All posts by Chris

VW Volksrod 'The Chopster'

The Chopster build part 6

(this was originally posted on VolksRods.com while I built the car)

Had a decent weekend…
I got the A pillars cut and welded.
Did I mention that this is a pain it the ass because the car was a roadster?

Yep, that’s a swaybar on the roof. It’s the perfect diameter to sit in the drip rail and line it up…

The inside of the pillar needed some alignment, so I ‘Y’ cut it inner and outer and tapped it into place before welding.

The hood isn’t narrowed yet, but I placed it on there to see a light at the end of the tunnel…

VW Volksrod 'The Chopster'

The Chopster build part 5

(this was originally posted on VolksRods.com while I built the car)

Got the B & C pillars on.

That rear side window curve will be redone… that’s where they chopped it for a roadster. I have the correct part/ curve, it’s just not on the priority list.

This weekend I’ll cut/ weld the A pillars and maybe the roof filler.

We’re down to the 15-days-to-go mark.

Mechanical Things, VW Volksrod 'The Chopster'

The Chopster build part 3

(this was originally posted on VolksRods.com while I built the car)

Well, I got the car 9 days ago, and began working on it 7 days ago.

I know everyone loves pics, so here ya go….

The roadster:

Body Off!

Painted a white stripe to see the marks to cut at…
quick nod to the drinking pardnahs…
…Cut!

The past few days, I’ve been working on the pan… I have a bit of battery acid rot, so I decided to do the battery tray… and it turned into stripping and restoring the entire pan. I should have it painted by the weekend, tho.

I still need to get my roof section, but in the mean time I’ll keep myself busy with the pan until it’s done. I’m going to be building the car ‘onto’ it so I might as well make it a roller now.

 

 

 

VW Volksrod 'The Chopster'

The Chopster build part 2

(this was originally posted on VolksRods.com while I built the car)

Got the car a few mins ago and drove it to my friends house where the work will be going on.
It’s quite the conversation piece. I had some VonDutch-t-shirt-wearin-Scenesters pull up to me at a stop light and ask me why the shift knob was taller than the windshield. I just shrugged and made the ‘I don’t know’ face.

BTW: I highly recommend driving a POS roadster on a warm Phoenix evening. It was fun.

Immediate issues:

  • – headlights are low-beam only. That’s fine but the dimmer switch is so close to the clutch pedal that it kept turning the lights on/ off while I drove
  • – Wiring problems. Looks like 63 had the wiring go thru the roof? On quick first inspection, there are wires crudely pushed thru a rough hole under the dash to the back. Gotta fix that. Various lights inop, starter gets cranky/ hard to start.
  • – leaky brake reservoir.
  • – gotta remove the T4 motor and get it back to the owner. I’ve got another T4 to go in there for now, but it’s a temp until my 1915 gets the lifter bores fixed
  • – crazy-ass shift lever may be too tall for car once there’s a roof. We’ll see.

I’ll take pics tomorrow, I’m going to start the tear-down of it ASAP.