61 RHD Coupe Resto - New Zealand

jpjohns · Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 8:36 pm Post subject:

This is awesome, you're doing great work on the tear apart. I don't know why people love the Bondo so much, mine's covered in it too.
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-Jared

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

TheFop · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 1:06 am Post subject:

Thanks, I think I have turned the corner with the bondo as my car is now pretty much naked as a jaybird and I think (hope) all of its secrets have been exposed, the bondo in the hood and deck lid were so bad there was no point in even considering fixing them as the dents (massive craters) and rust were far too much, so I have a near perfect period correct hood from the US and a not quite so perfect or period correct deck lid from Japan but its far better than the original.

Here's a scary fact for the bondo fans out there, since I've started I've filled a whole 32gal garbage can with dust and rust from this car, that doesn't include big stuff, just rust, bondo and paint dust. Shocked

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Rusty 61 RHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Resto in progress....slowly
Stock 69 LHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Driver
67 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Being rebuilt
63 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Going Baja!
86 T25 Westfalia - Family Fun car

TheFop · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 1:42 am Post subject:

Today was a good day!!!

I managed to get a 4 hour break from family life and work and got out and attacked the Ghias pans with a fine angle grinder and an air chisel and chopped the left side pan out.
The cleaned up all the flanges and prepped and installed a new pan, thanks to "my friend Pete" and his expletive laden video about replacing Ghia pans I was amazed how smoothly it went.

Now I just need to cut out the old jack point and reattach the seat rails 5 cm back from their original position, build a new cross member, grind off the welds, remove the primer seal it up and paint with POR15 and I'm done....happy days.

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

_________________
Rusty 61 RHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Resto in progress....slowly
Stock 69 LHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Driver
67 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Being rebuilt
63 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Going Baja!
86 T25 Westfalia - Family Fun car

TheFop · Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 1:22 am Post subject:

More fun this weekend.

I managed to get time for a bit of a sort out from when I bundled all of may parts from my car into cardboard boxes, it appears that the PO had collected a fair amount of good spares which he gave me with the car including some good rubber seals, window winders and other odds and sods, the good thing is I may be able to make a set of OK headlights so that will save me a few hundred $'s.

Hows this for a crappy bonnet?

Next up after the tidy up and sort was to catch up with Kiwighia and help to unpick the A post just arrived from the US, so we drilled out the spot welds and ground off the waste steel to reveal a servicable A post for his car, sadly the section of front wing it came with still attached had been cut through the Karmann badge recess which I would have loved to have had for my car Crying or Very sad

My 2 year old daughter also got to be the first person to "drive" the Ghia.

Next up came floor pan #2, this time I had a slightly different approach to the first, I did the usual measure up and got the positions for the seat rails, the pedal box mounts and widths and then cut them out with a sabre saw rather than doing them off the car...far more sensible.

Then I cut the pan out again with the sabre saw, the whole process of cutting took around 4 minutes.

In the process I found what was initially a head scratcher, during a previous repair the repairer had welded some flat bar between the frame head and the tunnel to create captive nuts for the pedal box, I soon worked out this wasn't stock so chopped it out.

Also I thought some may like this photo of the pan I removed, yes that's a floor panel repair section welded to an earlier floor pan repair section.

_________________
Rusty 61 RHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Resto in progress....slowly
Stock 69 LHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Driver
67 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Being rebuilt
63 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Going Baja!
86 T25 Westfalia - Family Fun car

TheFop · Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 10:24 pm Post subject:

Today I got some good news, as you may have seen in my posts in New Zealand we have strict guidelines on vehicle repairs, such as if you have rust or panel deformation in any structural area you have to have any repairs checked and signed off by a certifier and until today I understood based on some non conclusive research and advice from various folks that any welding would need to be carried out by a certified welder.

Sadly if I need a certified welder to do my repair this project would be dead and one less Ghia would exist as I can't afford to do it and it would be beyond economical repair for anyone but a certified welder.

So with this terrible scenario looming I thought I'd do some digging and ask some questions about the "certified welder" issue as to me it makes very little sense, ie what does a certified welder know about vehicle structural panel repairs? a welder knows how to weld and isn't necessarily a panel beater.

After digging around a little and not finding anything concrete I decided to write to MITO who are the NZ Motor Industry Training Organisation and ask them if as a L4 qualified panel beater from the UK if I am qualified to undertake structural repairs in New Zealand or if I need to be a certified welder, I received this response today.

"In essence there is no regulatory requirement to be a certified welder to undertake structural repairs on vehicles. However, it is becoming an industry standard that Collision Repair technicians are completing the I-CAR Welding Qualification Assessment. "

The crux of all this is I can now plow on with my repairs as long as I have a certifier agreeing to the scope of the repairs and to sign them off at the end.....happy days.

