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Tue Nov 05, 2024 4:51 pm

I found that my kick panels had not been replaced when my car was restored by its previous owner.

Time for the cereal boxes to come out and make templates.

Total cost so far zero dollars.

Keeps me busy I guess.

Andy

Fri Nov 08, 2024 12:58 pm

The original wood on my Vintage Speed roof rack had not been holding up well to the elements, so I made some replacement pieces out of ipe dowels about a year ago. Last week I applied a fresh coat of Penofin and reinstalled.

Sat Nov 09, 2024 10:42 am

PeteSC wrote: The original wood on my Vintage Speed roof rack had not been holding up well to the elements, so I made some replacement pieces out of ipe dowels about a year ago. Last week I applied a fresh coat of Penofin and reinstalled.

For a moment I thought I was looking at my own Ghia!

Sun Nov 10, 2024 3:20 pm

Took mine for a drive and on the way home things got really loud.
Found This:

Bolts, nuts, gasket… just gone.
At least it was easily fixed.

Sat Nov 23, 2024 5:04 pm

I took my Ghia our for a drive this morning and remembered that I had completed two tasks that I had set myself some time ago.

I used a set of cupholders from an old BMW and installed them in the centre tray that I had sourced at least 7 or 8 years ago. Someone teased me and suggested that my Ghia deserved something better that a cheap plastic centre tray. But I had a plan; only it took years to get around to executing it.

The second task was to install a bit of bling that I had sourced at least 6 years ago. (Not to the purists' taste, I think, but my Ghia needs some personal touches.)

Sun Nov 24, 2024 5:00 am

kiwighia68 wrote: Not to the purists' taste, I think, but my Ghia needs some personal touches. Well said and nicely done! 8)

Mon Nov 25, 2024 8:08 pm

Nice job.

It’s your car to do with whatever You want. .

I enjoy personalized to owners taste.

Mon Nov 25, 2024 8:15 pm

Steelz21 wrote: Nice job.

It’s your car to do with whatever You want. .

I enjoy personalized to owners taste.

If Charley says it's okay it's okay by me.

Wed Nov 27, 2024 3:22 pm

Our Grandson asked us a few weeks ago if we could bring up the Ghia convertible for his wedding. Even though it was 300 miles away, of course, I couldn't say "No".

Thu Nov 28, 2024 7:19 am

What did I do to my Ghia this week? Bought it!

It's either a 68 or a 71, need to check the vin, solid body, will need new battery pans, floor pans already removed, seller supplied new pans.

Will need complete interior, planning on an electric conversion. Got some crazy ideas that I'm not sure are feasable, but you only know if you try - got about 20 years in fabrication and general making. We'll see where this goes.

Thu Dec 05, 2024 8:46 pm

I had my '58 media blasted and got it primed just as the weather window closed. All that non-factory lead makes it appear that the left front fender was replaced at one time. That had to have been in the 1960s as I have owned the car since 1971 (I was 15) and I certainly didn't wreck it! Heck, I wasn't old enough to drive it :wink:

Mon Dec 09, 2024 7:51 pm

Fitted new air filters on the twin carbs.

Sat Dec 14, 2024 11:38 am

My Ghia's clutch cable started unravelling in heavy, heavy traffic on the hottest day of the year so far. Late afternoon traffic, and every traffic light on the way was red. All 2 dozen of them. The day before the car was booked in for a service and repairs some 100 km away.

Got there without incident. Big service, tune-up - 19500km on the odometer. Replaced clutch cable and engine mounts. Fixed leak - I think - of right side small Weber carb. Stopped leaks at the transaxle and replaced pushrod tubes. (No more leaking on the floor of my garage.) Agitated ball-joints to facilitate self centring steering. Unable to find fault with horn self activating. (Quo vadis, Nicholas?)

Drove home a week later. Feels like a different car. Stopped at the Waikato River. Old power station in the background. Then back home. Rangitoto in the background. (Old photos.)

Now for a ride with Nicholas next weekend.

Sun Dec 15, 2024 3:29 am

You can always tell when someone has a new computer...the Ghia desktop picture is uncluttered. For now anyway. :lol:

Sat Dec 28, 2024 12:20 pm

looked it over and trying to come up with a game plan..So I bought my ghia in august and got it home in september. It was a barn find. Parked in 99 in a dry heated garage. The owner had it since 72. Supposedly about 4k before parking he had the engine rebuilt, e was going to try to find the paperwork, but passed shortly after I bought it and family was not able to fine any paperwork
Anyway in 99 he pulled the plugs out, the carb off and had new ones sitting in a box. SO it has been sitting all these years with the plugs out.
I talked to one person and he said pour some oil down the intake and rotate the engine by hand and let sit a few days to free up rings etc that might be stuck ...Good idea ?
I will then do a valve check, drain old fuel out, change oil and inspect, do a compression check clean points (009), and install plugs and carb and see what happens. Hopefully get started , run a while, then do another compression check. I wont get to this for about 2 weeks, just trying to get some ideas....did watch a bunch of youtubes on bring back old vws that have been sitting not running.
the condition of the engine will determine my then on goiing plans

oh 69 coupe single port manual...no rust no dents, no bondo I can find, near perfect interior. A lot of spare parts, but most are junk

Tue Jan 14, 2025 8:14 am

The first outing of the year after a couple of weeks of either wet weather, or salt encrusted roads when the temps dropped below freezing.

Thu Feb 27, 2025 10:50 am

Bright days like this have been few this month. Good to get out in the '58. Hursley Park, Hampshire.

Sat Mar 01, 2025 12:39 pm

John Moxon wrote: Bright days like this have been few this month. Good to get out in the '58. Hursley Park, Hampshire.

Nice teaser! 8)

Wed Mar 19, 2025 8:58 am

Spring is around the corner finally.
I just swapped the 67 convertible tires (Joan) for a fresh set of Coker whitewalls
I knew the 67 coupe (Sophia) was overdue for new shoes too.
I installed the tires in 2006 during Sophia’s restoration.
The tires are date coded between 11-05 and 31-05.
20 years is too old!
A fresh set of replacement Vrederstein Sprint Classics arrived in the 155/SR -15 size, just as the originals
Off to the tire shop for mounting and balancing.
Looking forward to a slightly better ride.
That old rubber gets hard.

Although the old tire look near perfect after about 15k miles over the nearly 20 years the micro cracks in the treads tell the story of why it’s good to replace.
Lousy pic

Thu Jun 05, 2025 7:04 am

With each new season I try to add a new accessory or two to Sophia with the idea of keeping the additions as subtle as I can.
This years addition is a Tamiya 1/10th scale Mini Me that Elizabeth gifted me a couple of years ago to display at shows.
The second item, a billet aluminum spark plug holder really gave me pause.
I’ve seen these around the shows and always liked the way they look.
I’ve had it for at least 5 years but have never made up my mind on where to put it.
I was rummaging through my parts stash and rediscovered it.
Custom engine bay side panels were made and color matched during the restoration.
Do I drill into a nice custom panel?
Oh well, the deed is done.
I think it turned out nice for some pretty useless accessories.