1974 Karmann Ghia Convertible...finally getting started.

[74GhiaConvertible]

Hello. My first post here. My wife and I are retired and this is her car. Her moms boyfriend bought it new in Florida and shipped it to California. Not sure on the exact date. It wasn't driven much and has a little over 13,500 miles on it. It received yearly tune ups and service for the first 15 years. All this time it was in the garage. The last registration sticker was 1992, but the car was rarely driven since 1990. It sat outside , supposedly covered, (but probably not covered because of the rust and deterioration of the convertible top) in Northern California until 2014 when we had it hauled here to Texas and put it in the garage.
So I finally started cleaning it and working on it. Attempting to get it driveable, then street legal.
Changed oil, points, fuel pump. Removed gas tank , cleaned with vinegar and the acetone, and unplugged the long fuel line. Will clean again before installing.
Working on brakes. New calipers on the rear, pads and drum ok for now.
Front discs are ok. Replaced the disc calipers and brake pads.
New rubber hoses front and rear.
Cleaned all metal lines with acetone and blew them out well. The main brake line is rusted through, so a new one is ordered and should be here soon.
New master cylinder. Cleaned the reservoir and lines to master cylinder. Added fluid and tried bleeding brakes but the metal front to rear line was leaking out the rusted line and rear floor pan onto the garage floor.
Bought a new battery, rigged a temporary fuel tank. Checked plugs and they are ok. Started the engine and it ran great. After warming up it idled well too. No valve train noise. Remember , only 13.5k miles.
So I need 4 new tires and I should be able to drive it down the street slowly. Plan is to first get it rolling driveable and legal.
But just getting it running was awesome. My wife ran out of the house to take a video. I'll try posting it here.
The exterior of the body is in very good shape. The original paint is still good and I have been using rubbing compound on it. I'll wax it soon too. The top is trashed. Eventually it will get replaced. The rear pans and particle board rear seat is rotten. The seats will not move on the tracks forward or backward. The backs of the seats still fold up easily.
Under the seats looks rusty too. The front floors still have the tar boards attatched but I can see a little rust ont the bare exposed metal. I'll pull up the tar boards to check the front floor pans. I'm thinking it would be best to eventually replace both complete left and right pans.
The VW nose emblem was stolen long ago. When trying to check the horn, I noticed it's gone too. What I've read about Ghia horns is that it's a dual horn with the 2 into 1 rubber boot. I can see where the wire has been pulled off the relay for the horns. You can see on the horn bracket where each horn was mounted, and you can see the area where the rubber boot was resting against the hole in the front of the lower body panel.
So I'm trying to find out which horns I need to make the original again.
I've read that there is a high pitch and a low pitch horn.
Not sure if I need a clutch and pressure plate and t.o. bearing as I will test this out after getting the 4 new tires.
I'll stop here for now. I have many questions and look forward to sharing this journey with you all.

[74GhiaConvertible]

More pics....

[jason_hamilton]

This looks good. Ratty top let in the water that rotted the floor, but that's way better than dealing with corroded sills and quarter panels from decades of road use, especially if it's just the back that's rotted (that part sits lower). Should be a fairly quick and easy cleanup, although the top parts are a little spendy. The only non-original parts I see are the exhaust. The clutch should be good to go if the mileage is what you think it is. Note the odometer is only 5 digits; it rolls over ever 100K.

Here's some inspiration:

_________________
Jason Hamilton
1969 Karmann Ghia coupe
@MiddleAgedHoon

[74GhiaConvertible]

100% certain on the mileage. The new ghia was garage kept and the original owner also had a bus and vert bug. The original owner was my mother in laws boyfriend at the time so the Ghias history is well known. It was only driven on weekends if he drove it at all. The original owner put the exhaust system on right after he got the car to California. The car sat up since its last registration in 1992 and was kept in Napa where it was supposed to be covered and it was not. The rain and sun finally rotted the floor and convertible top, dash and other exposed plastic.
We had the car shipped here to Texas on May 12, 2014.

[74GhiaConvertible]

The pic you posted for inspiration... I got one off eBay a couple years ago..lol.
Thanks.

[kingkarmann]

1558 Cabriolets made for 1974 making them the lowest production of all models years. Very cool and congrats!
_________________
"Depression is a malfunction of the instrument we use to determine reality.”

Mike Gerson

What is your "Bespoke Reality"?

[bhartwell59]

Good show!

Have one just like yours... although mine's an autostick and has 78,000 miles.

[/img]
_________________
'74 Zambezi green Ghia vert, autostick, 101k
'87 Jeep Wrangler, 4.2, 330k

[74GhiaConvertible]

bhartwell59 that's a beauty!

[sputnick60]

Welcome to the Samba and that's a mighty fine loooking Ghia. I hope you continue to enjoy your time with it.

On your question about the horns. In case you haven't seen this already, these two threads cover the topic in detail.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4819237
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=566567

Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[74GhiaConvertible]

Thanks for the links sputnick60. I've been reading a whole lot on this site.
I am missing both horns and the boot. I've been looking online and will purchase the horns and boot so I can get street legal.

[bhartwell59]

[74GhiaConvertible]

I'm between Houston and Galveston near hwy 45. Do you ever attend any shows? I was hoping to go to some shows soon.

[bhartwell59]

[74GhiaConvertible]

Seats removed, man were they stuck.

And it looks like the rust is limited to only the pan. But 2/3 of the pan is shot.
It looks like two complete pans will be needed.
All heater ducts look fine as do the kick panels.
This is going to be a big task !

[74GhiaConvertible]

At first I didn't want to take the body off the pan. I thought about cutting and welding in pieces. But now that I've seen what's there I really want to blast the body section where it meets the pan to remove any and all rust. Than coat it with some epoxy primer or something good.

[74GhiaConvertible]

I've got the inside of the body taped off and plastic covered in order to sandblast the inside of the pan. Once the rust is off I'm hoping I can get by with the rear pans only. Any small holes I can weld and patch. I'll need to fab a couple front braces for the seats. Blast day tomorrow.

[74GhiaConvertible]

Taped off and ready for sandblasting the inner pans.

[74GhiaConvertible]

Got some blasting done. Cheap blaster so I only did the edges of the pan. The metal looks good , some rust but lots of metal left. Maybe I can get by with two rear 36" pans. Part of me wants to replace both pans completely.

[74GhiaConvertible]

Some needed goodies😁

[74GhiaConvertible]

Ordered the 36" rear replacement pans, left and right.

I've borrowed a mig/tig welder but it doesn't have an argon bottle..must I use a gas shield for carbon steel? I know it's a must for stainless and other exotic metals.