Rebuilding my dad's 1966 Sea Blue Ghia

[moogie32]

Hi Bob,
She's moving right along! Looking great - 16 degrees - oh man - It's COLD up there!!!
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RIP HBB (1984-2009)
Du liefst so gut
Du warst so schön
Doch leider musst du von uns gehn

[hopkin]

[bobnorman]

[bobnorman]

[Evil_Fiz]

Protecting the underside from UV radiation is not as far fetched an idea as it initially appears to be. About 15 years ago my wife and I took a cruise to the Caribbean. The ship docked at the port of Costa Maya, Mexico where there is a giant salt water pool just of the pier. The pool is only about 5' deep and has several swim-up bars and cantilevered overhangs which provide a shady escape from the tropical sun. We spent about 5 hours just lounging in the shade of one of the overhangs and found out the hard way the the UV radiation reflects very well off Cobalt blue tile. A sunburn on the underside of your chin is very painful.

So kiwighia68 and bobnorman, you made a good choice in protecting the underside from reflected UV. Although the reflective properties of the road are probably weaker than smooth tile it is only a matter of time before the cumulative effects of reflected UV radiation would damage the POR15.
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“…It's not just about what's interesting. It's also about what's helpful, and it's helpful even if it helps just one other guy working on a Ghia.”
kiwighia68

See my build on TheSamba at:
The K_R_A_K_E_N_N : a 70 Ghia Convertible reinterpreted

[bobnorman]

[bobnorman]

Well, I did manage to get out the other day and do the POR process. This thing is hard to move by myself, I can lift it but it’s awkward. Put it on the wheel barrow, and drove it over to where I could hose it down. Did the degreaser followed by the metal ready. Again, trying to keep it wet for at least 10 minutes. Came out alright

Gave it a good rinse with the hose, a bit counterintuitive to be spaying water on my newly naked metal, but that’s what the instructions call for.
Also took the time to hose out the tunnel, will still wipe it over before the internal frame rail coating.

I did get some flash rust on the frame head and parts of the tunnel , despite drying it off with a heat gun.
POR says that this is ok, and in fact may be preferable as it gives the stuff something to bond to… hmmm

Did the bottom first. Two coats. Note to self- don’t buy a $1 brush- spend the extra 4 bucks, it’ll save you having to sand out random hairs...

Followed by Semi-gloss Tremclad top coat

I have welding to do, but I figure I’ll get as much as I can covered now while its all ready to go, then do the welding and touch up those areas (as well as the pans) after.

Have now flipped it over and am ready to do the topside.

I removed the rusted torsion covers, I noticed the covers were bowed out a little where the spring plate end bottomed out in the cap, when I took the driver’s side off I noticed this

Clearly it wasn’t all the way on the splines. Hadn’t been for some time judging by the rust. Should I just take a maul and a block of wood to it and pound it back on? I’ll likely be taking this off again after the car is done to replace the inner bushing.

Question: which comes first? POR or seam sealer? Seems Volkswagen did the sealer first, but I’m not sure if that’s the best way to go... then again, will I have issues with the sealer not adhering as well to the POR?
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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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

[kiwighia68]

"Question: which comes first? POR or seam sealer? Seems Volkswagen did the sealer first, but I’m not sure if that’s the best way to go... then again, will I have issues with the sealer not adhering as well to the POR?"

Bob, I found that the seam-sealer I used (proper German stuff) did not adhere all that well to the POR15 but that was in the areas where the new floor-pans meet the frame, so no big deal, I thought. To make doubly sure that no water would get in there, I scraped those joins down to the paint (POR15) and roughed it up a bit with a wire brush, and then applied seam sealer again. This time it stuck like a tick to a buffalo's ear.

Elsewhere on the car where there were gaps between body panels I applied seam-sealer after the high fill primer coats were on the car, on the advice of the painter guy, and the adhesion is good. The final coats of paint went on over the sealer.

Hope this helps.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[bobnorman]

Thanks Chris, that certainly does help. I think I'm going to do exactly what you did. That way I'll have no break in the POR to speak of, but should be rough enough to hold. Then I'll topcoat with the Tremclad semi.
_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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

[sputnick60]

I've found POR15 goes on smoothly and quickly, not with a brush, but with a small roller. You'd use a brush to get corners and crevices where a roller won't get in. For large surfaces you get it done quickly without hairs and brush strokes that way.

Nicholas
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'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]

Good tip Nicholas, thanks. I found that the POR settles really well, so brushmarks weren't a really problem for me, and with a decent brush it ended up turning out alright. I used a foam brush for other things like the beam and such, that was ok too.
I do think I'll use a roller on the pans though.
_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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

[bobnorman]

Well, I managed to find a few more evenings to get out in the garage over the past while. I really made the time, as I needed to get the chassis coated before the weather got too cold (garage has been about 10C). It’s a bit arse formost as we say here, to be finishing the tunnel without the pans installed, but I know that putting them in right now will take a little bit of arsing around, and I didn’t want the thing to start rusting, so there you have it...

First I fabricated 3 missing brake line clips (shown next to the sole survivor)...

...and hot metal gunned them into place (not my proudest moment of welding).

Then coat the topside with POR twice.

Followed by Tremclad 5 hours later.

Following a bit of discussion, I decided to put my seam sealer on top of my Tremclad topcoat. I scuffed the paint a little and applied it. I used the good stuff instead of DAP or similar that I’ve seen others use. I figure I’ve got this much invested, why skimp out on something as important as seam sealer in order to save 15 bucks. Besides, what Newfoundlander doesn’t like a drop of Dominion?

I put it pretty much everywhere I saw a weld on the topside. Here’s a top tip: If you want to smooth it out a bit, Wait For It to Skim Over. You’ll save yourself from a mess. Once it skims over (about 30 minutes), it's great to smooth down.

