Getting Lilcar ready for an 1800 mile road trip this summer

[moogie32]

Thanks so much for everyone's positive comments- It means a lot! Believe it or not every picture posted was taken with either my iPhone 5S or Sarah's iPhone 6 - nothing special - but it's amazing the quality you can get from a phone!


So, yesterday we drove the final leg home - from Ellsworth Maine to Connecticut - another 400 miles. We were immersed in fog until we started to move inland in Massachusetts but persevered and kept the top down the whole time. It's funny - If I had covered Lilcar with a tarp at nights to keep the dew off her I really could have gotten away without a top for this tour. Anyway, we drove Route 1 most of the way in Maine, stopping for wild blueberries at a roadside stand and at a VW repair place that Bill knew the owner of. We crossed the Penobscot Narrows Bridge in Prospect Maine (really cool suspension bridge) and when the rest of the group stopped for lunch the Ghias parted company from the Porsches and headed home. When we stopped for the blueberries I wasn't able to get the passenger door shut and before we split from the group we had a mini repair session in the diner parking lot - turns out Lilcar's striker plate had developed a crack at the top which prevented the door from latching. We wound up attaching a bunch of bungee cords to the door handle to the other side of the top frame, locking the door, and Sarah was instructed not to lean against it for the remainder of the trip. Worked well, but I was very happy to pull into our garage 10 hours after we started our drive home. What a long day!

So, I guess we are at the end of this thread...the places we traveled were some of the most breathtaking I have seen and being able to do it with my daughter and such a fine group of fun people was incredible. And to do it in Lilcar was the icing on the cake! The total mileage was (drum roll, please) 2253 and aside from the hubcap incident and the striker plate malfunction the trip was flawless.

Of course, all this has just done is to whet my appetite for more adventures in her. It's so great to have a Ghia that I don't have to think twice about taking out for a day of fun on back roads or a longer road trip. I think I would like to look into beefing up the brakes to a 2 circuit system and maybe have a camber compensator installed. But that will have to wait a little. It's time to stop spending so much!

I couldn't have done this without everyone's support here and of course the help of the fine people who did the work on her, most notably John Kaiser and Rob Pac. Their work speaks for itself! And I realize how lucky I was was to be invited on a Bill Collin's tour - Lilcar would still be sporting her tired engine and be topless if I didn't have that goal to work towards....
Lastly I have to thank my family who suffered through all the ups and downs as this adventure unfolded......

OK - enough sentiment - here are the last of the pictures....

At VW repair place

we think this was a '67

1956 oval

Fresh wild blueberries - you have to taste these things to believe them!!

Penobscott Narrows Bridge

See you on our next adventure!

_________________
RIP HBB (1984-2009)
Du liefst so gut
Du warst so schön
Doch leider musst du von uns gehn

[John Moxon]

Thanks Diane, we enjoyed the trip...all of it. The restoration, the problems and the problem solving, the nail-biting deadline and the triumphant ride.

Great advert for the community and for you sharing in it. Looking forward to the next road trip.
_________________
John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[moogie32]

Thanks John! I look forward to my next road trip thread and am hoping that more people get inspired to create some of their own!

_________________
RIP HBB (1984-2009)
Du liefst so gut
Du warst so schön
Doch leider musst du von uns gehn

[Bill Silvestri]

Diane,
I'm still pinching myself wondering if the last week was only a dream.
What a truly fantastic week of perfect weather, breathtaking views, superb roads, cool hotels, great food and nice people!
And we were able to keep pace with those old Porsches!
Driving home into the sunset was the icing on the cake!
Can't wait to do it again!
Bill

[moogie32]

I know! I know! An experience of a life time to be sure!
I am really hoping Bill invites us on another one!

