December 58 Ghia cabriolet lifetime restoration project

[Altema]

Sorry, I posted this in the wrong thread!

[ScottDoonan]

Hey Loren, the photos of the stripped & cleaned parts are awesome. You have a great ability for detail, and it is VERY helpful to the community. I would love to see the car and what You are doing to it. Haven't seen the body or un/re construction lately. Please show us what's going on, I know I am wondering. BTW are you going to BOR? If you are breakfast burritos will be at my spot, please stop by.
_________________
If you take time to do it, do it right and don't be so damn cheap.....🤙🏻

1959 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet (current restoration)
1965 Porsche 356 SC coupe
1967 Volkswagen Convertible Beetle
1969 Porsche 911E Targa 3.2 twin plug
2006 Porsche 987 Rüf 3400K Prototype #2 of 2

[Loren]

Unfortunately the late summer is my busy time at work so I haven't been able to do much on the engine, but I have been able to spend some money on parts I sent my pair of Porsche 32 PBIC carbs to Joe Ruiz to be rebuilt and they turned out really nice. He had all the hardware zinc plated, rebushed the throttle shafts, jetted them for my engine and replaced a few broken and overly worn parts.

Here is what they looked like before I sent them to Joe:

and here is what they look like now:

I also ordered one of Joe's reproduction Okrasa 8 mm brass fuel lines to replace the WW thinner fuel line. Here are some images of Joe's fuel line next to the WW reproduction:

While I was on a roll I also purchased a rebuilt fuel pump from Ed Fall at Vintage Works:

I still need to get the original engine hardware cad plated and find a few more small parts before I can get the engine together, but it is getting closer. If all goes well I should have the long block assembled by the end of Fall.

[djway3474]

Looks NOS

[djway3474]

Hi Loren,
I was looking at your seat pictures again as it is getting close to time for me to start on the upholstery.
The seat backs in particular are in question here. It appears the red set and the green set are constructed differently. The red set it appears that the material that touches the driver goes around the bottom bar and the cardboard strip hooks in the retainer after circling the bar. The back piece looking at the cardboard strip appears to stop at the bar and was screwed in. My seat frames have those exact holes too.
The green seats appear to have both front and back cardboard pieces slotted in the retainer from the bottom.
Am I seeing that correctly?
Also, have you taken a seat apart to see how the large cardboard piece goes over the 8 pointy flesh rippers (I learned the hard way LOL) on the rear portion of the seat back?
This is probably just the first in many question as all I have is shreds of what appear to not be stock covers.

[Loren]

Unfortunately, my car was stripped of the original engine and transmission well before I got it. I have been searching for a number correct transmission for a little over two years now. Last week my search came to an end and my "new" transmission is currently getting rebuilt. Other than that not much to report.

[djway3474]

Glad you were able to find one

[wolksman]

Just saw a frontseat back (59 ) with screws that hold the upholstery and I disassembled mine (58 ) and they have these holes too. Did you already made the patterns? Keep up the good work.

[Loren]

I still haven't made any patterns for the seats. I ordered door panels and vinyl from SMS Auto Fabrics over a year and a half ago and still don't have them. They have great products, but their customer service sucks! They originally quoted me a 6 month wait time, then strung me along with "oh, your order will be done in 2 more months", which turned into 2 more months and so on. I finally told them that I will go up there in person to resolve my order and it looks like I should have them soon. I am not the only person who has had this issue either.

On a positive note, I had to drive down to L.A. for work two months ago and decided to take some nuts and bolts down to get plated. I spent a whole weekend cleaning hardware and ended up collecting 50 pounds of hardware to get plated. I dropped it off at Tech Plate in Anaheim and was really happy with their customer service and the quality of their work. I also had 93 screws plated and they did a great job. They only chrome plated the head of the screws so the threads didn't get clogged up with chrome. This past week I have been sorting hardware and trying to figure out where it all goes. I have parted out a few Ghias and have collected quite a bit of hardware, so I hope to have enough to finish the car. I plan on cleaning the garage this summer and I'm sure I'll find more hardware to plate, but this should be the bulk of it.

Here is what I had clear cadmium plated. A few things were originally plated with black oxide (like the pan bolts, door panel clips and some engine bolts) but I decided I wanted them cad plated.

This is the hardware for the chassis. They are actually much darker in person and look like NOS. The morning light doesn't do them justice.

If any one decides to get hardware plated be sure to clean it really well. I degreased all the chassis hardware first. Next I dipped all the hardware in muriatic acid for about 10 minutes and washed thouroughly (be sure not to put any pot metal, aluminum or chrome parts in the acid). After the acid bath I did a visual inspection and tossed any bad hardware, filed any rough spots and chased any clogged or damaged threads. Finally, I put the hardware in a tumbler with walnut shells over night. I doubt most shops would go to the trouble to clean them as well as I did. All the cleaning really gets old, but it pays off and makes for a much better end result . All in all the plating cost $652. It cost $100 to plate 16 lbs of black oxide, $260 for 34 lbs of clear cad, $120 to plate 93 screws and $128 for a strip and waste disposal charge. The additional charge was for shipping.

