Build time estimate

A friend has asked me to build him a turnkey car, and I need to estimate labour time to complete from driving the Beetle into the shop, to driving the Speedster out.

I recall CMC advertising that it could be done in 40 hours, but I have my doubts, as this is my first time at this

What is the list's experience given a shop, and tools. Speedster build time only.
Should Beetle rebuilding be required, it will be on a time and materials basis.

40 hrs? Hah!! I'll let Alan handle that one.

Your disassembling and renewing the chassis and drive train of a thirty year old car . . . every one is different. They'll be more than 40 hours combined DRYING TIME for the various painted chassis/suspension/drive train pieces alone.

Between a bunch of us sitting around at a past Carlisle, we all figured that CMC dropped a zero in their advertised build time estimate.

Building a CMC from scratch is more like 400 hours, if you know what you're doing but send it out for final finish and paint. Allen Merklin has just finished one that was already mounted and rolling when he got it (although he's modified it a lot), and it still took him a little under 6 months and he sent it out for paint, too.

We'll know better by next Spring, as my Son, Chris has just become one of the newest CMC Speedster owner/builders with his own never-started kit!

HOWEVER!! If you build the deluxe kit from Special Edition (Beck) we've proven that you and a couple of friends could have it done in a weekend (if one of you knows what he or she is doing) and a couple weekends if you dog it. When we built Lane's, the final tally came in at about 40 person-hours, start to finish but it would be more if you were working single-handed. No special equipment needed in your shop; we had the following: Air compressor and air tools, SawZall, 3/8" electric drill, Floor jack, Motorcycle floor jack, Dremel Tool, a couple of sets of Home Depot Mechanics tools sets, Several BIG hammers and a hand-held cut-off grinder. If at home, you'll need a MIG welder and I would like a decent drill press and bench grinder at a minimum.

I can highly recommend the Beck Speedster kit: All you mount is the suspension, engine, outside lights, trim, windshield and so forth. Do a search on Carlisle Car Build on here - lots of details in there somewhere. The finished product is drop-dead gorgeous, as it comes painted with the interior already in. Plus, it has it's own tube frame, so there's no donor to mess with.

Hope this helps...

Oops! Almost forgot about the Donor: 1 day to remove the original body, 2 days to refurbish the pan (selected new parts - new floors from LeHigh Sheet metal), 1 Day to shorten the pan, weld it back together and paint it, 1 day to organize what's left of the donor after you've stripped it to sell what you don't need on ebay and post the ads.

Gordon

How many days to pull off of the rear suspension components from the torsion housing, wire brush, clean, prime, paint, and reassembly with new shims, bushings, bearings, and seals?

How many extra to pull the rear brakes and bearing caps apart, clean, repair, replace, paint and re-assemble?

And those pesky brake shoes, cylinders, hard and soft lines, clips, springs, and what-not. Then there's the e-brake cables to be shortened and clutch cable and . . .

How about replacing the boots on an IRS, or worse, stock-style boots on a swing-axle.

Gordon, do you really figure just three days to take care of the whole pan?

What's your daily wage for that kinda thing? At 2.5 days per (I'll take care of cleaning and paint, that ought to knock off a half day) I've got three pans right here waiting for you.

Then, once the pans all set, you have to clean, wire brush, tear apart, sand blast, prime, paint, and reassemble everything from the wiper assembly to the steering column, blinker housing to pedal assembly, shifter, e-brake and . . .

I bet that even 400 hours is conservative unless all of the systems are purchased new after-market. WHICH is kinda what I was asking about in another post (It's ALL ABOUT ME isn't it?) and you answered so well.

LUCK ! ! !

TC

40 hours makes me laugh. i suppose it could be done, but you'd get a car that looked like it was assembled in ... well... 40 hours.

I can't even imagine how many hours i have into mine. if it isn't exactly the way i wanted / imagined, i rip it off and start again.

but hey - what's the rush, building these is 3/4 the fun right?

So.....BOB!

You getting the idea?

Reality check.... ( they just forgot the "5" between the 4 and 0 )
450 hrs for the first time builder this does not include disassembly of the donor car.

We're all glad to be of help as you trudge along. ~Alan

Thanks for all the input, and it sounds like I should allow 500 hours to include rebuilding the Beetle bits.

This is my first go at using a Beetle donor so I'm sure there will be some interesting times.

My experience has been to use only the bare Beetle center tunnel frame head and trailing arms. Replace everything with new. A set of shortened German pans, a complete spindle to spindle beam is cheap and sure saves on a lot of man hours to the rehab your self.
New axles with the CV joints are about the same as a set of CV joints, add in a set of shocks, all new cables, replace all brake lines, hoses, drums or upgrade to SoCal rotors and new wheel bearings. Run a new fuel line, check the clutch and heat cable tubes in the tunnel before you weld back the chassis halves and clean up the pedal assembly being sure that there is a pan mounted pedal stop.
There you have it a chassis ready for the body and you know what you have. ~Alan

Thanks Alan and that is the plan if the pan does not have cancer too badly. Donors here have suffered 40+ years of Thai mechanics cobbling them together and are expensive crap. I will buy all needed from someone like CIP and ship over in one go to keep the cost down.

In my own car, all I used from the pan was the rear fork, and small bit of the pan with the VIN number. The rest has been "repaired" with tube, rack and pinion steering, A-arms, and coil overs. Depending on how shot the pan is, it may prove a better way to go and I won't know until the body is removed.

Presumably the 450 hours is to do it your way

Like most of us, you will find it's NEVER realy finished......

I bought mine like 5 years ago, it was built 20 years ago and I am still doing things to it. This sickness never ends.

In sailing they say about a yacht: a hole in the water where we throw our money.

In a Speedster...much the same.

........."If you're finished, something's not right".

Mike - Except for that "water" thing, right?