This sucks, front pan rust..
 

I always knew that there was rust in the front pan which was caused because of battery acid, but did not know it was this bad until I jacked the car up last night to look at something else. Started digging, and digging and digging and well it's almost time to replace these parts. Since I don't drive the car that much I'm going to hold out for the summer so I can have some fun, but it will have to go to a shop in the fall. Now, pelican offers three different pans from 160-600 which is kind of crazy and I'm sure other companies offer other pans as well. If anyone has done this what manufacturer have you gone with? Also, what else should be replaced down there besides that and the tank support? And, for anyone in the Chicago area, who would you recommend to do this job?
Thanks

Restoration design is a common replacement pan, which I believe Pelican sells. The big part is the labor. It will cost you a lot to get this job done. Good excuse to buy a welder and do it yourself. It took me about a month and a half, working on it here and there. Get a sealed glass mat battery when you are finished so it doesnt happen again. Carefull driving it if the areas around the front torsion bar mounts are rusted out.

Here is my suspension pan thread. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Thanks guys, saw that thread and did a search and it looks like st0dard$ has some good parts, but wanted to keep it in house at pelican. I think the 600 route that Dansk offers is a tad above my means and RD seems to be hit and miss. Has anyone gone the super cheap route that is supplied by Tasker, I see one good review?
I will not be doing this myself, no welding skills and I live in a shared garage. Now, if I had my own garage I would give this a shot, but my neighbors about freaked out on me last summer when I removed my engine/tranny twice.

It cost me $2k total, parts and labor included, but it was done extremely well.

this is why I consider the most important feature of a battery is that it not leak - Right now I'm using an Optima. If it doesn't start the car, fine, just don't leak.... well not quite but close.

I have had an optima style battery in the car for over 10 years, but the damage was already done before that when it had two batteries.

Gee, I would never feel comfortable driving, especially spirited driving, on a compromised suspension pan. It is a majorly structural part of the car. So a failure means crash. Don't drive very fast! :eek:

It hasn't crept into the torsion bar mounts; it's in the middle of that support, but yeah, no high speed racing for this car. Might be a good time to upgrade to rebel racing bushings while I'm in there.

It's not all due to battery leakage. The internal areas are clearly excellent water traps.

Do a search and read all you can. Replacing a pan is not rocket science but you can certainly make serious mistakes if you blunder into it without preparation.

The Tasker pan shows its weight being 28 lbs. The Restoration Design shows 40 lbs. For the extra few bucks, I'd go with the heavier product.

The Dansk pan shows it being 10.75 lbs. That doesn't sound right to me, but it's too expensive nonetheless. If it were me, I'd go with the RD product.

I got the Tasker repro Oil cooler. While okay, I am not impressed with the quality.

Im scheduled to get mine done mid march and i bought the resto design part.

I did mine 4 years ago. First got some green primer thing that was an ill-fitting joke with mis-welded nut plates. The got a non-galvanized, heavier pan from RD that seemed better made but also didn't fit well. Then got a Dansk galvanized pan, and it slipped right in and fit like a glove. If I had to do it again, I'd buy the nice fitting pan in an instant - the $300 - $400 savings isn't worth the hassle of fitting a crappy part.

I spent <$2K (I think) and ended up with a nice welder to boot - it isn't difficult, just time consuming. It was my first autobody project, and it turned out just fine - and I'd a retarded monkey with 2 left hands.

PP, Who would you have do it in Vancouver?

I'd be interested in that as well!

This is something that should be done on a Celette Jig and that will be the majority of the expense. I'd go for the dansk first second choice RD.

Direct correlation between price and quality on the three pans. The Tasker piece is likely made in China, RD is made in Canada and Dansk is made in Europe. While the Tasker pieces can be ok, we like the RD products as offering a more consistent quality and finish. If you want OEM quality, Dansk is the way to go. Any one of these will be better than a rusty or damaged pan though.

What about st0dards, I see some good reviews of these???