Category Archives: Mechanical Things

The Chopster build part 7

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

Uggg… here’s the latest report.

Shortly after getting the front half of the roof on, I got sick for about a week– and then had out of town guests spend 4 days at my house…
So I have wasted about 10 days or so, and will not make my 30-calendar-day goal to get the body back in 1 piece.
I’m obviously going to keep going— at the same pace– I’ll keep you posted on the exact days and a rough amount of hours as well… If I could do it in 30 working days, that’d be cool.

I estimate about 100 hours into getting the body cut and welded. 80 of them are probably sitting, staring at the car and moving tools to and from the garage.

My friend suggested using a ratchet strap to align the pillars closer to each other and put the roof ‘into shape’. Worked great. I’m a little concerned that the A pillars may be a touch too high (the drip rail must flow nicely), but we’ll see when I get the rest of the roof on.
I got three (out of 4) roof filler sections on yesterday and it’s pulling together well.

I also filled the trim holes and all the misc holes on the driverside.

I can put about 3-4 hours in tonight.

Chiuauas are everywhere here… They’re like cockroaches. You can’t step a few feet without a few crunching under your toes.

J/K, that’s one of my helpers. We’re both pissed at the roof. What a whore it’s been. There’s still a slight ripple in it, and If I can’t cure it with filler I’m cutting a ragtop in.

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…

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.

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.