I have to give Bill and Hillary credit for some of these wonderful pictures too -
he's really an artist when it comes to photography!
_________________
RIP HBB (1984-2009)
Du liefst so gut
Du warst so schön
Doch leider musst du von uns gehn

[63vwdriver]

Diane, thanks so much for keeping the thread active on the entire journey, which obviously started years before the trip. Your pics and descriptions of the tour were breathtaking, and I almost felt like I was there. Thanks for providing an opportunity for so many of us to experience the tour second-hand. Great job getting Lil in shape for the trip, and I wish you many years and miles of enjoyment with her!

Greg

[moogie32]

[aerosilver]

Did you need any spare interior pieces?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/search.php?username=mark+hinrichs

From Lilcars twin!

[moogie32]

[aerosilver]

[moogie32]

Well, thanks to Aerosilver and also Rome who alerted me I just received 6 huge boxes today from Mark Hinrichs in Missouri - I was able to work with him to purchase the entire interior of his 49K twin to Lilcar and it's beautiful! I'll post pictures tomorrow but suffice it to say I am in 7th heaven tonight! Thank you Mark for helping me out- can't wait to install all of it!
_________________
RIP HBB (1984-2009)
Du liefst so gut
Du warst so schön
Doch leider musst du von uns gehn

[John Moxon]

[moogie32]

Here you go, John!

First here's the car all this came from- only 49K miles on it and apparently it was stored in an underground garage where unfortunately it was subjected to water dripping onto it from the street above from time to time.

Mark is turning it into a rat rod!
Fortunately for me he wasn't interested in keeping the interior for his project and rather than sell it piecemeal worked with me to sell it intact. While my current interior is made up of pretty much all original parts I had to paint most of the ice blue with as close a color I could get with vinyl spray paint and while it was acceptable when I finally found original ice blue seats it never matched and that always bothered me. All of this needs a good cleaning but since it's from the same car the color should be an exact match - I worked on the front seat bottoms last night and I still have some mild staining but it will look fine with the rest of Lilcar since she's not perfect either. So, without further ado - here's Lilcar's new interior!

seat bottoms before cleaning and after

seat tops front and back

door panels - note vapor barrier intact on one of them!

rear seat

hinge covers - need a little work but these are super rare

Beautiful ice blue steering wheel, signal arm and windlace

near perfect glovebox decal

uncracked dash pad

ice blue visors and convertible only mirror

ice blue header bow cover

every fastener removed plus handles and knobs

original boot which up until now I thought was supposed to be turkis-
looks Pacific Blue to me

Check this out - this is the original headliner for this car- ice blue just like the rest of the trim - I had heard that the headliner was supposed to be
ice blue but this is my first proof positive of it. Too bad no one makes it
anymore.
So, that's pretty much it - I also have the ice blue bits which go around the rear seat and the piece which covers the rear parcel tray which might have to be used as a pattern because it's cracked in the center. You never see that with the top down anyway so I am certainly not complaining! Now the only thing I need to find are the convertible only salt and pepper square weave for around the wheel wells in the back. Can't wait to find the time to install all this - in the meantime I'll be spending what time I have cleaning it up.....
Whohoo!
_________________
RIP HBB (1984-2009)
Du liefst so gut
Du warst so schön
Doch leider musst du von uns gehn

[mcdonaldneal]

Oh wow!!
That looks absolutely fantastic! You must be delighted!
Just goes to show that something you would think impossible can actually happen! Mark is a star, and I would say that what you have gathered there is pretty much priceless! Now you can look forward to getting it all installed and continuing your adventure with Lilcar...
Thanks for sharing the story, this is one of my favourite Samba threads!
_________________
1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery!

[John Moxon]

A very lucky lady Diane...very pleased for you.
_________________
John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[moogie32]

Thanks, you guys! Mark IS a star - it was great dealing with him- we had a lot of fun just chatting about his VW related history on many a phone call. Back in the day he had a 21 window van he used as his work truck- he even sent me some pictures of it. In addition to his rat project he recently bought another 21 window he's been after for years that he's going to restore. Super nice guy for sure!

