1964 Ghia coupe, resto in progress, first posting

SchnuppiePup

Y’all have been wonderful with the advice over the last month. Surprisingly, I’ve even taken all of your advice: how ‘bout that? Most of my questions have dealt with little oddball electrical "improvements" the first owner made.

Here are a few snapshots, taken today, to satisfy any cravings for photos. Sorry, this is no exciting body-off rotisserie restoration.

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

(Below) the left front wheel was removed to provide access to remove the mud plate. The motorcycle in the background is a 1968 Honda CT 90 (sweet, restored, has provided access to remote High Sierra trout fishing for me, dad, son, cousins).

Glass, except for windows in the doors, has been removed for eventual painting and headliner replacement.

That bulky tan object above is my attempt, in progress, at creating a replacement for the tarboard that sat alongside the battery (absent) on the right. All the other engine-compartment tarboards are good, so I want a stock-like replacement for the one bad one. The space blanket is what was handy to mask off the engine while priming the steel apron around the engine.

It's a sweet California car. Rust-through appears to be restricted to
(1) The rear pans: numerous pencil point- and eraser-size holes that I've MIG welded shut and two small strips that I've replaced with welded-in stainless steel.
(2) A small area behind each of the right wheels, which I've replaced with patches of welded-in stainless steel.
(3) Bottoms of the mud plates: stainless-steel replacement sections in progress.
(4) Exactly four pinholes in the rocker panels. I power-wire-brushed the rocker panels on both sides to check for rust (right side shown below):

In 2002, my brother-in-law, the 2nd owner, gave the original 1200-cc engine a big-bore upgrade to 1385 cc, a 12-v upgrade, and an upgraded single (Solex Brosol H30/31PICT) carburetor. I installed rebuilt cylinder heads and valves 7 months ago. It ran well. Previously, the car was used as a daily driver by my niece for several years and then by my son for 1 year before we garaged it, as shown in the snapshots above.

Otherwise, the restoration (paint, interior) will be as near as possible to stock.

I'm documenting our (and previous) work on the car in a sort of report format: take snapshots, work on the car a few hours per week, and sit down at the computer to make records. The documentation serves some primal need in me, and it may make a future owner content some 15 years from now after I've enjoyed driving the car up and down the California coast with wife and dog

Here (below) is page one. The photo is of some Australian car (same year, same original and eventual two-tone paint scheme as this car) taken off the Samba archives, except that I've reversed it so that it looks like a left-hand driver. It keeps me inspired: eventually, say a year from now, a photo of our restored '64 will take its place.

Here (below) is another excerpt from my "report" (in progress) documenting the restoration.

The photos and write-ups of the body and interior work will make for some lively reading. All is not fine and dandy, however. We've made some embarrassing Embarassed

mistakes involving the body; one in particular I'll eventually post in the forum under the topic of "most embarrassing ..."
_________________
Better a life-long learner than a life-long know-it-all.

1964 Ghia coupe
1968 Honda CT 90
1980 Honda CT 110

ZENVWDRIVER · Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:23 pm Post subject: .

...looks like a nice solid car...keep us posted.
_________________
5/50, pastel green 11G - SOLD
8/50, gray 11A Beetle
6/52, pastel green 11C - SOLD
11/4/52, black Zwitter - SOLD to my little bro.
1954 Porsche, pre A, with VW 36 horse- SOLD
1/54, black 11C Beetle - TRADED
2/55 Iceland green Beetle, on a 1965 pan
3/55 113 Beetle, stratos silver
1955 Messerschmitt KR175 - SOLD, sadly
1960 single cab
1962 SO33, with SO 42 interior
9/63 Pacific blue, Ghia
'87 Toyota MR2
'02 WestFORDia E-150, GAVE TO OUR SON

All super-heroes, wear a MASK

moogie32 · Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 9:24 pm Post subject:

x2! Love the color combination and the skinny white walls!
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RIP HBB (1984-2009)
Du liefst so gut
Du warst so schön
Doch leider musst du von uns gehn

SchnuppiePup · Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 4:37 am Post subject:

Yes, thanks for the encouragement! Very Happy

This newbie needs it.

