70 Project for my son

Murdlem · Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 10:50 am Post subject: 70 Project for my son

A few months ago, my 22 year old son was diagnosed with 2 brain tumors. They are/were operable, and he had the first removed April 10th. As a result, he has no hearing in his left ear. He has very poor hearing in his right ear, and he will lose that when he has the surgery to remove the other tumor. He is still recovering from that first surgery, and has two more surgeries anticipated for this year. He has had a rough couple of months.

Anyway, in talking with him a few weeks ago, he was telling me how much he loved my old 1967 Ghia in British Racing Green. I have had a few Ghia's, but he liked the color of that car the best.

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So, after thinking abouty it and discussing it with my wife, I decided that I was going to fix up a Ghia for him and paint it the same color. Hopefully this will in some ways make up a little bit for all of the crap that has been dumped on him since December.

So, I had been watching for Ghias for sale, and I picked up a very solid project base for $1700. Pans are solid (did end up with a couple of pin holes after SCRAPING all of the old tar board material out), body is very solid, it mostly just needs some body work done. It looks like some previous owners had started some repairs of their own, but never finished them properly. Several layers of different colored paint, some light areas of bondo that were never properly sanded, but all in all, a very solid start.

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Right now I am working on the interior. POR-15'd the pan last night, going to sound proof the car as well as I can. At least 2 layers of dynomat and/or other types of products.

He will probably be having surgery to receive a Cochlear Implant this summer, and if that is succesful, he will have some hearing, but I need to do everything I can to eliminate extra noise/sounds. They will make it much harder for him to be able to identify and interpret the things he wants to hear. Voices, Music, etc.

When the basics of the interior are ready, I will then prep the body for paint and get it shot. I am hoping to finish this up by the end of June, so I have my work cut out for me. Especially since I have another vert project I need to get finished this summer as well.

Call me Crazy

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My garage BEFORE bringing in my sons new project.

This weekend, I also plan to pull the motor and swap the tranny with a good recently rebuilt tranny. The tranny that came with the car seems to have issues. Currently it is stuck in reverse and I was completely unable to resolve that issue easily, so it was easier to just swap the tranny.

Planning to swap out the wheels, get the drums/rotors drilled for the Porsche pattern and run Fuchs on it...

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Picked up this parts car a few years back, had Fuchs on.

Anyway, I will post pictures of both my projects as they progress. And they will progress, since I will be losing my job in 3 weeks, and we will selling the house and leaving the area. Losing the job kind of sucks, but it will give me the time to finish up the projects. Wink

I am torn between wanting to find a new job soon, and hoping it takes a couple of months to find one.

Anyway, I will keep you all posted of my progress.
_________________
Eric Meldrum
70 Ghia Coupe
72 Ghia Convertible

popoule · Samba Member Joined: December 01, 2010 Posts: 92

awfull to hear about ure son, i wish him a good recovery and good luck with the project !!, im gonna folow it

sactojesse · Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 11:08 am Post subject:

Thanks for sharing! Best of luck with your son, project, and future employment.
_________________
1966 Karmann-Ghia convertible

NWGhiaGuy · Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 12:22 pm Post subject:

Another ghia getting back together here in the PNW. I love it. They are easy to fall in love with, that's for sure. Best of luck to you and your family.

Greezy Joe · Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 4:32 pm Post subject:

Had a 69 Ghia in BR Green, Loved that car. Nice find for your son and Hope all goes well with his condition.
_________________
Current:74 Ghia Coupe w/ 2276
71 Ghia Vert/top in progress
07 GMC Truck
04 Chrysler Crossfire
73 Harley FLH 93 cid
89 Harley 883 Sportster (1200)

Owned before: 58, 69 Ghia Coupes, 64 Canvas Sunroof, 68, 72, 73, & 74 Bugs, 63 Single Cab, 65 Bus, 66 & 70 Camper
"You have to be smarter than what you're working on"

Basketcase · Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 5:12 pm Post subject:

OK...you're crazy!
Great thing you're doing for your boy. And with loosing your job on top of it. Our youngest was born four months premature. Two days after she was born, my wife got out of the hospital. we wern't home an hour when the hospital called and said get back up here (hour and a half away) By the time we got up there (in 45 minutes) out baby had recovered(some) It was a bumpy couple of months. Kids can tear your hear apart, especially when all you can do is stand there and pray. Amber is graduating high school in a couple of weeks, and after being on the honor roll for longer than I can remember.
You Sir are a heck of a Man to do this for your son with all that's going on. Keep us updated! And good luck and God Bless you and your family.

Murdlem · Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 8:42 pm Post subject:

Here is a shot of the dash when I got it. A bit of surface rust, and lots of yucky glue stuff. Radio hole is all hacked up.

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So, I sanded all the yuck off, taped it off, and shot it with some primer. Want it to look half decent, cause this will be a driving project. I need to figure out what to do with the radio area. I guess, we need to decide on the stereo he wants. When It comes time to paint the car, I will properly pull the guages and finish prepping it.

