New Owner - 1973 Karmann Ghia Convertible

[KGCoupe]

[HardwayVW]

Thank you KG. The quality of the body and paint work was a big reason we bought it. I know through experience just how much work it takes to make any car of this vintage look this good, especially with a full color change. I must admit, working on a car that already looks good gives me a little extra motivation and satisfaction each time I tinker with it. I have had too many project cars that never reached the "pretty" phase and thus I got burned out on them. I am looking forward to getting this one up to par and ready to enjoy for the upcoming beautiful winter and spring weather we have in Austin!

[kingkarmann]

Nice looking Ghia
You can replace the front beam to body mounts pretty easily. Pull the gas tank to expose the two body to beam bolts. Remove those bolts and the steering damper. The front beam is held by four bolts. A couple of helpers to support each end would be a plus.
Install new rubber body mounts. Reinstall. Viola!

[HardwayVW]

This past week was filled with deliveries of all the new parts I ordered to help conquer the needs of the KG. Spreading them out on the kitchen island was very satisfying!

I was even more excited and motivated since the weather was beautiful on both days this weekend. I got started Saturday morning installing the new plastic headlight adjuster screw mounts. Got the headlights all back together but the driver side light sticks out a little further than the passenger side light. Maybe it is supposed to be this way but for right now it works and it is crossed off the list. Next up was installing some various small items like the new windshield washer nozzle, fresh air knobs, and sun visor clips. They were quick hitters and nice to have them crossed off the list. Next up was the biggest job of the day, installing the new upper ball joint, rag joint/steering coupler, and steering damper. I have a 20 ton press, Oxy/Ace. Torch, and a full assortment of specialty ball joint and suspension tools so I was pretty sure I had everything I needed. Prior to buying any parts I had read up on the procedure and felt good about everything, confidence was high! The suspension came apart in short order, got the old ball joint out with a little heat from a small propane torch, and pressed the new ball joint in.

I then went about trying to remove the camber adjustment nut on the old ball joint and things pretty much came to a halt. Even with the press plus heat it was not budging. I covered it in some penetrate mix to let it soak and moved to the driver side to attack the rag joint. This was a bigger pain than I imagined but with some help from the wife I got it out. As soon as I had it in my hand I realized I have the wrong replacement rag joint. I double checked my order paper work and sure enough the fault was on me. (face palm) Since the old one had multiple cracks in it I bolted the two steering halves together so I would at least be able to steer it back in to the garage. At this point I was pretty wiped out and defeated but decided to try getting the camber adj. nut off the ball joint again. Even with some solid heat and the pressure of the press it was not moving. Something else to add to the list. In order to get the car safely back in the garage I put everything back together and loaded up the new ball joint with some big washers and bolted it together being careful not to tear the new boot on it. Got the car in the garage and called it a day, disappointed and defeated.

Sunday was a new day and time to tackle something else. Ever since I bought the car the starter has struggled to turn over, like it is dragging really bad. Thankfully the engine has always started after only one or two very slow rotations. I knew this was not right and started digging deeper. The battery was putting out 12.3V with no load. When I hooked up my battery charger to the battery, set it to 75 amps, and turned the key the starter turned over very quickly and then engine instantly came to life. So one of two things, weak battery or bad alternator. I took the charger off and with the car running the voltage at the battery was only 11.4V and not 13V+ like it should be. Diagnosis = alternator not charging, but why? I have been researching this topic and here are my findings.

At some point a previous owner installed a reman. Bosch AL82X alternator and removed the external voltage regulator. The Gen. light on the dash does not come on when you turn the key to the ON position. I checked and the bulb is good but no power is getting to the socket despite the wiring being the correct color. The wiring behind the dash is a rats nest made up of a mix of original wires, add on’s, light sockets with no bulbs, and wires simply cut and wrapped in electrical tape. I need to determine if the alternator is actually wired up correctly and if it is not, hopefully it has not burned out the alternator itself. The color wiring diagrams found on here and on the net have been super helpful, I am just not getting power to stuff that I should. Also under the seat is a thick red wire with an inline fuse which I assume is going to the starter but there is also a small red/black wire that is unplugged. I am not sure if this is related to the alternator conversion or not. Also, I confirmed there is a ground strap bolted to the trans. tail housing to the side of the body.

So the list grows. In addition to everything above I still need to do an oil change, tune up, find and resolve the reason the doors won’t stay open, replace the foam beam to body mounts, research and repair what is wrong with the driver seat, and more. Given my findings about the wiring this car may be the benefactor of an entirely new wiring harness. Overall the car is still very nice and I am glad we have it. I just did not plan on doing so much to it just to make it safe and reliable. Oh well, that is how the classic car cookie crumbles sometimes.