I'd never so much as even driven a VW of any type until 2 years ago. My son hesitatingly acquired it as a first car (paid his uncle $750) and drove it for a year before declaring, "Dad, I really don't like this car." It conked out on him a number of times due to electrical and clutch problems and general engine driveability issues. Kids can be honest that way. That was heartbreaking for me. We'd spent much time working together on the car's various issues, and I'd hoped it would be a 3-year male-bonding fixer-upper project.

He's been enjoying the family-discard 1996 GMC van: dependable, safe, holds a few surfboards with ease.

And the old man here has a project car. Which I've always wanted. For decades I've wanted something like a '40s or '50s Plymouth or Ford to restore. Previously, I'd only restored a 1-cylinder (90-cc) 1968 Honda motorcycle, which was discarded unceremoniously on our driveway, and replaced a couple cylinder heads on the family cars of the 80s and 90s.

Then this Ghia lands in my lap. I've quickly fallen deeply in love with it. Life is like that. You don't get to choose exactly the kids you bring into the world or the kittens and puppies that land on your doorstep and become members of the family. The Chihuahua resting her head on my knee at this moment was a puppy caked in mud next to the porch when we found her. See a pattern?

Fittingly, she'll be riding in the restored Ghia by her 7th birthday and the Ghia's 52nd.

The Ghia's become a sort of family thing: the wife even helped squeeze on the new piston rings.

If I'm to make any future (rare) postings interesting, I'll have to share the clever(?)/dumb(?) things done or being done to the Ghia:
Rebuilding the dashboard pad and rear parcel shelf pad
Repairing the dashboard instruments
Tarboard in the engine compartment
Interior side panels
Fixing the heat riser tube (to the manifold)
Steering wheel, column, and horn issues
_________________
Better a life-long learner than a life-long know-it-all.

1964 Ghia coupe
1968 Honda CT 90
1980 Honda CT 110

KGCoupe

-Zodiac- · Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 11:47 am Post subject:

I recently found one when I went to a car show afew months ago, absolutely georgeous color.

Be sure to post more pics and info OP! It's a great looking Ghia, don't be too embarrassed !
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1973 karmann ghia - current, not the last VW.
1947 Chevy stylemaster - gone, but not forgotten.
1995 Ford F-150 - gone, hatred for it lives.

kiwighia68 · Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 11:48 am Post subject:

"Then this Ghia lands in my lap. I've quickly fallen deeply in love with it. Life is like that. You don't get to choose exactly the kids you bring into the world or the kittens and puppies that land on your doorstep and become members of the family. The Chihuahua resting her head on my knee at this moment was a puppy caked in mud next to the porch when we found her. See a pattern?"

Sure. Picking up kittens abandoned next to a railway line - so small that 2 fit into my cupped hands - while out running, picking up my '68 Ghia that for all the world looked like she had been abandoned on the side of the road... and many more. It's as if a derelict car or house constitutes a challenge I can't resist.
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

Rome · Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 9:59 am Post subject:

When you get your engine tarboard into shape, you have two possibilities for the black surface:
-Glue two layers of roofing paper on the visible surface using contact cement.
-Find a discarded refrigerator at your town's dump, and remove the sound insulation mat from the rear. It should be a close match to the texture of the original mat. Use your left board as the shape template when cutting.
As long as you still have the small sheetmetal rectangular tabs along the body which hold the board in place, you'll be fine.

Amazing that your battery area is so solid and unrusted!

About 15 years ago I saw an anthracite/cream Ghia coupe (also a '64) for sale in Michigan at the Michigan Vintage VW Club's annual meet in Auburn Hills. It was very solid, but I already had a '64 Ghia coupe (painted orange by a PO). The next year the car returned, freshly painted. It had the brick red interior. WOW!

