61 RHD Coupe Resto - New Zealand

[TheFop]

Here as promised are some photos of the first stages of my build, or in this case deconstruction, I'll keep them coming and hopefully keep you entertained with my trials and tribulations.

How I first received the car after 7 years parked in a warehouse

I wonder why the lights and horn didn't work...or in that case why most things didn't work

A quick poke around with a screw driver and the headlight bowls fell out.

How do you annoy someone in 15 years time.....glue the wind screen rubbers in.

Non original 1966 1600 126a industrial motor.....with 6v electrics...hmmm kinda odd

[sputnick60]

One of the nicest Ghia's I've seen drove past me when I was on the corner of Vivian and Cuba Streets in Wellington a few years ago. I reckon there are probably quite a few more lurking about in NZ because I've noticed the people there take really good care of their old cars.

Nice to see you taking care of this one. RHD Ghias are special. Good luck & remember to post lots of pictures

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!

[kiwighia68]

Dean, I drive through/past Te Atatu regularly to visit my grandchildren at Hobsonville Point and to check the progress on my car in Henderson. You say you have a mate who does VW's. I need someone to recondition my 1500 engine and gearbox while I'm doing the chassis and suspension. I'll definitely contact you when I get back home at the end of the month.

Yes, your car looks a bit worse than mine, but I assume you got it for less than I had to pay and that you have the skills to repair it. That youngster with the mischievous look in his eye looks like my grandson, who describes my car as my "other noisy car".
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[TheFop]

If your passing through don't be a stranger and I promise my kids are pretty harmless....generally.
Sadly my friend who's the VW buff moved back to the UK a few months ago so I'll be doing my engine and gearbox.

I'm still debating if all of the work required and the endless parts that were missing made it a good, ok or bad deal, from what I was told the last owner bought it in the early 80's and it came in boxes so he paid someone to piece it back together.
I don't think all of the original parts were there so it's got lots of weird and wonderful non standard parts and interesting ways around the missing stuff and to be honest I have no idea how it was even on the road as a lot of stuff couldn't possibly have worked.

Anyways $2500 was what I paid so I suppose that gives me heaps of headroom to buy new parts without it costing significantly more that I could buy a restored Ghia for.

Let me know when you get back, it would be great to catch up with you.

[TheFop]

More adventures into the world of rust......

[CommodoreCollector]

Just a suggestion it probably would be worth getting that Ghia media blasted to remove all the filler and expose all the rusted/rotten area's of the car that need to be repaired. I got that done with my 1969 Karmann Ghia and it has made it easier going forward knowing that all the rust is going to be repaired.

The media that was used on my ghia was glass bead.
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Christopher


Not For Sale:

1969 Karmann Ghia
1961 Type 2 DD Panel
1960 Euro Kombi
1959 Type 2 Single Cab
1958 Type 2 Panel
1958 Type 2 Single Cab
1958 Karmann Ghia

[scottkrough]

[motorhead364]

I chemical dipped mine. It is definitely the way to go. Places that do it an regulations on it are tough so they are hard to find. I had to drive 8 hours one way to get it done but it's well worth it.
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63 ghia coupe

[kiwighia68]

[TheFop]

You guys beat me to my next question, I have been looking at media blasting vs acid dip and have found strong points in both schools of thought, I like the idea of acid dip but am worried it will remove all of the factory sealant that I may not expose as I replace panels or weld in patches, but I like the idea that it also eats rust.
I've also heard that if not bathed correctly of for long enough to neutralise the acid that some acid may remain and leach out from cavities after painting and destroy the final paint finish.
To get my acid dipped by a specialist car dipper its going to need to travel several hundred K's on the back of a transporter.

On the other hand media blasting doesn't get into those hard to reach places....but that may be ok, and I expect it can be done locally.

For the smaller parts I've bought a blasting cabinet and will buy glass beads to clean them up with as I remember years ago spending a long long time messing with wire brushes, paint stripper and sandpaper trying to detail parts and I want to avoid that as much as possible.

[mjfisher1964]

I have had my 1963 Karmann Ghia body acid dipped successfully in Rosebank Rd, Avondale. Can post details if interested.