[toddb_67]

A couple of comments, I hope you marked the ball joint placement before you pressed them out because they have to be indexed right when you put the new ones in or they will break in a very short amount of time if pressed in wrong.
In order for your alternator to charge that dash light must be on. The initial 12 volts comes from that circuit to energize the alternator, so no light= no charge. Secondly you want that light to work in case your break or throw your belt off because the engine will overheat quickly without that fan turning. You might want to start tracing that alternator wiring first. I think it is a blue or green wire that you are looking for that goes to the dash light but I'm not positive.
_________________
1970 Pastel White Westfalia
1971 Super Beetle Convertible (sold) http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=582365&highlight=
1970 Squareback "Savanna" (sold)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=714683
1974 Karmann Ghia- current project, 1967cc engine. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=775207
“I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.” - Dudley Field Malone

[HardwayVW]

Thank you for the info Todd, we are on the same page. The factory generator light is a solid blue wire that would have originally gone to the external voltage regulator. According to the conversion documents I read up on the light should be wired to the D post of the alt. and a switched 12V source. There is something wired to the D post of the alt. but I need to trace it further to determine where it goes or stops in this case.

On the ball joint, I saw a great write up on it and made sure it was indexed properly. With any luck I can get the eccentric bushing off with some more heat but worst case scenario is I have to buy a new one through SoCal Imports and pay their $15 "processing fee" but oh well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

[KGCoupe]

[HardwayVW]

[HardwayVW]

I had a little free time before the wife came home and was already in the garage taking pictures of my other car for a potential buyer. Once that was wrapped up I decided to investigate the non-op alternator. Knowing the generator light needed to be operable before the alternator would work, that is where I started. On the far left of the dash is a small orange light with a “B” in the middle of it. It did not look original so I thought that maybe this was the new light circuit for the alternator. I checked the bulb in it and it was good but the socket has no power going to it. Any ideas?

The wiring on the back of it has a blue and red wire going to it. Unfortunately in the rat’s nest of wiring I could not tell where it went as it disappeared in to the abyss behind the dash. Since only the oil pressure light worked I decided to trace and get everything identified and possibly make more lights work. After some digging around I noticed the blue/white wire that would be for the high beam indicator was spliced and wrapped in electrical tape with the other side being a solid blue wire. I could feel a flat style connection under the tape so I removed it to find the in genius connection below. Who does this crap? Really, who thought that 2 female spade connections were meant to go together, especially since the wires don’t even match. (I know there will be jokes after this)

I quickly found where the solid female spade went in to the hard plastic protector, turned the key and the generator light came one.

Raised the garage door, hopped in, and started it up, light on, 1 second later light off. I checked the battery terminals, 13.27V at idle, pushing 13.75 as I revved it up. WIN! I swear the engine sounded like it had 10 extra horsepower. My wife came out to the garage since she heard it start up. I tried to explain and quasi celebrate my electrical victory. She was happy for me but more concerned as to why the garage smelled like gas. “That’s how old cars are sweetie” They don’t smell like gas, that is smell of nostalgia. As for the blue/white wire I pulled out, it needs the narrow spade connector replaced that goes to the bulb socket. Turns out its large female connector connects to one of the spades on the fuse block. A project for tomorrow night and still need to figure out what the orange “B” light is for if anything.

[mountainkowboy]

The "B" light is a brake failure warning light. You push it for test mode, it should light. If there is a pressure failure on either of the dual master brake cylinders the light will come on when you put the brakes on. Telling you that your brake system has problems
_________________
Chuck in Socal
________________________________________

71 Super Convertible...DD
78 Honda CB750K
06 Honda CR-V (wifes)
63 IH Scout 80 "Beater"

[KGCoupe]

[Kmolenda]

People who don't know how to work on electrical stuff do that sort of nonsense. Of all the years I have been a mechanic, and working on old cars, VWs have the most molested wiring of any cars out there. I have even seen some vw owners molest the hell out of newer vw cars.. I think they should encase all harnesses and connection points in Kevlar with a 50k volt AC shock system to the person who tries to get in there to fix some problem they have no idea how to solve...

[mountainkowboy]

[HardwayVW]

Last weekend I got back to work on the KG. I started where I left off on the passenger side upper ball joint. I still needed to remove the eccentric bushing and needed something that was strong enough to press the bushing against but thin enough to go in between the bushing and the ball joint. I purchased some 3/16 angled steel at Home Depot, cut two 10 in lengths from it, added some heat, and within 5 minutes the bushing and ball joint were separated.

