My van came without a belly pan, came from a dry country so may have never been fitted. I have cleaned the floor back to bare metal, epoxy primed and repainted in original colour. Now thinking about using one of the lanolin based products to preserve it. Is it a good idea to source and fit a belly pan? My feeling is it would be useful to keep the bottom cleaner and a bit drier...are there massive disadvantages? I would love to hear your opinions to help me decide which route to take.
My EB was a UK microbus and came with them fitted, I fitted new ones during the resto, the middle one I welded in and the sides I fitted with rivnuts/bolt so they could be removed. I fully epoxied the underside first after blasting and insulated the heater pipe then sprayed cavity wax as much as I could. My LB doesn't have them but after what I've been driving through recently it's probably not a bad idea. Just my 2p. Sent from my SM-S901B using Tapatalk
I’ve had both types. The first was rotten underneath, mainly I suspect because nobody had rustproofed it properly. The one I have now doesn’t have a belly pan, and this might be because Westfalia specified without, so they could fit a heater and gas drop out. Mine lived in Germany for the first 20 years and not having a belly pan doesn’t seem to have done much harm. I like the idea of rivnutting one on though.
The centre pan is standard, and from the number of bolts round the edge is doing something to stiffen the chassis of the bus, as the two rails it bolts to change from box sections to C section under the centre pan. The solid welded on outer pans that are fitted to buses with Devon style poptops that are cutting through C pillar arches to make a big hole in the roof rather than Westy sunroof extensions are superb traps of moisture, as they lack any drainage or holes for airflow. Optimum would probably have had some big cutouts in them to let the air through and the damp out, like the centre pans.
I have all 3 sitting in the garage and on the long list of jobs to do. The middle one I bought 2nd hand and needs work before I fit it but will be fitted with m8 rivnuts. The side ones I've got are new and will be fitted with m6 rivnuts. I'll modify the side ones like Mike suggested before painting them. As long as they're easily removable (SS rivnuts and bolts with plenty of copperslip, for me) and have good drainage, I think they provide some extra protection. Periodic removal and cleaning is obviously a good idea. I wouldn't weld any of them.
I am surprised it needs rivnuts, as most centre pans are bolted on with M8 self tapping bolts .. so there should be some holes already if a centre pan was ever removed.
I agree ! Bolt in is definitely the best option . I just have a centre one and have considered fitting side ones but having and ambulance step one side and gas bottle frame the other side it would be a lot of cutting and make them a bit to flexible .Anyone every considered fabricating one for the front of the bus . I know they have the front small bellypan but I am thinking of a larger one to cover the sides
Rivnuts and proper threaded bolts are definitely an improvement over self tapers but self tapers do have their uses .
Mine is a South African bus and never had any so there are no holes. I could use ordinary nuts n bolts but I'm going for rivnuts for speed of removal. I may consider welding some captive nuts in place but rivnuts will be a tenth of the work and I've always got the fall back of welded nuts if the rivnut fails.
Rivnuts will be fine Worth having a centre belly pan on if you've got one. I'd leave the side ones off - they just trap filth and rot.
I have the two welded on side pans, Mike. But mine are welded on three side only, down both sides, and at the bottoms. The top has a gap around 4” the length of the cover. We’re the bellypans Also used as extra chassis strength, as the inner bulkhead was removed to make them ‘walkthrough’ models?
I would agree except I'm going to make drain holes as on the centre one and will make it part of the winter routine to remove and clean them.
I think I'd rather leave the original front pedal pan and make a left and right front. I've got airhorns in the front left next to the horn one so was thinking more of something with some mesh.
They are there for stiffening, not the walkthrough bulkhead, that's covered by the B pillar arch rib over the roof, so buses with walkthrough dont necessarily get the side pans. The side pans are there to get VW approval for Devon for the hacking of the rib that goes over the roof from the C pillar when you have a large poptop cutout. I would be worried about having the gap at the top as it means the welded on pans collect stuff that cant escape..so the main chassis rail might suffer.. but it saves the sills from joining in the rot as they can dry out. On mine it was the three sills turned to rot as the pan was welded solidly to the inner sill.
Not all left the factory with centre belly bans Mine didn’t have one and the van doesn’t have any pre drilled holes to mount one. I’ve sourced a second hand one and had it powder coated I’ll be doing the same as mark and using rivnuts and stainless bolts to fit it.
I hit mine every now and again, with a rubber mallet, when the vans jacked up, to see if I can hear any ‘rust crumbs’ dancing around in there. I heard a few, but hardly any, so I hoovered them out, as the top part of my Henry hoover fits down there nice. I also used an angled mirror and a light to inspect down in there, and it all looks pretty solid. I think the gap at the top let’s it air well.
My U.K. westy has survived perfectly well without belly pans and I don’t have no plans to add any water traps
