1970 Ghia Coupe Driving Restoration

[neoghio]

This will be the cronical of my very slow finishing of a badly restored original low mileage ghia coupe.

First a little history: I purchased this car here on TheSamba almost two years ago from basicly the second owner. It has what is beleived to be 35,000 original miles. The car was brought to a body shop in Mass. by its original owners around 1997 for a "complete restoration". It seems the original owners wanted a near perfect restoration using a long list of NOS and original German metal in its rust repair. Sadly it seems the original owner(s) died 2/3 of the way through the restoration. (took way too long it seems!) Somehow the body shop took posession of the car after the owners died (I;m guessing they liened it from the estate) The body shop proceeded in F ing up the completion of the restoration just to unload it. They proceeded to use crap rubber and other sub-par parts to complete the car. The car was sold to its second owner in 2003 which moved the car here to Maryland. It was stored outside under cover (when it didn't blow off!) and driven very infrequently until I purchased it in 2008. I bought it to do what I call a "driving restoration". Basicly my goal is to repair and replace everthing the body shop did wrong in the completion of the car. I do not know the quality of the rust repairs that were done but I don't think it is worth takeing the car off the road to do a pan off restoration.

The Car is a 1970 Coupe with original Southwind Gas heater, original owners manual, original matching numbers chassis, correct original engine and transmission, original spare tire, and all maintanace records from the original owners. It has the original seats and upholstery but not the carpet or headliner. It does have the original radio with owners manual. The engine seems to have never been out of the car!

My plans for the car are to do a fairly stock restoration with exception to lowering with riviaras and a performance engine and trans. I would do a complete stock restoration if the car was not so screwed up by the body shop. They should have never tried to restore it. I have nightmares of them throwing away the original carpets for the new crap stuff they put in! Things like this are a reacuring theme as I continue to go through this car. I am going to try my best to use/find as many original parts as possible to hopefully take this car back to the condition before the shop messed it up.

After purchase I basicly drove the car as is for a few months before the gen. pully started to come apart/make noise. I garaged the car under cover until I could "get to it". A little over One year later after starting a new buisness and dealing with some family issues I have begun the cars slow re-restoration. After pulling it out of the garage I had a few issues to deal with due to my improper storage. I did not antisipate the car sitting as long as it did so I did not drain the gas or maintain a charge on the battery. The list of repairs are:
-Drain and clean the gas tank
-Replace the fuel pump
-replace the battery
-replace battery terminals
-Replace dist. with new plugs, wires, points etc.
-Replace Gen. pulley with new belt
-Adjust valves and change oil and strainer

While changing the oil I discovered a catistropic setback. It seems the previous owner had NEVER changed the oil! The case area where the strainer bolts to has corroded away (due to the acidity of the old oil I'm told) so thin you can actually see through it! My plans for a stock restoration was smashed and burned at this moment. As this is the Original engine I'm sure it can be welded and repaired but its not going to happan at this time. I got the strainer to bolt on and not leak too bad so I'm going to run it as is until the winter then pull this engine and plastic wrap it for another day. I am going to build a performance engine and trans. over the winter.

I also installed some parts I had bought over the year it was off the road
-Install restored VDM carriage steering wheel with new horn boss from ISP west (awsome part thanks guys!)
-Install ISP cup holder basket (again awsome part)
-install new door rubber, trunk seal, engine seal and misc. seals from KGPR (everything except the windsheild and rear window rubber)

Current projects happing this month are:

-Mount and install the Weber ICTs I have
-Install new air condition system from Aircooled.net
-Install new factory Mexican style exhaust (had it laying around)
-Install new shifter bushings so shifter will work better
-Clean and detail engine compartment
-Install new antenna and speaker to get radio working

Future projects:
-remove original seat covers and install new horse hair padding
-install new NOS windsheild and blocked corner seal (still looking for oem quality or NOS windsheild)
-install new rear window rubber
-replace door hinges and straps and adjust doors
-install headliner
-clean all wire terminals of corrosion
-clean and repaint touch up front trunk and install hardboard liner
-rebuild Southwind heater with NOS tubing and parts(still searching for factory hoses and rebuild parts)
-rebuild front beam with new BJ and drop spindles. Possibly a narrowed beam
-build and install performance engine (old school cal look 2110cc with 48 IDA's hopefully)
-buy and install new Rancho prostreet trans with berg 5
-touch up paint and repair some dings and small dents
-repaint front trunk lid (cracking paint on the "peak")
-repair small rust hole in floor pan
-install factory style carpet with proper rubber heel pads on mat and tunnel (still looking for what is best proper for this car)
-restore my original rivieras with new tires (depends on beam I choose to go with)
-have my original bumpers rechromed (not looking forward to that bill!!)

and I'm sure much more will surface as I proceed!~
I will post as many pictures as possible as I progress.

