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Saving Emiko: 68 RHD Restoration in New Zealand
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 1:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been neglecting my health, my fitness program and my writing, not to mention Emiko and her daughter, stranded in New Zealand without passports, while I've been working long hours on my Ghia.

I have got a book out this year, reaching at least that target, but I have to get going on my next project, which is to turn this restoration into a novel- Saving Emiko, that is.

So maybe just a short advance on the Emiko story here.

Excerpt from the novel, Saving Emiko-

'I'm not your enemy, De Villiers. You should know that by now.'
'I know, Ma'am,' De Villiers said.
'So when are you going to tell me what's going on?' the Commissioner said.
De Villiers played for time. 'I don't know what you mean, Ma'am.'
'I didn't become Commissioner by being stupid, De Villiers,' the Commissioner said with a sigh. 'Don't insult my intelligence and don't test my patience.'
De Villiers said nothing.
'You've been away from your office for ten days now,' the Commissioner began, 'and so has Veerasinghe. You say you're not having an affair with her, but you were in Rotorua together the day before yesterday. What's going on between the two of you, if you're not having an affair?'
'There's nothing between us, Ma'am.'
'Then what were you doing in Rotorua together?'
'We were investigating a case, Ma'am.' De Villiers at first thought of leaving the matter there, but decided to head off further questions. The half-truth came out readily. 'And I've given DI Leighton-Jones the details so that he can take the investigation further. It's a drugs matter and falls within his remit and the offenders are also within his district.'
'I don't understand,' the Commissioner said. 'If's it's a New Plymouth matter, why were you and Veerasinghe involved in the first place?'
For once De Villiers had the truth to tell. 'The shipments come in through the harbour here in Auckland, Ma'am, and since the drugs are coming in form overseas, the matter came to my unit first.'
'Why is there no file, nor any mention of it to the other members of your staff?'
'There's a leak somewhere, Ma'am, and I'm sure that there are some police officers who are accomplices if not regular members of the gang importing and distributing the drugs. And that's why Veerasinghe and I have kept a low profile.'
The Commissioner stood up and started towards the door. 'Well, I am not the leak, and I'll be at your office tomorrow and you and Veerasinghe can give me a comprehensive report then. In writing. And I'll have a lot of questions to ask, make no bones about that.'
'I was wondering, Ma'am, if I could take a week's leave, starting immediately. I'm not feeling too well, and I'm due to see the oncologist tomorrow for further tests and treatment and...'
'Very well,' the Commissioner said. 'And I'll see you in Wellington then, a week from tomorrow. And bring Veerasinghe with you.'

A lot can happen in a week, De Villiers said to himself, and in that time we should be able to get Emiko out of here. But, he would soon learn, the best laid plans of mice and men...
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Last edited by kiwighia68 on Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:47 am; edited 1 time in total
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John Moxon Premium Member
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You're a real tease Chris...nice little twist at the end to keep us dangling. Wink
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Clatter
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

John Moxon wrote:
You're a real tease Chris...nice little twist at the end to keep us dangling. Wink


^^^^For Real^^^^

OK, I'm sorry i was bagging on your wiring and center console.

I won't do it again.







So, can we see the next installment?






Please?
Anxious
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 1:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did a heap of work today: Speedometer cable installed, warm/fresh air mixing pipe new tubes painted, car off the jack-stands at last. The undercarriage looks good. Lots of seamsealer and POR15 overpainted with a UV resistant paint.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The more I work on the car, the more I realise that there isn't a square inch that I don't know intimately. When I started I just wanted to get the car back on the road; now I'm trying to live up to other people's expectations. Some jobs I've done two or three times over, fearing that someone will notice some imperfection and then I will know it too. And that's the worst; knowing something's nor quite right.
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kman
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 5:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kiwighia68 wrote:


The more I work on the car, the more I realise that there isn't a square inch that I don't know intimately. When I started I just wanted to get the car back on the road; now I'm trying to live up to other people's expectations. Some jobs I've done two or three times over, fearing that someone will notice some imperfection and then I will know it too. And that's the worst; knowing something's nor quite right.


I know how you feel. But I come to my senses when I realize that my car is lucky not to be in the scrap heap.
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NWGhiaGuy Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 12:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kiwighia68 wrote:
TheFop wrote:
I have some in stock if you need them? thefops Ghia and Beetle supplies Ltd Smile I can bring them to work if you want them?


I'm not having a good day. I dropped one of those pesky little rubber stoppers known as window guide rubbers - inside the door - and it has disappeared. My wife reckons it's somewhere in my clothing, but I know it fell inside the door. But it isn't there. It was the 13th out of 14. Must be something about that number.

