Background Insuring a waterproof Ute cabin is of utmost importance. One consequence of cutting the Beetle in half is that a new barrier between the inside and outside is created along the truck bed front wall. The chassis under the truck bed is filled with holes and inaccessible cavities so keeping...
Continue reading...Kriss Motors
Flying buttress
Background The flying buttress braces (on the left and right sides) add important rigidity to the truck bed sides via a “sandwich” mount that incorporates the rear seat belt anchor plate (on top of the fender arch) and the rounded fender sheet metal underneath.
Continue reading...Panel preparation
Background The raw aluminum panels provided in the Smyth Ute kit can be assembled “as is”. However, there are a number of refinements that enhance both the appearance and robustness of the build. Multiple trial fitments are suggested to determine exactly what needs to be done. The first task is to...
Continue reading...Roof skin cut
Background Review the substructure roof cut discussion. The roof skin cut is the only one in the Ute build that requires precision (within a 1/8″); other cuts can vary by 1/2″ or more without consequences. After the substructure cut is made, separate the top roof skin from the substructure with small...
Continue reading...Harness relocation
Background See also the pre-cut preparation discussion. The Beetle’s rear wiring harness is routed over both fenders inside the luggage area, and extensions go through both sides of the hatch lid. In addition, some models have a CD changer and/or stereo Monsoon amplifier in the rear. All these wires need to...
Continue reading...Quarter panel/fender cut
Cutting steps Cutting the quarter panel and fender is fairly straightforward and outlined below in four steps. 1. Window frame cut Mark a point 2 inches past the B-pillar window vertical frame and cut down through the frame infrastructure beam support. This cut must miss the B-pillar support itself and leave...
Continue reading...Rear end cut
Rear chop There are faster ways to chop up the Beetle, but the four steps outlined below get consistent results and greatly minimize the risk of a misplaced cut, damage to the wiring harness, or injury. Always wear suitable eye, hand, and ear protection.
Continue reading...Substructure roof cut
Substructure Before making any cuts, review the pre-cut preparations. Always wear suitable eye, hand, and ear protection. There are several approaches to cutting the Beetle roof. The procedure outlined below is more complicated than simply chopping off the entire roof three inches past the door edge, but this method allows for...
Continue reading...Pre-cut preparation
Preparation Before chopping off sheet metal with a reciprocating saw, a number of harness relocations, markups, and small item modification/removals will make the metal cutting job go easier and reduce the chance of unintended damage to retained parts. 1. Rear impact bar The Beetle’s rear end incorporates a large horizontal impact...
Continue reading...Quarter glass
Background The New Beetle’s rear quarter glass fixed window is held in place with a special urethane formulated for high bond strength. Typically this type of adhesive has a 1200 PSI tensile and 550 PSI shear strength. This basically means it’s virtually impossible to pull the window away from the frame...
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