_________________
-1970 Ghia Coupe (Sold)
-1960 Beetle (current project)
-1967 Ghia vert (under construction)
-1969 Ghia coupe (under construction)
-1970 Ghia coupe (under construction)
www.slowriders.net

[fastinradford]

the case corrosion is from water. But looks like a nice car. We have a "driving resto" It would be a long list to note all the things we have done to it in the past year.

It came from new england too/ and surprisingly has little rot.
_________________
95 jetta 5spd, (first waterpumper vw)
the nice 74 Ghia, (of course the fiance drives that one).
My mk1 jetta 1.6d

"It'd still be like my grandads old broom though, original, only 3 new heads and two new handles" -Marv [UK]

[neoghio]

I've been having a problem with the installation of the ICT's. I made sure the car was running perfectly prior to the installation. The timing was set, valves adjusted, everything running perfect. I performed the pre-tuning of the ICT's as directed in the red-line manual. After mounting the carbs the engine is back-fireing like crazy and I can not tune out. After about 2 min. of idling the drivers side cylinder tin is cool to the touch and the passenger side cylinder tin is so hot I can't touch it/them. I've concluded the passenger side carb has a major vacume/manifold leak. I do not want to burn my car to the ground so I am hesitant to try the carb spray around the manifold method. I've decided to remove both carbs, re-install the balance fittings with teflon tape (missed this bit of info the first time) and I've ordered NOS single port copper manifold gasket rings (much better the the crappy ones that came with the kit!) Hopefully they get here by this weekend as I have a bit of time to work on the car. I'm still waiting for my AC system to get here from Aircooled.net. I'm hoping to get the ICT's installed and tuned before the AC system gets here. I've included some new pictures of the current state of the car. Its funny how dirty a clean car can look in pictures! You can really notice all the detail work that needs to be done like restoring the pedal assembly, repainting and detailing the trunk, restoring / replacing the engine compartment firewall insulation, replacing the dash face, restoring the gauges, etc, etc, etc......The more I look the more my "list" grows. This may take a while!

Notice the nasty windsheild wiper scratch and de-lamination of the original windsheild.

The door panels are shot as the "restorer" forgot the plastic and rubber clip seals.

_________________
-1970 Ghia Coupe (Sold)
-1960 Beetle (current project)
-1967 Ghia vert (under construction)
-1969 Ghia coupe (under construction)
-1970 Ghia coupe (under construction)
www.slowriders.net

[neoghio]

[Altema]

Looks like your AC unit is going to make you cool and comfy! I like this design much better than some of the others, especially the ones that make you cut up the nose. Is the blower installation under the dash going to block the outlet for your auxiliary heater?

Paul

[neoghio]

[Altema]

[neoghio]

Well I finally got the ICT's to the point that the car would run so I could get to the last show of the season here in Maryland. I've been fighting vacume leaks all over the place! I made it to the show but It wouldn't go over 20mph due to No Power. After talking with a bunch of very nice people at the show I found the cause of all of the problems. The cylinder head tin had a tiny lip caught between both manifolds. I made it home (just barely) and started taking the tin off. I removed the fan shroud/Gen., both carbs, and found that the two back screws for the cylinder tin would not budge. After fighting with them for a bit I stepped back and decided that due to the engine being stripped completely down and the top two engine mounting nuts stareing me in the face I figuered it would be much easier to just pull the engine for the winter now. 30 mins. later I have the engine out and on the garage floor stripped most of the way into a long block.
I'm going to finish stripping the engine into a long block, drain the oil and plastic wrap it for the day I decide to do a stock matching numbers resto. I will have to find someone to repair the damaged area of the case at the sump plate area. I don't even know if this can be repaired and I'm not ready to do this now.

These are the following projects for this winter:

Engine and Trans.

-Strip and paint engine compartment
-Replace engine compartment sound proofing
-Shave/fill un-needed holes and brackets for a clean look
-Pull transmission clean, reseal and change fluid
-Buy/build performance engine and install with new clutch(size depends on how much cash I can come up with!)

Drivetrain

-Pull front beam and install 3" narrowed beam with rebuilt control arms,ball joints, tie rods and a new steering box.
-Install new shocks at all four corners
-Lower rear end and install new spring plate/torsion bushings
-Install new brake soft lines
-Clean the horrible tar like crap they used as Undercoating from as much of the undercarrige as I can get to easily.
-Sand, paint, and polish my Riviara wheels and mount new tires.

