Hi gonna have some welding work done on underside of my 61 splitty,i have also got a canterbury pitt style pop up roof fitted, do i need to get belly pans fitted to bus to give it extra strength / rigidity? Or not bother, asked a few different people getting different answers?

My old 65 Pitt with a pop top never had belly pan's fitted. No sigh of them ever being fitted either.

they will give the bus extra rigidity…


…whether its needed or not is an open debate, but, yes, it will be stronger

friends bus failed the mot because they were removed, not sure if it is supposed to be a reason for fail? I'm thinking of hinging my side ones so i can fit my awning in, mines only got sub hatch so doesn't need them

?????????
Fit my awning in?
Underneath the bus?

pokey wrote:friends bus failed the mot because they were removed,

thats ridic-alic-aliculous !!!!

hinged storage…not a bad idea if you can ensure its lined to be totally protected from the elements

Should be its all sealed so far so will be a rubber strip on the belly pan, always air my tents/ awning after use so should be ok, only reason i thought of it was i bought an awning second hand and it came in two long flat packages

The answer is yes. VW fitted them for a reason..... They would have saved money if it was advisable to leave them off.

That makes sense vwJim

pokey wrote:Should be its all sealed so far so will be a rubber strip on the belly pan, always air my tents/ awning after use so should be ok, only reason i thought of it was i bought an awning second hand and it came in two long flat packages

How would long packages fit with the outriggers??

Jim did all vans come with belly pans from factory? I was under the impression it was just sambas and double doors.

What about 11 window sunroof bus. Did they come with belly pans?

Yeah, I made some underside storage/bellypans to both protect the floor and keep my bits n bobs in, only time will tell if its watertight!!!

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Jim

My Canterbury Pitt has no belly pans & not noticed anything to suggest they were fitted ( not that I've looked that hard for that ). I do notice a bit of flex when I leave my garage due to slope out of garage & big camber on the road, so thinking it would be a good idea to get some. I'm also in Medway if you need to compare anything.
Andrew

Nice one Andrew, mate of mine is restoring a pitt he might like to check out yours , my bus is booked in at southcoast wagenwerks to have some rot sorted and pans fitted, so think i will still get them,cheers for all input

All buses that left the factory with big holes in the roof (sunroof) or extra holes in the side (extra cargo doors) have belly pans

CP's very much doubt they specified a special order….just a microbus without back seats, (maybe they didn't even specify the lack of back seats….i know devon did) then chopped a hole in the roof