Chassis Vendors?

Chris at Kitman - chose VW pan or tube chassis

VW Pan Based Chassis | KitMan Motors
@Chris Kleber, KitMan Motors

I know you said you wanted a chassis you could make your own a but but also check out the Mendeola setup by Cool Rydes.

Not sure what your objectives are.  Assume get started with low investment and add over time.  There aren't a lot of just bodies sold - Kitman and Mexico.  Some US vendors still sell rollers and you add engine and finishing details.  Maybe look for an unfinished or used car that needs your finishing touch.

@WOLFGANG posted:

Not sure what your objectives are.  Assume get started with low investment and add over time.  There aren't a lot of just bodies sold - Kitman and Mexico.  Some US vendors still sell rollers and you add engine and finishing details.  Maybe look for an unfinished or used car that needs your finishing touch.

Thanks for all the good help. My goal here is to have a build that I carefully proceed with on a step-by-step basis with good vendors. I also don't have a large garage so it's beneficial to be able to buy portions of a kit as opposed to a large delivery at one time with items that will take up all my work space just to store it.

Many are building/have built in a single car garage.  Trick is to tie the fairly light fiberglass body up to garage ceiling (with rope and pullies) and have the pan below it on wheels or casters.  Pan can be pushed around and worked on inside or rolled out.  Rolled out you can lower body and work on it.  I wish I had wired up the body without it being mounted to the pan!

@WOLFGANG posted:

Many are building/have built in a single car garage.  Trick is to tie the fairly light fiberglass body up to garage ceiling (with rope and pullies) and have the pan below it on wheels or casters.  Pan can be pushed around and worked on inside or rolled out.  Rolled out you can lower body and work on it.  I wish I had wired up the body without it being mounted to the pan!

Indeed that is part of my plan. I think I can store the body up against a wall of my garage while I work on the chassis and then swap them to work on the body while it's still off the chassis.

How expensive are storage units in your part of the world? I think buying a kit and storing it until needed would be tons cheaper than buying parts as you go.

Just to comment more on Wolfgang’s post, when I was building my first speedster I “borrowed” three able-bodied guys from work and we carried the body into the 1-bay garage and placed it on the pan.  Four guys can easily move a speedster body and juggle it around a bit to (more or less) center it.  Plan on at least three large pizzas and a bunch of beer.

When I was building my second speedster (different location) I had an unfinished garage with exposed joists or rafter ties from a trussed roof and no finished ceiling.   I placed a 4” X 4” up across the joists and used that with an electric winch to haul the body up off the ground and place it onto the rolling, finished pan.  I used a 4-point hitch setup that let me get it level (or non-level) as needed.  That let me play with positioning of the body til I got it just right, including applying silicone caulk between the pan and body as the last step before bolting it down.

I would guess that a speedster body weighs around 250 lbs.

That idea of a storage space for the body and parts while you get the pan ready is really good.

Near me you can rent a 10 x 20 x 8 foot high shipping container delivered to YOUR property for about $90 a month, 2 month minimum. That's WAY cheaper than storage unit rental. Even for a year, it's dirt cheap. Plus, the parts are all right there close when you need them.

They aren't a permanent structure either, so even if you run afoul of local ordinance, the offending container could be removed before you even get a court date.

so even if you run afoul of local ordinance, the offending container could be removed before you even get a court date.  I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks like this .

... but you'd still need to move it somewhere.

The right to own property and use it as one see fit is a basic human right (according to Article 17 of the Universal Declarations of Human Rights). But having a shipping container sitting on your city lot isn't going to fly with anybody but the most ardent libertarian. I could probably stomach it, but it would even test my ability to just live and let live. Johnny Law visiting you to tell you to move it isn't a matter of "if" so much as "when", and the "when" is going to be at a time least convenient in the build process.

The OP's original plan to stage the arrival of parts doesn't seem like a bad one to me.

Well, we can put a container here without issue.

But as a courtesy to my neighbors I wouldn't do it permanently, I'd do it for maybe 6 months.

You know, enough time to maybe build a car.

I could leave one of those HF tarp garages up permanently, but I wouldn't do that either.