I want an El Camino or something similar

smythkitcars put that into a search engine.

They sell kits to convert various cars into Utes.

Nobody sells utes like this in the USA and trying to import one, or get an old one working is more expensive and difficult to a conversion.

So basically you need to make one yourself, or hire someone to do, really.

>smythkitcars
>Jetta/Golf kit
>diesel Jetta
>kit is $3,000
>MFW its within my reach.

user you're a god send, keep doing you mate.

I'm selling my 82 El Camino with a rebuilt 350 outta Corvette in it with about 100miles on it. Wanna get rid of it to put more money in my other project car. Runs but needs a little work.

Drop your kik if interested.

Shoulda posted that before I feel in love with this Golf?jetta UTE.

not trying blow you off, but I don't use kik, also where abouts are you?

I use Wire chat. cause i'm a foss nerd.

That's my primary but I could make a different account on some other app or something.

I'm in northeastern PA.

Have you considered that the effort of finding a cheap ute is execessive when station wagons are readily available and have most of the utility of a ute, minus throwing dirt or motorcycles in the back? What would you even use the tray for if you're seemingly living fine with a Ford Focus right now?

You ought to take a look at a Gen-1 Tacoma, since your in cali there should be a decent market, if you go with a 2wd version they're reasonably low as far as trucks go and mechanically they're pretty much bombproof.

>Have you considered that the effort of finding a cheap ute is execessive when station wagons are readily available and have most of the utility of a ute, minus throwing dirt or motorcycles in the back?

Yes, Moving to AZ, and have a wood burning stove in the house im moving into to, so I will be hauling wood, I as well Own a motorcycle .

that and I do want something a tad more fuel efficient then a truck.

The golf/Jetta diesel fits that bill pretty much. Plus not going lie I love the Aesthetic of UTE's.

I've also thought of chopping off a crown vic or Station wagon like said.

I've watched this youtu.be/aSWRqyM2z9Y and basically to this conclusion.

its just fabricated metal with fiberglass over it. so Just looking more into it.

I think I can use Solidworks(cad program) make a mock up. then get a Metal fab to cut out the metal I need to spec.

not in cali, just have the cali edition.
However moving to AZ to somewhere near Sedona, so I wouldn't be far off.

I honestly only driven a couple of my father trucks, and hated how BIG they felt. He has a 1993 Chevy with a massive left kit, A dodge ram 2005?6? stock. Just the HUGE factor of trucks have always turned me off.

to answer why I am looking for a UTE or very small truck, I plan to start doing more DIY and other things requiring Mainly Just a bed to haul. Hell if my 2.3L liter focus could haul a trailer, I would get a trailer and just haul with that and call it a day.

Im honestly looking for something with a decent size bed, and is small , and is somewhat OKAY on gas/diesel.

Like one thing I'm working on is a hydroponic/Aeroponic garden and I want to start selling at farmers markets, so I want something to haul a stand and/or trailer so I can sell my wares is just an example.

If you get a TDI you can just use that for minor towing until you go through with chopping the roof off. They're rated for about 3300 lbs in Europe if you keep weight off the tongue (tongue weight in Europe is usually 5% of the total trailer weight). Not sure what price these go for in the US though, I imagine there's a bit of a TDI following.

One more piece of advice: absolutely do get a trailer with brakes if you plan on towing with a car. Even smaller trailers are really hard to brake on the car brakes alone.

I have NO Idea what TDI is, again not car savvy ,yet.

I just started looking at prices on craigslist.

The models i can use for conversion are, 1999.5-2004 Jetta/Golf, 2005-10 Jetta 4 door
and probably going with a diesel one. My question is really out of those years will I get the best mileage from?

Also yea, I would get a trailer with brakes even on a truck, but thank you for the advice.

I'm seeing around $2,200 to $4,000 depending on the model, so I can see the conversion + car coming out to about $6,000 or $7,000 not including time.

>mfw that is sexy.

>My question is really out of those years will I get the best mileage from?
As long as it's got the diesel. 1.9 TDI, 2.0 TDI, doesn't really matter, it's the same block design. They went from 8 valve to 16 valve at some point, but supposedly it doesn't make a great difference either.

any inherited flaws I should know about?

Get and older truck, lower it to car-like ground clearance and put summer tires on it. Watch those Cletus tears as they claim you ruined the car.

You ought to just go and see if there's anyone on craigslist locally that would let you test drive a Tacoma, I've got a 1996 2.4l myself and I often joke that it's just a Camry with a bed, in terms of size it's the same or smaller than most sedans so it's easy to drive in a city with tons of traffic and it's capabilities seem to be pretty much inline with what your looking to do with it, (easily 1500lbs in the bed, 3500 on a trailer), you'd just want to stick to the 1996-2004 years because after that they got decently larger.

buy the brat

>I am not a very car savvy person but instead very computer savvy
It's not as easy to pick up as you think, computers are something we've all grown up with an have a good basis on which to build expertise, just living on my own with no mentors and "watching videos" it took me 3 or 4 years to get to the point where I'm comfortable dailying a 30 year old car, with a 50 year old truck for work. And I learned most of what I know in the last year, under someone's on-off mentorship.