I can't wait for Lilcars's next adventure too - I know we'll do something this summer - it just can't be as long as this past trip. Stay tuned for updates...I have to admit it's nice to be back working on her again!
_________________
RIP HBB (1984-2009)
Du liefst so gut
Du warst so schön
Doch leider musst du von uns gehn

[aerosilver]

Awesome! Glad it all worked out

Loving the headliner! and all the other colour coded pieces.
It's a top colour scheme! Must have looked amazing when new in '63

Look forward to seeing it all in place

[moogie32]

It wouldn't have happened without you Aerosilver! If I can ever return the favor don't hesitate to ask...
I do agree completely about the color scheme but of course I am pretty biased!
_________________
RIP HBB (1984-2009)
Du liefst so gut
Du warst so schön
Doch leider musst du von uns gehn

[moogie32]

More than 3 years have passed since my last addition to this thread- life getting in the way (plus a little procrastination) prevented the installation of the "new" interior until the last few months. The impetus to get this done is another tour; Lilcar, my son Matt, and I are off on another adventure May 31 which starts and ends in West Dover, VT and will cover about 500 miles. A trip much shorter than the one to Nova Scotia yet substantial enough to feel the need to give her interior a much needed rehab. I’ve been plugging away at it over the last two months and documenting it with photos along the way since it's been a learning experience that I thought I might share. With the exception of the rear seat bottom, the glove box door, and the visors every item from the '64 that donated its interior needed attention before it could be installed and generally the installation was less than smooth. Still, I am in awe that interior pieces produced 18 months after Lilcar’s originals fit as well as they do… Anyway, I'll start with the door cards –
The pristine appearance of the 1964 door cards were one of the biggest reasons I bought the 1964 interior. Lilcar's painted door cards were literally falling apart and were separating from the backing board.

Since Lilcar’s PO painted her entire interior black I had no choice but to paint it back to the closest colors I could source. The turkis was very close to what it should have been but the ice blue was a slightly different hue, especially noticeable when viewed side by side with original ice blue vinyl seats. See how the seats don't match the door card? This used to drive me nuts!

I was ecstatic to finally have some nice original replacements. The only problem with the 1964 cards was that the door pockets needed to have their elastic replaced. First thing I did was to remove the upper pocket staples and clip the pocket backward with clothespins

The elastic is held in place by two clips on each end and a long vinyl tube which can expand in sections.

Mine was firmly secured top and bottom by factory adhesive and I made the mistake of trying to open the “tube” up on one end to remove the old elastic and replace it with the new one. Soon enough I realized the error in my ways (this had to be painstakingly reglued back in place after the elastic was installed) and by the time I got to the second card I came up with another method-
I sewed a pocket into the new piece of elastic and inserted a long metal rod. I found a plant stake in the basement but any long metal rod with something to grip at the end would do.

Next, I inserted this into one end of the tube and gently worked it back and forth snaking it gradually through the tube. Patience is key here so you don’t rupture anything.

Once it’s through, sew in one of the clips

Attach one clip into the door card and pull the elastic as tight as necessary to get the door pocket taunt. Sewing in the other clip is a bit tricky as you can’t allow the elastic to slack any but a little trial and error and I was satisfied with the results. Once both clips were reattached to the card I stapled the back of the pocket back in place. One of the biggest issues I had the last time I took my interior apart was finding a source for the 1/8” staples VW used on much of their interior pieces. I was forced to use longer staples which couldn’t be seated properly or they’d poke through the vinyl. I found this wonderful stapler online

https://www.nailgundepot.com/spotnails-ps8016-20-g...UyEALw_wcB
along with the staples

One of the best purchases I’ve made – I got to the point where I looked forward to having to staple, something I used to dread before. Once everything was back in place I was pretty pleased with the results

Next up – front seat repair!
_________________
RIP HBB (1984-2009)
Du liefst so gut
Du warst so schön
Doch leider musst du von uns gehn

[TDCTDI]