Washburn's Metal.
Air-cooled VW & Porsche.
Chassis work, sheet metal fabrication, and complete builds. Orange, CA. That's the whole thing.
We work on air-cooled Volkswagen and Porsche platforms — Type 1 Beetles, Type 2 Buses (Split and Bay), Type 3s, Karmann Ghias, and Porsche 356/911 chassis. Our scope covers chassis restoration and repair, structural and cosmetic sheet metal fabrication, and complete frame-off builds. Operating out of Orange, CA since 2017, we've stayed narrow by design: air-cooled platforms only, no water-cooled crossover work.
Structural integrity starts at the metal, not at the paint booth — every repair inherits whatever tolerance stack is already built into the panel and chassis beneath it. That's why we treat sheet metal and chassis work as the restoration itself, not prep for one. Panels leave the shop in bare metal: no filler bridging a poor weld, no primer hiding an out-of-spec seam. Every job runs on a written work order with itemized scope, and we maintain a photographic record through each stage — so the fabrication history of your car is documented, not just implied.
The shop's work has been featured in two national air-cooled titles — Hot VWs and VW Trends — five stories between 2020 and 2023, shot and written at the bench as the work happened. Full write-ups on our press page.
Parts we've actually run.
Nothing else.
Made in the shop
Brake stop plates, tunnel access plates, the BY01-CF carbon-fiber carb-window kit, CH27/CH28 chassis bracket sets — formed to factory geometry on our own brake, from the same gauge cold-rolled steel. If it has the Washburn's stamp, it was made here.
Stocked parts
German OE, EMPI, BUGPACK, Heritage, and a couple of cottage shops whose stuff actually fits. We don't carry parts we haven't used. If it wouldn't go on our own car, it doesn't go in the catalog.
Fitment questions
If your application is borderline — modified pan, custom IRS swap, body on a non-stock chassis — call before you order. We'd rather talk you out of the wrong part than process the return.
Three disciplines.
One standard.
Chassis Work
Pan repair, squareness checks, IRS conversions, frame straightening on the surface plate.
Metal Work
Panel fabrication, rust repair, fender work, apron work, custom one-offs. Finished in bare metal.
Vehicle Builds
Frame-up, period-correct, restomod. Written scope before anything gets cut. Documented at every stage.
A small line of parts made in the shop — brake stop plates, tunnel access covers, the BY01-CF carbon-fiber carb-window kit, the CH27/CH28 chassis bracket sets, and the bushing kits we built for our own cars. Made one at a time, priced fairly.
Browse Originals →Come see the shop.
We're easy to find.
811 W. Barkley Ave., Orange, CA 92868
Off the 22, east of Glassell. 5 minutes from Old Towne Orange.
washburnsmetalshop@gmail.com
(657) 438-7002