Brian & Diane's '70 Autostick Coupe "Zip"

[Turk.380]

[Turk.380]

so last night I had a couple of hours to play around with Zip and I started finishing up the dash a bit. With a "hot knife" I cut out the openings for the gauges and switches, and put the switches back into the proper locations from where the PO had re-arranged them.

Looks like I don't have the correct style headlight knob in my stash.. had to re-use the long one the PO had installed.

The next issue came along when I discovered a large gauge, BATTERY HOT wire just hanging out behind the dash, which apparently got disconnected from something when I was re-arranging the switches.

It seems to be the wire that should be in red/white according to the diagram, however there's no way it would have reached to the fuse box at all, let alone the (empty) "top" 2nd from left terminal it should go to.. the spade connector on the end appears to be an OEM one.
As it's now disconnected from where ever the PO had it before, there's no power to anything unless I jumper it to the correct spot on the fuse block.
What gives? Can someone with a '70 check and see how yours is routed and wired?

_________________
Brian W
St. Louis, MO
'64 SO-33 Hatch Top Westy | '74 RHD DoubleCab | '87 Syncro Westy: Subaru EZ30D powered | 2002 VW Winnebago Vista
'70 Karmann Ghia AutoStick coupe.

[Disc]

Most likely that red/white cable goes to headlights switch. Then an short cable connects headlight switch with the fuse box.
_________________
The glory never gets old, just need new paint.
-------------------------------------------------
Nick

[sputnick60]

[Turk.380]

[Turk.380]

OK, well, time for a quick update..

On Sunday, in brief intervals in the 100+ degree heat, I poked around some more, and after having to completely remove the headlight switch to find it, i found a empty #30 terminal. I connected our "Mystery" battery-hot 12ga red wire to this, and everything is back to baseline.
I just don't understand at all how it was even connected before, as it would not have reached the headlight switch at all in the old location? Anyway..

I started the work to replace the turn signal switch - but it's not complete. I almost forgot I need to replace the upper steering shaft bushing so the horn doesn't honk any time you turn the wheel. Still figuring out that procedure.

I also began the process of replacing the fuse block with a "Torque Resto" made blade type fuse block. Along the way I'm having to replace a bunch of the old OEM spade connectors that are broken or breaking when I try to tighten them up. They seem pretty brittle for some reason.
The only gripe I have about the new style fuse block so far is that it does NOT secure with the OEM style clips at all and I'll have to come up with some kind of clip or bracket to hold it securely. Otherwise it's well made.

Got my Speedo and Clock back from "Corona Ryan" yesterday too. He's still working on the fuel gauge. I have some thoughts here but don't want to share them just yet. The gauges are beautiful but he didn't fix the clock, it was only a cosmetic refurb. "It's just a battery drain if it's not a daily driver" was the pitch. uh, ok.
At least with the speedo back and with working idiot lights I should be able to start driving it as soon as I get the wiring buttoned up!
So close!

_________________
Brian W
St. Louis, MO
'64 SO-33 Hatch Top Westy | '74 RHD DoubleCab | '87 Syncro Westy: Subaru EZ30D powered | 2002 VW Winnebago Vista
'70 Karmann Ghia AutoStick coupe.

[markendee]

That clock is way too nice not to have working.

Most classic cars are stored with a battery minder so the excuse isn't relevant in my opinion.

I would fix the clock.

Great work Brian.
_________________
Member # 145244

[Turk.380]

[Turk.380]

Good lord this wiring job in this Ghia is going to be the death of me!
Got about 7 hours in on the job yesterday, and still don't have everything quite sorted out.

I believe I have all the wiring completed to the new fuse block and back in their proper place.

I continued to struggle with the tail lights.. I had replaced the incandescent bulbs with LED, and the car just plain doesn't seem to like them. I could only get one to work at a time, but if you removed and plugged back in the other one briefly, BOTH would work properly, until you shut off the lights and turned back on again. I went round and round with this forever.. even adding additional grounds to the tail light housings.. but nothing would work!
eventually I put the incandescent bulbs back in and everything returned to normal! WTF?

after installing the new turn signal switch into the steering column housing, it was shorting out and blowing fuses. after troubleshooting that for way too long, I figured it must be the connections on the back contacting the screws in the column housing just behind. I bent them back as much as I could, and inserted a thin heavy paper insulator behind the assembly. I now have working turn signals! huzzah! but no indicator lamp in the speedo any more!


Still no oil pressure idiot light, and I determined that the switch is faulty. I about tore my shop apart and could not find a spare anywhere! So now I got a few of those on order.

