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1968 Convertible Ghia - Build Thread (not 1967...oops)
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1967Ghia
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 6:12 pm    Post subject: 1968 Convertible Ghia - Build Thread (not 1967...oops) Reply with quote

So... General introduction... I have always been into VW's... after two Dune buggy projects that were never completed I decided to move onto something more street-worthy... I started this car 5 years ago... I worked on it quite a bit for the first year then it sat... and sat... and sat.

It really hasn't been touched in the past three years and my memory has started to slip so I'm going to be asking quite a few questions as I re-assemble it...

Here's a pic from when I brought it home 5 years ago...

I'll post a couple pics showing the restoration to where it is now but just a couple as there are MANY and I want to bring the thread up to speed very quickly...

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Last edited by 1967Ghia on Thu Oct 01, 2015 4:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
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1967Ghia
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lets bring this up to speed a little more...

Here's the Car after some dismantling....

Then The body taken off and some paint stripping started...

Then the chassis ready to be re-done

Then the chassis all ready to go

Then the body after a wallnut shell blasting

Then a coat of epoxy primer

You can see it's ready for paint...

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1967Ghia
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 6:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Then... Paint... and mounting the body...

there aren't any pics just yet but the engine has been overhauled... I also had all of the tin blasted and powdercoated so the engine looks new and fresh... it does run but alas has been sitting for three years so may need some tuning up...

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1967Ghia
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 6:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I finally started working on it... I have a big job ahed of me now... sorting all the parts... I already bought most of the parts I need 5 years ago, now it's just a matter of getting everything sorted out so I know what goes where... luckily I took 1000+ pictures as a disassembled it... now the tedious task of going back and figuring it out...

In the meantime I started to decide on the wheels... This is where I'm stuck...

I kinda jumped the gun and ordered 5 white wall tires... can't return them so I'm going to try to make the best of it... I don't like the holes in the wheels so I figure that by painting that part black it will hide the holes... and hopefully by painting the outer part white it will blend with the white wall... if I don't like it then I'll go with plan B...

The other option I was thinking about was 17-20" porsche copy wheels... the ones I like seem to have the large 5 bolt pattern but I don't know how the adapter plate works??? also I don't know where to get those wheels?

anyways, here's a pic of the steelies painted (I have new hubcaps)

I'm going to get the white walls mounted in a couple days and see how they look on the car...

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motorhead364
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looking good man. Can't wait to see more.
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1967Ghia
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

motorhead364 wrote:
Looking good man. Can't wait to see more.


thx! next is interior and top... anybody know where is the best place to order them from? I'm thinking of going with tan
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motorhead364
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 8:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Depends on how much you want to spend. Jbugs sells full tmi interior kits. That's how I'm going. We are going to drive the car a lot so I want a medium grade interior and stock looking. Sew fine is an option for custom but will be $$$.
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easy e
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's looking sharp!

Maybe consider springing for some beauty rings & getting some use out of your white walls for a year or so before diving into high dollar rims... and tires. But then again... even with beauty rings, you'd still see the slots you're not big on.

I love the color you picked!
e

...with rings:
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danielsan
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks great. Is that a BMW color?

top -- chucks convertibles or house of ghia. Robbins is a second best but Chucks is better for the same price.

carpet -- newton commercial carpet. It really isn't that much more expensive for a huge difference in quality over TMI. Check out rcooled's gallery to see a 67 convertible with newton carpet.

And of course if you don't have the money, you don't, but with any future project I will just cut my own until I can save for the newton.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 12:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

1967Ghia wrote:

I'm going to get the white walls mounted in a couple days and see how they look on the car...

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


If you're going with whitewalls I think you're going to find the white outer rims are too much. If they are wide whites it will look better with black outers and the white inner hub.

This is my old '59 Beetle with white outers...I inherited the configuration from the previous owner and it was one thing I didn't like on it...
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CiderGuy
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 2:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

1967Ghia wrote:
motorhead364 wrote:
Looking good man. Can't wait to see more.


thx! next is interior and top... anybody know where is the best place to order them from? I'm thinking of going with tan


For TMI interior, I think mtmfg.com has very good pricing.
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1967Ghia
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 3:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

John Moxon wrote:
1967Ghia wrote:

I'm going to get the white walls mounted in a couple days and see how they look on the car...

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


If you're going with whitewalls I think you're going to find the white outer rims are too much. If they are wide whites it will look better with black outers and the white inner hub.

This is my old '59 Beetle with white outers...I inherited the configuration from the previous owner and it was one thing I didn't like on it...
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


.
Thanks! good point... I see what you are saying about too much white. I think I will mount one tire, put it on the car and see how it looks

I tried what you suggested first however by flipping the colours the white makes the holes in the rim stand out too much. your wheels are the older style that don't have the holes in them. My wheels have a wider part that I have painted black and the tires have less white wall on them... but I'll post a pic after mounting one tire to test it and see how it looks
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1967Ghia
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 3:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

easy e wrote:
It's looking sharp!

