The car is at the shop being converted. I delivered it the first week of January. It sat for a week or so while Michael finished up an Audi conversion.
Michael has sent me a few progress pictures. He does such good work. It’s going to be fun to share what he is doing.
Parts are removed to get ready for the cutting. You can see one of the bed sides in the background. The rear quarter windows are out. The tarp is there to collect the broken glass for the rear window “removal process”.
One of the cut lines is laid out.
Here is a view well into the cutting process.
Driver’s side is next.
Most of the cutting is done.
And the sheet metal has some preassembly done. Michael is working on 2 conversions at the same time. The Beetle bed is the one on the left. You can see the rear hatch leaning up against the wall.
A closer view .
More pics as I get them.
Michael put together a 3d scan of the tailgate. I’m using that to layout the plan for the back wood panel.
For those of you that might be curious about these kits you can find out more at smythkitcars.com
Is that bed going to somehow make up for the structural integrity lost by removing the back half of the body shell? Or will there be stiffening members added to the floor pan? I've seen things like this done and the vehicles buckled because they weren't adequately braced.
Both, the bed structure gets bolted, panel bonded, and rivited in specific places specified by the kit manufacturer. But honestly these modern unibody cars that Smyth has been making kits for are strong enough to be driven around cut. Some have even been driven to last year's Carlisle Truck Nationals cut.
DL - What Michael said :) You'll eventually see bracing attached to the B-Pillars. Then the bed front gets fastened to the braces and body. When it's all done it is as stiff and strong as the uncut body. And that's on top of how stiff these bodies are without the added bracing. When it's all said and done I'll end up with a little truck that is a ton of fun to drive and with a very unique look.
Splinter - The QR code idea is perfect! I'll have to do that. You're welcome Dave - I'm glad you're enjoying it Peakplane - Yes it is! As long as nothing goes horribly wrong... 😁
Thanks Ross, Michael and I have talked about how unlikely it is for the panels and truck to be ready at the same time. We both think we will be the late one! 😀
