Saving Emiko: 68 RHD Restoration in New Zealand

[jpjohns]

Where is this engine building guide you speak of?
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-Jared

"Scrapyards are for quitters" - Beetlenut (a Samba member)

[kiwighia68]

[jpjohns]

Thanks....reading for my insomnia!
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-Jared

"Scrapyards are for quitters" - Beetlenut (a Samba member)

[jpjohns]

damn...forum must be down. oh well, ill read it tomorrow
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-Jared

"Scrapyards are for quitters" - Beetlenut (a Samba member)

[Clatter]

Aw, shucks, guys... Thanks.

Cool that somebody is actually reading it (or at least started to).
A couple of the guys from the Type 3 forum, where I always post, went to see it, too.

Even though it's written specifically for type 4, some things carry over to type 1.

Funny, when I posted it to the Late Bus Forum here, nobody said a thing.
You would think a type 4 build, specific for a bus, on a budget no less, would be their cup of tea.
Not one peep...

To 'jpjohns' - I can't 100% for sure say that your case is a German one, but would bet on it if I could.

Post up a question on the 'Engine Rebuild Forum' over there at the STF, and someone far smarter than I will answer with certainty.

While this forum is certainly the best with regard to the cars themselves, and has the largest group of enthusiasts,
The old STF has a long-time core group of people with much specific knowledge.
It was the bigger forum back in the day, and if you use the search feature, you can find all sorts of old info from, and even arguments between, some of the greatest minds in the industry.


Can't wait to see more of this Ghia build!
Time for some pictures of that body out in the sun yet?
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[kiwighia68]

[kiwighia68]

I said I'd push the body out into the sun, and the sun was shining in every possible way yesterday. Well almost every possible way, but I'll tell about that after dealing with the important stuff.

The body has been painted and this is what the colour scheme looks like in the sun.

With the inspection and photography - there are more photos on my other thread - we went to Paeroa for a bike ride. I felt quite exuberant, having seen the car in paint after 18 months of general work and half of that on the body. We rode through beautiful countryside, and through a railway tunnel.

Then we came upon a disused gold mine with some of its big gears lying next to the bike path - glad I don't have to restore those.

On the way back we had this view of the Karangahape Gorge with the road snaking around the cliffs on the right. Stunningly beautiful. The next time I come through there I will want to be driving my Ghia.

My exuberance - put a man on a bicycle and he turns into a small boy again - led to my downfall. I crashed into the gatepost of the last small (1 metre wide) gate on the way back and fell half into a drainage ditch. Some abrasions and bruises, but I discovered later when the adrenalin had worn off that I had a sprained wrist.

Worth it though. Next time I'll try not to think of my Ghia and to concentrate a little harder on the cycle track.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[bobnorman]

[kiwighia68]

Excerpt from the novel, Saving Emiko:-

De Villiers stopped the rental car at the coffee shop at the top of the Redwood Forest. The car park was filling up with bikers preparing for their rides through the many cycle tracks in the forest.
‘Please wait in the car,’ he said Emiko. ‘I’ll bring you a cappuccino from the coffee shop. What would your daughter like?’
‘Tea for me, no milk, and hot chocolate for her, please.’ It was the first time De Villiers had spoken directly to Emiko. ‘Of course,’ he said.
‘Get out,’ De Villiers ordered Vaishna. ‘We’ve got to talk.’
He alighted from the car. There was some residual pain in his legs but it was manageable. She followed him to a small wooden table under a tree next to the coffee shop. ‘Wait here,’ De Villiers said. ‘I’ll get some coffee.’
Vaishna stood watching him as he dug in his pocket for cash to pay for the drinks. You’re not as tough as you think, she thought.
‘Sit down,’ De Villiers said. ‘We need to talk.’
‘We’ve got nothing to talk about,’ she said, still standing.
‘I want… need to know who you are,’ he said.
‘Why?’ she said. ‘You know enough.’
‘No, all I know is what I can see,’ De Villiers said.
‘And that is?’
De Villiers sat down and rested his elbows on the wooden table. He scrutinised her from head to toe as one would a suspect. ‘What I see is this,’ he said at last. ‘A woman in black Doc Martin boots, black jeans, black shirt and a black leather jacket. And a pistol tucked into the back of her jeans. And she knows how to use it.’
She shrugged her shoulders as if to say, ‘So what?’
De Villiers gestured for her to sit down but she shook her head. ‘Is this the same woman who sits in the squad-room wearing heavy make-up and dark glasses to hide the injuries to her face, and long-sleeved shirts to cover the bruises on her arms? Is this the same person?’ he asked.
‘I’m going now,’ she said. ‘I’ll see you back in Auckland.’ She started walking away from him.
De Villiers watched her from behind. ‘What happened to your plan with the mini-skirt?’ he said.
She half turned to face him and said, ‘There’s no place to hide the pistol.’
De Villiers called after her. ‘You cappuccino is ready.’
‘You ordered it,’ she said. ‘You drink it. I’ll see you in Auckland.’

De Villiers opened the back door of the rental. ‘Please come and sit in the front,’ he told Emiko. ‘We need to talk.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I sit at the back.’
What is it with women? De Villiers mused. The first word they learn is no. No this and no that. Or is it just me they say no to?
Auckland was three hours away, and maybe, just maybe, time to think was what he needed most. He needed a good story to tell the commissioner.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[kiwighia68]

I'm going to have to start working on a sequence for putting everything back on the car.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[kiwighia68]

And I need an original '68 Owner's Manual.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[John Moxon]

[jpjohns]

oohh, I almost stole that second one
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-Jared

"Scrapyards are for quitters" - Beetlenut (a Samba member)

[kiwighia68]

[John Moxon]

[kiwighia68]

[jpjohns]

Chris, what tires/wheels are you planning on using or did I miss that?

I've been going back and forth on the Porsche 5x130's but my heart is set on stock smoothies with a thick white wall but that adds more money. So torn.
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-Jared

"Scrapyards are for quitters" - Beetlenut (a Samba member)

[kiwighia68]

[ScottDoonan]

WOW! Looks great you should be proud of your hard work.
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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

[kiwighia68]