As to the part I'm looking for: It's not the rubber sleeves that go over the pipes - and sure, you could use bicycle tube for that - and I have those rubbers anyway. But there is a metal part (tube/pipe) that is welded into the end of the fresh air duct here:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Dan Storgaard has sent me a photo of the part in place. This is where it sits on the car - the rubber sleeve will fit over the pipe:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Another view - from Dan - but here the fresh air duct is off the car:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


It appears that the part is welded into the aperture on the fresh air duct. However, when I bought the ducts from KGP&R, they came without that piece, and now that my car has been painted I am in no mood to do any more welding. So notwithstanding that Dan has walked a mile to find the parts, I think I'm going to glue in place some aluminium piping or even plastic or flexible hose. And cover my cheating with those rubber sleeves.


I knew those photos looked familiar! Good job finding a solution. BTW - Your other parts are leaving today.

Dan
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kiwighia68 wrote:
Did a heap of work today: Speedometer cable installed, warm/fresh air mixing pipe new tubes painted, car off the jack-stands at last. The undercarriage looks good. Lots of seamsealer and POR15 overpainted with a UV resistant paint.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The more I work on the car, the more I realise that there isn't a square inch that I don't know intimately. When I started I just wanted to get the car back on the road; now I'm trying to live up to other people's expectations. Some jobs I've done two or three times over, fearing that someone will notice some imperfection and then I will know it too. And that's the worst; knowing something's nor quite right.


I would not worry about other's expectations. Make sure you enjoy what you are doing and having fun. If you get stressed over this you might as well be at work!

I have other collector cars where people agonized over minor things like markings on bolts. In my opinion the VW hobby is much more accepting of different approached to the cars.
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KGCoupe
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 8:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

NOVA Airhead wrote:
kiwighia68 wrote:
Did a heap of work today: Speedometer cable installed, warm/fresh air mixing pipe new tubes painted, car off the jack-stands at last. The undercarriage looks good. Lots of seamsealer and POR15 overpainted with a UV resistant paint.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The more I work on the car, the more I realise that there isn't a square inch that I don't know intimately. When I started I just wanted to get the car back on the road; now I'm trying to live up to other people's expectations. Some jobs I've done two or three times over, fearing that someone will notice some imperfection and then I will know it too. And that's the worst; knowing something's nor quite right.


I would not worry about other's expectations. Make sure you enjoy what you are doing and having fun. If you get stressed over this you might as well be at work!

I have other collector cars where people agonized over minor things like markings on bolts. In my opinion the VW hobby is much more accepting of different approached to the cars.

x2!

How could anyone possibly find anything to criticize you for when it is blatently obvious that anyone who has taken the time to overpaint the underside of the car with a UV resistant paint has likely put a great deal of thought into anticipating damn near every possible scenario and has taken all possible proactive steps to prevent any kind of potentially damaging negative effects that may result from those scenarios.
(... such as the paint on the floorpan potentially being faded from the sunlight that will be reflected brightly onto it as it sits jacked up and perched over a bed of mirrors on display at all of the local Show-n-Shines and Coffee-and-Cars?

Wink
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c21darrel
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

All I know is if Chris ever rolls this Ghia I will sleep well at night knowing the underside is protected in UV resistant paint. You know what I always say... "Paint it where the sun dont shine". Wink
When does the driving start?
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

c21darrel wrote:
All I know is if Chris ever rolls this Ghia I will sleep well at night knowing the underside is protected in UV resistant paint. You know what I always say... "Paint it where the sun dont shine". :wink:
When does the driving start?


KGCoupe: "... to overpaint the underside of the car with a UV resistant paint..."

Several reasons for this:

1. My mother always said that we had to wear clean underwear in case we should have an accident and have to go to hospital.
2. My obsessive-compulsive personality came through when I read on the POR15 label that it was not UV resistant and should be overpainted.
3. I had the spare paint.
4. There was some overspray on the chassis from the body paint.
5. The car was up high on stands and I had to wait for another job to be completed - so I thought, "I might as well use the time to paint the undercarriage with UV resistant paint."
6. The painter guy did such a special job on the body that I didn't want to chassis to spoil the party.
7. Maybe, just maybe, I might have thought that if the KG police should see a sloppy job on the chassis, they might roast me on the Samba. An ego thing.
8. It's like the clean underwear thing: others might never notice, but I will always know.

Probably none of this matters, as I'm perhaps just anal - my sons' diagnosis, but they are biased, vindictive and inexperienced.