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Here is the pans with the tarboard all scraped off and POR-15 applied.

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_________________
Eric Meldrum
70 Ghia Coupe
72 Ghia Convertible

Endopotential · Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:23 pm Post subject:

Hey, CRAZY can be a good thing!

Good luck with the project and family and all. You're an inspiration for the rest of us.

About the sound issue, my car has a single layer of Dynamat across the bottom. The worst noise seems to come from all the window seals, particularly the front edge of the main side windows, even after I've replaced everything. Is that normal for a Ghia?

Murdlem · Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 10:22 pm Post subject:

Pulled the engine so I can replace the tranny.

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Here is the tranny that is going in.

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Here is the current motor. 1600 SP. gotta love a motorcycle jack for pulling a VW motor. Very Happy

Next up is to pull the tranny, replace the transmission mounts, put the new tranny in. Ordered a new clutch kit, since the current clutch /tranny are early, and the new tranny is later. Probably smart to replace the clutch with the motor out anyway.

Also going to clean up the engine compartment while the motor is out. What is good paint to use in there, Hi Temp I assume?

Hoping to be putting the motor back in by next Saturday. Probably wishful thinking, but that is my goal. I want this to be a runner, so I can pull it outside to do bodywork on nice days. Too dusty to do it in the garage. I will be able to work on the vert on rainy days where I have to stay inside.

On another note, we just listed our house yesterday, already had somebody looking at it today. Very Happy

. Guess that is what happens when you sell so low. Crying or Very sad

Market here sucks, we are llisting it for $120,000 less than it appraised for a year and a half ago..... Evil or Very Mad

_________________
Eric Meldrum
70 Ghia Coupe
72 Ghia Convertible

Murdlem · Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 4:22 pm Post subject:

Been working on the car as time allows.

With the motor out, cleaned up and painted the engine compartment with a hi temp Por-15 paint.

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Been working on taking off the paint

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Also, I discovered that at some point, the front drivers quarter was replaced. I was wondering about the bondo issues up there, but once the bondo was removed, it became obvious. I am going to have to grind this down a bit better than the PO who did this work. Also curious about why they would have welded shut the old antenna hole just to move it to another location. Anyway, I don't have a huge problem with where it is, and I don't want to change it back, so it may end up staying where it is. If I decide I don't like it, I may end up welding the new hole closed and then rather than try and recreate the old hole, I may move it to the passenger side.

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Interior is also looking much better.

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_________________
Eric Meldrum
70 Ghia Coupe
72 Ghia Convertible

Basketcase · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 7:25 am Post subject:

yeah sometimes we just stand back and scratch our heads and wonder why POs did certian things.
looks like you're making good progress.

NWGhiaGuy · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 7:37 am Post subject:

My guess is that they didn't want to hassle with re-routing the antenna wire from underneath, so a little higher on the fender made access a lot easier!

That reminds me of the fender replacement on my '71. They put a replacement over the top of the original that was partially cut away, lap welded it in place, hammered down the seem and filled it in.

Basketcase · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:13 am Post subject:

ever been grinding down bondo and start pulling out rags, beer cans, and who knows what else!

NWGhiaGuy · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:16 am Post subject:

I found chicken wire and newspaper in a ghia rocker one time. Fire hazard maybe?

ovghiaguy · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 9:30 am Post subject: 70 project for my son

nice work on your ghia. I might have an answer for why po moved the antenna hole. my 70 ghia has hole in same place as the welded up one. It took me 4 antennas to get one that fit straight up and not at a bad angle to car (away from ). And I had already replaced the pillar cover seal and applied undercoating and didn't want to go through that again. A hirschman antenna with the strap that bolts inside the pillar cover area is a good choice. I painted car and didn't think the antenna would be a big deal as one had already been installed. I don't mind sharing my mistakes if it keeps someone from doing the same. Good luck and God bless.

DrakeB · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 10:20 am Post subject:

Max Welton · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 11:06 am Post subject:

Good project and an inspiring story. Keep up the good work.

Max
_________________
The only thing more expensive than cheap parts is mixing cheap parts with stupidity.

josie · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 12:51 pm Post subject:

Great work! You're one helluva dad. Good for you and best wishes for a successful surgery.

Murdlem · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:27 pm Post subject:

Thanks for all of the well wishes. We are heading into Seattle early tomorrow morning for Surgery #2. Fortunately, rather than spend a week at the hospital, we get to bring him home tomorrow if all goes well.

Also, tomorrow is my first official day of unemployment. Gonna have a LOT more time to work on the Ghias.
_________________
Eric Meldrum
70 Ghia Coupe
72 Ghia Convertible

Murdlem · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:40 pm Post subject:

Not a lot to update. Been spending most of my time working on the vert. My sons 70 is getting closer to being ready tro paint. Probably about 70% of paint removed, then a little body work.

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Also swapped out the stock chromies for the polished 8 spokes.

Still hoping to be able to also get some dropped spindles for the front end
_________________
Eric Meldrum
70 Ghia Coupe
72 Ghia Convertible

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