Body swap

[560]

I have a std 73 T-1 pan, will a super beetle body bolt up to it?

Mike

[risk]

Nope. The front frameheads are totally different.

[Marc]

The Super body also has a bracket at the bottom of the front firewall that bolts to the top of the tunnel, and the wheelbase is slightly longer (95.3" vs 94.5" for the Standard) - just enough to make it look funny. A Super head could be welded to the pan, or a Standard front clip grafted onto the body but both are ambitious and the latter would be challenging, unless you had a South African clip (Standard with 1303 windshield).

[560]

Thanks for the info about this.
Gives me the proper direction needed to go with the project.

Mike

[Buggin_74]

Or with a beer in one hand and an angle grinder in the other the impossible happens

[Marc]

Years ago I had a racing partner with a `71 Super body on a `67 pan - it's not that it can't be done, it just doesn't yield very good results. His fenders needed clearancing anyway for 23x10.5" tires, but even so the .8" wheelbase discrepancy always made the car look "wrong".

[560]

OK, so now this intrigues me a little.
First I should explain what I have and plan on doing. The car is a true choptop, NOTHING at all on top. Also cut for baja 1 piece front. So I was thinking about grafting a vert windshield frame to it, then a buddy says why not just do a body swap. This is going to be a baja, and I like the big window supers for a little more room. As far as looks, not concerned with that.
"A" arm front suspension with 3X4 rear arms, so wheel base will be around 108" I hope.
Thanks again for input.

Mike

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Some of the bodies have serial number that match the pan's numbers, is that going to be a problem?

[560]

Some of the bodies have serial number that match the pan's numbers, is that going to be a problem?

Hmmm, I hope not.

Mike

[Marc]

All bodies and pans have matching VINs. In addition, all cars sold in the US after Dec 31 1968 were required to have a VIN plate in the lower corner of the windshield plus a tamperproof VIN sticker on the B-pillar.
Most jurisdictions don't give a rip anymore about body swaps on cars this old, provided your title matches up with any VIN they can find anywhere on the car - and that no conflicting VINS are present
If you have a clear title in your name for the un-registered component and keep it handy should a hassle arise you'll probably be OK, but to be sure you should check with your state authorities to see what their requirements are. For example, in Washington they don't use either VIN, instead you must bring the car to the State Patrol for inspection (along with any & all paperwork and receipts you have that relate to the car's construction) and they give you a metal sticker with a state-issued VIN that's used to title/register the car from then on.
If your paperwork's not in order, the (likely) worst-case scenario results in your car being confiscated & crushed. Tampering with VINS is a federal felony offense so it could get uglier than that, but I haven't heard of any backyard bodyswapper going to Leavenworth.

With all the mods you're doing the wheelbase discrepancy I was concerned about is irrelevant. The reason the Supers have that extra tab connecting the body to the top of the tunnel is to tighten up the connection between them (Mac strut really isn't a good choice for a non-UniBody car, but tying them together helps). With your suspension it's not a concern. All of the body-to-pan bolts should line up...it's been too long for me to promise that's true of the large front corner bolts, but it sounds like you'll be able to deal with it if there's any discrepancy there.

[560]

Thanks AGAIN for the input Marc, and others.
This has been great help.
Body is nothing to me now but the pan is really nice except the frame head were the P.O. tried to swap in a link pin beam...

Mike