The one in Florida with the chromed Porsche 356 wheels also is stunning, though the grey might not be anthracite, but more like Porsche's slate grey which was also a factory Porsche color from that time and does appear quite similar to anthracite.

SchnuppiePup · Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2014 2:53 am Post subject:

Truly stunning would have been an original sea blue, pacific, ruby red, emerald, polar blue, or manila yellow. Still, I like the original color scheme: L 87 perlweiß (roof, wheels) over L 469 anthrazit. It won’t fade as fast as red or yellow, the car will be happier in its original birthday suit, and it’s a nice color scheme in and of itself. The two-tone idea is also so wonderfully 1960s: the faux convertible look. I also like the idea that if I ever pop off a panel to work on the wires or window mechanisms (areas I’m not going to repaint) then I don’t have to look at a weird juxtaposition of paint colors and be reminded that the car’s been repainted. (The doors and hoods, however, are coming off to repaint everything that’s not hidden behind cardboard or similar.) Here’s the original paint code sticker behind the spare tire:

Seat covers of 76 brick red vinyl would be very nice. But I’ll duplicate the original 57 silver vinyl+cloth scheme. That scheme says “understated elegance” to me. The ratty originals were there underneath equally ratty brown and black basketweave vinyl replacements. Cloth (wool) also feels nice (less sweaty) in the summer. Volkswagen seemed to always apply tasteful color combinations on Ghias.

The battery tray showed moderate surficial rust: removed with power brushing and chemicals; pits filled with glazing compound. The general lack of rust is due to the California microclimates where the car was owned: Clear Lake, San Jose, Berkeley (eh, not so dry), Madera (practically a desert), and now San Jose again.

This afternoon, my brother-in-law, the PO, drove over the hill from Madera to a family gathering and handed me the service records on the car. Now I know the last 14 years of brake work and other things done on the Ghia.

Yes the mirror-image and roofing-paper idea for the tarboard is a good one. In a few months I'll report how it turns out.
_________________
Better a life-long learner than a life-long know-it-all.

1964 Ghia coupe
1968 Honda CT 90
1980 Honda CT 110

SchnuppiePup · Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 3:55 am Post subject:

The cans of new paint have come in. I'm set to repaint the wheels first.

There's so much conflicting evidence regarding the wheel color it makes my head spin. The original instruction manual and various sources of color scheme information in the Samba archives and forum suggest that the wheels were the same color as the body, specifically the L 87 perlweiß of the roof: the car was originally and will again be a two-tone. Another source of data available on the forum suggests that the wheels were all black. The wheels on the car are all black, and I can't imagine all of the wheels have been replaced or there are no remaining specks of perlweiß paint.

Body serial number is 5790962, which indicates a manufacture date of October 1963 (MY 1964).

I'm leaning toward (1) painting the wheels perlweiß, except for the outermost rims, which will be black, and (2) hiding the transition behind new beauty rims, aka chrome wheel trim.

What do you think? (1) either perlweiß Radscheiben (pearl white wheel disks) or all black wheels, and (2) were chrome beauty rims original on this car?
_________________
Better a life-long learner than a life-long know-it-all.

1964 Ghia coupe
1968 Honda CT 90
1980 Honda CT 110

theghiagirl · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 12:01 pm Post subject:

I have seen both colors for the rims.

My 1964 Pacific blue cabriolet is unrestored and the wheels(including the spare) are all black with beauty rings.

I would think the two-toned wheel would look much better with the anthracite color scheme.

I would go this route:
I'm leaning toward (1) painting the wheels perlweiß, except for the outermost rims, which will be black, and (2) hiding the transition behind new beauty rims, aka chrome wheel trim.

