My first Ghia project

[DaveB9]

Next up was the oil hoses underneath. I made two short brackets from aluminium bar, with a P clip mounted on the end of each and the other end with a M6 hole to attach to tinware points underneath, including a captive nut that wasn't being used. I also sawed off the end of one stud on the exhaust flange to buy a few more millimetres' space and wrapped both hoses in heatproof sleeves. I ended up with about 10 - 15 mm gap between exhaust and hose, to be checked after the first runs.

The fact the brackets only attach with one bolt is obviously not ideal as it means they can twist, but I found the width of the P clip stops this as it would have to turn the hose.

As mentioned previously, hoses underneath in stainless braid for protection and red / blue fitttings to make them easier to see and work on against all the black!

[DaveB9]

Next up I checked the wire to the alternator, the bulb and bulb holder: all was well. If I touched the wire to earth in the engine bay, the light shone when I switched the ignition to live. I checked inside the alternator (which had been apart to be painted) but everything inside looked well. Then it dawned on me - painted alternator, powder coated stand = no connection from alternator body to earth.

I removed the strap and removed a bit of paint and powder coat from underneath it, but the earth was still not great, so I bought some 70 amp black cable and made a short cable from the alternator to one of the bolts on the stand. Success! I now had an alternator light that came on with ignition and went out when the engine fired.

Next problem - the throttles were not closing fully. The CSP linkage does not come with a return spring, but they are available separately, so I ordered one and fitted it. Better, but still not closing completely. The linkage didn't seem to be hanging on anything and the spindles on the carbs were fine. In the end I drilled a tiny hole in the alternator and mounted a return spring there. This worked, but it is an ugly solution. Longer term I may try a universal multi strand throttle cable as they flex a bit more than the single strand originals.

[DaveB9]

Next up was the big moment on ride height. Even with the Cagero beam set on its highest setting, I felt the car sat a bit low on the dropped spindles. I wouldn't know until the front was at full weight though, so the next step was to fit the front bumper. Hayden stepped in again to help here and over one pizza-fuelled evening we got it together without any mishaps. The dry build definitely paid off here.

The restored jack (Ghia only I think, with the stepped arm) and spare 4.5 inch Fuchs with 145 Michelin XZX were then fitted to add the extra weight in the nose, plus a couple of gallons of fuel. I made a couple of number plate brackets out of some steel offcuts that come off the vertical bolts under the bumper, along the inside of the bumper and then down, angled back.

The moment of truth: obviously two people and more fuel will drop it at least another inch or so. I reckon it is low enough to need care with speed bumps and high curbs, but definitely driveable, even on the UK's potholed roads:

[DaveB9]

Now reasonably happy with the height at the front, I was less happy with the back, which sat too low to my eye.

There was 8cm under the sump plate and i could see that ending in grief on speed humps. There was no choice but to disassemble the rear end again to re-index the torsion bars. This turned into a pig of a job on the driver's side as the heat exchanger prevented the axle being moved back far enough and I ended up having to bend the flange on the upright part of the heat exchanger. With help from a friend we rotated the trailing arms 7 splines one way and the torsion bars 7 splines the other, which in theory should give a 3-4cm raise. It doesn't look so much at the tyre, but this gave another 3cm under the sump and a better angle of rake to my eye:

[DaveB9]

A deadline now presented itself - I needed an operation that would leave me unable to drive for several weeks and possibly months. One of the biggest UK VW shows, Stanford Hall, was one week away and a few days before the op. It suddenly seemed possible I could drive the Ghia there. The car was booked in for the UK Ministry of Transport test on the Friday before the show. Everything would have to work by then. As the horn had started sticking on again, that was first up. I decided to change the rubber coupling and found that Custom and Commercial in the UK have had their own ones made which they advertise as non-conductive. Sure enough, once that was fitted the horn didn't stay on any more.

Various interior fittings needed to be completed, like seatbelts, which involved some careful opening up of holes in the leather for the top ones:

A reserve tap (even though it isn't attached to anything!):

And the dash knobs. These are some of John Copello's excellent ali reproductions, but he only had grey in stock, so Hayden got his paint gun out and mixed a colour to match the original door handle and window winder escutcheon plates I had cleaned up. The results were superb:

He also painted the original window winder knobs that I had sanded down and repaired with Milliput expoy paste after the arms were rechromed:

I love this picture of the new heater knob next to the remains of the original:

[DaveB9]

Here is the dash with the knobs at last:

And here are the winders with the original escutcheon plates

Another small detail for the dash:

It was finally time to insure it and go to see whether it would pass the MoT. It doesn't legally have to have one due to its age and none of the modifications being so major as to change its design (engine capacity increases don't count if the cylinder number and layout are the same). But I wanted the peace of mind of having it tested before it went on the road.

