The push against entropy

[sputnick60]

[kiwighia68]

[63 vwnotch]

absolutely awesome work there... I agree, more pics!!!!
_________________
BUS WANTED: 13 window BUS any year considered..

[calexican]

Driving in the rain.....well I drove mine from El Paso to Marfa, TX and back in the rain, which was a lot of fun, but later on that year in the summer I took the heater hose off on the pass side because it kept coming loose, and I never use the heater anyway in the summer, well I forgot to put it back on, and got caught in a torrential monsoon last week, drove through some lake like puddles, made it home fine, but a few days later couldn't get her started only to discover the engine was completely full of water!!!! Good to know this beautiful car is on the road again.

[alansvwTwinCab]

Nicholas, who did you use in Sydney for the engineers certificate?
Where there any issues with the disc brakes?

[sputnick60]

I work in the regulatory areas of international satellite coordination, so I've learned it is important to approach compliance and certification in a way that it is possible to achieve the sometimes contrary goals of what you need and what needs to be legal. Often a bad approach undoes what is actually fully compliant and legal.

I used my local mechanic who has been working on my daily drives for years. He has blue slip certification and I, as a long standing customer, have been keeping him informed about the project and its progress. Trust & communication.

He commented that the car looks very stock standard, which essentially it is. Same track, same engine, better tyres, better seat belts (with ASA markings) and better brakes. There was nothing unusual to draw attention and much that was acceptable. He didn't want an engineering certification because he was clear this car was ADR compliant. It has no radical departures from stock. Presentation.

To assist, I had all my documents there ready for him. All the importation approval certificates and since I used the CSP brakes, ( which are German certified,) I provided the certification paperwork from CSP. (It comes with the brakes or copy can be supplied from the vendor.) Preparation.

I did my homework to make sure obstacles were not present or were totally avoided with external certification. Experience.

Yours, with the Mendeola front and rear suspension is quite a different situation to my car. There is a chance the modifications could attract attention. You could try taking it your local mechanic with a ride height set at "normal" and not mention much about the changes. An operator experienced with Aircooled VWs might not be an advantage here. The department is pushing the responsibility of road worthiness to commercial operators and some are rather more finicky.

If your inspector lists non-compliant items, you should view that as a to-do list that, at the very least, defines the steps to certify your car. This is certainty. If a followup inspection is required, go to the same guy. If you don't, it invites another inspector to scrutinize the previous inspector as well as your action list. You don't want the end of your project to devolve into an expensive hell.

Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[sputnick60]

The formula. Take one Karman Ghia. Add an interesting background. Take a photo or two and the result is a not half bad picture.

I think some will recognise the location.

Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[myghiarocks]

Stunning car and fantastic photo. Thanks for sharing

[kiwighia68]

I read a novel once that in its opening lines declared Sydney to be one of the seven most beautiful cities in the world.

My take on Nicholas' photo: One of the world's seven most beautiful cars in one of the world's seven most beautiful cities.
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[nize]

I am at the moment thinking of how to add some additional heating in my ghia and below I saw something that caught my eye. May I ask about how you solved the heating? Do you run a Eber or similar below the gas tank?

[crocteau]

[sputnick60]

[bluedot]

[nize]

That was indeed a lively tread... I liked your neat installation though. An Eber takes some space but this electrical heater was quite small I must say.

[sputnick60]

I drove up to Gosford today, about an hour out of Sydney. The Ghia ran really well. I seem to have resolved the problem of burning out generators. It seems the NOS German 12 Volt regulator is a dud and sank too much current out of the generator, eventually burning out the armature. This is the second time I've been stung that way. Last time it was blinker/hazard relay set, also NOS but a dud.

Luckily I had a spare Brazilian Bosch Regulator of the same type but before installing it I swapped the cover so the "Bosch Germany" embossing can stay on the car. It was electroplated and would have been a shame to toss.:lol
I might try an get the damaged armatures rewound so parts are at hand to build up a few spare generators. The generator in the car now is my last one.

The mission today was picking up this box of Genuine VW parts.

This had been sitting around since the 90's and never installed. Inside we see this…

You can't make out it very well but it is all the hardware that goes on a Mexican 1600 fuel injection air-cooled motor.
Kit contains Engine tin, Generator & stand, Injectors, Throttle body, Coil, Hall effect distributor, tinware, oil cooler and a bunch of other stuff. I just need an Engine and the ECU, or at least that's what I've identified so far. No doubt there's more to discover.

I'm thinking I might have some fun with this lot.

Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[bobnorman]

I somehow missed that you had concluded this project and were registered and back on the road. So, belated congrats! Your car looks fantastic!
_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289807

[sputnick60]

Thanks Bob, I've been enjoying the car during the recent spring weather here.

A couple of details with the door assembly I didn't mention earlier.

The window crank handle and the crank spindle itself have a hole in the centre that meant for a buffer made of rubber.

The rubber usually get lost but I've found a simple replacement from Pentel..

You just cut these to length and stick it in the centre of the crank spindle

The handle just slides over that and you lock it in with the tiny pin that finds the groove on the spindle.

Jumping topic and here is the set up I worked out to get the fan off the generator. I've has plenty of practise getting generators on an off while diagnosing a dead regulator.

The fan is held by a white webbing loop so the thing doesn't flop over. The red webbing is a conventional tie down that crosses over the vyse to stop the fan moving when the bolts is turned. You wiggle it back and forth tightening the webbing till it doesn't budge. The nut comes off using a breaker bar and an extension tube of about a meter length so application of a smooth torque is possible without stress.

Finally in the mail I managed to get this plate for the radio mounting hole.

It fits from behind the dash is quite solid not wanting to slide up and down or left to right because it picks up the tabs and the lip of the radio opening. I had to file the hole a few millimetres taller to fit the radio and put it on the belt sander to make the gap a small as possible. The '66 only face plate is not flat against dash face and adds several mm to the required Grip length the controls shafts need to press through. There wasn't much thread poking through to start the nut on the control shaft but after a few rounds of sanding I managed to file off the right amount to get the nuts on.

So finally the radio is firmly mounted and I can get on with the dash trim and glove box.

Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Angus Dowrie]

Nicholas

I've only just noticed that your ignition switch is to the left(inside) of the steering wheel. On my RHD 63, the ignition switch is to the right or outside of the wheel. Is that a change on the later model 66?

Angus
_________________
1963 Australian Delivery RHD Coupe
Build thread;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=610414

[sputnick60]

Dang!

Car parks are dangerous.

Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[kgj]

Commiserations. Regrettably a risk we take every time we go for a drive.
_________________
1958 coupe