Paint

-Remove gas heater (going to put it in storage until I can find parts)
-Repair horrible jagged holes that were cut by the dealer that will be left over by the removal of the gas heater.
-Sand, prep and paint trunk.
-Sand, prep and paint gas tank.
-Sand. prep and paint door jambs, and misc. interior areas that were not painted properly.
-Repair or replace front hood and repaint to match

Interior

-Remove front seat covers and install new seat pads
-Clean seat upholstery
-Clean door panels and repair door pockets
-Replace headliner
-Replace dash face
-Replace front windsheild and front and rear rubber
-Finish installing the AC system

Misc.

-Upgrade fuel line and install performance vent line on gas tank
-Clean wire terminal ends
-Extend/modify wire harness for a clean look. Mild "wire tuck" in engine compartment
-Replace antenna and get radio working properly.
-Install shifter bushing and coupler bushings

I'm going to concentrate on the new engine install and transmission work first then move on lowering the car. I will hopefully get to all of the other stuff before show season begins. I need to do some research on the best cleaner to use to remove black spots (I think tar) from the seat upholstery. I also need to find a substance/method of removing the tar like stuff they sprayed on the underside of the car. It is not hardened like normal undercoating but more like wheel bearing grease! Its going to be a real pain thats for sure!
Here are some pictures of the engine out of the car. I had belived that the engine had never been out of the car due to the extensive maintance records the owner had kept but after removing the engine this afternoon it seems that there is overspray on the transsmission sealing lip. It may have been pulled for paint. What I don't understand is if they went to the trouble of pulling the engine why is there overspray on the rubber seals in the engine compartment? It is aparent though that the engine has never been apart.
Going to be cleaning for the next month or so. Pictures to come.

_________________
-1970 Ghia Coupe (Sold)
-1960 Beetle (current project)
-1967 Ghia vert (under construction)
-1969 Ghia coupe (under construction)
-1970 Ghia coupe (under construction)
www.slowriders.net

[70 140]

Lets see some shots of the sump.

1970, is it an H case or a B?

[neoghio]

I will post up some pictures of the case damage once I get the engine on my engine stand. My engine stand is the type that bolts onto a workbench but due to my tiny one car garage I had to put the workbench into storage. I'm going to fabricate a rolling stand that I will adapt to what I have.
And it's an "H" case. The car is a late 1969.
_________________
-1970 Ghia Coupe (Sold)
-1960 Beetle (current project)
-1967 Ghia vert (under construction)
-1969 Ghia coupe (under construction)
-1970 Ghia coupe (under construction)
www.slowriders.net

[neoghio]

Well winters over and not much of my list got done! Due to continued dwindling funds (struggling to start a buisness in a crappy economy) I decided to clean up and repair the existing engine the best I could. I was able to repair the thin sump area with epoxy which worked suprizingly well! I cleaned and painted all of the tin with rustoleom mat black. I next attempted to remove the old crappy JC witney exhaust and this is where the fun started! I soaked the nuts with penn. oil twice a day for a week and still managed to break off one exhaust stud. Ok now a broken stud is a pain but not that big of a deal right? WRONG!!! After fighting to remove the stud with every method available I ended up having to drill it out. After drilling I then attempted to tap the newly over sized hole with my nice new tap and CRACK...it breaks off in the hole! Apparently I ended up with a defective tap. I then spent a few hours a week for the next month getting the broken tap out of the head. (mind you I have ZERO cash to buy new parts at this point) I ended up getting it out and mounted my new exhaust system with freshly cleaned up heater boxes.
I put the engine back together and reinstalled it in the car with new engine seal and my new Weber ICT's. After everything was in and adjusted I fired it up. I attempted to adjust/tune the carbs and kept having issues with missing and no power. The engine has new dist. plugs, wires, points, etc.. After almost an hour of trying to get the tuning right I got it fairly close and drove across the street to get some gas. After filling the tank the starter decides to die! I had to tow it home and the next week I replaced the starter with a new one I had on a shelf for many years. Well needless to say it was also BAD!! Contemplated just selling the car as I was pretty P.O.d but decided against it. It took another few weeks to save up enough cash for a new starter. Now the new starter is in and the car still won't run right. I found the plugs were fouled with fuel from trying to tune it with what I now have found to be bad plug wires. I would never have suspected brand new german wires to be bad out of the box but after testing two were bad if wiggled the right way. So here I am today:
I replaced the wires and plugs with new working plugs and wires. I set the carbs as per instructions and went to start it up. Car wont start ,Dead battery! I'll have to try again tommorow when I get some jumper cables from my shop. This is how my winter has gone. I'm ready to scream!!!!! I've never had this bad of luck with any VW ever! I am hopeful the car will run again but at this point I'm skeptical..........
_________________
-1970 Ghia Coupe (Sold)
-1960 Beetle (current project)
-1967 Ghia vert (under construction)
-1969 Ghia coupe (under construction)
-1970 Ghia coupe (under construction)
www.slowriders.net