PS I'm trying to get the car on the road by mid-October, just short of two years after I bought it.
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 11:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kiwighia68 wrote:

PS I'm trying to get the car on the road by mid-October, just short of two years after I bought it.


And for the first show of the season on the 18th October, it will be great to have Emiko there. Wink
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 4:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've got the windscreen wipers mechanism back in and also installed the water bottle and its tubes. I've taken the wiperarms off for repainting. I had a whale of a time finding the right clips to fit the blades onto the arms. The wiper arms are 6mm wide and have a small hole on the underside which clips into a "pin" on the clip which holds the blade on the arm. Found them on the wipers for the rear window of a VW Polo.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 1:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
The more I work on the car, the more I realise that there isn't a square inch that I don't know intimately. When I started I just wanted to get the car back on the road; now I'm trying to live up to other people's expectations. Some jobs I've done two or three times over, fearing that someone will notice some imperfection and then I will know it too. And that's the worst; knowing something's nor quite right.


Funny - very similar paths. I could rebuild a Ghia from a basket now.

...and when I started, all I wanted was to get it back on the road. Very Happy

I had no intention of doing a respray or frame off restoration... figures Rolling Eyes
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

We had a vistor today. My friend Michael came over in his '64 and we were able to compare notes. His New Zealand new RHD coupe has been in his possession since 1985 and had had a body-off restoration. Black top over Lotus White, with a red interior. Those were my car's original colours, save for the black roof.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


One of the reasons I went for a Gobi Beige roof and for my own colour scheme for the interior is that I would otherwise have had a car that was virtually indistinguishable from Michael's. There's no room for two sheriffs in a small town like ours.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I understand that I'm not the only one to have had problems with the Cip1 supplied seatbelts. The stalks appear to me to have their end fittings at the wrong angle. I just couldn't make it work - and didn't want to add half an inch's worth of unsightly washers - and ended up buying new stalks, at a cost of the price of the Cip1 supplied seatbelts. So double the price, eventually.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Three big jobs to do this week:

Door rubber and window alignment

Reconnecting electrical wiring in front of the dash

Connecting the speedo
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 5:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The electrics have kept me busy the last few days. Thanks to Nicholas' excellent sticky on the horn installation (and the two YouTube videos linked there) I now know how to get that part of the job done. I was going to leave it to the VW garage for new week's final check and Warrant of Fitness.

In the meantime, the side trim clips finally arrived from the USA (took 28 days from when I paid!) and I was able to complete the trim installation. Four steps:

1. Ream out the holes - where the paint has added a half a millimetre in the diameter - and treat with POR15. Leave overnight.
2. Fit the trim clips and line them up.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.




3. I used a small rubber mallet to GENTLY "hammer" the pins into the clips. (My hands and fingers are just too sore to press them in with a finger and I didn't want to use a tool for fear of scratching the paint. The painter guy would kill me if I messed up his (art)work.)

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


4. Install the trim. The KGP&R trim and clips work well together, I think. The trim clips in with a little pressure from a finger - even a sore one - and the clips hold the trim quite firmly against the body.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


My trim is not of the best quality - I used the original ones I found on the car - and I'll replace them in due course. (I'm looking for the stainless steel ones, but can't find them anywhere. Are they still available?)

I'm finally ready to treat the lower inside parts of the doors with Wurth Cavity Wax. (Yes, I'll make sure the slots for drainage at the bottom of the doors are clear.)
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kiwighia68 wrote:
I'm looking for the stainless steel ones, but can't find them anywhere. Are they still available?)


ISP West carries the SS. http://www.vwispwest.com/141898111S.html
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

On the trim, did you slide it on or pop it over the clips?

I have the same KGPR clips and trim.

Thanks
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

c21darrel wrote:
kiwighia68 wrote:
I'm looking for the stainless steel ones, but can't find them anywhere. Are they still available?)


ISP West carries the SS. http://www.vwispwest.com/141898111S.html


I bought these, they are very light weight. While they look good, I was disappointed.
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 9:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

motorhead364 wrote:
On the trim, did you slide it on or pop it over the clips?

I have the same KGPR clips and trim.

Thanks


They clip in. I clipped them in by pressing the lower edge of the trim into the clip from below and then rolling the trim over the top, while pressing down on it with my thumb until it clipped in place.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 10:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I bought these, they are very light weight. While they look good, I was disappointed.


Im suprised. Wonder if they have changed their supplier. The set I got 3 years or so ago from ISP West is a quality repop, one of the best repops of parts I have purchased.
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