Smyth UTE - the MKIV Jetta/Golf Pickup Conversion kit is HERE!

Learned something ELSE now too, VW makes a pickup truck:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Amarok

duwem said:

Learned something ELSE now too, VW makes a pickup truck:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Amarok

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Shhh! That is not available in these United States so there are members here who think it should not be discussed/mentioned. Though that is shutting the barn door after the horse has gone since the Amarok has been discussed in the Forums (mainly in TDI News/Tech) for years now.

As for the kit ute in this forum, I wonder exactly WHAT models can be used for the basis? If my wagon was damaged enough, could I use it?

That could be the long box option

Or a crew cab version!

romad said:

As for the kit ute in this forum, I wonder exactly WHAT models can be used for the basis? If my wagon was damaged enough, could I use it?

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Like their G3F mid-engine roadster kit, I believe any 4-door MKIV will work for the Smyth UTE conversion.

But a 2 door Golf would potentially make for a "club cab" / short bed, and that would be of more interest to me than the rear window headrest and lack of recline when using a 4 door.

I have a couple of 2-dr Golfs that need a new home, but unfortunately they both have misbehaving autos also. Hence, if I do a 5-sp conversion and a conversion to pick-em-up, then maybe it would be worth keeping one.

Actually, Romad, the point is that a comparison is moot since in all the years I have been on this forum, people have been asking for a lot of VWAG product not offered here. Do you know how many have come because of this forum's generated interest? That's right, exactly ZERO. And how would such a comparison be done anyway? You don't have those Vw trucklets here, and they don't have the smyth conversions there, so...???

I wonder if you can rent a Saviero in Mexico and drive it around these United States for a trip?

You'd just need to clear it with the insurance company. I think you can get non-compliant (EPA, DOT) vehicles in for a short trip, but you have to make absolutely sure you get it back in time. IDK if the rental company would be happy with the contract though.

I have driven my car across going south for a day. My insurance company limited the excursion to a short distance (25 miles?) from the border, or separate insurance would have to be taken out, and that insurance is danged expensive.

PH

Lug_Nut said:

But a 2 door Golf would potentially make for a "club cab" / short bed, and that would be of more interest to me than the rear window headrest and lack of recline when using a 4 door.

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That was the problem with the Rabbit pickup. No room in the cab. I would jump in a minute for a stretch cab with a 6 ft or even 7 ft bed. Not interested in a 4 or 5 foot bed. Love my 91 Jeep Comanche long bed - 7.5 ft and 2200 lbs payload.

'''That was the problem with the Rabbit pickup. No room in the cab''

What do you mean no room in the cab? I have been driving rabbit pickups for over 20 years, and have no problem with them. Load 2000 lbs and go from 1000 feet to 4000 feet elevation....and a 6 ft bed. Ive owned more than most have seen.
I can understand if you are over 6 feet tall, they get a little cramped, that was my sons problem. (his first car was a diesel caddy).

I'm watching the Smyth jetta..thing. Not sure how pissed the wife will be when she comes home and sees her jetta cut in half..

John.Jackson... interested in a diesel for that Jeep???? contact me.

2many diesels said:

'''That was the problem with the Rabbit pickup. No room in the cab''

What do you mean no room in the cab? I have been driving rabbit pickups for over 20 years, and have no problem with them. Load 2000 lbs and go from 1000 feet to 4000 feet elevation....and a 6 ft bed. Ive owned more than most have seen.
I can understand if you are over 6 feet tall, they get a little cramped, that was my sons problem. (his first car was a diesel caddy).

I'm watching the Smyth jetta..thing. Not sure how pissed the wife will be when she comes home and sees her jetta cut in half..

John.Jackson... interested in a diesel for that Jeep???? contact me.

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He means there is no room in the cab. Its a fact. The rabbit is a TINY car, and all the pickup did was put a wall right behind a completely upright front seat. I know you think it is comfortable, but I too have experience with them - I'm average build, 5'9. Can I fit? Yes. But, there is no room in that cabin.

