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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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 Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:45 pm Post subject: |
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| cracker666 wrote: |
| c21darrel wrote: |
| Thanks for the update. Why does the front of the headlite bucket area look odd? Flat front, the old part looked correct. |
they don't look like normal ghia buckets. |
Yes, it is incorrect. Not as obvious on the old one but it also needed work. Have the panels and correct buckets so it will get fixed up.
I haven't actually seen this new clip, looked at another which was no good. Barry had seen both, and this was far better. Was surprised to find any, as Ghias are pretty thin on the ground over here.
Old one is useable, and I'll probably hang onto it as a spare come shed ornament. |
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Mellow Yellow 74
Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2014
Posts: 1615
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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My 1962 KG has the same flat plate around the headlights. I think this was done to fit mini minor headlights because of lack of availability of RHD euro headlights. I am not sure if this was done in the factory for RHD KG's or if sometime has retrofitted these over the last 50+ years.
Mine had the flat lens mini headlights which looked a bit odd but I have bought some curved lens ones which look better. The mini headlight trim sticks out a bit further so doesn't match the line of the panel like the original type
I was thinking of changing back to standard as part of my resto until I saw how much it would cost to buy the correct headlights. You have got to draw the line somewhere and for me this was the line.
_________________
1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon) |
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VeeDubWolf
Samba Member
Joined: July 12, 2010
Posts: 656
Location: Yakima, WA
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Angus Dowrie wrote: |
Clip is a lot better than my original one. If you check the photos of the wheel well on the first couple of pages of this thread, it's quite crumpled up. Got hit and the inner panels wrinkled, front rolled under a bit and the front fenders bulged out a little.
It had the typical rust around headlights but not bad rust-wise. The new clip is off a '62, same era as mine (oct'62 build) and is quite straight. It needs the headlight areas done as well, buckets are shot and the left front got a small hit and has something strange put in. Already had those panels to fix up my original, plus the lower chin area with the cross imprint.
So this needs a little rust work but no more than the original, and is straight. You could spend a long time trying to hammer those wrinkles out and it still wouldn't be right. You can see the inner panels on this are good.
My general rule has been to keep as much of the original as possible, but this will give a better result and still with mostly original Karmann panels. |
Sounds like a solid plan! My 70 beetle had much the same issues with a front hit that curled the nose under and compacted the spare tire well. It also didn't help that a replacement washer bottle panel had been welded in over the rusted out one, plus it was a thin repro panel and the back side wasn't painted prior to install, it too was rusted out when I got the car. It may be a rust-bucket, but for $100 I was happy to have it! XD
_________________
Two Bugs-
'70 rust-bucket sunroof sedan
'69 PO hack-job special
-Plus a wide assortment of various parts'n'junk |
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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Mellow Yellow 74 wrote: |
My 1962 KG has the same flat plate around the headlights. I think this was done to fit mini minor headlights because of lack of availability of RHD euro headlights. I am not sure if this was done in the factory for RHD KG's or if sometime has retrofitted these over the last 50+ years.
Mine had the flat lens mini headlights which looked a bit odd but I have bought some curved lens ones which look better. The mini headlight trim sticks out a bit further so doesn't match the line of the panel like the original type
I was thinking of changing back to standard as part of my resto until I saw how much it would cost to buy the correct headlights. You have got to draw the line somewhere and for me this was the line. |
Definitely not from factory. Bucket was the same for all cars, whether they had us or euro headlights. Fitting Morris Minor headlights in Australia was common on Ghias as finding Ghia RHD euro headlights was impossible. Back in the 50s and 60s you'd trip over a dozen Morries on the way home from the pub.
I don't know what this had, it was literally just a bare shell. Guy was cutting it up as it was just going to cost too much to find every other piece missing from the car. I'm guessing the flat metal piece is just from the repair, before they became collectible again and repro parts became available.
I will have a set of euro RHD headlights when I'm finished my car if you are interested. I've got my originals plus another pair and some odds and sods, will be able to get two good pairs. Mine gets the best ones though! |
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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 12:17 am Post subject: |
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| VeeDubWolf wrote: |
| Sounds like a solid plan! My 70 beetle had much the same issues with a front hit that curled the nose under and compacted the spare tire well. It also didn't help that a replacement washer bottle panel had been welded in over the rusted out one, plus it was a thin repro panel and the back side wasn't painted prior to install, it too was rusted out when I got the car. It may be a rust-bucket, but for $100 I was happy to have it! XD |
It's hard to find a 50+ year-old car that hasn't had some sort of bingle in its life. Using an original replacement panel manufactured within months of my car gets me the best end result while keeping it as 'German' as practicable. |
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Mellow Yellow 74
Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2014
Posts: 1615
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 4:49 am Post subject: |
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| Angus Dowrie wrote: |
Guy was cutting it up as it was just going to cost too much to find every other piece missing from the car. I'm guessing the flat metal piece is just from the repair, before they became collectible again and repro parts became available.
I will have a set of euro RHD headlights when I'm finished my car if you are interested. I've got my originals plus another pair and some odds and sods, will be able to get two good pairs. Mine gets the best ones though! |
Thanks for the offer, I will see how I go - if I find rust around the headlights and need replacement panels I might go that way otherwise I will stick with the mini headlights.
Do you know if the bloke you bought the nose off is still wrecking the rest? My car has dodgy accident repair in the rear right hand corner so it may be easier to replace the whole panel rather than trying to repair it
_________________
1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon) |
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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 4:57 am Post subject: |
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I'm intending to drive down on Saturday to check out my car. I'll find out if he is still cutting the rest of it up.
