can we cut and weld new material in where there is pan rot, or do i have to replace the pan to be legal?

Since Dave already answered that you [i]can[i] just patch the floors, I thought I'd just add my 2 cents on the subject, since I just finished replacing my pan halves.

First question is how bad are the originals? Mine were beyond patching, besides the fact that I just want to start out with a very clean slate before I start to destroy the car!

I did the whole job in one weekend without any assistance(in hindsight, some help would have been nice). I purchased the pans from Wolfsburg West, brazilian pans that are a bit thinner than German metal, for abot $125 each, if I remember. They arrived in just two days.

The body came off relatively easy, and cutting out the old pans only took about an hour at most. The hardest part of the whole job was prepping the tunnel edge. I used a hammer and chisel to remove the tack welded remnants along the tunnel edge, but an air chisel would have sped up the process. Then I ground down to clean metal, and tacked in the new pans with a mig welder. I sanded and primed the tunnel, and put a bead of seam sealer over the welds. The entire project took me two days.

I hope this provides some insight on your question.

Although a car can be built with the body on, I just don't see why. As I said before, I actually removed the body by myself, and had never done it before hand. The VW body comes off so easily it's almost rediculous.


With that in mind, almost all of the tasks that lie immediately ahead in the build will be so much easier with the body off, especially installing the rear torsion adjuster, removing the stock rear shock mounts, cutting and turning the front beam, and even starting the cage.

Once again, I hope this helps your decision...
Scott

Good advice Scott, that is one thing I have never done with the 30 class 11 cars I have built is remove the body, Would make for very easy work on many things. I have done it with a few 5/1600 cars but not 11

Thanks Dave,
and congratulations on BAP!
I'm probably going over the top a little with my build, considering how little you are actually required to do to race, but I figure if anyone is ever going to steal your crown in class 11, they better bring their A-game!(and 13:1 compression)!!!

So, Repo, what you really have to ask yourself is, how much time and money are you willing to dump into a car that may never be worth even half of what you've invested?

I have seen a few 11's that I'm not sure I would even want to ride in, let alone race. But that's the spirit of the class, and it's great to still have a class that the backyard builder can still be competetive in.

However, I think the best advice I've ever read here for most people considering a new build is, save up your money and just buy a completed race car. Especially if you don't really have much fabrication experience and end up having to farm out most of the work.

Or you can simply ignore this pearl of wisdom, as I have, and possibly end up with a wealth of knowledge and experience that can't be bought.

I will spill the beans on the 13 to 1 myth, cant happen by the rules, I guess you can you run a zero lift cam unless of course you like blasting holes in your pistons on the valves

what is a good shock to use, and how bad is it going to bounce you around in the car? and how many of you use the stock gas tank? cause the rule book is kind of confusing when it comes to the fuel cell/stock gas tank.

well i work 18 hour days 5-6 days a week, and my wife keeps telling me that i need a hobby, this one looks like a hell of a lot of fun, and after talking to Dave out at the race track, i think i will give it a try. the thing is, id like to build my own,because if something happends out on the track, as the car builder, i will know how to fix it.