That's why I sold my diesel caddy. It ran & drove fine, but I'm 5'11" and leggy, so always had the seat all the way to the rear, and the seatback against the rear of the cab. And if there was a large person in the passenger seat, we would have to decide who was going to put their elbow where. The wider and taller Mk4 body will be a much more comfortable cab. But I don't know if I would want to chop up a functioning Mk4 just to lose the back seat....

I will reserve judgement for a finished product & price.

I would like the same. And I asked several questions a while back, none of which have yet been answered.

Manual_tranny, you still awake? Hello?... Bueller?....

Powder Hound said:

I would like the same. And I asked several questions a while back, none of which have yet been answered.

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Powder Hound wrote:

I very much like what I see. I might not sell that extra Jetta I have in back after all.

I have six questions:

1) Are all the parts you mentioned in the first list included? Meaning, I don't need to go chasing a tailgate or rear window, do I?
2) How has access to the fuel tank changed?
3) Is the full rearward travel of the seats retained?
4) What are the dimensions of the cargo area?
5) If I come pick up the parts myself, how many trips to pack it in the back of a Golf?
6) Will the kit accomodate a 2-dr Golf?

Powder Hound said:

Manual_tranny, you still awake? Hello?... Bueller?....

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Just to help you give 'em a nudge.

Powder Hound said:

I very much like what I see. I might not sell that extra Jetta I have in back after all.
I have six questions:
1) Are all the parts you mentioned in the first list included? Meaning, I don't need to go chasing a tailgate or rear window, do I?
2) How has access to the fuel tank changed?
3) Is the full rearward travel of the seats retained?
4) What are the dimensions of the cargo area?
5) If I come pick up the parts myself, how many trips to pack it in the back of a Golf?
6) Will the kit accomodate a 2-dr Golf?

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Hi again guys! Sorry for the delay work and life gets in the way!
1. Yes, all the parts needed for the build are included. The only stuff you'll need to source that I can think of will be windshield adhesive and other easy to find materials.
2. Access to the fuel tank has not changed. The evaporative emissions system really needed to be kept in one piece so that the truck can still easily pass inspections. To get at the tank:
Remove 8 fasteners.
Loosen 4 fasteners.
Pull piece of aluminum bed out.
Remove fuel tank access panel.
Profit!

3. The cap behind the door is made precisely for this purpose. The seat goes back as far as it went before. Naturally, the seat will have to be fairly upright when it is in that position, but not uncomfortably so. With the seat all the way back and the steering wheel all the way forward, there are 32" between the headrest and the top of the steering wheel.

4.
5. Good question. If you remove the front passenger seat, maybe two trips. If you bring a small utility trailer, one trip. We will be making the molds next week. We have at least a month of work left before we will be shipping complete truck kits.
6. The 2-door Golf question comes up a lot. The 2-door would be a cool project, but we spent a lot of time mocking it up and we were not able to make the proportions of the 2-door to look good. With a shorter bed and longer doors, the 2-door Golf really looks 'cute'. That's not to say that someone else couldn't do a better job.
You would be signing up for significant custom modifications to our fiberglass body and to the subframe we provide. Mount points would need to be cut off and moved. Gutters under the bed may need modification. However, buying our kit would get a custom builder MUCH closer to completing a 2-door truck than if he were to start from scratch. If the goal is AWD, it might be a lot easier to find the components in a junkyard and swap them into a 4-door shell. The kit is a weekend build with a 4-door, but probably a couple months of hard work if you start with a 2-door.

We have new pictures of the UTE prototype! We will soon be making molds and going full production.

That thing looks FACTORY!! AWESOME!!!

Welcome back, Manny!

Everything looks good. I appreciate the candor in your answers. From everything I see, it appears I will just need to convince myself to pull the trigger at this point...

Cheers,

PH

Wow. This looks really good. I used to have a black 83 pickup, so reminds me totally of that. Pickup from back in the day:



Just so I'm clear and sorry if I missed it...the donor is a Jetta sedan or is it a wagon? The reason I ask is that it's about 100x easier to find a cheap donor sedan around here than wagon.

Thanks!

75r90rider said:

Just so I'm clear and sorry if I missed it...the donor is a Jetta sedan or is it a wagon? The reason I ask is that it's about 100x easier to find a cheap donor sedan around here than wagon.

