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1969 Karman Ghia Build (UK)
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Mase
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Joined: May 23, 2003
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Location: Thornton, CO
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 9:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm curious on your thoughts of the Red9Design front suspension. An A-arm or wishbone suspension is something I've been considering for my '74 over the last couple years. Do you have any first hand experience with the ride and handling capability? I really like the current ride height you have it adjusted to!!

Many thanks,
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Rich
Thornton, CO
'64 T34 Ghia Coupe
'74 T14 Ghia Cabrio
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carl4x4
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 1:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mase wrote:
I'm curious on your thoughts of the Red9Design front suspension. An A-arm or wishbone suspension is something I've been considering for my '74 over the last couple years. Do you have any first hand experience with the ride and handling capability? I really like the current ride height you have it adjusted to!!

Many thanks,


I'll have to wait until the car is drivable to give you feedback I'm afraid, but I have spoken to a number of other people who have it on their Ghias and buggies and they describe it as a very modern driving feel which has drastically improved the handling of their cars. I didn't think it was worthwhile doing on mine until I had the rear suspension changed to IRS to match the front's handling. The fitment is relatively straightforward for the suspension, Red9 redesigned the steering components recently to make them a lot more robust which was my only reservation.

The ride height is at about the middle of the adjustment at the moment and can be adjusted for damping settings, plus another 1.5" ish up or down. I'm running 20% stiffer springs at the moment as the car is intended for a bit of club motorsport. The springs are very standard and quite cheap to swap for different rates.
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Mase
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 12:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

carl4x4 wrote:
I'll have to wait until the car is drivable to give you feedback I'm afraid, but I have spoken to a number of other people who have it on their Ghias and buggies and they describe it as a very modern driving feel which has drastically improved the handling of their cars. I didn't think it was worthwhile doing on mine until I had the rear suspension changed to IRS to match the front's handling. The fitment is relatively straightforward for the suspension, Red9 redesigned the steering components recently to make them a lot more robust which was my only reservation.

The ride height is at about the middle of the adjustment at the moment and can be adjusted for damping settings, plus another 1.5" ish up or down. I'm running 20% stiffer springs at the moment as the car is intended for a bit of club motorsport. The springs are very standard and quite cheap to swap for different rates.


Thank you for the information... much appreciated!! Can you point me to some of the reviews you used to make up your mind? I've tried searching around on Google but haven't been able to find anything substantial.

I'm also considering the Mendeola suspension. I'm headed to San Diego next month on business and hope to stop by their shop.

Many thanks,
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Rich
Thornton, CO
'64 T34 Ghia Coupe
'74 T14 Ghia Cabrio
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coolrydes Premium Member
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 4:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

carl4x4 wrote:
Today's Ghia time was spent trying to fix the problem of a poor turning circle. It became quickly apparent when I took a look under the car at full lock, the high offset of the fuch replicas meant that the inner edge of the rims was catching on the steering rods Crying or Very sad

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I trial fitted a 9mm 5x130 alloy spacer to the hub and this seemed to do the trick, although it means I now have to buy some longer wheel bolts Rolling Eyes Must make a note to try this on both sides (I'm learning to never 'assume' with this car!)

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Hey a quick safety note:
You need to get rid of those washers under the upper ball joints. They will bend and the eccentric will become loose in the spindle. Also it is posible for the upper ball joint to come out of the spindle if left that way too long.
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COOLRYDES So-Cal CUSTOMS
MENDEOLA SUSPENSION
THE HOME OF STYLE AND PERFORMANCE
www.CoolRydescustoms.com
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carl4x4
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 7:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Kevin, I'll put that on my to-do list !
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carl4x4
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 7:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Update on the project after a gap of six months of doing house DIY !

Fitted the headliner last weekend, and I think it's safe to say that the answer to the question Can you fit a headliner while the windscreens are in is YES
The answer to the question "SHOULD you fit a headliner while the windscreens are in is "NO"
I fell definitely in the second camp unfortunately...

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Don't look too close as it's the first headliner in a car I've ever done and it's far from perfect Embarassed

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Fitting the rear quarter windows was fiddly but satisfying. I spent quite a while straightening out the incredibly soft aluminium fixing channels, but needn't have worried as most of them are hidden under the new seals.

Divers side finished:
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Passenger side halfway through...
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carl4x4
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 1:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Haven't updated this thread for a while, after a lot of work, both door windows, locks and seals are in and adjusted, although the drivers side took half a day and the passenger side took 2.5 days of messing around! Bonnet drains & bonnet seal fitted, plus engine lid seal. Turns out the old engine lid seal was in perfect nick once I cleaned it up so I refitted that rather than the KGPR one which was quite a lot stiffer than the original. Also managed to modify a choke cable to replace the old engine lid release.

