Full body pan

[j3vw]

There is nothing like a Celette or Blackhawk early bench. We have 3 benches and it's the only way to be sure all's correct! Every suspension point
and measurement in the original drawings can be referenced and verifyied from a true platform. I've had new suspension pans from Stoddard come in incorrectly indexed. A body can very easily be twisted if it has significant rot. A bench is more usefull for build accuracy then for pulling.

[doigthom]

Thanks for all who have contributed. I'm still a little confused. A full body pan is a single stamping. Not three or four pieces which will eventually be welded together. How do you change the suspension points when they are stamped in. Cut up the pan? I can see if the pan is damaged, but everything is stamped in when the two steel dies meet under press.. Half pans can be adjusted, clips can be shifted to meet certain points, etc. But a full pan is a fixed dimension. I'm not a body man saw educate me please before I make a mistake.

[j3vw]

Yes a one peice pan is the ideal solution if your project warrants a full pan replacement. But cost and availabilty are big factors. If your inner rockers and inner pan supports are smoked or even gone...whats your reference point for the pan at the rear? Not to mention half the aftermkt stuff available is not even close to OE. Then the fun starts when you hang your doors!

[doigthom]

From what I can tell there are only two full body pans on the market. The one is made by Dansk and the other is made by Porsche. As stated above Dansk is probably stamping the pan. Gentleman from Netherlands does not confirm that Dansk is stamping but will say that metal thickness and dimensions are the same. Does anyone else know if there is another full pan being manufactured or available here or anywhere else?

[doigthom]

Got a revised quote from the source in Europe. Would work out to be $3,698.11 for one pan or $10,443.34 for 5 pans ($2,088.69 each) shipped to Port Elizabeth, NJ. I'm sure that the cost would go down for each additional pan over the one since the shipping cost is similar for 1 or for 5. Anybody interested?

My project is such that I might be able to save the front half of the passenger compartment pan, but it would require patching. Otherwise the rest of the pan(s) have to go. Longitudinals are strong having been previously repaired.

[RSTarga]

If thats the car, it'll be like pretzel if you try and put the pan in without a bench. Without doors or anything else its might as well be slinky toy.

[mobius911]

Thanks for all who have contributed. I'm still a little confused. A full body pan is a single stamping. Not three or four pieces which will eventually be welded together. How do you change the suspension points when they are stamped in. Cut up the pan? I can see if the pan is damaged, but everything is stamped in when the two steel dies meet under press.. Half pans can be adjusted, clips can be shifted to meet certain points, etc. But a full pan is a fixed dimension. I'm not a body man saw educate me please before I make a mistake.

A single pan would ensure accuracy (assuming correct location of suspension pick-up points) in 2 dimensions, but what about the third dimension? If, for example, the whole chassis is twisted? That's why I would still want to use a jig to fix all the points correctly.

[doigthom]

Only going to use the very front part of the clip (nose section). The hard to find "original pieces. Anything more and I would have a '67S with a front clip. Will probably need part of the trunk floor and the right fender attaching panel. That changed in '69 to accommodate the antenna shift and I haven't seen an NOS or repro part for pre-'68 unless you have it Eric. Will obviously brace the roof and door opening before attempting any pan change. Ala Freddie. Car is correct now. We have measured and compared against dimension in manual. By adding the braces, we take care of the third dimension. Obviously, the guy who did the longitudinals last time did a nice job. All still speculative until Dale, my body man says okay.

[DG58INNM]

I have to disagree with those who say a Celette bench is a necessity. It is a necessity for a production shop trying to profitably repair the cars and keep happy customers. And, it would certainly be a great luxury for the home hobbyist (I'd love to have one). But a clever guy can do just fine without. Cribbing, jacks, bracing, and a million measurements will suffice. Math and ingenuity must be used. With care, thought, and patience, it is possible to restore the original structure to factory specs and keep everything square and level. Helpful hint: think like an Egyptian!

Admittedly I have never done full pan replacement in a 911, but I have done some extremely major metal replacement in 356's, including open cars. Some of those cars had been hit hard and were far from square when starting, but were returned successfully to their original dimensions. The flip side of the argument is that I have seen a fair number of cars done by "professional" shops with benches, including one of my 356s, that were anything but square. As the saying goes, "it isn't the arrow, it's the Indian behind the bow".

DG

[xpensivewino]

One NOS full pan just sold about a month ago in NJ on ebay for $322.00. I was going to buy it and spoke to the owner, but I couldn't figure a good way of shipping it to California. Looks like it was a smoking deal!!