Maybe consider springing for some beauty rings & getting some use out of your white walls for a year or so before diving into high dollar rims... and tires. But then again... even with beauty rings, you'd still see the slots you're not big on.

I love the color you picked!
e


thanks! I have the original beauty rings but they aren't my style so I'm going to leave them off.

The wheels that I actually want are on the early 60's ghia's... I think they have the wide 5 bolt pattern on them?

If I knew where to get those wheels and how to do the adapter plates they would be my first choice...
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1967Ghia
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 3:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks to everyone for the tips on the interior and top, I'll check out all of those places. I am in Canada and have typically been ordering from CiP1 because they have free shipping to Canada but the last time I ordered parts was 4 years ago... I was going through all the parts and will have to re-order quite a few because since ordering I have changed my taste... i.e. I spent $250 on a carpet kit but it's salt and pepper colour... stupidly I ordered it because that's all CIP1 carried where as I should have shopped around... so it will have to go up for grabs as I look for a tan kit

thanks
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1967Ghia
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 3:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

danielsan wrote:
Looks great. Is that a BMW color?


Thanks!

I tried my best to match a colour available on the early ghia's... Trout Blue

It's not a perfect match but as close as I could get it

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

1967Ghia wrote:
Thanks to everyone for the tips on the interior and top, I'll check out all of those places. I am in Canada and have typically been ordering from CiP1 because they have free shipping to Canada but the last time I ordered parts was 4 years ago... I was going through all the parts and will have to re-order quite a few because since ordering I have changed my taste... i.e. I spent $250 on a carpet kit but it's salt and pepper colour... stupidly I ordered it because that's all CIP1 carried where as I should have shopped around... so it will have to go up for grabs as I look for a tan kit

thanks


I got a special order and price for a salt & pepper carpet kit from cip1 for $55 less than you paid about 6 months back. At the time it was by far the best price I could find for that particular color carpet. The charcoal color was about $150 at that time.
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1967Ghia
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 9:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

CiderGuy wrote:
1967Ghia wrote:
Thanks to everyone for the tips on the interior and top, I'll check out all of those places. I am in Canada and have typically been ordering from CiP1 because they have free shipping to Canada but the last time I ordered parts was 4 years ago... I was going through all the parts and will have to re-order quite a few because since ordering I have changed my taste... i.e. I spent $250 on a carpet kit but it's salt and pepper colour... stupidly I ordered it because that's all CIP1 carried where as I should have shopped around... so it will have to go up for grabs as I look for a tan kit

thanks


I got a special order and price for a salt & pepper carpet kit from cip1 for $55 less than you paid about 6 months back. At the time it was by far the best price I could find for that particular color carpet. The charcoal color was about $150 at that time.


hi, any prices I put up are in Canadian dollars so you will have to account for the conversion... right now $100 us is about $135 CDN. you got a good deal but remember I bought it 5 years ago so things change
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 1:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

1967Ghia wrote:
I kinda jumped the gun and ordered 5 white wall tires... can't return them so I'm going to try to make the best of it...

I once bought a car with white walls that I didn't like either. At the time, I found some black tire paint and just painted over the whitewalls. It looked really good as I remember, but did need a little touching up every once in a while. This might allow you to get some use out of those tires without having to repaint the wheels.

Here's one supplier for black tire paint:
http://www.millertire.com/products/tire-supplies/tire-paint/1-quart-black-tire-paint/

Your car is looking great, BTW. One of your photos made me smile a bit. I'd never seen a pan set on it's side, resting on the wheels before...AND with the motor still in place! I guess it works though...
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1967Ghia
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rcooled wrote:
1967Ghia wrote:
I kinda jumped the gun and ordered 5 white wall tires... can't return them so I'm going to try to make the best of it...

I once bought a car with white walls that I didn't like either. At the time, I found some black tire paint and just painted over the whitewalls. It looked really good as I remember, but did need a little touching up every once in a while. This might allow you to get some use out of those tires without having to repaint the wheels.

Here's one supplier for black tire paint:
http://www.millertire.com/products/tire-supplies/tire-paint/1-quart-black-tire-paint/

Your car is looking great, BTW. One of your photos made me smile a bit. I'd never seen a pan set on it's side, resting on the wheels before...AND with the motor still in place! I guess it works though...



thanks! I do like the white walls, just not with these particular wheels, but I'll try them out. If I don't like the result I'll just sell them ready to mount complete and buy some other wheels... If I do replace them then I'm going with something bigger... so, 18-20" in which case I need new tires anyways

Ha! yea... I wouldn't recommend flipping the car on it's side unless the engine was going to be overhauled anyways... Which is was afterwards... so it was ok =)
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 2:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
18-20"


ha, good luck with that Very Happy

re white walls and tire black paint...why not tire black and run the tires with white walls to the inside. stealth?
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