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Tue Jan 12, 2021 11:37 pm

The next part of the upgrade was rear suspension. The car was already IRS as it is a US import (Australian delivered Ghia's stayed swing axle) and I had a rear disk set up that was ADR approved from John Sherman in Queensland
https://volksconversions.com.au/product-category/brakes/
but it was all very heavy and the single piston calliper had some flex in it, fine for the street but I wanted a more race setup.
So.... I decided on 944 '86 alloy rear arms, these are not the super wide later turbo arms but they still push the rear hub out 1" (24mm).

Here is the 944 spring plate, poly bronze bushes from Elephant Racing that go in a VW urethane bush I cut out. on the outside is a 944 alloy cover with the other poly bronze bush.

The is all mocked up on a spare IRS PAN. On the inside of the trailing arm I've use an Elephant Racing monoball on a machined down VW pivot bolt. You can also see the early 911 disk I'm using that I still haven't drilled holes in yet.

Tue Jan 12, 2021 11:45 pm

As we all know there is not much room under the rear guards of a Ghia, I'd squeezed a 7" wheel with a 205 tyre under there but it's is a 'bees dick' from the rear of the guard and the spring plate. Now my rear hubs were 1" wider with the 944 arms, I needed more space, particularly as i want to put 8" wheels with 225 tyres under there.
So I got my panel beater to 'widen' the guards an 1" but keep the beautiful shape so only the really knowledgable can see it :wink:

As you can see there is no flare in the guard, he is a magician with metal

Under the guard he rolled the edge with a wire in it and added a 'mini tub' to cover the gap where the inner guard was cut out.

Tue Jan 12, 2021 11:49 pm

I also got him to roll and wire the front guards so I would have a bit more space there too.

Sun Feb 07, 2021 12:37 am

I've been working steadily on tripping and fixing as I go, and got to the point of separating the body from the pan, always a big step.

I put some castors on the bottom of saw horses, easy to pack away when I'm done.

Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:11 pm

I've been working on fitting the gearbox, making new mounts and sorting out a shifter.
For the rear cradle I found a second hand alloy one on the Samba :D they used to be sold in Germany but not any more:

I cut the front mount out of a pice of 5mm angle

The Berg 5 mid mounts is very heavy steel so I made this out of 10mm plate and 6mm box section (and a few holes)

Instead of rubber, I used urethane BMW gear box mounts from Revshift. I also saved 2.25 Kg

Fri Apr 16, 2021 12:29 pm

Ian, the fenders came out amazing! I have been on the lookout for ideas on a wide body ghia without flares or looking like a cartoon. Well done. looking forward to more pics as you finish the build.

Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:43 pm

Thank you Stovebolt, needless to say i was really pleased too. in the flesh you really can't notice it, though I think the 225's will be a bit of give away :lol:

Fri Jun 04, 2021 2:50 am

I've been working steadily making lightweight bit and pieces and and getting into the bones of the pan to build it back out again.
I cut the tunnel open to get rid of heater conduits and the old fuel line and also cut of the jack points. I used a Blair spot weld cutter with a drill end, much better than the ones I have used in the past. 1 cutter head cut all these welds :)
When I built the car I sprayed wax up the tunnel and it was very pleasing to see no rust and that the wax had soaked between the spot welded panels. I'll be doing it again when I 'button up' the tunnel.

this is what I removed from the tunnel

I also added harness mounts while I was there

Fri Jun 04, 2021 2:57 am

I've added aluminium fuel lines for a return style regulator.
the mounts I made from Polyurethane and used aluminium bolts and nut.
I've got the weight loss obsession pretty badly.....

and fitted in the tunnel

Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:10 am

Hi Ian, nice to see you are making progrss 8)

I like the aluminum lines along the tunnel. Do you run them on the inside?

I will be using plastic clips to fix the lines along the tunnel, but I will not open it to do so... I got plenty of other subjects to tackle :lol:

Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:55 pm

I ran the fuel lines on the inside, and reinforced the clutch tube as well.
the new closing panel from https://restorationpanels.com is very well made.
I've just got to drill the holes down the edge for the plug welds

Sat Jun 05, 2021 12:58 am

next, trimming the frame head for the Mendeola front suspension, 6mm gets cut of each side and a bit off the bottom, so no going back now :shock:
I gas weld and the last few weeks have been very frustrating as I made horrible 'bird poo' welds, I was very out of practice, but...... i've got my hand in again so here's a weld I'm proud of.

It took some time (days) to square and centre the front end. I read Halbug's posts very carefully and eventually realised the pan head was 3 - 4 mm off to one side compared to the tunnel and rear torsion. This also explains why I always had rubbing on one side at the front, I though it was a poor fender repair but no, the beam was not centred due the pan head 'offset'. Anyway, with a fair bit of cutting and filing I got it within 1mm in every direction. :)

I copied some of Halbug's reinforcements as well:

the front end has gone to the sand blaster now before it gets welded in.

Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:28 am

:lol: :lol: this really reminds me of the experiences I had to make. Good thing you got this part done.

You may consider taking out some sheets when reinforcing otherwise... just a thought for the mass conscious :wink:

My complete alteration was pretty mass neutral.

Mon Jun 07, 2021 1:55 am

Enjoying this thread! Really like what you did with the rear guards.

Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:38 pm

Thanks Metz, I'm looking forward to seeing it back on its wheels.
I got the idea for the rear guards when I saw it done to a 356. Their fender line also comes in a lot at the back, my understanding is you can only get 5 1/2 rims to work on the back. Anyway I saw this local car with 6 1/2's. It took me a while to work out what had been done, and I was able to ask the owner who did the stretching and reshaping.

The only other way on our cars is to narrow the torsion and trailing arms which a few cars have done, but it is a lot more work, and this way you gain 2" of track width :)

Thu Jul 01, 2021 2:36 am

some updates of the rebuild.
I got the pan and tunnel prepped for welding after finishing up the fuel lines and getting rid of the excess metal in the tunnel. The extra photo is some offset Titanium washers for the Mendeola front end that I had laser cut.

I do oxy welding but for this I sent it out for Mig welding, faster and less distortion. I have a 1990 transporter single cab so it went on the back of that.

back for welding, it took my welder 2hours which was pretty impressive.

then a few hours grinding back and a bit of paint

Sat Jul 03, 2021 11:49 pm

I tipped the pan over and painted the inside floor. I used Por 15, expensive but it flows out really well using a brush :)

So I started assembly, ran taps through all the threaded holes, most are M10x1.5, M8x1.25 and M6x1.
the rear of a late pan has 2 oval holes that are tricky to find plugs for.

there are 2 brands of plugs around but only one fits, it's the one on the left from 'The Thing Shop'

here is the plug in place

Sun Jul 04, 2021 9:52 am

Hi Ian - looking good 8)

You are making good progress, please keep posting your work. I like to see yours coming together!

Cheers

Sun Jul 11, 2021 4:08 am

a couple of little jobs today:
a waxed the inside of the tunnel for rust protection.
I use this Sika wax which comes with a spray tube that has a pattern like a 360 degree fan. The tube is long enough to go in from the front plate, the gear shift, the hand brake and the rear tunnel cover and spray it all. :D
one can will easily do the tunnel and the torsion tube.

I also fitted the harness mounts

Sun Jul 11, 2021 7:32 am

Interesting project. How do you plan on stiffening the pan? One big difference of course between the Ghia and a 356 is the unibody construction, the chassis on a Porsche is part and parcel of the body not bolted on. The Ghia body to pan connection is an inherent weakness so I am curious to see what you do about that.
Keep up the good work!