[TheFop]

Hey Fisher, if you could I'd be very interested as I'm just down the road at Te Atatu so getting the shell there would be really easy.
I'd heard the best place to go was Rotorua but even feedback on that was iffy.

I assume there are a few Ghia owners here in Auckland......oddly enough I rarely see them on the road.

[kiwighia68]

Do yourself a favour and go and have a look at Michael's car. It's an inspiration. And it's not far from you.

What worries me is that his standard is so high that I am unlikely to match it in any respect.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[TheFop]

So today I reached a milestone, I spent most of the day splitting the body and floor pan apart, in my usual "she'll be right, should only take a couple of hours" way I optimistically set to work....sadly I found that the car has had some interesting repairs over the year that I didn't spot earlier due to massive amounts of seam sealant.
I dare say the below will be a very familiar story to most (especially those from the UK).

So I started of cleaning all the years of accumulated dirt from around the 14 odd bolts along each side and giving them a penetrating oil spray.
I noticed something was a little odd when it was hard to get even a thin walled socket on to the bolts, then I realised that someone had made some plates up and welded the pan and the inner sills together for the whole length of the car both sides.

I'm not sure why they would have done this as it doesn't appear to cover and rust or fill any holes.
Then after grinding the plates off both sides I set out upon removing the bolts, these mostly came out well but will need replacing as most have serious corrosion on the thread and came out pretty well threadless.

Then I came to the rear bolts behind the rear wheels, both of these had serious corrosion and the bolt heads were rounded meaning I was unable to fit a socket onto them, so out came the saber saw and I cut through the rubbers (stuffed anyway) and cut the bolts through, just need to drill and tap them later...no biggie.

Ok now to attack the heater channels which had been welded to the floor pans during a part pan replacement, these were cut with a grinder again to allow the floor and body to separate.

Slight issue doing this as another plate was welded up in behind the seat rail, this was easily remedied as after a bit of poking around it turned out the seat rail was just a pile of rust so this was cut out and abandoned.

So, will the body lift? nope, now time to cut out the plates welded into each wheel arch at the end of the heater channels, each had to be cut out and the welds removed.

Now? nope time to cut away all the welds from the jacking points, again both heavily welded to the body, this time I jacked up each corner with a block of wood and heard satisfying "pop"s each time as the body and pan split from the rubber.

Now I just need to friends to pop around for a beer and help move it on to the body frame before it moved to the rotisserie when I get around to making up the brackets.

The other thing I found when removing the steering column was an interesting "fix" on the indicator stalk, seems Kiwis can fix anything with a nail or some #8 wire.

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[kiwighia68]

And I thought I had trouble!!!
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[Rome]

You poor guy; that's one butchered and patched Ghia. In your very first photo I already spotted the bottom of the front fender as it goes into the rocker- the fender angles outward somewhat instead of being in a straight line. This is another sign of bodging and patching... so be prepared for more hidden sins to be revealed from your blasting/dipping.

Can you weld?

[KGCoupe]

I'm not sure whether to pity anyone that takes on such a project, or admire their courage, optimism and skill (or fat wallet!).

Any way you look at it, I wish you all the best my brave friend.

[TheFop]

Definitely a lot of optimism, but I figure that pretty much every RHD will have some rust nasties and from the posts there are a lot that have had similar levels of work done, I knew this one was a basket case when I first saw it 3 years ago and turned it down but I thought it would be a good way to practice my panel beating skills which have been unused for the past 18 or so years.

I think the other Kiwi's here will have the same issue as me in getting parts here, everything needs to be shipped half way around the world which starts adding time and $'s

I'll be here a lot over the next year or so reading lots of posts and learning from this great community some great tricks and tips and how things should look.

[racoguy]

WOW, a nail to hold the stalk together.............a true master piece
The pan being welded to the body is all too common here I'm afraid, just another sign of all the bodged repairs these cars go though in their lives.
No other option really but to cut it all off and start again which will utimately give the best result anyway.

Keep plugging away, every little step is progress..........unlike me at least you can buy everything for your car!

[kiwighia68]