Any Safety Inspectors Here or Vehicle Law Know-It-Alls?

[Greg]

Well....I hate to say this, but I've never done any sort of body work until this.

Now that I've done it, there would be a few things I'd differently. Before this I only had experience with suspension and cutting bodies apart, not putting them back together. If you are fairly mechanically inclined, it's not that hard to do.

I don't really like those Speedway kits, I think the flipped arms look 10x better.

Good to know, it looks good so far! I took 2 yrs of collision repair at UVSC yrs ago, but I hate body work now and never have chopped a car. That's just too much work and lots of chances to screw up IMO... but if you can do it, then props!

This calls for the Captain to post the before pics of this Bug haha

I think I'd just buy a broke down junker if anything... I'm not going to spend good money on something I'm going to cut up. That said... I doubt I'll ever build a ratrod Bug, they're cool and I respect them, but I'm not making plans for any more projects for some time.

You need to convince her to do a pre-65 beetle. Stay away from Super Beetles. So ugly.

There are a lot of people that hate ratrod bugs. I get a lot of hate for chopping this up.

I don't really have any good pics on this computer.

And it is sooo hard to stick to one project. I have about 6-7 brewing that I would love to buy/get started on.

I think that's what she said, pre-'65. I don't know my Bug culture. I think it's funny when people get offended about what you do with your car.

 

[phatfoto]

Don't know the rules, but hope you paln to keep the BFGs in the back... Low and chopped on BFG ATs... Too cool brother...

 

[Rusted]

No clue. That's why I stopped reading about vintage a while back because I figured mine wasn't old enough.

The way I read it you can claim "vintage vehicle" without any questions. You may have to explain and/or do some fast talking to get it listed as a "Special interest vehicle" There is a chance with this cluase

a motor vehicle of any age or make that has not been substantially altered or modified from original specifications of the manufacturer and because of its significance is being collected, preserved, restored, maintained, or operated by a collector or hobbyist as a leisure pursuit.



but the more I read this... the more I think you are ok if you stay with "vintage vehicle"

(2) Wheel covers, mudguards, flaps, or splash aprons are not required:
(a) if the motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer is designed and constructed so that the requirements of Subsection (1) are accomplished by means of fenders, body construction, or other means of enclosure; or
(b) on a vehicle operated or driven during fair weather on well-maintained, hard-surfaced roads if the motor vehicle:
(i) was made in America prior to 1935;
(ii) is registered as a vintage vehicle; or
(iii) is a replica vehicle as defined under Section 41-6a-1507.
(3) Except as provided in Subsection (2)(b), rear wheels not covered at the top by fenders, bodies, or other parts of the vehicle shall be covered at the top by protective means extending rearward at least to the center line of the rearmost axle.

 

[Jedisdead]

the way the issuance company explained it to me was 1500 miles or less per year after 20 years was a classic.

 

[Medsker]

Way cool! Great idea on chopping a Bug, I've never seen one of those but with mostly all flat glass I'm surprised more people don't do them.

Medsker

 

[EROK81?]

Sweet!

Well I'm really glad I posted this here. I can't tell you enough how much I didn't want to run fenders. I think it takes away from the look 100%.

I just always figured I couldn't do vintage because mine was too new, aka not pre 1935. But as usual I think the actual law is confusing, at least to me. It shows..

(i) was made in America prior to 1935;
(ii) is registered as a vintage vehicle;

Those are two separate things, I always thought they were one and the same. So no fenders it is.

And I'll probably end up with BFG AT's. Who knows though. I am building it around a 33x10.50 tire and hot rod tires are way too expensive. I might revert back to a hot rod style tire though, just because of the look. That's a ways down the road though.

 

[Herzog]

No idea on the legalities, but that thing is bad ass.

 

[Tacoma]

I love it, and I REALLY like the idea of running the BFG's. They fit into the rat rod ethos just fine.

 

[ShortShaft]

I was wondering how the project was coming.... I hadn't heard anything about it for awhile, and hadn't seen things happening in the garage for awhile.

Good to see that it is still in progress!

-Vinny

 

[EROK81?]

I was wondering how the project was coming.... I hadn't heard anything about it for awhile, and hadn't seen things happening in the garage for awhile.

Good to see that it is still in progress!

-Vinny

Yeah, I don't think I touched it much over the summer. Last time I worked on it last spring I got pretty discouraged with the amount of work/rust repair I had left to do.

