Hot Rods 32 Roadster Body - a new approach. AKA Beetledeuce

Hi English Gent.Good to hear from you again.Sorry that you had to give up on your project.Really enjoyed the updates,Wishing you the best on your future endeavors.Also wishing you and yours the best for the Holidays,and a healthy,happy and prosperous New Year.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Very kind of you to say so Leo. Likewise, I wish you and yours a happy and peaceful holiday.

 

Thank you Sir.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

When you weld on the sheet metal parts, what kind of a welder do you use? Is it MIG or stick welder? I am hungup on my car because I can't MIG weld. SUPER job, BTW. I have seen it, but I still don't believe it.

 

Sure you can. Its easier than stick welding. My son picked it up in less than an hour.

 

If you can weld, stick or gas, you can learn to MIG weld quickly, the only difficulty is learning how to adjust the welder!

 

what they said, i know folks that mig and can't stick.

 

We should all thank Mr Gent for his very informative posts, and remember that he sells DVDs showing his methods.

 

Did the new owner ever finish the build? HRP

 

Update? New owner, hello.

 

I just found this and spent several hours over four days reading the thread. SOOOOO COOOOL!
The build up was so great, sorry there had to be a let down. Gent, you have serious skills!
Thanks for a great thread!
I'm checking out your website and it looks good!

 

English Gent,
The work performed and chronicled was worth the read. I’ve seen VW’s turned into many different things over my 54yrs on this planet,
But this was the 1st time I saw the steel body turned into what resembled a B Model Ford.
Job well done to the point where you got it to!!!!!
I hope that the present caretaker understands just what went into transforming a beetle sedan into a hand made roadster body and puts it on a chassis deserving of the blood sweat & tears that created it.

 

Hello guys,

I'm still overwhelmed by the love for Beetledeuce.

Maybe my mistake was not having a substantial plan from the get go. Initially I just started playing around with a Beetle rear fender to see if I could make it look like a rear quarter from an early ford. As I liked what I'd made, I just kept going. This is how I work when I'm making art, I like the ideas to be free flowing and spontaneous.
Maybe if I had started with some sort of chassis, the project would have ended up somewhere closer to a viable vehicle, but I honestly didn't think it would evolve as far as it did.

I'd like to think someone out there will take my work as inspiration to build their own Beetledeuce! Now that it's been done once it wouldn't be so hard to recreate. As I said, I am not an experienced or highly skilled metalworker. I can use a MIG like most of you, that's it.

If I did it again I'd be more experimental with the design. It's never going to be an EXACT replica, so there is licence to modify, after all that's what hot rodding is, isn't it?

I haven't heard or seen anything of the original project since I sold it. I fear it will never see the light of day again, but that's okay, I achieved what I wanted with this project, I created a steel body that looked great and I was proud of.

Good luck in all your projects guys.

The Gent.

 

Mig, it's easy. Buy one and within an hour you'll be up and running. Just make sure what you are welding is clean and shiny steel.

 

Probably. But I'm living proof that just because you HAVE a welder does not mean that you ARE a welder.

 

This is all very true, I can't count the times on here and other sites that I see guys welding dirty or rusty metal. The metel must be absolutely spotless clean or you will have a very poor weld and it eventually will fail.

 

I bought a good MiG welder (Airco 'Cobramatic') from a customer in 1976. Welded a lot, mostly chassis and 'undercar fabricating'. The sheet metal I did with my Victor Aircraft oxy-acet set. But, as fast as MiG is, I adjusted and practiced with light sheet metal...(there was lots of VW sheet metal around, good 'shapes', friend Ron Covell laughed when I told him he could trade that English wheel for stacks of VW sheet metal...)
But, I foraged ahead, and after a short period of time (how many years from 1989 to now?) LOL I was finally able to lay down a nice bead that wouldn't require a body grinder to make 'passable'.
Welding is practice. Period.
My young girlfriend (now my wife, Joey) wanted to weld, so I cleverly laid out some galvanized and watched the 'fireworks'...However, Joey was well-read, and said "C'mon, Mike, this is galvanized..." Good metal laid down, she laid a bead that looked 'tig-like'...
First time. I was mildly surprised, but it's a 'skill', not an art form...(arguably)
Practice. Have a friend (or hired mentor) over and lay out some pieces. LISTEN to his advice.
You WILL weld. (Und you vill LIKE it!)
Just do it 'clean'...

 

Hopefully the owner will finish the car. HRP

 

I haven't heard or seen anything of the original project since I sold it. I fear it will never see the light of day again, but that's okay, I achieved what I wanted with this project, I created a steel body that looked great and I was proud of.

Copied from his post above Danny so I'm not sure what will happen.
I agree though it would have been nice to see it finished.

 

Cripes Mike, were you trying to kill her or teach her how to weld.

 

I read through the whole thread, hanging on every new development, and marveling at the imagination and skill displayed in transforming a VW into a roadster worthy of the name "Deuce" in every respect. As a matter of fact, there were short cuts the builder COULD have taken that he didn't, and the end result was all the better for it. Maybe the new owner will 'fess up about what he's done with it....