Hayden kindly trailered it there. I was so nervous I forgot to take any pictures at the MoT station, but it had each brake tested in rollers, wipers, washers, all lights and horn tested. The tester found one nut loose on a front shock - exactly the sort of thing that had made me want it tested. With that sorted and a dodgy earth on one rear indicator resolved, it passed! I then drove it home, the first time on the road in 5 years.

[DaveB9]

The MoT tester had set the headlights up properly using his beam testing equipment, so the headlight rims could now go on:

Then the final piece that I had left until completion:

The paint needs correcting to deal with some small scratches and polishing marks. I will then get it ceramic coated, but not until I have put at least 1000 miles on it to make sure nothing major is going to have to come apart again.

On the Saturday I completed two test drives totaling 30 miles, in order to decide whether I wanted to undertake the 150 mile round trip to Stanford Hall, mainly on a motorway with no hard shoulder (breakdown lane). Everything felt good, although the oil temperature gauge didn't work. I tested that air was blowing out under the cylinders when the engine was warmed up and it was. I found it hard to find 1st and 2nd at one junction, but I think that was me getting used to the Vintage Speed shifter. There was no sign of any tyre rubbing and no clearance issues beyond the front number plate lightly touching the ground coming out of a petrol station. The fuel gauge didn't work, but creating an earth wire from the sender to a tank mounting bolt cured that.

With a fair degree of nerves, particularly as my son was coming with me, I decided to go for it in the Ghia. The next morning we set off early to avoid the worst of the traffic. It was gloriously sunny, so we put the hood down, but it wasn't actually warm, so we froze! First impressions? It's pretty loud! Also the gear shift points are a lot higher than my Beetle because of the ratios - it doesn't want to go into 4th until at least 40mph. But it tracked well, the oil pressure was good, none of the wheel bolts came loose (we stopped to check at every motorway services) and even being gentle as it is running in, it accelerated nicely coming onto the motorway.

Teething issues? Of course. One rear brake caliper must be sticking slightly as the wheel was warm and there was some brake dust. The steering box needs adjusting to get it as precise as the Beetle. On the way home it rained a little (this is the UK...) and while the wipers were surprisingly good, when I switched them off, they only slowed down! We stopped and switched off the ignition and they didn't then restart, but it happened again when another shower hit us. Could it be the ali knob creating a slight earth connection? The knob turns rather than pulls out, being a '61, so it may be earthing on the dash. Otherwise the switch may be faulty or there is a slight earth on the wiper motor.

Anyway, there is a list of things to check and adjust (are restorations ever really finished?), but it made it and we had a great day out. So it now has 185 miles on the clock!

[karl h]

wonderful job on the car!
_________________
61 panel: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=465022
68 ghia vert
arctic alice (63 ragtop on irs): http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,27456.0.html
86 Caravelle
04 new beetle vert

[John Moxon]

I love it Dave, a real credit to you. You're also a brave man as I won't drive my '58 on Motorways without the hard shoulder; they've robbed Vintage cars of a safe haven. A breakdown on one, is a thing of nightmares for a car without hazard warning lights.
_________________
John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
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[kingkarmann]

What a beautiful result.
Congrats!

[DaveB9]

Thanks guys - I've appreciated the encouragement on here, and all the advice, a lot.

John - I wondered whether you might be at Stanford Hall as original survivor cars are the centrepiece there, but I can appreciate your concerns about our "smart" motorways. Not having the hard shoulder anymore makes every journey a bit scary.

It is the reason I have fitted hazard lights to both the Ghia and my Beetle, though both are sort of hidden. The Ghia had an extra hole in the dash above the right of the radio and I used that. A standard knob works fine if you use a piece of threaded plastic M5 rod rather than metal, as otherwise it tries to send current to make the knob flash and shorts the switch (I wonder how I know?). I didn't want to drill the Beetle dash, so I removed the ashtray and mounted the switch on a piece of aluminium bar behind the ashtray front. The ashtray knob is now the switch, so it is invisible. I am not suggesting you would want to mount an additional switch to Betty's Ghia, but no wires need to be cut to add a hazard switch from a 70s Beetle, it is just additional wires.

Once I can drive again I will update as the shakedown journeys continue.

[aerosilver]

I checked it out at Stanford Hall, it looked great ,well done, you'll have fun racking up the miles I'm sure!
Agree about smart motorways, not good! I'm constantly looking for the next emergency refuge..

[sputnick60]

[John Moxon]

[crocteau]

[DaveB9]

[DaveB9]

John, that's great news on a full feature - I will keep an eye out for it!

Charley - thanks for the kind comment. Still details to tidy up obviously! So those weird drain plugs go in with the large side down do they? I keep learning.

[crocteau]