Once it was dry I gave it a quick shot of tremclad semi-gloss to match.


Finally here's something going back on that will stay on...So it begins. A small but important milestone.

The original rubber grommets were in good shape so I just cleaned them up and moisturized them. Following the advice of someone more chemically inclined than myself (well, in some ways...) I use glycerine on rubber parts, seals, mats, etc... Following the like-dissolves-like rule, it makes sense to me that you don’t want to be putting anything petroleum based on your rubber bits (vaseline, baby oil, silicone protectants),as it will rot them over time. Could all be bunk, but I believe it, so it’s true.

next up Internal Framerail coating...
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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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

[bobnorman]

I decided to finish the inside of the tunnel now as well, as it was well rinsed and about as clean as it was going to get and if I didn't do it now I'd have to wait for warmer weather, (or to finally hook up my radiant in-floor heat system). I did buy a cheap string mop to poke inside the tunnel to move a bit of dust around though.

first I taped up all the holes where the framerail coating could shoot out, and then I started a sprayin’. The hose wants to curl up, so I taped a bit of copper wire on it to keep it straight and help guide it along.

As you can see the hose is not that long, but it’s reach is just right if you go through the front access hole, then the shifter hole, the handbrake hole, the shifter linkage access hole, and of course up inside each frame horn.

Stuff creeps pretty good and coated really well. A bit of before and after.

front view

rear view

I ended up using one full can inside the tunnel and front cross member. I bought 3 cans a while ago, so I’ll make up a longer spray hose and do the inside of my heater channels as well when the time comes. It seems to be well worth it, but not cheap though- with the exchange and shipping to Canada it worked out to over $30 a can!

Now it’s time to turn to the rear cross member and see what can be done to rebuild it before I try to fit the pans.
_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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

[bobnorman]

Seems I'm on a bit of a roll lately, so turning to the rear cross members, I started with the driver's side. The first order of business is to take the remainder apart to see what we have left.

Main support -Not pretty but workable.

I also took the cross member from the 65 pan apart as well. I’ll be able to use the support piece on the passenger’s side, the trick will be getting it positioned right. There’ll be a few measurements taken before I weld this on.

I lined up the two pieces side by each to see if I could get a sense of where the pax side one might go… 4 mms from where its welded to the frame.

It’s also about 169 mms from the frame brace, this’ll come in handy later.

Using the passenger’s side one as a guide, I ground off the thin bits and welded it up. Have to tidy and weld a bit more including the hole at top.

...and that's about it for now. Hope to get at it a bit more tonight and the weekend, we shall see. I know what I'm posting is all small stuff, but they are little victories, and it does keep me motivated.
_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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

[bobnorman]

Patched the hole near the top, cleaned it up a bit and sprayed with weld through primer. Came out ok, my welding still needs a bit of dialing in though.

That done I moved on to the passenger’s side, took off what was left of the upper layer and cleaned up the remnants

Not much left here but what is left is solid

Clamped the remains of the one from the 65 pan on at 4 mm away from where its welded to the frame just to see, took another measurement worked out to 17mm to the outer edge...pretty much the same as the driver’s side, so I know I’m close.

Will trim this up and get it fitted when I can find a bit of time.

Sizing all of this up, I'm making an assumption that the outer part of the cross members should be level (i.e. parallel with the torsion bar tubes). But I’m not 100% certain… I'm thinking about making a plywood template from the body to ensure the angle and location are correct.
_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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

[bobnorman]

Made a new rubber seal for the cover on the shift rod access hole. Used a bit of 1/8 inch rubber I had, came out alright... another little bite right?

_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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

[CiderGuy]

Very nice clean work. I have begun doing much of the same thing to the pans and frame head on my 70 very. You're making it look easier then it really is. Keep up the nice work.
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Cars Currently Owned:

1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1973 Karmann Ghia Coupe - Project car for sale
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (Body off restoration)

Timing is everything

[bobnorman]

[bobnorman]

Decided to try to finally remove the broken beam bolt. I drilled a small hole, and tried to get it as straight as possible however it came out the other end off centre.

So I thought I’d try my hand on the old -Weld a Nut to it Trick. Ground a nut to fit...here's the first one.

I’ve heard this a million times, and have tried it a few times myself. The theory is that the intense heat from the welder will serve to free the bolt and the welded nut will provide you with a purchase to turn it out.

Sounds good in theory right?

My reality is- I’ve never had this work. That’s my empirical finding. This time around I tried at least six times, with nuts and other bits, I tried turning it while red hot, I tried rapid cooling, I’ve tried letting it sit overnight - no go.

Maybe it actually works for others, or maybe everyone is just repeating the same story, or maybe my welding just plain sucks, but it didn’t work for me.

In the end I just gave up and drilled it out, trying to change the angle slightly to get it back on centre. In the end it was still a slight bit off, but I did manage to get it threaded, however I also managed to break the tap holder.

The bolt seems to be in fairly solidly, though I haven’t torqued it down yet. Just trying it on for size.

A small job that turned into a five hour long nibble on the old pachyderm.
_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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

[bobnorman]

Not much of an update, as very little has been done lately. Beam is on...kinda, still haven’t torqued it down. Was wondering what to do with the bolts. Might just give them a bit of zinc primer and some semi-gloss black Tremclad. Also bolted on the master cylinder, still have to install the brake light switches, so it might come off for that. I’ve ordered a bus reservoir, and will feed that from the stock single reservoir in the original location. Seems to be the tidiest way of doing it, plus I’ll be able to bleed the brakes before the body goes on.

Really all of this is just avoiding tackling the pans. I’ve measured plenty and am confident about that, just have to find the time (too noisy for late night) to trim ‘em up and weld ’em in.
_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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