Manx Club

I have an old, really old chassis from a VW beetle. I removed the Maxter top and I have all of the wheels off of the chassis. When I have all the jack stands the same level and regardless of where the chassis sit on the garage floor (which is level) only one jack stand touches the axel beam, I am guessing that the chassis is either bent or that the 14" chop was not done correctly. The one side of the axel beam is over an inch from touching the jack. Should I bother fixing this? Should I weld extra steel to the frame to reinforce the chassis, it seems really flimsy. Is there a Manx kit to strenghten the body? I don't have a ton of cash to spend on this thing but I want to the job as proper as possible.

To check if a frame's twisted or not I usually remove the front axle beam and put the top two bolts back in. If you put a long spirit level across these and another (on a piece of 2x2 planed wood) across the two flat areas machined onto the rear torsion housing where the stock Beetle's body mounts would bolt. If you jack one side of the frame up until one bubble is centered then the other should be as well. What do you call 'really old'? I don't think I'd really bother with anything earlier than about 1960 or so. If its just the floor areas that seem flimsy these can be replaced quite inexpensively but check the thickness of the replacement panels you use as quality (ie thickness) varies.

I just checked your chassis # out as a '61, not TOO old then IMHO.

When I am talking about it being old, I just mean that is was worked on a long time ago. This Manx is old, I don't even know the history of it, it was just sitting in some guys yard and he never drove. The floor is solid, there is no serious rust, I would just think that there would be more involved to support seats and people sitting. The center of the car is so rigid while the edges of the pan are just pressed steel. I guess I am just used to a truck frame where you have two main parrallel member and the body is fastened across it. I was thinking about welding angle iron on the under side. I don't know if this would really help or just act as a "cantilever beam" and would I become more likely to catch debre and ruin my ground clearance.

what is IMHO?

IMHO = In My Honest Opinion (I think).

I suggest you go to the "Garage" section of the clubs website, and look up "How to shorten a pan". This will give you a better understanding of what needs to be reinforced, and how it all comes together.

A lot of people (at least I did) put 1" square tubing in the "pressed steel" area on the outside of the pan you are referring to. I also have a 6 point cage to the car is very stiff. Tom

Sorry, IMHO usually means 'in my humble opinion' over here in the UK. It's amazing how much the floorpans are stiffened up when the Manx body is securely bolted down, 99.9% of 'glass Buggies rely on just the stock floors but Bruce did suggest running either inch round or square tube bent to fit under the pan edge channel tacked in place. I hope Bruce doesn't mind me reproducing this bit from the Manx instruction book.

Joemama and Dave, Thanks so much, I will look into that method of reinforcing the chassis! Eric

Using the square tubing method that Manxdavid showed how tight of a fit is it in real life?

When you are making your measurements to determine if the chassis is not twisted, where are you supporting it with the jack stands? The proper place to support the chassis is to use one stand on each end of the rear torsion tube and one stand in the center of the front axle tube. It is common that the rear engine support "horns" on older chassis bend from the constant torque, but they are easily straightened.

I had the same problem with my pan ... when on jackstands the front beam would sit off of one of the stands....after a LOT of headscratching I realized that two of my jackstands were just a little shorter than the other two. I had two of the taller ones on opposite ends !! :drool: :hello:

Using the 1"x1" sq.tubing is the way to go,looks like something from the factory.The only critical part is the bend that needs to be made to fit the curve in the chassis and the welding to complete.

Newmanx59, You made a comment about bent engine support horns: "It is common that the rear engine support "horns" on older chassis bend from the constant torque, but they are easily straightened." What is the approved method to readjust the engine support horns and to reinforce them once they are back in their proper place? Also not possitive but It was suggested that I use 1.25" x 1.25" square tubing and that it fits like it was designed for it. :2cents: Thanks, Bobmanx