Next I discovered that the PO had the dash illumination plugged into the wrong terminal on the headlight switch, and they would only work in the parking light position. I put the lights on the correct terminal - (58b) - and now they don't work at all So I guess the POT in the switch is bad. I tried the usual vendors to see if I can order a new switch but none of them seem to have 3 #30 terminals like mine does.

So anyway... here's the rundown:
4 - ways: check
turn signals: check [no dash indicator on either]
marker lights: check
license plate lights: Check
brake lights: check
low beams: check
high beams: check
high beam indicator: check
Reverse Lights: Constantly on - bad switch??
Horns: check
Wipers: check (low, high, park, all good)
Rear defog indicator: check

Dash illumination: the bulbs all work but switch is bad
Generator/Fan idiot light: check
Oil pressure idiot light: bad switch
Brake system warning light/test: check
ATF temperature warning light: is there a test function for this???

Fuel gauge: still waiting on Orange Empire Ryan

not sure if this link will work but here's a video of the function test:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZiEiLP13nNb17FrB9
_________________
Brian W
St. Louis, MO
'64 SO-33 Hatch Top Westy | '74 RHD DoubleCab | '87 Syncro Westy: Subaru EZ30D powered | 2002 VW Winnebago Vista
'70 Karmann Ghia AutoStick coupe.

[sputnick60]

Seems like it would have been quicker to pull all of it out and start from scratch.
I empathise with you. Sorting out someone else's wiring mess is a PITA.

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!

[Turk.380]

[Marcdeb]

My AutoStick is a 68, but hopefully it's the same. I believe the white wire you are asking about is going to the drivers side contact of the vacuum operated Valve solenoid. It's actually a brown wire inside of a white plastic tube. It gets run in front of the fan shroud to the driver's side.

_________________
Marc
68 Karmann Ghia Cabrio Autostick
71 Karmann Ghia Cabrio

Previously Owned:
2011 VW EOS Hard Top Conv
2008 Saab 9-3 2.0T Conv
2003 Saab 9-3 SE Conv
2001 Saab 9-3 Conv
1998 BMW 3 Series Conv
1997 Saab 900 Conv
1997 Mazda Miata

68 Ghia Vert Survivor with 22,350 miles: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768107&highlight=
71 Ghia Vert Restoration: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=726710&postorder=asc

[Turk.380]

[Marcdeb]

Doesn't sounds like your wire is the one I'm thinking of, but here's a picture of a 70 Ghia I found in the gallery.

And another picture with those wires swapped so maybe they can be swapped.

_________________
Marc
68 Karmann Ghia Cabrio Autostick
71 Karmann Ghia Cabrio

Previously Owned:
2011 VW EOS Hard Top Conv
2008 Saab 9-3 2.0T Conv
2003 Saab 9-3 SE Conv
2001 Saab 9-3 Conv
1998 BMW 3 Series Conv
1997 Saab 900 Conv
1997 Mazda Miata

68 Ghia Vert Survivor with 22,350 miles: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768107&highlight=
71 Ghia Vert Restoration: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=726710&postorder=asc

[Turk.380]

[Marcdeb]

You're welcome. I have received lots of help from members so I'm always happy to help when I can. You're detailed approach is the way to go. Excellent work.
_________________
Marc
68 Karmann Ghia Cabrio Autostick
71 Karmann Ghia Cabrio

Previously Owned:
2011 VW EOS Hard Top Conv
2008 Saab 9-3 2.0T Conv
2003 Saab 9-3 SE Conv
2001 Saab 9-3 Conv
1998 BMW 3 Series Conv
1997 Saab 900 Conv
1997 Mazda Miata

68 Ghia Vert Survivor with 22,350 miles: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768107&highlight=
71 Ghia Vert Restoration: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=726710&postorder=asc

[Turk.380]

Was feeling a bit under the weather this weekend so I put myself on "light" duty, and decided to spend my Sunday afternoon in the shop working on the dash some more.
Still on my to-do list was cutting out the hole for the glove box in the new veneer, and wrapping the glove box door.

With a lot of pictures and help over the phone with friend Bill Bowman who also has a '70 Ghia Coupe, I got the wrapping of the edges figured out.

I put down some painter's tape to help protect the rest of the veneer, and cut out the opening with a hot knife, trying to leave about 1/2" around the flange, and cut out the holes for the hinges and rubber bumpers.

With Bill's help, it seemed that the factory method was to completely wrap the veneer around the glove box opening flange. Using a heat gun, and with my welding gloves on, I carefully softened the veneer and rapped it completely around the flange as tightly as I could.