Have you seen this picture from the brochure?
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/8_63ghiacolors_various/back.jpg

kiwighia68 · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 12:53 pm Post subject:

Here's what I think, since you ask:

You said: "If I'm to make any future (rare) postings interesting, I'll have to share the clever(?)/dumb(?) things done or being done to the Ghia:
Rebuilding the dashboard pad and rear parcel shelf pad
Repairing the dashboard instruments
Tarboard in the engine compartment
Interior side panels
Fixing the heat riser tube (to the manifold)
Steering wheel, column, and horn issues"

It's not just about what's interesting. It's also about what's helpful, and it's helpful even if it helps just one other guy working on a Ghia. I for one, would be interested to see what you did with the dashboard pad and rear parcel shelf and the instruments.

As for the wheels: I have the same dilemma as you with regard to the colour for the rims. My car is going to be two-tone too, and what I have to decide is whether the wheels will be the roof colour or the body's. Looking at your scheme, I think the body colour (anthracite) on the wheels will look good. My painter guy said, when I asked him if I should put the roof colour on the wheels, "A bit over the top, a little contrived. Keep it simple."

Painters have a good eye for colour matches, and I'm going to follow his advice.
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

Rome · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 5:05 pm Post subject:

Your all-black wheels do appear to be factory correct, based on your VIN and the corresponding information found here-
http://www.karmann-ghia-archiv.de/farbarchivfelgenlackierung.html

If you are still not convinced, you "could" paint two wheels all-black, install the trim rings like on GhiaGirl's photo; then paint the other two wheels black and pearl white with 2 more of the same trim rings. Install a pair of wheels on each side of the car after the car is painted, and make your final decision. Then paint the 2 wheels per your choice. Or paint up a second pair of wheels in the alternate scheme; and mount them on another set of tires- that way you could change the appearance of the car within 1/2 hour! But it's costly...

SchnuppiePup · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 9:22 pm Post subject:

Thanks, y'all, for the advice and input.

SchnuppiePup · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 9:55 pm Post subject:

SchnuppiePup · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 12:45 am Post subject:

I've begun the repainting of the body, beginning with the roof. Sweet! Pretty. Pictures to come, I promise.

I'm planning to soon buy various parts for the eventual interior/exterior reassembly: rubber body parts for windows, doors, bumpers; door sills; exterior body trim; wheel beauty rims; etc.. Can anyone comment whether there is one single best on-line source of these "hard" parts? (Not upholstery; I'm sourcing separately.) I see that there is

Any other important sources I've missed? Comments? There's also my local (San Jose, California) VW shop, BugFormance, which has a small selection of such parts on display and has helped with getting the engine running normally.
_________________
Better a life-long learner than a life-long know-it-all.

1964 Ghia coupe
1968 Honda CT 90
1980 Honda CT 110

Karly · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 2:50 am Post subject:

I used KGPR as it was a nice one stop shop (though the nature of these cars is I did end up buying a few bits and pieces from elsewhere). I also put a note to let me know if there was anything incorrect in my order (my car seemed to be on the changeover point for a few things and since the parts were missing I had no clue what was correct) and they were great to let me know i had ordered some wrong year stuff for my car.

I also used WW for a lot of mechanical stuff as ghias share a lot with beetles and was doing a parts order for the bug anyway.

And another choice is CIP1 which is very cheap and fast shipping to us here in Australia but you need to know what you are ordering and quality may vary!
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1960 Beetle ''Heidi" daily driver
1964 Karmann Ghia project

motorhead364 · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 6:15 am Post subject:

I also used KGPR. They noticed that I ordered a rubber kit for a vert when the rest of my stuff was for a coupe and changed it without me even noticing. Then called to make sure they had it right. Great place to deal with and quality parts in my opinion.

I hear HOG is great also, both for stock replacement parts.

Cars looking good.
_________________
63 ghia coupe

c21darrel · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:42 am Post subject:

SchnuppiePup · Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 1:42 am Post subject:


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