Sadly not a whole lot of use for anyone outside of NZ but may help others in NZ so I thought I would make this available on the internet...and where better?

Sadly this doesn't tell me if a non qualified panel beater can do the work but I may ask that question next week for anyone else in NZ wanting to repair their classic car.
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Rusty 61 RHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Resto in progress....slowly
Stock 69 LHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Driver
67 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Being rebuilt
63 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Going Baja!
86 T25 Westfalia - Family Fun car

TheFop · Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 12:56 am Post subject:

Wow 2 updates in 1 day....

Today I got hold of a copy of Philip Coyle's excellent book "50 years of VWs in New Zealand" Ghias get only 5 mentions in the whole book, 3 of those are in reference to a photo with a ghia among a load of beetles and transporters, 1 reference saying that a collector had one and 1 reference that interested me the most ".....there were 278,321 Ghias made of which as few as 150 were imported into New Zealand" this would be new import numbers not US or other 2nd hand imports.

However I'm beginning to suspect it may be an Aussie import as in the boxes of parts that she came with I found some Aussie window winder buffers and the prior registration plate was issued in 1989, this isn't to say she was off the road before and de-registered and re-registered in 89 as this would line up with the PO's story of buying it as a shell and boxes of parts.

From PFNs post

Time to order the birth certificate now I know I can rescue her.
_________________
Rusty 61 RHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Resto in progress....slowly
Stock 69 LHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Driver
67 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Being rebuilt
63 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Going Baja!
86 T25 Westfalia - Family Fun car

kiwighia68 · Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 1:28 am Post subject:

The greater the struggle the greater the triumph.
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

TheFop · Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 2:23 am Post subject:

Its not a Triumph its a Volkswagen.......
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Rusty 61 RHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Resto in progress....slowly
Stock 69 LHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Driver
67 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Being rebuilt
63 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Going Baja!
86 T25 Westfalia - Family Fun car

kiwighia68 · Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 11:17 am Post subject:

switchf00t · Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 3:13 pm Post subject:

Hey Dean
Chris here, 64 ghia guy from green bay.
That pan looks real nice! what a transformation!
I've just started poking around my floorpans to work out what needs replacing and was wondering if you have any tips on getting them off intact in one piece? Looks like you used some sort of air tool. Could you recommend any contacts for the pan suppliers?

TheFop · Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 3:30 pm Post subject:

Hey Chris, great to see you here! no more lurking in the classifieds Laughing

The air chisle is misleading, I just used that to get some stubborn bits off, the first pan I cut with a ultra thin grinder but the 2nd one I used a sabre saw which was way faster and cleaner, no sparks etc just ripped through the metal in seconds.

I've sent you a PM

Glad to see another NZ Ghia here!!
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Rusty 61 RHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Resto in progress....slowly
Stock 69 LHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Driver
67 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Being rebuilt
63 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Going Baja!
86 T25 Westfalia - Family Fun car

PFN · Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 8:32 am Post subject:

It's really interesting when it comes to what VWoA parts were used on Ghias delivered to Australasia. On my one I naturally found an Australian made Speedo, the Australian made door escutcheons, beetle window winders, and beetle dash knobs. After 53 years how much of this was local replacement versus original equipment? When the "birth certificate" lists headlights for right hand drive traffic as coming from the factory, how does this relate to Morris Minor headlights? Nicholas seems to know more than the rest of us! Smile

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1962 1/2 Australian Made Beetle
1961 factory RHD Karmann Ghia

(gone now)
1964 RHD Conversion Karmann Ghia
1956 RHD Beetle
1972 Kombi

TheFop · Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:33 am Post subject:

What would you know its September so nearly a month since my last post, time flies when your having fun and also trying to spend more time with wife and kids to keep some balance.
Work on the car has continued at a snails pace the last few weeks, I've been concentrating on getting the pans finished and as everyone knows with a rusty car the more you dig the more rust you find.

This month has been about getting the frame head sorted, as my earlier post showed my frame head and tunnel were worse for wear, but as I ground and cut out rust there was less and less frame head left so I ended up making 5 plates up to repair the rusted sections, so the tunnel itself, the inner frame head, bottom of the frame head, and the section where the master cylinder mounts, inside and outside.

This took a little while trying to get the plates the right size and get them all to take the right form together, the result is OK but not perfect but I'm not looking for perfection just a decent repair that will last another few decades.
Happily while the tunnel was open I could vacuum it out and open up the tabs which hold the fuel line in place, the fuel line had corroded and failed several years ago so now was a great time to replace it before I sealed it back up, I also welded up various holes drilled in the tunnel, not sure what they were about but thought I'd sort them while I was there, this included the old botched up seat belt mounts.

