I really Liked his VW Jetta kit he was making.
I don't know if its still available or not but wanted to do it to My Jetta at one time.
I have too many projects to even think about it though right now.

With the VW Cadilacs bringing 15-20K now days the Jetta is very cool project.
There are a Few Cadi's around here but the guys who own them think they are gold, even though they need full restoration. they say oh its worth bla bla and I look em strait in the eye and say Ya after you spend X amount of hours rebuilding it and Spend X amount on materials and parts, People just don't get it. and These TV shows that show cars being restored in two weeks don't help at all EXCEPT maybe restoration supply stores like Eastwood.

I will be following along with this one.

Dennis, yep, he still has the Jetta kit along with 5 other conversions now. He is taking pre-orders on his latest Jeep creation. Go check them out at..... https://www.smythkitcars.com/
I was kind of torn between doing the Charger and that new VW Beetle kit since we have a strong VW community still here in central Ohio. The charger won out just because it's bigger and roomier for me and my wife. And well, there is that Hemi as well. Aftermarket parts for the Charger are cheap and even simple mod.s can get you an extra 100 h.p. Also like the idea of the utility with this thing... 900 pound payload and 2000 trailer pulling capacity. I've been wanting to build a small light weight utility trailer so this truck fits the bill for us.

Right now I have more projects now than I know what to do with, Perhaps one day when I get caught up I can think about it but right now there is no way I am looking at another project for a very long time lol

So, business is starting to pick back up at our restoration shop. Enough, that I could not get my helper on my truck project. I did manage to get in about 6 hours of final trimming/detailing that we needed. The pile of stuff there in white is what I sawed, chiseled, and buzzed off the car. Went through and pulled the side rear air curtain and their bag/charges. We are using air bag simulators in those connections since there will no longer be a back seat section. Went through all of the rest of the wiring and we are good there. I am going to be doing a silicone wrap around the entire harness. We are now ready to start building the bed off the truck and leaving it somewhat "loose" for adjustment when we lift it on. Stay tuned.....

Fascinating.

A question. How do you get compliance for safety/engineering so that it can be registered?

Okay, follow along on this fun ride.... so in our good old USA this is referred to as a "styling kit." To be able to build kits like this the manufacturing companies simply do not disturb the original VIN number which is generally riveted onto the dash/window area of any car. Removing doors, replacing fenders, adding a truck bed, etc., are all considered within the realm of styling changes. Over these nearly 50 years of kit building I have had only 1 vehicle that was re-registered after the build.
Now to further complicate kit build laws here in the USA each state is allowed to handle this registration process differently.....take my state here in Ohio. Even if I was doing a "from scratch" build using a kit builder's frame, body, custom glass, wiring harness, etc. I would simply take all my receipts for the build components and "after building" the entire car drive it to an appointment with my state Highway Patrol for an inspection. That inspection would consist of only approving the vehicle's lighting system (brake, turn signals, stop lights, headlights, etc., ) and horn. Once those items were approved and checked off the officer would then hand me a new state issued VIN plate which would be riveted to the body or frame. And, get this....a further complication in my state is IF it needed to pass any type of emissions tested based on the "year" that the motor was built. And, that is only applicable IF you are in certain counties of my state. My county does not have any emissions checks.....

DarrelK wrote:Okay, follow along on this fun ride.... so in our good old USA this is referred to as a "styling kit." To be able to build kits like this the manufacturing companies simply do not disturb the original VIN number which is generally riveted onto the dash/window area of any car. Removing doors, replacing fenders, adding a truck bed, etc., are all considered within the realm of styling changes. Over these nearly 50 years of kit building I have had only 1 vehicle that was re-registered after the build.
Now to further complicate kit build laws here in the USA each state is allowed to handle this registration process differently.....take my state here in Ohio. Even if I was doing a "from scratch" build using a kit builder's frame, body, custom glass, wiring harness, etc. I would simply take all my receipts for the build components and "after building" the entire car drive it to an appointment with my state Highway Patrol for an inspection. That inspection would consist of only approving the vehicle's lighting system (brake, turn signals, stop lights, headlights, etc., ) and horn. Once those items were approved and checked off the officer would then hand me a new state issued VIN plate which would be riveted to the body or frame. And, get this....a further complication in my state is IF it needed to pass any type of emissions tested based on the "year" that the motor was built. And, that is only applicable IF you are in certain counties of my state. My county does not have any emissions checks.....

Nicey! Nice! we have exact same thing here in Nevada

Very different from our system which requires any significant change, be that body, engine, driveline or suspension, to be fully engineered and certified for strength, safety and compliance before issue of an engineering compliance plate, without which it cannot be registered. To do something like what you're doing would require a structural frame, engineering specs and even checking of every weld. Tough, but can be done - just adds masses of cost, making kit cars pretty much a thing of the past here. And yeah, we have the differing regulations from State to State too, just to make it even more interesting.

We import a lot of performance or sports/luxury cars from Japan. All second hand and have to be over 5 years old but even with them being right hand drive and the Japanese standards being almost the same as ours, every one has to have engineering compliance done.

On the other hand, anything built before 1975 is almost completely open as to what can be done.

So, you're very fortunate in being able to do a fun project like this. Is it going to get a flashy paint job?

Yeah, I know what you guys go through.....sat at many a car show talking to Australian, English, and even just the Canada guys about what's needed. Can't even begin to talk about the German, Swedish contingent.
So flashy paint job....well, I feel like doing some experimentation. I have some still fresh premium intercoat. I'm thinking about making my own basecoat with some additives from www.paintwithpearl.com And, I've kind of bored with a lifetime of cut/buffed surfaces brought to a mirror finish. The company Chemical Guys finally came out with a $10 bottle of quality maintenance spray for taking care of flat and matte coatings..... so, I'm going with somebody's (probably Tamco) matte coating..... And, yes, I'm the first guy to say all that stuff about how hard they are to do, how hard they are to get right, they look stupid in some colors, and on and on so.....that's why I'm going to buy some of those little curvy speed shapes and see how I like it before making the big commitment. Who knows....might end up back at flashy!

UPDATE.....So my grandson, Dalton, has been off work since about mid March and he is bored, bored, bored. On top of that he now knows that they are not ramping his department back up until next month. So he is best friends with his buddy Riley who is my main guy in the shop. So I had them both in today to assemble the truck bed and start mounting it while I secured and modified some of the wiring.
So wow, it took them maybe a half hour to get organized and to lay stuff out and another hour later and poof!, truck bed all assembled. I had gotten up early and had most of my wiring done so the three of us hoisted up the new bed and began the adjustment and riveting process up front. Man, I have to hand it Mark Smyth on this kit. This thing fits like a designer glove. As soon as we tied in those front "winglets" you see there the front doors closed with a "thunk." Almost stiffer sounding than when it was a four door..... We are about 43 man hours into the build. We probably could have knocked maybe 10 hours off that but I have been carefully making the mod.s I want as we go along....