I had ordered some more ball joints as the weight of the car and moving the wheel a few times had torn the boot of the new bushing. All of my other parts were still in transit so I turned my attention to the rear of the car. I knew from day one that one of the intake boots had been leaking so I decided to tackle them next.

Once I had them off I determined they are the red rubber EMPI boots that are found just about everywhere for $10/kit. Unfortunately I realized I had bought this exact same kit to replace the boots. After some online research I ordered some silicone boots along with some new exhaust balance tube gaskets. I will use the paper gaskets that came with the EMPI kit along with the new boot clamps. For now, it’s all I could do. The intake manifolds will get a thorough cleaning before going back on.

With the manifolds out of the way it made getting the spark plugs out a breeze. As I expected they were fuel fouled. I got some replacement NGK’s and will install them once I am ready to put everything back together.

[HardwayVW]

With another beautiful day on tap in Austin yesterday I got after the KG to get some work done. With the recent sale of my 300zx I now have room in the garage to work on the car and keep the doors closed. With my new ball joints sitting on the table I went about swapping the old/new joint out and installed the new/new joint. I also made sure to index it properly. Swapping them out was a piece of cake with my press.

I cleaned up the eccentric bushing and coated the inside of it with some anti-seize and staged it to keep everything together. I apply anti-seize to the outside of the bushing/the cone so it moves around freely in its pocket when it needs to be adjusted.

I wanted to replace the lower ball joint and went about getting the spindle and shock removed. I then ran in to another challenge of getting the sway bar bushing straps off. I tried for about 20 mins using a punch and hammer to push the strap clip off but could not. My question is, do I just cut them and install new ones or buy the adjustable bushing straps along with new poly bushings? I don’t know how old everything is regarding the front suspension but I hate to throw money at something that really is not needed. Thoughts?

With that project now on hold I turned my attention to the steering damper. Given that just about every project so far on the car has been a series of starts and stops it was nice to complete one project from start to finish. Probably took 10 minutes at the most.

Feeling like I had gained some momentum I moved to the rag joint/steering coupler. I received the correct size rag joint from Wolfsburg West. While I was waiting for it I found another rag joint at the parts store and decided to pick it up. Below are all 3 joints for comparison. On the left is the original cracked rag joint, in the middle is the new one from WW, and on the right is the HELP products joint. Surprisingly when you stack the new ones on top of the original they line up perfectly. If I have any problems with the WW joint I will install the HELP rag joint.

With some help from the wife I got the new rag joint installed along with some new 10.9 grade hardware from HD.

Feeling like I was on a roll I decided to tackle the shifter bushing and shifter coupler replacement. I already had the new parts on hand so I dove in. I used several of the write ups found here on the site and everything went as expected. I had to completely remove my front bumper to get the shift rod out and with some help from the wife it was no big deal.

Once the rod was out you could see a few more remnants of the old bushing along with the spring clip. With dinner time approaching I decided to call it a day and will pick it up again next weekend.

[HardwayVW]

Last weekend was very eventful for me. Not only was it Valentine’s Day and I was able to get some more work done on the KG. I also bought a new daily driver that I think everyone here has heard of and can appreciate. It is a 2013 Scion FR-S 6spd MT. I can say that after owning it a week it has lived up to the reviews. It is a true driver’s car that allows you to actually use 60% - 90% of its full capability in just everyday driving. The sticker says it has good miles per gallon but the smiles per gallon are off the chart!

Back to the KG. I wanted to get the shifter bushing and coupler project wrapped up. I used a method that has been used by other members to help get shift rod pushed through the car and the bushing. Even with plenty of grease and the clip open the shifter rod still had a good bit of resistance. With the help of my wife providing some guidance to get the rod in to the bushing I got it done.

After cleaning up the shifter and lubing it with some fresh grease I reinstalled it with a new boot. Just sitting the garage and rowing through the gears the difference is beyond night and day. Job done!

Moving back to the front suspension I went about cutting off the sway bar bushing straps. The grinder with a metal cutoff wheel made quick work of it.

I called it a day for the weekend with that task taken care of.

[HardwayVW]

I got back on the KG today after battling a cold all week. It was absolutely beautiful in Austin today and I hated not trying to get something done on the car. Since I cut the sway bar bushing straps off I was able to get better access to the lower control arm. Unfortunately I cannot figure out how to get the lower ball joint out with my press. I have a separate post asking how to remove the lower ball joint. See it here -> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=585884

Since I was at a stopping point at the front of the car I decided to head back to the rear. With all the spark plugs being out I decided to do a valve check and adjustment. Among the receipts I received with the car, one shows a rebuilt 1600 DP engine costing $500 back in the late 90’s. It lacks any real details but once I popped the passenger side valve cover off it looks very believable. The cleanliness of everything seems to suggest the motor has very few miles on it. Seeing the other issues I have already corrected it makes me wonder if the previous owner ever drove the car because I don’t see how someone safely could or get very far if they did since the alternator has never been charging. Back to the task at hand. The #1 and #4 valves were a bit tight but I got them in spec with a little trial and error. I cleaned everything up, put in some new gaskets, and wrapped it up.