Looking at my original glove box door, it did not appear that the veneer was ever glued down at all, just held in by the clamping of the back panel and the wrapping around the edges, so I did the same.. no glue.

the new veneer is quite a bit thicker than the OEM material, so it took a lot of massaging and clamping to get it to stay down flat while it cooled into position.

next was mounting, and I had to run out to the Orange Box Store to buy some e M5x.08 bolts... the last 4 they had on hand!

Bolted the hinges up and a few adjustments later we're in business!

After that I took a swipe at my headliner. the edge at the top of the windshield was torn away and no longer glued/clamped in. For this I'm trying some brush-on super glue, and then used neodidlyum magnets to hold the headliner in place while it cured. I got my new sun visor clips installed, vistors re-installed, and my rear view mirror all put back into place.

I was pretty much done for the day here.. and next on the agenda is figuring out how & where to mount the truck release mechanism in the new glove box liner... and I have to still procure a new cable assembly.
_________________
Brian W
St. Louis, MO
'64 SO-33 Hatch Top Westy | '74 RHD DoubleCab | '87 Syncro Westy: Subaru EZ30D powered | 2002 VW Winnebago Vista
'70 Karmann Ghia AutoStick coupe.

[Turk.380]

Been down with pneumonia for the last week or so, so not much progress has been made on Zip.
On Sunday however, I was feeling decent and made a trip over to the shop. After 1st discovering that my daily driver RAV4 that I hadn't touched in a couple weeks had a stone-dead battery, and then getting to the shop to discover that one of the gallon jugs of used oil sitting in the corner had sprung a leak and flooded a chunk of the floor in dirty oil...
then a friend showed up which made the dog go BERSERK and of course she immediately ran through and slipped in the oil slick... and well.. you can probably use your imagination of the aftermath of that..
and it was about a heat index of 110F that day...

Yeah.. I over-did it and by the end of the day I was really out of sorts.

But, we did manage to install the new plastic glove box liner, with the OEM trunk release mechanism pop riveted into it, with a new release cable and sheath. The plastic glove boxes do not follow the same contours as the OEM cardboard, and that is plainly evident when you try to fit the OEM trunk release.. one of the holes in the plastic assembly broke soon after install, but the rest are still holding.

We also installed a secret "Safety Release" with some stainless wire and ring exiting in a strategic location under the right fender.

With "Corona Ryan" still working on my fuel guage I got tired of waiting and took a chance on a mystery condition gauge from eBay. Turns out it was also a 12/69 production date same as my original! Sadly though it does not work either. it jumps when you turn the ignition, but doesn't read a level. Good to have the hole filled though.

Other objectives were installing the new trunk seal - I just have it in place with the trunk closed on it to form the shape for a bit, but not glued in yet.

I also re-installed the steering wheel and horn ring. and hoo boy.. the gorram horn STILL sounds when you turn the wheel *just so*
I would normally suspect an upper bushing like when my Thing did this, but in this case the shaft seems very solid with little wiggle and I CANNOT force it by pushing/pulling on the wheel at all. It ONLY seems to go when you turn the wheel to a certain point, and only for a small band of the turn radius. Before the spot it's fine, after the spot it's fine.

And remember, this year has the horn wire that exits the shaft near the turn signal wires and travels up behind the dash with that bundle. I'm not really familiar with the assembly itself and of course the Bentley illustration was vague as ever.

Any tips here?
_________________
Brian W
St. Louis, MO
'64 SO-33 Hatch Top Westy | '74 RHD DoubleCab | '87 Syncro Westy: Subaru EZ30D powered | 2002 VW Winnebago Vista
'70 Karmann Ghia AutoStick coupe.

[Turk.380]

whelp [Midwest Knee Slap]

It's not 100% but I think we're putting a fork in this project for now and calling it Done Enough. Mama gettin' antsy for her summer Ghia adventures.

This past Saturday was the maiden voyage and shakedown cruise for the '70 AutoStick! We did a full day of weekend errands including a dog park visit so hopefully the Border Collie associates the car with fun adventures.. she's not usually thrilled with car rides, but tolerates them.
Momma gives her seal of approval, but I have been given a directive that the next repair list item is new door stays.

I have to say, this whole AutoStick thing... it doesn't suck. I feel like I've been lied to a little for my whole ACVW life.

In addition to the door checks, I still need to figure out this whole dang horn business but I'm reasonably sure it's that upper bearing & bushing things that's unique to 68-70.

But, I'll be taking a step back from it for a bit here to just enjoy it for a while, whilst I move on to our new '74 RHD doublecab project!
_________________
Brian W
St. Louis, MO
'64 SO-33 Hatch Top Westy | '74 RHD DoubleCab | '87 Syncro Westy: Subaru EZ30D powered | 2002 VW Winnebago Vista
'70 Karmann Ghia AutoStick coupe.

[crocteau]

Nice!