While I was in L.A. I also picked up my rebuilt transmission from Joe Ruiz. If I can get the transmission outside I will get some pics and post them. It really turned out nice!

Progress has been slow, but I hope to have more updates throughout the upcoming months.

[djway3474]

Squeak squeak squeak ! it's an inside joke

Looking good

[Loren]

I just got some good pics of the transmission Joe Ruiz rebuilt for me. I really like his attention to detail.

Here are images of the transmssion before the rebuild:

Here is the rebuilt transmission:

I like the fact that Joe goes to the trouble to replate and use the original Kamax hardware

Joe even used one piece boots and the original turn style clamp

[kingkarmann]

All of this documentation is simply fantastic!
Thank you !!!
_________________
"Depression is a malfunction of the instrument we use to determine reality.”

Mike Gerson

What is your "Bespoke Reality"?

[Loren]

Perhaps the longest saga I have had to deal with is the order I place with SMS Auto Fabrics almost 2 years ago! I ordered door panles, extra pyramid vinyl (waffle weave) for the hinge covers, welt cord and hair cell vinyl for the seats on 9-16-13. Initally they quoted me a 6 month wait time. I though it was a long time to wait, but I have seen their panels in person and they looked great. I also had a good recomendation about their work so I decided to place the order. Looking back I should have done an online search for feedback on SMS, needless to say their feedback is not good.

I waited about 7 months and emailed SMS for an update on my order (they don't answer their phones and you have to leave a message so they can call you back). They said they were in the cue, along with a few other orders of low light door panels. Unfortunately, they asked for full payment up front and after 6 months you can't get your credit card company to cancel the payment. I ended up emailing them constantly and tried to be the greasy wheel (it seemed to help slightly).

I finally recieved my order last week and was dissapointed. First off this is what I saw when I opened the box:

The only packing in the box was a bit of trash at the bottom! The door panels were nicely plastic wrapped together, but with no padding they were free to dance around inside the box for the duration of their trip to my door. I pulled them out and this is what I found:

The welt cord had been dislodged from the door panels during shipping! I also noticed the pyramid vinyl was gray not tan like I ordered and the welt cord was textured and tan (it should be smooth and white). There was also a small ding on the leading edge of the panel.

Funny the pyramid vinyl in the above photo looks tan, but in person it was gray.

Needless to say I left the panels wrapped up and emailed SMS. They sent a UPS return label and they will be going back next week, along with the extra gray pyramid vinyl and the extra textured tan welt cord they sent me.

The only part of the order that was correct was the red hair cell vinyl. Here are some images of the SMS vinyl next to some original scraps of red vinyl. The scraps were found behind the door panels of two low lights I parted out years ago. They were used between the door pull bracked on the back of the door panel and the bracket on the door to keep them from rattling. The SMS vinyl looks a little darker but the texture and color is fairly close.

The original samples are on top and bottom while the SMS vinyl is in the middle. Each of the original samples were a little different in color, likely due to different dye lots.

Hopefully SMS will get my order sorted out and I can get back to more important projects on the Ghia.

[djway3474]

[ScottDoonan]

WOW that's a bummer.
_________________
If you take time to do it, do it right and don't be so damn cheap.....🤙🏻

1959 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet (current restoration)
1965 Porsche 356 SC coupe
1967 Volkswagen Convertible Beetle
1969 Porsche 911E Targa 3.2 twin plug
2006 Porsche 987 Rüf 3400K Prototype #2 of 2

[sputnick60]

Loren,
I don't know how to say this without the risk of sounding rude, which is not my intent. However, If you can possibly return the unsatisfactory product and get your money back, please consider a follow up by contacting Kevin Ferguson to do the interior. He doesn't take such a long time and does care for your satisfaction, especially when comes to matching material and colours. He also packages the product in the best way possible. Mine arrived sealed and padded so no harm could come in transit.

I so sorry this turned up poorly for you. I been observing your thread and believe it will become one of the best ones out there, once these obstacles are overcome.

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!

[djway3474]

SMS will not refund the money. I tried and tried and tried and they refused on my door panels.

[John Moxon]

[djway3474]

[Loren]

Dwayne is right about not getting your money back. Sure I could take SMS to small claims court, but in the end I think it would cost me more in time and money than it would be worth. My complete order came to $1,047, so it would hardly be worth my time, especially if you consider taking time off work and making the 10 hour drive to Portland.

I should have used Kevin, but when I was thinking of buying the panels I saw a Samba post where he stated he wasn't making them any more (thankfully, I think he is making them again). I also heard a rumor (from a supposedly reliable source) who said that Kevin bought his panels from SMS. Now that I have dealt with SMS I can fimly debunk that rumor since Kevin wouldn't be able to get any panels from SMS within a reasonable time frame to fulfill his orders. I have bought a few things from Kevin and he was great to deal with. The quality of his products was great and they were well packed.

I have seen the SMS panels in person and was confident in their quality and I thought I could save on shipping if I could get them state side. I am confidedent that SMS will sort this out and hopefully my experience will educate others to the pitfalls of using SMS. The learing curve on restoring cars is steep and the hardest part of restoring a car is finding reputable businesses to do the work you can't. If nothing else I hope my posts help others with where to get, and not get parts and services for their restoration.