After the last two weekends (and this thread, no fenders!) I am pretty excited to get it done. Most of the hard stuff is done. I only have the rear body work to put together, wiring, and figure the steering, and it should be ready to drive. Then I have the fun task of grinding all the welds down.

There are days I wish I would have left it, because I miss driving an older style vehicle. But I think this one will be a lot more fun once it's done.

 

[EROK81?]

I got a bunch done over the last few days. It's actually a roller now. I was pretty happy being able to push it back and forth in the garage.

Here are some pics if anyone's interested.

Rear ride height is almost perfect at 3.5"

 

[Tacoma]

I seriously love the BFG's. Leave them!!!!

I had a number for that place in Stockton too, but I think it fell out of the Blazer. I'll get it again though. Cheap parts!

 

[Brad]

Love the look of that car.

 

[Greg]

Any updates? I want to build a heavily-chopped Bug now...

 

[Hickey]

Very cool. Keep the BFG's and run some half moons or VW caps on those black wheels.

 

[Greg]

This caught my eye when I was looking for ratrod Bugs. Much more my style... V8, traditional hotrod look and a beefy steel frame.

http://www.killbillet.com/showpost.php?p=67870&postcount=28

 

[EROK81?]

This caught my eye when I was looking for ratrod Bugs. Much more my style... V8, traditional hotrod look and a beefy steel frame.

http://www.killbillet.com/showpost.php?p=67870&postcount=28

That's kind of cool. I'd love to build a 30's type hotrod, but not enough cash. :-\

I don't really have any updates on it. I went over to work on it, but found out I was out of gas for the welder, so I pushed it out and took a picture.

Very cool. Keep the BFG's and run some half moons or VW caps on those black wheels.

Yeah, that's what I am going to do. Black wheels with the stock VW caps.

 

[Greg]

That's kind of cool. I'd love to build a 30's type hotrod, but not enough cash. :-\

I don't really have any updates on it. I went over to work on it, but found out I was out of gas for the welder, so I pushed it out and took a picture.



Yeah, that's what I am going to do. Black wheels with the stock VW caps.

No sweat, do what you can with what you have! I love the roadster pickups. Finding a decent body with doors is the hard part, which is why I like that guys idea of using a Bug body so much. I'd love to build something like that RPU I linked to... someday.

I've been offered a cheap Bug, which got me thinking about your build. I sold all my projects/toys this Winter -\) and I'm getting the itch to tinker with something again. This Bug has a recently rebuild engine, but it's locking up when it turns over.

Where did you get your info about chopping & sectioning? I've tinkered with a VW-based dune buggy, but never worked with a Bug. I know nothing about how they're built.

 

[EROK81?]

No sweat, do what you can with what you have! I love the roadster pickups. Finding a decent body with doors is the hard part, which is why I like using a Bug body so much. I'd love to build something like that RPU I linked to... someday.

I've been offered a cheap Bug, which got me thinking about your build. I sold all my projects/toys this Winter -\) and I'm getting the itch to tinker with something again. This Bug has a recently rebuild engine, but it's locking up when it turns over.

Where did you get your info about chopping & sectioning? I've tinkered with a VW-based dune buggy, but never worked with a Bug. I know nothing about how they're built.

I'll have to find the link, but a bug is super easy to chop and section. The lines are perfect so you cut, set the body back down and everything lines back up. The roof is pretty easy as well; depending on how low you chop the roof you might need a donor roof. I picked mine up for 50 bucks.

Bugs are sooo simple it's ridiculous. Not counting the purchase price, I've spend MAYBE 300.00 so far. If I don't add in the paint (I'm sure what I'm doing yet) I think I can get the whole thing done for less than 1000.00 including all new tires.

 

[Greg]

I'll have to find the link, but a bug is super easy to chop and section. The lines are perfect so you cut, set the body back down and everything lines back up. The roof is pretty easy as well; depending on how low you chop the roof you might need a donor roof. I picked mine up for 50 bucks.

Bugs are sooo simple it's ridiculous. Not counting the purchase price, I've spend MAYBE 300.00 so far. If I don't add in the paint (I'm sure what I'm doing yet) I think I can get the whole thing done for less than 1000.00 including all new tires.

:greg:

The chop & section doesn't sound bad, if you can find the link I'd love to have more info. I've been doing more reading on chopping Bugs too, they do seem pretty straight forward.

I love the cheap part! If you can build that thing for under $1000, that's badass! I like the deep chop, looks perfect.

How tall are you & how tight is it inside it? I'm a tall MF'r at 6'4", might have to build a rag-top and leave it open to fit my head.