I hope I am wrong but I think you are going to find that the outer side area is more important than one might think (I noticed that you have mounting flanges already).DeathBySnuSnu wrote: ↑Sun Nov 22, 2020 10:19 am I have no pan to have to match the shape of.
My little body never did fit a vw pan very well.
Someone had done some ugly patch work add on to the body to get it to mount.
I cut all that off and the body flange had a much sharper angle to it than what a vw pan has.
So instead of a gentle bend my channels have a single point corner.
That means a single triangle cut out then bent and welded.
Now remember these channels are NOT the main structure of my chassis.
My primary structure will be the tubing I have yet to do.
For example, I added a second 1" square tube on the underside of the pan for some additional support. When I was fitting my seats it set them in place to fit me then I asked the tallest and shortest of my group sit in the buggy for the seat fit check but... I had forgot to clamp the body lift and the square tube under the pan (that matched the body lift) together with bolts. Once the fit check was done and the others were gone I found out that the pan and the 1" square tube attached to it had taken a downwards set to them.
My blue buggy is an 80 wheel base while the black buggy is ~95"s (stock VW) also, I am a "cruiser" not a "beater upper" like some are which still means that "things" can happen.
I once met a guy from just north of where I live who had a ACVW junk yard and, while talking to him, he said that he had noticed the dune buggy pans (street or off-road) ended a slight bend to the tunnel starting at the forward firewall and ending by the shifter hole (not from a wreck either. He and I agreed that the absence of a structural body for load carrying and transferring around was the cost of most of it. FG, especially since, like a rag top, there is no top to move the loads around more of the load problem ends up in the tunnel and sides.
Lee