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Picked up a 5x130 original Porsche spare wheel with a new tyre from a swapmeet, (car needs a good clean Embarassed )
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Made the mountings for fitting a pair of MX5 seats into the Ghia. They fit with minimal fuss and give me lots more head & legroom than the originals! (using the MX5 runners so the original ones remain untouched if I want to go back to them at any point)
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fitted the rear soundproofing, side panels, carpets & seats,
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started laying out the front carpets to see where everything goes (there's so many bits of carpet for such a comparatively small car!) quite pleased with the colour of the carpets compared to the paintwork.
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Basketcase
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

man that is sweet!
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'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)
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c21darrel
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sweet looking carpet kit.
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djway3474
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

what brand is the carpet I looked but I probably missed it
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

djway3474 wrote:
what brand is the carpet I looked but I probably missed it


Yep, me too. Great job you're doing and I've only now stumbled onto your thread. We need more regular posts, please, as there is so much to learn.

I would like to know how you fitted the MX5 seat runners. I'm not a big guy and the original seats are too wide and chunky for my liking.
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1968 Ghia named Emiko
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carl4x4
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the comments guys, carpets are from http://www.spiritofthe50s.co.uk I'll try and get some pictures of the MX5 seat mounts up in the next few days, I've almost finished the carpets today so I put together a couple of time sequence photos;

This is the rear,

1) soundproofing & original tar-board for the firewall (which was good enough to re-use)
2) new soundproofing for the boot floor, plus fit rear seat for something to align to (I used screws rather than the original nails that VW used on the hinges!)
3) glue the carpets (the wheel arches are a pain and I may revisit them at a later date)
4) the last part I fitted was the cross brace carpet, I found it beneficial to glue the lip that gets sandwiched by the bottom seat first, then fold it round towards the front of the car


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Then the fronts

1) Lay them all out as it's a bit of a jigsaw, then start with heater channels & tunnel
2) then footwells
3) then front bulkhead
4) finally the small curved bit at the bottom before fitting the mats

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This one shows how the cardboard pieces go in the front footwells (I have removed the levers for the heater channel vents as I'm not using heat exchangers)

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FRNKNSTNGHIA
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 5:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks like you had to cut out all the openings for the shifter, heater boxes, etc? Is this correct, or were they pre-cut?
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carl4x4
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

FRNKNSTNGHIA wrote:
Looks like you had to cut out all the openings for the shifter, heater boxes, etc? Is this correct, or were they pre-cut?


The Handbrake & gear lever were cut, but the rest I had to cut myself yes.
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carl4x4
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The interior is now coming along nicely, still a couple of things to do like fit the new gear-stick, sort out the column wiring & the handbrake cover (after I adjust the handbrake) But the interior is very nearly there Smile

Had the MX5 seats recovered in leather, and the rear seat done to match. I'm very pleased with the result.

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Front & rear door cards are now in

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Parcel shelf trimmed
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Fuel lines cleared through, tank cleaned & installed. Although I'm not very happy with the clearance on the outlet pipe with the Red9 suspension cross member so it might have to come out again for a small modification Rolling Eyes
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TheFop
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 1:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice work, this is great inspiration for me, I'm so happy to see a UK original car being restored, as you say original RHDs are getting rare now, I saw so many back in the UK in the late 80's and early 90's getting botched up and half ass customised.
I'm stoked that I managed to find an original RHD here in NZ but I'm lacking points of reference as there aren't that many on the road here from what I've seen (despite 4 currently being restored within 10k's of me.....go figure) but no other 61's that I've come across.
Good luck and keep us all posted.
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cagey.jg
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 9:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

carl4x4 wrote:
Parcel shelf trimmed
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Do you have any more detail pics of how you did this? Did you put any sort of cardboard backing underneath the upholstery? My rear shelf has grooves/indentations and my understanding is that there is supposed to be some sort of cardboard back there. Yours appears to be smooth.
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carl4x4
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I used acoustic carpet, there's plenty of suppliers on eBay but the guy who upholstered my seats gave me an off-cut that was big enough. I didn't put anything underneath and it follows the lines of the shelf but because it's black in colour it looks fine so I don't really notice the ridges. The upside of this material is that it is very stretchable so it was able to get into all the corners without any creases just using upholstery spray glue.
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cool karmann collected
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 1:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Carl, looks like it's coming along nice. Here's a quick question, where did you manage to get the clasp that holds the back seat in place? I can't find anywhere in the UK selling that part (2 parts actually)

Ant
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carl4x4
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 2:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ant,

Hi, The Karmann Ghia Centre in Watford had one, everyone else seemed to be out of stock. How's your Ghia coming by the way haven't seen an update in a while?

Carl.
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