With the rear of the car up in the air I decided to go ahead and change the oil. The task was straight forward enough but I was very disappointed to see that the strainer I bought from Wolfsburg West not only did not fit but looked a POS compared to the one that came out of the car. After reading about the selection of after-market strainers I think I am going to clean the old one really good, inspect it for any damage, and reinstall it. I will be taking up the quality issue of the strainer with WW on Monday.

I may get back after it tomorrow morning before heading to my wife’s family’s house for lunch.

[HardwayVW]

I got back on the KG last weekend before heading to a family lunch like I planned. Since the WW oil strainer was no good I went about cleaning up the old one with some brake cleaner. After cleaning it and inspecting it the wire mesh was still in good shape but I could see where a previous over had elongated the holes to make it easier to install. I went about filing down the burrs and flattening out the flange.

I then reinstalled everything with new Fel-Pro gaskets and copper washers. I also replaced several of the sump nuts and installed an Empi drain plug with a magnetic tip on it.

After doing more research on what it would cost to buy the tools needed to press out the old lower ball joint and press the new one in I decided to just bite the bullet and have my local VW dealership do it. I would have used a local shop but everything close to my office holds bankers hours and I needed place that would let me drop it off at 7am and pick it up between 5 and 6. Turns out they have a vintage master mechanic on site so it was no big deal. Unfortunately it was a big deal to my wallet to the tune of $129 out the door. It was a bit of sticker shock but it was done and done right so I was happy and ready to move on. Since I had a full Saturday ahead of me I hit the KG hard with the goal of getting it running and back on the ground so I could pull my new FR-S in the garage.

First up, got the control arms back in and spindle mounted up with the wife’s help. Then everything else pretty much fell in to place. The new sway bar bushings and straps were a different story. I learned after fighting the first one that they needed some “forming” with the use of my bench vise. After that along with the help of some hand clamps they saw things my way and went in to place.

Once the front end was wrapped up I turned my attention to the engine. I installed my new silicone intake boots and proceeded to put everything back together. While I was at it I installed some new NGK spark plugs, plug wires, and cleaned up all the tin work I had taken off. Once everything was together I jumped in to do a quick test fire and after just a few revolutions the engine fired up and ran smoothly.

As I was putting the wheels back on I noticed the passenger side valve cover was leaking so I pulled it off, cleaned it up, applied some aircraft gasket maker to the valve cover, and reassembled. With all the wheels on the ground I fired it up and back it out to let it warm up and check for leaks. After a few minutes of running everything sounded good and was leak free. Time for a test drive! I could tell as soon as I backed out that my steering woes were not over. Even with all the new parts the steering still feels rather vague and I can tell the steering box needs some lash adjustment as it has a large neutral spot in the center. The car accelerated good but it needs some carb tuning as it is running rich. Much to my delight the new shifter parts and efforts paid off in spades as it was easy to shift in to all gears with good feedback coming through the shifter. I also realized now more than ever how much the seats suck. A previous owner had recovered them in the past but did not install new foam. They also covered up the knob on the side that unlocks it to allow the back to tilt forward. Based on some of the paper work I received with the car the driver seat has been in for repair a few times and on the last receipt deemed un-repairable. Looks like I might be in the market for some new seats in the future. I am going to pull the seats out at some point to inspect them but that is a job for another day. In the end I accomplished what I wanted to, got the car driving again and got my FR-S in the garage. Job done!

[kingkarmann]

Looks like you have been very busy!
I tried to adjust my old steering box without luck. I also repacked it with grease instead of 90 weight gear oil
In the end I replaced the box. It made all the difference.
_________________
"Depression is a malfunction of the instrument we use to determine reality.”

Mike Gerson

What is your "Bespoke Reality"?

[HardwayVW]

Thank you for the compliment KingKarmann. Yes, I have been very busy with the KG. I like your idea of getting a new steering box. I am going to try and adjust it first and see how far it gets me. Mine is seeping pretty bad and seeing that it has to be removed to really clean and re-seal the box it probably makes sense to replace it. Before I replace anymore parts I am going to try and get it to a local shop for second opinion on it just to make sure I am not missing anything.