[neoghio]

After replacing the plug wires, plugs, and charging the battery I got the car to start. With the idle screw out about 8 turns and the mixture screw all the way in I got it to idle. The idle is erratic and cylinders are missing and poping. The exhaust is black and smells strong of fuel. I took it out for a drive and it pops and backfires under load with mid to full throttle so I think it is running lean at mid to full throttle. The carbs are sync'ed.
After searching posts here on TheSamba I found a good post that has the recomended jets for a 1600cc single port.

Today I pulled the carbs and took them apart to check all of the jets and do some exploring. I found the jets, emulsion tube, and needle are not what is recomended.
Recomended Jets and Misc. for a 1600 single port

idle jet 55
main jet 150
air corrector jet 170
emulsion tubes F3/F6
needle valve 125-140

I have:

Idle jet-60
Main jet-140
air correction jet-170
emulsion tube-F78
Needle valve-175

I'm not sure how far off these are but I think these are the cause of all of the problems I've been having with tuning. I am ready to order new parts from Aircooled.net. I'm having problems finding the needle valve. I also read that you can solder the top hole on the emulsion tube to convert the F78 into a F3. If anyone has any recomendations please let me know.
The car has been off the road since christmas so I'm hoping this works! It's killing me that I can't drive it.
Once I get it running I'm going to start the AC install. It's getting hot in Maryland!
_________________
-1970 Ghia Coupe (Sold)
-1960 Beetle (current project)
-1967 Ghia vert (under construction)
-1969 Ghia coupe (under construction)
-1970 Ghia coupe (under construction)
www.slowriders.net

[neoghio]

Well the ICT's still won't run right even after jetting so the stock Solex is going back on. After adding up all of the little things that need to be done to bring this car up to my standards I've decided to sell this one and start with a better car. I've found some repair panels that look like a three year old welded them. All are in the front trunk especially in the spare tire well. I would have to cut most of the spare tire well out and reweld it to make it perfect. I think this car will serve someone better as a daily driver. I listed the car here on TheSamba and it has sold in a little over a week! At the same time I listed this car a 60 beetle wandered my way. It's a much cleaner car and should make for a great project.
Sorry to see the Ghia go but it's going to a good home.
_________________
-1970 Ghia Coupe (Sold)
-1960 Beetle (current project)
-1967 Ghia vert (under construction)
-1969 Ghia coupe (under construction)
-1970 Ghia coupe (under construction)
www.slowriders.net

[hudsonce]

what did you do with the AC unit?
_________________
Use "to" for "give the wrench to me."
Use "too" for "I have too many VW projects"
Use "two" for "two people will not fit in the back seat of a Ghia."
For the sake of Peter, PREVIEW your post before you submit it.

[Altema]

[neoghio]

The heater is going with the car, and I'm keeping the AC system for my 67 vert if I ever finish it. I may be persuaded to sell the AC if the price was right.
_________________
-1970 Ghia Coupe (Sold)
-1960 Beetle (current project)
-1967 Ghia vert (under construction)
-1969 Ghia coupe (under construction)
-1970 Ghia coupe (under construction)
www.slowriders.net

[jdarends]

Where did you order your A/C system from? I would like to get it for my 72. Thanks
_________________
1974-Body off custom w 1835 & 44mm Kads
1973 Super Vert. Cali car getting a facelift.
1974 Kelmark Dino Ferrari replica- corvair 110 powered. gonna be a big project
1974 Kelmark Dino Ferrari replica (yes, I have 2)

[neoghio]

Look here: http://www.aircooled.net/new-bin/catsearch.php?cat...p;perpage=
_________________
-1970 Ghia Coupe (Sold)
-1960 Beetle (current project)
-1967 Ghia vert (under construction)
-1969 Ghia coupe (under construction)
-1970 Ghia coupe (under construction)
www.slowriders.net

[jdarends]

[dixiegem]