This depends on my cast being removed on Friday, I think that's a safe bet. |
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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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| Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2015 2:07 am Post subject: |
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I drove down to check on Phoebe for the first time in 6 weeks, after getting my cast off on Friday and being allowed to drive again.
Was able to compare the two front clips flipped over, glad I went with finding another one, the old one was pretty smashed up.
Some shots of the old clip
And here are some of the new one.
It still needs a few sections replaced, but it doesn't need any straightening, the car will be about 3" longer now!
In line with a couple of other discreet safety upgrades, I'm going to switch the steering column to a later collapsible one.
Coupled with radial tyres, front disc brakes and dual-circuit MC, it will just make her that little bit safer. It's still a 60s car without crumple zones and air-bags etc, but pretty good for an old car.
Only other thing to look at is head-rests, but I don't want to change out the original seats. |
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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 3:06 am Post subject: |
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Twin circuit Ate master cylinder fitted, brake lines fitted off. Got to make the spacers for mounting the MC, they seemed to disappear somewhere along the line.
Photos above show the ignition switch. The original switch must have failed ( or they lost the keys?). Dash was butchered to fit an oddball ignition switch with a larger hole. Picked up an NOS Ghia switch a few years ago, so Barry is taking it back to standard.
I had a look at a few dash photos, but just checking. I assume the second hole (finger point) shouldn't be there? |
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kiwighia68
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Joined: October 20, 2013
Posts: 2874
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:58 am Post subject: |
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Hi Angus, I learn from your build every day. Are you going to leave your brake fluid reservoir where it is shown in the photo? It would certainly shorten the lines (with fewer opportunities for leaks) and tidy up the area behind the dash. Second question: How do you secure it in that position?
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015 |
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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 3:26 pm Post subject: |
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| kiwighia68 wrote: |
| Hi Angus, I learn from your build every day. Are you going to leave your brake fluid reservoir where it is shown in the photo? It would certainly shorten the lines (with fewer opportunities for leaks) and tidy up the area behind the dash. Second question: How do you secure it in that position? |
Yes I will. It is the reservoir from a Kombi I think, it just stabs in direct to the MC so doesn't need any additional mounting. The earlier ghias had their reservoir behind the spare tyre, from about '67 or so they moved it to behind the dash area which is probably what you have.
In both cases you can get rid of those long lines which are just a source of leaks. It means that it is a bit tucked away, but you can check the level pretty easily if the wheel is turned a bit. To actually top it up you'd need the wheel off, but that is pretty infrequent.
I'll still put the original reservoir in position, and fill it with something as a dummy to keep the original look.
The other thing I am thinking about now is where to put the windscreen washer reservoir. On mine the original is in a cradle that hooks over the spare tyre, and it is 'powered' by the air in the spare tyre. There is also a reservoir from about '64 that sits beside the brake fluid behind the spare tyre. I haven't thought this all through yet, but I'll probably be using an electric pump with a discreet starter type push switch (356) and hidden reservoir. It would be correct for my model year to have the reservoir hooked on the tyre, but I also have a part Hazet toolbox that might go on the spare tyre. First world problem I know but will have to decide which way to go at some point. |
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VeeDubWolf
Samba Member
Joined: July 12, 2010
Posts: 656
Location: Yakima, WA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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If you have an old and broken or cheap aftermarket washer/wiper switch that has the push-to-wash setup, it can be modified with a momentary push-button switch in place of the original valve! Link- http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=484192
_________________
Two Bugs-
'70 rust-bucket sunroof sedan
'69 PO hack-job special
-Plus a wide assortment of various parts'n'junk |
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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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| Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 1:24 am Post subject: |
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Ignition switch area sorted! Rest of dash was untouched fortunately.
Replacement clip is off being blasted, Barry started on the final bodywork today. Roof done, it had lots of little dents apparently. I think the POs kids used the car as a playpen under the house........ |
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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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| Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 1:31 am Post subject: |
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This is exactly the sort of thing I need to look into. I hadn't seen this post before, but can remember a similar one with a Ghia switch. I have the Ghia switch with the central push button on mine, have to pull it out to see if I can do something like this.
The water reservoir I'd like to keep away from behind the dash if possible. Need something as I won't get the safety certificate required for registration otherwise. |
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Mellow Yellow 74
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Joined: October 14, 2014
Posts: 1615
Location: Sydney, Australia
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c21darrel
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Joined: January 22, 2009
Posts: 8211
Location: San Dimas
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Mellow Yellow 74
Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2014
Posts: 1615
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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| c21darrel wrote: |
| It looks like there has been some cutting and welding going on to the leading edge just above the large right side gauge hole. It doesnt look stock, if that is what you are working towards. Nice repair on the ignition hole. |
My RHD 62 has the same welds so maybe it is stock for RHD?
_________________
1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon) |
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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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| Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Mellow Yellow 74 wrote: |
| c21darrel wrote: |
| It looks like there has been some cutting and welding going on to the leading edge just above the large right side gauge hole. It doesnt look stock, if that is what you are working towards. Nice repair on the ignition hole. |
My RHD 62 has the same welds so maybe it is stock for RHD? |
Yes it is just the way they are finished at the factory. They are covered by the dash-pad and so I guess they don't worry about the appearance of them so much as they might others. |
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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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| Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 4:53 am Post subject: |
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| I've gone for the stainless bumpers, Euro style, bought through Harringtons. Look ok, I'll let you know how well they fit in a couple of months on the SS bumper post. |
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Angus Dowrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Kangaroo Point, Australia
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| Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 10:10 am Post subject: |
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They come snugly wrapped...... |
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