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Actually I think it has the potential covering a lot of things . If the pan had been modified to "channel" the car (in a vague sense it sounds like the rig was e.g., in a way being given the opportunity of being lowered towards the ground via. by raising the engine up then maybe it could be of some help... or not depending on what is/was going on ). Maybe I interpreted it wrong, if so... sorry!

Remember I am an "old fart" (one of the many names that I have been called over the years) and was into cars back when "channeling cars" was in vogue. Back then the car wasn't low enough until you could barely slide a pack of cigarettes under the car, while they were laying on the street (with the wide side up); now days they use hydraulics or air to raise and lower.

Hot Rods bodies were channeled over the frame (I didn't do it as I didn't learn to weld until I retired ~20+ years ago) along with other lowering techniques.

Lee

The ~ is a mathematical symbol for "roughly/approximately".

When I bought the car it was so low it couldn't even go over a garden hose so she could definitely go lower (if they're ain't Sparks flying when you drive it's not low enough) but I do love the channeled look of some hot rods. But I don't think mine is channeled given that the stock tunnel is still quite far below the shift linkage

"Channeling" is usually a framed vehicle thing which I now think I probably shouldn't have used. Also I think the term "channeling" is more something that 'Unibody" isn't capable of unless the pan is modified by a frame being added.

Framed trucks and early framed vehicles from the late 20's thru the the early '50's were more likely to be channeled. You could also work with the front and and the rear end of the car to lower but that isn't dropping the body around the frame. Also the suspension was also (usually but not always done as I have seen some made that way, , modified to keep the car from riding directly on the suspension giving a very rough ride.

Looking at the "how to" car shows on TV I am seeing more and more of the shows adding a custom frame to unibody cars now days, usually for but not limited to rigs when they are putting crazy HP engines in (pan rust out is another reason). There are several manufactures who do make custom frames mostly for, but not limited to, American cars exclusively.

Lowering VWs have the pan and tunnel that are somewhat a limitation to lowering plus they have to be supported' in any of several different ways when very powerful/hi-torque engines are added.
This is my buggy's pan pix that I got off another site.

Do you have any pix of how the engine and trans was raised? Do you have or use a Truss/Kaffer bar added to the lift?

Lee

Honestly I'd have to look at it. Given The state the car is in currently, I wouldn't be surprised if the guy had used spacers on the engine mounts or something like that. But I'm not sure. I don't know of any common ways people usually raise air cooled vw engines. However I can definitely say there is no kafer or truss bar

I looked at the pix again clicking on them to get them to sit correctly. I haven't really seen or been around a Ghia so this is Gnu to me so, getting basic, what kind of trans do you have in the Ghia, is it swing or IRS (if it has been messed with then anything is possible).

Again, getting basic again; if the tranny sits using the stock tranny mount does the input shaft for it sit in the tunnel or sit on top of the tranny (the pix looks like it might but not sure) indicating it could be a bus tranny. If so how many ribs does it have or what is the case part number.

On a bug the engine sit against the trans only and uses the trans mounts not it's own (if I remember or guessing correctly ).

Lee

It's a freeway flyer. And the input shaft does sit on top of the tunnel. I'm fairly certain it's still on the stock trans mount

I run 6 rib bus transaxles in my buggies and the nose cone comes in roughly an inch (not sure about metric dimension) above the tunnel. I think what you posted is a 5 rib which, I think, is another style of bus trans and that is using a bus trans mount to the pickle forks. There is a mounting system that does put the nose cone of the trans into the tunnel which I think I already mentioned.

Lee

I know this is a 6 months old thread, but to insert a note about channeling unibody cars..
In 1966-67, Petty Enterprises was channeling their Mopar B Body Plymouth Belvederes by moving the floor panel from flush with the bottom of the rocker panel, to flush with the door sill. That lowered the body of the car about 4" (100mm). They cut the spot weld flange off the bottom of the rocker box and it was re-welded at the new level. I've seen a Bug that was channeled about the same amount in a similar fashion. The edge of the pan sheet metal was cut off and a vertical strip of sheet was added below the pan and the edge where the body mounts welded to the bottom of that, which lowered the body in that case about 3" (75mm). I couldn't see how they dealt with the Napoleon's hat or the back, but I looked under and saw the strip along the edge of the pan.

Not that it would make sense to channel an Offroad Bug...

Timeline about 1965.

"Channeling, like has been said, is dropping the body over the frame to lower the car/body. As I said, unibody can't be channeled in the normal way like a vehicle with a frame can but the cutting the floor or portions of the floor away on a unibody vehicle then adding a frame to the floor is being done more and more. One of the reasons is because the unibody vehicles don't stay together too well ("tin can") with some of the engines available now days.

If you watch "Bitchen Rides", the car shows from Texas and several of the other shows all have done the conversion from unibody to a framed vehicle.

I think a VW bug could be channeled as the pan of the car is a "tunnel" style of unibody and the body is bolted on the pan not welded to it. It would take a lot of cutting, welding and some structural metal forming to do it, but I think it could be done. Then you would also have to deal with the "stick up" stuff like the engine, steering, maybe shock towers front and rear the trans nose area at the rear of the pan and the Napoleon's hat area in front.

Lee

You had a pretty damn cool chopped and channeled '31coupe.

dustymojave wrote: ↑Sun Feb 20, 2022 12:04 pm You had a pretty damn cool chopped and channeled '31coupe.

'30

Well the grille shell has the recessed area with paint above the grille as well as under which suggests at least the shell is '31. While a '30 shell is only recessed and painted below the radiator, but smooth shiny chrome above. The body shell though is externally very similar between a '30 and '31 and tough to tell apart. Very cool anyway. I see brakes hoses to the front backing plates, so it had juice brakes.

You are correct on the grill et al. I wanted a "Duce" (1932) grill but couldn't find one at the time.
The car came originally from South Dakota by one of my high school classmates. He passed away, I think, before he graduated or shortly thereafter, so the car was passed around in town until I got it in a 3-way trade many years later. A lot more to the story on the car of which I know only a bit of.

For those who don't know but are curios the engine is a "flathead" Ford V8, which is a "valve in block" engine design. This means that both the intake and exhaust valves were in the block not in the heads. An old and fairly good design for the period. The flathead engine design ended up being used in new cars in '54 (if I remember correctly) replaced by the "Y" block.

Lee