Not the prettiest welds I've done but looked fine after a good grind.

So next up for a mention is a HUGE thank you to Scott Doonan and Chris KiwiGhia68, between them they helped me heaps with my new cross members, Scott as some may have seen posted the dimensions of the cross members as mine were totally poked, once I had these measurements (in metric Laughing

) I cut new sections out of galved sheet steel and Chris took them to his panel beaters and folded them for me, the result was fantastic. I will do a write up for the seat runner sticky in the next few days.

Once these were done I mounted up my new and rescued seat rails and cleco'd them into place, then mounted the seat to get the width right, once this was right I dug out the "mystery" angle that came with the seat rail, and then made one for my rescued rail out of some very slightly heavier angle (you have to use what you can source).
Interestingly the angle is 30mm which is the exact measurement between the tunnel and the seat rail and also the edge of the pan and the seat rail, very handy indeed.
Then I drilled 7mm holes in the rails, supports and cross members ready for the welds, which I will get into later in the week.

On a safety note my 1961 now has seat belt mounts on the tunnel after some open tunnel surgery and I've ordered some retro belts from the US, the aftermarket belts fitted by somebody in the past were terrible and badly installed, this way my belts will be safer in a way that looks right, although not right for the year.
_________________
Rusty 61 RHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Resto in progress....slowly
Stock 69 LHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Driver
67 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Being rebuilt
63 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Going Baja!
86 T25 Westfalia - Family Fun car

TheFop · Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:02 pm Post subject:

Yesterday I was moving old files from my work laptop to a new one and found some photos of my car from when I first looked at it 2 year before I ended up buying it - I had quite forgotten that I took these photos and was regretting that I didn't have photos of how I found it as I thought it was an interesting size contrast to see the car scaled against the rolls of material in the import warehouse where it had sat for years.

_________________
Rusty 61 RHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Resto in progress....slowly
Stock 69 LHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Driver
67 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Being rebuilt
63 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Going Baja!
86 T25 Westfalia - Family Fun car

kiwighia68 · Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:13 pm Post subject:

Hi Dean, I'm in Sydney and found the most wonderful VW parts supplier near the airport. Vintage Vee-Dub Supplies. They have everything, from what I could see. Stock of TMI, Flat 4 and West Coast Metric. Very helpful guy, Boris. There was a long queue of people buying parts ahead of me, and I had time to browse and observe.

I'll be back there in Tuesday to pick up parts. Let me know if you need anything (not too heavy). Could you please measure the length of our wiper blades and let me know? I need a set. Boris has German quality stock of 280mm and 340mm. My memory is that ours fall somewhere between.
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

bobnorman · Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 6:58 pm Post subject:

Such a Phat speaker for an AM radio Laughing

... this car must be some glad it found you! Great job so far. Cool

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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289807

TheFop · Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 10:35 pm Post subject:

Wow, 6 months since my last update on this car.
I'm glad to say I've had a great summer driving my 69 US/Japan import and taken it to various shows where I picked up a "coolest ride" trophy and also a few parts for the 61, last score was a brand new full set of air intakes (4 parts) for $50nz, that's about $40us so thats saves me repairing the originals which were ruined but would have cost me $400nz to buy from the US.

Last week my Ghia's gained a slightly more common new friend who I am helping out, this one will become my wife's car and for a change its a 67 NZ spec Beetle. This car has already been media blasted and is 95% ready for paint and is very solid and original, I'm debating about spraying it white/red pearl to match the red interior and pay tribute to its original colour with some Aussie flash trim on the sides.

Once this ones done and back together the 61 will be back on the agenda for some serious body work.
_________________
Rusty 61 RHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Resto in progress....slowly
Stock 69 LHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Driver
67 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Being rebuilt
63 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Going Baja!
86 T25 Westfalia - Family Fun car

c21darrel · Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:21 am Post subject:

X2 on the Aussie side trim. Think its a sweet look.
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GhiaBuild
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=481184
1967 DC build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=693583&highlight=67+dc
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

kiwighia68 · Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 7:09 pm Post subject:

TheFop · Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 12:34 am Post subject:

Come on round, make sure you have time for a cuppa this time.
_________________
Rusty 61 RHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Resto in progress....slowly
Stock 69 LHD Karmann Ghia Coupe - Driver
67 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Being rebuilt
63 New Zealand Spec Beetle - Going Baja!
86 T25 Westfalia - Family Fun car


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61 RHD Coupe Resto - New Zealand
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