Ghia purchase advise

pickledBus · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 10:56 am Post subject: Ghia purchase advise

Hi,

I have a 1977 bus so I comfortable with mechanical/interior work but not very experienced on the body side. I am now looking to get a Ghia, I have read all the purchasing/inspection guides I could find here but I wanted some specific advise on a potential purchase. Pictures and craigslist description are below. Thanks in advance!

Craigslist description, he is asking $2100:

smuenchrath · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 11:35 am Post subject:

The lack of side trim is always a red flag to me. Usually means someone has filled in the holes with bondo. If they have done this, they very well may have covered rust in the usual areas (rocker panels, etc). best bet is to get a magnet on it to see what might be lurking.

I can almost guarantee you will have to replace the lower quarter panels, rockers and quite possibly heater channels given where this car is from.
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mfitzsimor · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 12:01 pm Post subject:

Pickled,

Let me know if you'd like a walk-through of my 69 coupe. I can show what to look for on a car that's relatively rust-free. I'm in Milwaukie.

Mark
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c21darrel · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 12:06 pm Post subject:

^^concur about the side trim.
Front looks like generous bondo on previous repairs. She may have been an 80's/90's cal looker...cal look window rubber, side mirrors, sans side trim and bumpers plus alum sheet on the rear firewall.
Rust that is showing thru will be much worse on the underside. Hows the interior? Always better to find something thats mostly complete so you dont get nickel and dimed finding parts (like bumpers).
What are your plans? Driver, restore, original, custom??? How much work can you do yourself? Paying someone to do anything more than moderate rust repair and you can get underwater quickly. Buy the best candidate you can to start with and you will be ahead in time and $$.
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pickledBus · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 12:11 pm Post subject:

Yeah I am worried about the lack of trim but I haven't seen a ghia under 8k around here that has the trim without having much larger problems.

When I talked to the seller on the phone he said he thought there was a lot of bondo on the front left side around the fender and headlight bucket. I was planning on looking at the underside through the trunk with a flashlight and bringing magnets. He also said that there was rust near the left front drivers foot by the heater channel. Is that an automatic run away?

I can do any mechanical and interior wiring/clean/install things. I have done some rust repair but only on superficial rust and simple painting. My goal is to clean it up enough to be a decent daily driver without going full restoration on it. Also as a project to learn welding

retrowagen · Samba Member Joined: October 11, 2004 Posts: 1856

Lots of potential for disaster there.

Do be careful. Inspect with a magnet; a flashlight, and a very critical look all over the vehicle.
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c21darrel · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 12:29 pm Post subject:

Yes, at least the seller isnt way out of line on his starting asking price. Spend a lot of time around the front/drivers front qtr/air intakes looks like a 1/4 inch "skim" coat. also looks like problems under the side ghia emblem down to the rocker area. If you can...take off the rear interior panels and look down toward the rockers. Any rust you find will help in negotiating a good price.
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jwold · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 12:56 pm Post subject:

If he'll let you, take off the chrome headlight ring and look at the headlight buckets, pretty hard to make those look new once they're all smashed up. You can also feel along the edge of the wheel well, is should feel smooth and not ripple-y at all. Might also feel around behind the rear side panels for rust, corrosion down where the heater channels are.

And if you're in Milwaukie examining mfitzsimore's ghia, you can swing by after and look at my 67 (also in milwaukie) that has all those sneaky rust repairs 1/2 way uncovered, easily showing just how good those bondo guys were at covering things up back in the 80's!

NOVA Airhead · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 2:11 pm Post subject:

The passenger side rocker looks like it has issues.
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Karly · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:48 pm Post subject:

John Moxon · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 12:08 am Post subject:

Yep...in that sort of price range if you are confident with doing the work yourself you'd be better off buying an unfinished project. At least you can SEE what you're getting.
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O2COOLED · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 3:38 am Post subject:

I just saw this in CL:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/4687646119.html

You may want to check it out before making a decision. Has a 1641, dropped etc
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NWGhiaGuy · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 2:14 pm Post subject:

kingkarmann · Samba Member Joined: November 05, 2003 Posts: 4114

pickledBus · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 10:53 am Post subject:

I went to look at it and decided not to buy it. The highlights are a 1/4 thick layer of bondo over the front left quarter. The heater channel by the drivers left foot completely rotted away. At least one square foot section of pan was going/gone from under than drivers seat. Rust bubbles/rust along the drivers side rocker. I didn't even get to the passenger side inspection before deciding I didn't want it.

Here is the craiglist post if anyone is still interested: http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/cto/4684520948.html

NWGhiaGuy · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 1:11 pm Post subject:

Here is another one on CL Seattle...

http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/cto/4678472564.html

If you want to spend less and put it together yourself, I have clean '68 body on a '71 pan.

John Moxon · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 2:04 pm Post subject:

NOVA Airhead · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:23 am Post subject:

DorianL · Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 1:03 am Post subject:

Take a few magnets with you of varying strength.

The thicker the bondo, the less the magnets will cling to the panel eaxmined.


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