TheSamba.com :: View topic - September 1955 Karmann, 61,000 mile barn find

Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:39 pm

:popcorn:

Mon Aug 12, 2019 6:12 am

If that's all the rust you had to repair (+ the pan halved of course) then you have a very solid vert on your hands that was spared mostly by the rust devil.

You didn't have to brace the body?

Wed Aug 14, 2019 1:13 pm

Great car Will. We share a similar perspective, I have kids around the same ages as yours and this is what it's all about:

oldsplitvw wrote: I want to really enjoy this car: Solvang drive, teach my kids how to drive stick, bundle up in December and look at Christmas lights with the top down, etc etc.

Looking forward to updates as things progress.

Dustin

Wed Aug 14, 2019 1:50 pm

oldsplitvw wrote: I want to really enjoy this car: Solvang drive, teach my kids how to drive stick, bundle up in December and look at Christmas lights with the top down, etc etc.

Dig it. Thats exactly what I do with my car. It creates awesome memories.
Btw, if i didnt say it already, killer car.

Sat Aug 17, 2019 2:48 pm

Thanks again guys for your feedback, I can't wait to show the car in person. To answer the previous question, yes the body was braced for the welding.

New Gerson pans. From my understanding, late 1955 cars such as this (AKA early 1956 model year) had a unique seat track with the "ski jump" in the middle. These original seat tracks were spot welded onto the new pans to retain the original correct look

Replated all original hardware. I love the look

Rust? What rust :D

That'll do pig. That'll do.

Will

Sun Aug 18, 2019 8:37 am

Wow what a great story about this wonderfull car 8)
Never noticed this threat until today :oops: but I'll follow it from now.

And I think we both share that feeling of being very lucky about finding a unrestored old VW convertible.

This is my 1960 vert, also found somewhere (laffayette is written in a maintenence book which was with the car) in Californië by the (belgium)
owner before me around 16 years ago and sold it to me in less than a year after.
He didn't tell me how he found it and didn't response on my mails with questions about it any further unfortunatly :?

Like your beauty it was never (and still isn't) fully restored and complete but had a new roof, bumpers, hubcaps (poor quality though, replaced those a few years later) and white wall tires.

But enough about mine, love your story about your awesome vert and I'll follow your topic.
I guess you restore it to it's original form, also it's 6 volt electric?
Anyway, keep up the good work, looking forward for new updates :popcorn:

Kind regards, Martin

Sun Aug 18, 2019 9:07 am

The pan came out REALLY nice! Did you have your fasteners re-plated in black oxide? They look perfect!

Sun Aug 18, 2019 11:24 am

Wow Martin! Great car! Thank you for sharing.

I had a great Sunday, Corey brought back the car, and it is a 100% running, driving and registered car. I couldn't be happier, it is tight and solid, but still has that old beetle "soul"

Corey Smith of Smitty's Auto Body. The main man behind the preservation.

CAN WE GO FOR A RIDE DAAAAAAAAD!?!?!?! Yes. Yes you can. :)

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is named Penelope. I think she enjoyed the drive the least.

DONE! Still a few things to fix here and there, but for the most part I am just going to enjoy the heck out of this thing.

Will

Mon Aug 19, 2019 4:33 am

Great to see it driving again, the car looks stunning.
It is so much fun driving an old beetle, espaccially a convertible on a nice sunny day 8)
If the wether is fine I prefer it much above any modern car with all those extra luxuary.

Seeing your short movie I want to drive mine too, mayby I will if the wether stays dry :lol:

Wed Aug 28, 2019 2:48 pm

Wow! :shock:

What a great position to be in right now..

All you have to do to make this car appear an original survivor again is to drive it in the rain a couple of times!
:D

Sat Feb 29, 2020 2:20 pm

Great, sunny California day in February.

Will

Sun Mar 01, 2020 6:08 am

This is a beautiful car.

Who plated the buolts and nuts?

Thanks,
Ted

Fri Jan 08, 2021 8:41 am

I've been slowly chipping away at all the little things on the car, I've always like to have everything work like it did from the factory.

The original date-stamped horn was still installed, but didn't make a peep. I've never restored a horn before, but after a little effort I managed to get it working pretty well. The actual horn mechanism is quite interesting. There is an electromagnet that pulls down the metal diaphragm. At one point the bottom of the plate hits a lever that opens a pair of "points" (looks very similar to the points in a distributor) that breaks the circuit and releases the magnet. At this point the metal diaphragm pops back up, the magnet re-engages and the whole process starts again. This whole cycle happens incredibly rapidly, and ultimately causes the metal to vibrate, giving the horn the recognizable sound.

On my horn the points were dirty and worn so the magnet would never engage in the first place. I used a fine file and some emery cloth to clean up the contacts, and hand-cut new gaskets using the originals as a template. (yes, they were red originally)

This happens to be a Hella brand horn, but the Bosch horns work essentially the same way. For all those wondering, the body of the horn is unpainted bakelite, and the grill is painted black metal.

I've had working horns on all my 6V VWs, and this one is by far the loudest. It absolutely wails. When I drive the car I constantly get honks and waves, and people are usually pretty surprised with how loud the horn is when I honk back. :lol:

Will

Fri Jan 08, 2021 8:44 am

Success!

Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:02 am

:popcorn:
From 1 56 kabriolet owner to another..
Tomas

Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:06 am

Wonderful car, all very well done and exactly the kind of repair I like.

Fri Jan 08, 2021 7:00 pm

great looking car!!

I too have a 56 cabrio. working on it right now, here is my thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=310869&start=280

Mon Jan 11, 2021 10:22 am

grailoc wrote: great looking car!!

I too have a 56 cabrio. working on it right now, here is my thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=310869&start=280

Thank you!!! I've been watching your thread also, beautiful car, I love the work you are doing to it. 8)

Will

Mon Feb 08, 2021 10:41 am

The vert is a nice original car, but needs attention in a lot of areas. The chrome on the window frames, well, just sucks. I figured it was time to take the doors apart and address the issue.

I've read a lot of horror stories of people struggling with the disassembly of vert doors. I've found while working on old cars that taking time to do the steps in the right order, and having the right tools can make all the difference in the world. That being said, the door assembly was a piece of cake. Nothing got dinged, scratched or broken, and nothing had to get bent or twisted to be removed.

Also, best piece of advice I got from John Henry years ago: "bag and label every piece of hardware so that future civilizations could find your garage and reassemble the car without any guesswork. NEVER just assume you will remember where something goes". Great words that have served me well.

Will

I get the feeling that newspapers and Coca-Cola won't buff this out...

Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:39 am

Will, were the square nuts in good shape? Or rusty? I had to drill mine out..to be honest square metric nuts are fun to hunt down.
Watching your preservation.
Thomas