Thanks!

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Any 4-door Jetta or Golf from 1999-2004 will work. The Jetta Wagon should work, but of course they are 'rare' and so it is unlikely that many folks will actually cut those up.

I have a MKIV wagon that I have no intention of cutting up, but I wanted to chime in to say that this kit looks GREAT! I'm really impressed, and can't wait to see customer pictures when TDIClub members get ahold of these!

Keep up the good work!

Just wanted to say congrats on the autoblog publicity.

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/smyth-performance-volkswagen-jetta-ute-pickup/

Manny,

Wow, that looks incredible. Has me contemplating doing some very wrong things to my fine Jetta sedan. (or at least, now I can never sell it, and someday this WILL happen - please don't ever go out of business/production)

I know you said you expect the curb weight to drop a bit, but any figures on that yet?

I see the sunroof is retained on your prototype car. Can it still tilt open? Is it easy to disable the sliding opening of it? I presume you had to ditch the sliding shade/cover?

Is there any usable storage behind the front seats in your cab? Too bad the recline feature is that f&*ckin stiff twist-knob. (maybe 2-dr seats would work better?)

And just note from your marketing standpoint - there are a lot of us out here who despise facebook and try not to use it. You guys need to post regular updates on a blog site within your website!

Thanks, guys!

We also had a little writeup on Motor Trend and GAS2

shizzler said:

Manny,

Wow, that looks incredible. Has me contemplating doing some very wrong things to my fine Jetta sedan. (or at least, now I can never sell it, and someday this WILL happen - please don't ever go out of business/production)

I know you said you expect the curb weight to drop a bit, but any figures on that yet?

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About 100lbs lighter, but we are still working on our manufacturing/tooling so we are not sure of the exact weight of the truck built with all production pieces. Our prototype is heavy with the extra materials needed to get the shapes right.

shizzler said:

I see the sunroof is retained on your prototype car. Can it still tilt open? Is it easy to disable the sliding opening of it? I presume you had to ditch the sliding shade/cover?

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The sunroof can still tilt open, but it cannot slide back. We are still looking for a solution to keep it from sliding back. I haven't had time to investigate whether the controls go. Since the key can shut the sunroof, I am hoping we will be able to reflash hardware. Worse case, there is probably some way to mechanically modify the knob so that it is physically restrained or disconnected from sliding in those positions.

shizzler said:

Is there any usable storage behind the front seats in your cab? Too bad the recline feature is that f&*ckin stiff twist-knob. (maybe 2-dr seats would work better?)

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There won't be much storage behind the seats unless you're short! If I remember correctly, you are on the tall side, right?

shizzler said:

And just note from your marketing standpoint - there are a lot of us out here who despise facebook and try not to use it. You guys need to post regular updates on a blog site within your website!

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It's not a bad idea for us to have a feed that at least copies our Facebook posts to a non Facebook site. I'll look into a non-FB update solution.

Eh, not too tall (5'11"). Looking at your cab, I'm not too worried about comfort - looks great.

Shouldn't there just be a wire up by the sunroof control switch one could clip to prevent the rear sliding operation? Or is there a chip controlling the sunroof motor? I have no idea how that contraption works, haha.

I forgot another important question though! What about trailer hitch compatibility? If I were to turn my sedan into a UTE, I'd for sure be wanting to tow small utility trailers around. Looking at your pics, it seems that an OEM hitch would do no good at all. Are you guys working on a custom solution? A 2" receiver hitch would be the cats a$$.

shizzler said:

I forgot another important question though! What about trailer hitch compatibility? If I were to turn my sedan into a UTE, I'd for sure be wanting to tow small utility trailers around. Looking at your pics, it seems that an OEM hitch would do no good at all. Are you guys working on a custom solution? A 2" receiver hitch would be the cats a$$.

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Perhaps behind the rear license plate? It could be on a hinge to flip it down out of the way.

We are going to be busy making the truck kit a reality for a little while. For the first year or so we do this truck kit there will be very few if any accessories.

Once our kits are rolling out the door without effort, we will start on making accessories a major part of our business!

We're also going to be doing a 5th wheel hitch for a custom trailer. Stay tuned!

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