What did you do to your ghia this week?

[chipster]

[snookerdude]

my ghia took me fishing this week. 160m trip. 80mph freeway speeds. no strain for my 1776. many raised eyebrows as the antique passes them. all i did for it was give it a very expensive drink. with my first ghia i had to be down to fumes to be able to put $3. in the tank. my last fill up cost $45.

[Altema]

[EasternBikesMike]

Been a while since my last up date but here is a list of what I got done. All lights working, new gas tank and lines, tires 145/65 and 175/65, new lowered ball joints, new monroe shocks, treated all the surface rust and painted with POR15. garage aligned the front end(will get it done professionally later), bumpers hopefully put on this week. from bottom of the beam ends to ground is 1.75" might be to low but barely rubs at full turn without narrowing the beam so I think it is low enough.

[chipster]

Getting ready for Inferno Orange Metallic paint,

[Stonesrock]

Back in January I grabbed a bunch of stuff out of a 1973 Ghia going to the crusher at the scrap yard. I've had an unreliable in my 1970 Ghia. I was looking at the relay with 49, 49a, and 31 from the 1973 Ghia and it had the same #'s as my 1970 relay. But there was a difference, my 1970 relay had a 4th lead marked "KBL", whereas the 1973 relay only had 3 leads and no "KBL" lead. I hooked up the 1973 relay to the 1970 wires and the flashers worked great but there was no "arrow" flash on the dashboard. I just added the "arrow" flash "blue" wire to the 49a lead and the dashboard arrow worked, too. Problem solved!

Old relay (attached to wires) and 1973 relay in black


Old lead #'s 49, 49a ,31, and KBL


Old lead # 211 953 215 C

[Altema]

Finally pulled of the rear right wheel and took it in to have the rim leak fixed. Belle Tire pulled the tire off, wire wheeled the rim, remounted the tire, balanced it, and also dismounted a snow tire from a rim I wanted to paint for future use. No charge! I also installed the surround trim for my new "no hack" stereo, and replaced the oil cooler duct now that it's warming up a bit here. Having that duct off in the winter makes a noticeable difference in heater output temps.

Paul

[tondemonai]

Bought a tunnel mat, fuel tank seal, and brake spring kits from Wolfsburg West.
Found that the standard 276mm fuel sender does not fit in my tank - which is some cause for concern. It's about 3cm too high. I have the original tank - there's still original paint on it that matches the OG color.

Eventually I'll run out of parts to buy and have to put them on the car!
_________________
(O= i =O) One day, lad, this car will be yours.

[Altema]

Went to install new brake light switches and had to straighten out the mangled mess at the MC. The brake lights had worked until a few weeks ago, then they would not come on unless I braked firmly. The car has a two switch MC, but there were only two terminals connected out of the six, and the wire for the dash warning light was cut off.

I referenced the correct wiring diagram for my '70 coupe to make sure it was right, and it really boils down to being simpler that it looks. Since the wires were already hacked, I cut the mess off and made three "Y" cables with two female spade ends and one crimp-on splice connector, and attached those to the three wires original wires. The three wires split off to both switches.

I'll refer to the terminals as left, middle, and right. I installed my switches with the middle terminal on the bottom. Switch 1 is towards the front of the car.

Black wire: Power from fuse block. Connect to the left terminal of switch 1 and the right terminal of switch 2.

Red wire: Feed for dash warning light. Connect to both middle terminals.

Black wire with red stripe: Feed for rear lights. Connect to right terminal of switch 1, left terminal of switch 2.


Paul

[Brodie515]

So I picked up my very first Karmann Ghia on Thursday. Today I took a vacuum to it and washed it. It is a 1971 Coupe. I have a new dash pad and I want to install it, but I am planning on getting it painted eventually. Right now it is a Sunshine Yellow color, but I would like it to be silver. I don't know if I should wait until I can pay to get it painted to install the new dash and the rear parcel tray or if it would be okay to get it on now. I also bought some new fuses and a new left headlight. Right now my left highbeam isn't working, and my turn signals are not working either. I thought they were working when I looked at the car, but now they are not...fuses didn't fix the problem. I have a lot of work to do on it, but I was able to drive it today while the sun was out so that was great. It is going to be a project, but one I am so excited to start!

[Altema]

[Brodie515]

[Altema]

You should be able to get the hood open by having someone hold the release lever while you use a cloth-wrapped screwdriver to gently help the hood open. Be careful not to damage the car!

You can also make a tool out of a wire coat hangar by forming one end into a two-ended hook. I made one and will post a picture if I can find it.

[calexican]

Just scraped off about a ton of bondo that was covering the trim holes on doors and sides, the side badge had been filled in as well, got it all out, can get a badge now. I have decided that I hate bondo. Looking forward to getting the trim and badge in.

[Brodie515]

[crimson ghost]

[chipster]

Used the Atomic Orange Metallic GM Paintcode, painted in Dupont chromabase, 3 layers of color, 3 layers of clear. The pearls just shine!

[kareng]

Wow, that looks great, can't wait to see that riding around town!
_________________
74 Karmann Ghia Vert

[foamermetal]

Put the Ghia on the road after 16 years of sitting in the woods. Taking it to the Silver Dollar Raceway VW show in Reynolds tomorrow.

[chipster]