outer pans to the tub they should stretch but if not I’ll alter them to fit. You say you’re considering extending the sills what about some sill covers like in photo these were off the alfa I used for parts they would extend the sill by a couple of inches ,if I decided they were needed I was thinking about shortening them and making a mould
Mike
Screenshot (17).jpg

[Spacenut]

I'm pretty sure the MK2 had an extra inch added to the height of the tub - that along with the extra inch added to the roof resulted in 2" extra headroom inside the car. The increased height of the tub means the sills are no longer deep enough to wrap under the floorpan. That's my understanding anyway

That is my understanding as well. Also, the mounting flange is moulded in at an angle relative to horizontal, allowing the floorpan to sit higher at the front than the back, while the body appears to be level. The sills cover this up, but if you are engineering the floorpan to be level with the road you need to consider this as the nose of the car will be scraping along the road!

(my lo-tech solution was to re-purpose some 6 x 2" wooden joists, sliced diagonally along their length to form wedges)

Lauren

[Mikemrb]

That is my understanding as well. Also, the mounting flange is moulded in at an angle relative to horizontal, allowing the floorpan to sit higher at the front than the back, while the body appears to be level. The sills cover this up, but if you are engineering the floorpan to be level with the road you need to consider this as the nose of the car will be scraping along the road!

(my lo-tech solution was to re-purpose some 6 x 2" wooden joists, sliced diagonally along their length to form wedges)

Lauren

Hi Lauren the lip is level but the pan gets deeper as it goes to the rear if that's what you mean
Mike

[Spacenut]

Hi Lauren the lip is level but the pan gets deeper as it goes to the rear if that's what you mean
Mike

Not quite - the rim of the floorpan, where it bolts through to the body, is not level with the ground when the Beetle body is removed, and the Nova body mounting flange takes account of this. So if you set your chassis up to be level with the ground, the Nova body will slope down towards the front, putting the nose on the floor, or even below ground!

Wedging the body so that it and the floorpan are level is great for foot room. I have at least 2" more depth in the front footwells compared with the stock Mk1 Nova.

Lauren

[Mikemrb]

Scary times at the moment youngest daughter has tested positive for covid so I’m just having to self-isolate in the only safe place the I know the garage ,only thing is I’m almost out of gas so just tacking things together at the moment until we’re aloud out again

[BlueNova]

Firstly, I hope your daughter's symptoms are mild and that nobody else in the family gets it.

Really applaud your quick thinking ... the garage is the perfect place for you! That's some serious work going on there. I'm looking forward to seeing your project develop further ... if we send you some gas do you think you'll be able to finish it by the time you emerge from lockdown?

Oh, almost forgot ... love the cartoon visualization of your rebuilt Nova!!