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Chop top suicide door up dates!!!
Fat Boy - November 8th, 2011 at 05:00 PM

Hi all, I finally worked up enough guts to do a 4" chop on a bug.

24 years earlier I payed a pro to do this job, on my pride and joy 1970 bug. Long story short it came back in bits :grind:.

Had a go about 5 years later with good results. 19 years have passed and I have started, finally.

Enjoy


Fat Boy - November 8th, 2011 at 05:03 PM

pic's didn't load I'll try again


Fat Boy - November 8th, 2011 at 05:19 PM

some more


Fat Boy - November 8th, 2011 at 05:21 PM

sorry about the order


Fat Boy - November 8th, 2011 at 05:36 PM

enough for now :smilegrin:


helbus - November 8th, 2011 at 06:21 PM

Jobs like this make you lay awake at night thinking about what order to do the next steps. Yeah?


dragsters for life - November 8th, 2011 at 06:50 PM

looks cool

i was the guy at ricks the day you got the blue roof clip, you were tellin me the story on the day

cool that its finally getting done

ill be watching this one


Fat Boy - November 8th, 2011 at 08:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by helbus
Jobs like this make you lay awake at night thinking about what order to do the next steps. Yeah?

I know what you mean. Lie in bed waiting for the next day, to get to cutting. Fun stuff let me tell ya.
Regards
Fat Boy


Fat Boy - November 8th, 2011 at 08:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dragsters for life
looks cool

i was the guy at ricks the day you got the blue roof clip, you were tellin me the story on the day

cool that its finally getting done

ill be watching this one

Good to hear from you again. Stay tunned.

I would like to get the bug regoed. getting mixed messages from different people. The rta seems to think that the 4" chop is going to be too much for street or rod reg. Any help in this department will be very helpfull.

Time for more pic's.

This is current stage.


dragsters for life - November 8th, 2011 at 09:54 PM

neat chop, sits nice


5lam - November 9th, 2011 at 08:35 AM

Killin it! Looks great


theVman - November 9th, 2011 at 06:14 PM

Just as "dragsters for life" says .... very neat chop alright.

Want to share the setup measurements and angles?


Fat Boy - November 9th, 2011 at 06:34 PM

It's not as hard as you think vman. Please keep in mind that I have no experiance in any body work, I'm a plasterer and a Taxidermist by trade. Shit this is the 2nd time in my life that I have used a mig:spin:. Most of the job can be done with a 4" grinder clamps and a mig. I think the most important thing is the flow of the lines, a good eye comes in handy.

I'm more than happy to post the entire process, f up's and all. All the info is easy to find on the samba and Volksrod, just punch in chop top and it will do your head in :crazy:


Fat Boy - November 9th, 2011 at 06:48 PM

I managed to find the only pic I have of my original bug. She was white when I purchased her, I didn't know how to drive anything but an auto, f#@kin girl I know:lol: so getting home was fun. The only thing I changed was the paint, for all those holden buffs I chose VK SS blue.
Nearly sold the bug to buy a Xp coupe Tubbed and all the bells and whistles. Decided to keep the bug and chop the roof the rest is as they say history...:mad:
Regards
Fatty


DubbyFan - November 10th, 2011 at 05:12 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fat Boy
It's not as hard as you think vman. Please keep in mind that I have no experiance in any body work, I'm a plasterer and a Taxidermist by trade. Shit this is the 2nd time in my life that I have used a mig:spin:. Most of the job can be done with a 4" grinder clamps and a mig. I think the most important thing is the flow of the lines, a good eye comes in handy.

I'm more than happy to post the entire process, f up's and all. All the info is easy to find on the samba and Volksrod, just punch in chop top and it will do your head in :crazy:


Looks great, I too would be happy to see the entire process
if that is not too bold. So did you use three roofs in total and the oval rear? Looking forward to seeing the rest of this one, thank for sharing Fat Boy.


Fat Boy - November 10th, 2011 at 02:30 PM

Gday dubbyfan, I decided to use three roofs to avoid having double welds. You don't really need three entire roof sections. As in the pic's I used the original roof for surround leaving them wide, as to compinsate for the added width when dropped. I picked up a 53 roof and rear clip, used the b pillars and and rear window, probably could have used that skin and put in a couple of filler pieces but decided to get the red roof as a throw over. the red roof tappered down too sharp at the rear and created two humps at the weld joint. I decided to cut out those areas and put in filler's anyway.


jack schoot - November 13th, 2011 at 11:01 AM

looks great, will be a nice looking car when its finished


Kombi_Rescue - November 13th, 2011 at 04:38 PM

one of the best chops I've seen...looks great at all angles...credit to the effort cheers steve


Flintstones - November 13th, 2011 at 05:10 PM

you've got a good eye to get the lines looking right.
This is one of the nicest chops I've seen as the proportions look right.
Cheers
D


Fat Boy - November 13th, 2011 at 07:53 PM

Thanks for the thumbs up :tu: guy's. Wasn't always smooth sailing though.
When I got the oval clip home on closer inspection the rust had eaten all the way up to the vents so bad that I ripped the boot lid hinge's off by hand. So I decided to use the inside of the original bug and the outer skin of the oval. Seemed like a good idea at the time but turned out to be two full day's of scratching my head.
Regards
Fatty


Fat Boy - November 13th, 2011 at 07:55 PM

some more rust :lol:


ran5 - November 25th, 2011 at 08:11 PM

looks cool


Fat Boy - December 11th, 2011 at 08:36 PM

Hi all, had a bit of time to kill, so I decided to build a rotisseri for the bug. Makes life alot easier for those shitty jobs under the bug.

Regards
Fatty


Fat Boy - December 11th, 2011 at 08:39 PM

some more


Fat Boy - December 11th, 2011 at 08:41 PM

A little scary let me tell ya.


Flintstones - December 12th, 2011 at 08:22 PM

lucky you did the chop first, looks like it just made it.
does make the job so much more pleasant to work on.

Cheers


ran5 - January 28th, 2012 at 06:59 AM

very cool, so ur in melb?


DubbyFan - January 28th, 2012 at 05:27 PM

Wow lovin this build, well done Fat Boy and thanks for sharing!


DubEnthusiast - January 28th, 2012 at 10:48 PM

Wow. Your doing an extremely good job. Keep it up :D. Im keen to see this when its finished :)


Fat Boy - January 31st, 2012 at 07:52 PM

Thanks for the input fellas.

ran5, I'm in the north of Melb. Must catch up when the two bugs are finished.

Regards
Fatty