If you don't even know what "TDI" is I would suggest getting a mid 90s wagon to drive every day, getting a cheap project car to wrench and learn as it breaks down, and getting something as old as an Elco a couple of years down the line. Many people told me what I'm telling you 4 years ago and I didn't listen, but they were right.

Even with an old car that's literally pristine, unless you replace every single part with a shelf life at the same time, there's still a high probability you'll have issues within the first few months, because the parts are often 30/40/50 years old.

>the truck for the guy who doesn't want a truck

These never really caught on and the S-10/Ranger/Tacoma type trucks eventually filled the gap here. Now most people who want a truck get a 1/2 ton and call it a day. They come with huge cabs now today that they've replaced not only the small truck but mid size suvs as well. I mean the F150 has more rear leg room than a 7 series in the super crew configuration for fucks sake. I mean people still buy small truck but they are seen much less than the 90s-early 00s.

Beat me to it.

>not buying out a harbor freight

>lefthandutes.com/
They convert Australian utes to left hand drive in the USA.
If you want a ute that is actually worth half a damn that is what you want, the holdens and fords have 500kg-1000kg payload capacities and actually handle well.
Last i checked there really is not a model of Holden or Ford ute that they do not convert to left hand drive.

ISUZU

he said 5k budget, left hand utes are like 40-80k

if you want a el camino: buy a el camino. you can find the malaise era (80s) ones cheap enough. expect rust on any truck you look at. try and find decesed estate sales, or auctions forget craigs list most of those are dodgied up rustbuckets

and the smog era 305 boat anchor is easily swapped for a 350 or make a 383 torque monster. as the 283-400ci all interchange.

raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/d/94-bmw-truck/6459564726.html

get this

nigga if you aint car savy you aint going to build some shitty unibody vagmobile ute.
just get a gbody el camino.got this 86 in may $4800 in nj but was a fl car no rust .parts swap with 78-87 gbody cutlass regal malibu montecarlo grandprix and some s10 truck parts and other gm parts bin.

Holy cow Op here, surprised this thread is still alive. Anyways, when I say car savvy, I literally mean literally building a car from scratch. I can read a haynes, I can change oil, tires, etc etc. the most intensive thing i've done is changed two rear ends with my father.

My father On the East coast has a full shop if I really wanted to do that there.

When I bought my Honda magna 1983, I bought it broken, got a Haynes books. took 10 minutes to find out its a starter, and swap it off the other engine that came from the spare motor that was sold with the bike.Got ether and crank turned the bike on.

TDI, Turbocharged direct injection boy that was sure hard to google and read about, Honestly I guess what I am getting at With the amount of resources online and the capacity to learn, I think as a first side project this seems fine. I'm not trying to do an engine swap in a driveway without an engine lift.

Don't get me wrong, I understand you don't want someone to get in over their head and say fuck it.

I'm finding jetta from 3004- 2010 from $600 to $2,000 depending, like I found some with read end damage, as long as the bottom frame is good, who cares, I would be cutting it off.

I do have mentors if you read properly(not to insult) but I have a mechanic savvy person to aide in things. they also offered to help rebuild my ford focus.

The Jetta ute fits the bill of what I am looking for, and is fine for what I plan to use it for. The other option is to find a cheaper compact truck like othr have said, the gen1 Tacoma.

>1/2 ton and call it a day.
Too big. I f I want to get a truck I want a compact.

Like to put it in perspective, driving my fathers midsize or large dodge ram 2005?6? truck with a custom made hydraulic dump trailer with no brakes, scares the living piss out of me every time I have to do it.

You should go for a 1999.5-2003 Jetta (mk4)
that one is best in terms of pure gas mileage.
I'd also recommend a forum like DeiselGeek or VWVortex, you'll get a hell of a lot more relevant information from there than Veeky Forums

If this plan for the build happens, please post on Veeky Forums

Like the options are right now.

the Jetta Ute
Chopped off station wagon/ Crown vichero

and for trucks,
The s10, gen1 Tacoma, ford ranger.

but I am honestly leaning toward the jetta unless something else is somehow surprisingly cheaper and fits what I need better.

honestly I am leaning towards the Jetta TDI 2.0 diesel after reading and watching youtube videos.

Plus I just think the design is super sexy. Will vinyl wrap or plasti-dip the truck cause why the fuck put a good paint job on a work truck?

>TDI, Turbocharged direct injection boy that was sure hard to google and read about
You know what I mean, basic acronyms and jargon 99% of people with a working knowledge of automobiles should know offhand. Not knowing so would therefore be indicative of being under-read or inexperienced

>I think as a first side project this seems fine
I was under the impression this (an old Elco or even newer Jetta) would be your only car. If it's just a side project or a second vehicle then go for it, the more that breaks down the more you will learn anyway.

If you do an mk4 Jetta or 4-door Golf, the bed will hold more weight if you swap in the rear springs from a Jetta Wagon.

Though if you're hauling a lot of shit on a regular basis, it might be better to look at the Charger kit instead of the FWD Jetta/Golf.

Or, if you want to learn how to weld, you could just hack up a cheap wagon. Volvos are popular for this- chop the back part of the roof off and weld the rear hatch behind the front or rear seats.

Don’t give up on the dream brother