1st Resto: Chassis Problems!

[Bay_Buster]

First off, Hi to all. I'm new on here but after a good few hours trawling through the site I can see there is a vast amount of knowledge and experience here which I hope to tap into! I've had a '68 bay sat quietly in my garage for a good few years now waiting for me to have the time and cash to do a full resto. Now is that time, and the bay has been fully stripped of virtually everything to facilitate this. I knew I had a lot of bodywork to do, but after closer investigation it looks like I'm going to have to replace most of the chassis as its in terrible nick and has some horrible patchwork all over. I've also uncovered a hole in the rear torsion tube near where it meets the chassis. The damage, to me, looks so extensive on the rear that I'm contemplating attempting to brace the rear of the shell any way I can, probably with copious amounts of wooden beams, then chop the rear chassis out including the torsion tube in one piece to allow me to re-fabricate it with accurate dimensions before putting the new lot back in place. I've stuck a few pictures up in a public facebook album so for facebook users you can see it here '68 Bay VW Resto - if anyone is desperate for me to photobucket it and give direct links I can do if needed.

So basically I'm asking for advice on how to tackle this, I don't know if there are replacement chassis pieces available in the size I require, or if torsion tubes are available, so currently I'm scratching my head imagining fabricating the lot myself from plate/tube steel. I've heard that some breakers can get many things, but I'm also after high quality rust free stuff (If I'm going through all this trouble I'm going to do it right, to 'like new' so it will last another 40 years!). Thanks in advance guys!

 

[Hilly_70]

Just had a look at the pics dude..

ya got ya work cut out there with that chassis! ..

If it were me, I would get a rear chassis cut fromt one of the breakers from in front if the chassis tubes back ..

These are readily available from the breakers on here ..

The other chassis bits are available in box section bits from most places .. and a bit of imagination on the front lead up sections should do it ..

Good luck with it mate .. stick pics up as ya go along..

Hilly

 

[Pickles]

I've never done a resto so cant help, built a few ships out of steel though!

One thing that would seem pretty important is top make sure you take plenty of measurements before you cut anything out so you have a datum to work from when putting good metal back. I've also seen pics where steel box section has been used to brace the good metal ... I assume welded on as that is what I would do.

I'm sure someone who's actually done some serious rust replacement will be along shortly to give you some proper advice

Best of luck

 

[Bay_Buster]

Cheers chaps Pickles - the only thing that has been chopped out sofar is the floor as it was knackered anyway, patched over 4 times in some places!

Hilly_70 getting a donor chassis sounds like a brilliant plan if they're readily available and in good nick. Do you have any recommendations for breakers? Also I need to buy some steel to fabricate a few body repair pieces (I can make the parts now for fitting after the chassis work), is there a certain grade of steel I should try to buy or is normal shop mild steel usually used? Sorry for all the noob questions!

I'm using a gopro camera to do a timelapse of the resto, it's taking a shot every minute from a fixed position in the garage (a shot is in the album I linked in the first post) and depending on just how many shots I get by the end of the project I'll decide a framerate and blend it all into a film. Should make an interesting watch if it goes well!