TheSamba.com :: View topic - '63 Ghia

Mon Nov 18, 2019 3:34 pm

Nope!

All wrong! ^^^^^

Job #1 is to get it running and stopping,

Then go drive the snot out of it and fall in love,

Now make it pretty........

Dave

Mon Nov 18, 2019 3:59 pm

I hear you... but I’m a metal body guy...
The mechanical stuff is not my thing BUT
I’m gonna talk with those guys soon!

Mon Nov 18, 2019 5:03 pm

I myself would start with the brakes and get the parts together while working the body while the car is on blocks or jack stands. Buy the Bently book for your year Ghia in the Classifieds here or Amazon as it covers the whole car.

Mon Nov 18, 2019 5:45 pm

Starbucket wrote: I myself would start with the brakes and get the parts together while working the body while the car is on blocks or jack stands. Buy the Bently book for your year Ghia in the Classifieds here or Amazon as it covers the whole car.

I like that plan - good balanced approach

Tue Nov 19, 2019 8:30 pm

Got some minor work accomplished today- Took out the old dead battery 6V and found a rusty battery tray underneath :roll: not surprising.

Also got all but one of the bumper brackets off for cleaning and restoring in prep for bumpers. The driver's side rear bracket won't come off - the bolts are spinning freely - captured nuts are broken inside. Not surprising given that the driver's side of the car was on the barn wall side for all those years - the rust is a bit worse of that side and minor fender damage occurred on that side as well when the roof collapsed :shock:

The interior rear fender boards were intact as well -cool!

Also ordered a good nose clip to fix that poor front end.

Look how good the body looks!

Not as great here - but not terrible-

Easy to see the yellow paint previous job. I'm not going to tear this car apart - just going for a quick re-fresh with cosmetic rust repair - gonna resist digging too deep!

Wed Nov 20, 2019 10:19 am

Last foto. Buy he replacemen part. This is really too rusty
Took me 15 minutes to weld it in
Fits great

Wed Nov 20, 2019 1:33 pm

Ordered that panel last night 8)

Five panels total -
Both front lower quarters
Rear deck lid edge
Rear driver's side lower (behind wheel)
Nose panel - partial - driver's side and tip

Planning a single-port 6v motor already :!:

Wed Nov 20, 2019 4:18 pm

Not to be THAT gloom and doom "Debbie Downer".........

But, when you see rust bubbles on these rockers? The insides are usually gone already. The exterior panel seems to be the last to rust away.
The construction design defies logic, as if they set out to design them to rust!

There are many rebuild threads here where some rust bubbles are cut away to weld in new metal only to reveal a rusty hollow interior.

Plus...... this car already has at least one "cave and pave" repair under its belt already!

Dave

Wed Nov 20, 2019 10:02 pm

That is sort of “Debbie Downer” :wink:
But I completely agree... it is a complete mess hiding under there and I don’t care! Not my first VW :D
I did a multi-year, body off job on my Type 3 Truck- not gonna do that again.
This one will be cheap and nasty and fun - no illusions of a “proper” resto.
Gonna cut and weld what is visible after I rust bullet and carve out some of the inner mess. Look away! It may offend some... but hey - it’s mine, I’m excited and it already had (has) a foot in the grave :twisted:

Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:38 am

dc wrote: Any advice on the motor?
You can see the bent push rod :cry:

I'm thinking that I pull the spark plugs
Maybe put a hot plate under the engine
Add Diesel or Marvel Mystery Oil or SeaFoam or Kroil ???
See if it will turn by hand at the crank.

Or just skip ahead to yank it out and tear down or replace outright!

I have a '64 that is still 6V. At this point I have a "correct" 1200 40-horse, largely original, and a '66 1300 that is now 1600. Both are complete and I've got them easily interchangeable. The 1300 (1600) looks almost original when installed, but really gives a lot more oomph for getting up the Colorado mountains. The 1300 was a lucky gift, and turns out to be quite easy to upgrade to 1600 (or more) while still being 6V.

The siblings:

EDIT:
1600 in car:

Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:45 am

dc wrote: That is sort of “Debbie Downer” :wink:
But I completely agree... it is a complete mess hiding under there and I don’t care! Not my first VW :D
I did a multi-year, body off job on my Type 3 Truck- not gonna do that again.
This one will be cheap and nasty and fun - no illusions of a “proper” resto.
Gonna cut and weld what is visible after I rust bullet and carve out some of the inner mess. Look away! It may offend some... but hey - it’s mine, I’m excited and it already had (has) a foot in the grave :twisted:

Mine is the epitome of cheap nasty fun.

Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:50 am

dc wrote: Got some minor work accomplished today- Took out the old dead battery 6V and found a rusty battery tray underneath :roll: not surprising.
...

I try to keep mine as original as practical, but she is a driver, not a museum piece, and I just couldn't stomach having another leaky battery rusting out the tray again, so I went with an Optima:

(That is a old photo and I now have a new #4 gauge + cable and a #2 copper strap ground.)

Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:07 am

Good posts, guys!
Love those engine shots - my working plan is a budget 40hp motor - reusing as many top end pieces (and the heater boxes) as possible.
Gonna cut and replace the battery tray area -- that Optima is nice-looking!
With my Type 3 - I found a nice hot-rod type aluminum - billet tray for the battery

Today I'm going to remove the wheels and tires, get it on jack-stands, take the old tires to Les Schwab for dismount and powder coat the original wheels.
While I'm waiting for those... I will inspect the brakes and replace/rebuild/reline as needed.
After the wheels and tires are sorted - I plan to flat tow with a tow bar to get the engine done!

Thu Nov 21, 2019 12:40 pm

dc wrote: Good posts, guys!
...
Gonna cut and replace the battery tray area -- that Optima is nice-looking!
...

New photo:

Thu Nov 21, 2019 12:57 pm

dc wrote: ... my working plan is a budget 40hp motor - reusing as many top end pieces (and the heater boxes) as possible.

I ran the 40-horse that came with my Ghia when I bought her in '82 until last July when I blew a rod bearing on my way to the Hwy-1 Treffen. (But it sat for 25 years of that time.) I knew it was due for some bottom-end work, but I didn't have the 1300 (1600) ready to go in time.

It's back in the car now, but I had to replace the crankcase, and I put in new Ps&Cs and valves while I was at it. (When I say "I put in" I mean I took the long block to Painter's Grinding in Denver to get it done right.)

Thu Nov 21, 2019 2:29 pm

ELFRIED wrote: ...
I see your blinkers are orange coloured ,originally they should be non coloured.But then i saw you had the original ones in the trunk.Good, while they are expensive...
...

My '64 has orange ones. Is that not right? I have some clear ones that I picked up somewhere, years ago. According to the "birth certificate" this car was originally delivered to the Netherlands, if that makes a difference.

Thu Nov 21, 2019 3:53 pm

Turn signal changes were a mid year thing in the ‘64 model year IIRC -several small changes including the clear glass to amber...

Thu Nov 21, 2019 4:30 pm

You may want to look into Hagerty (if you don't have it ) as they have "Build insurance". No inspection just a picture of all four sides and as it gets better the value goes up.

Thu Nov 21, 2019 4:38 pm

Always fun to work on a car with both black battery terminals. Classic.

Thu Nov 21, 2019 5:37 pm

dc wrote: ...
Love those engine shots - my working plan is a budget 40hp motor - reusing as many top end pieces (and the heater boxes) as possible.

BTW, have you seen this series?
Rotten vw engine tear down, can it be saved?
Will It Still Run? Rotten vw engine repaired.

He does a reasonable engine resurrection on the cheap.