58 mishmash ghia

[crazy tarzan]

So I picked up a 58 ghia today. It's seen better days, has no brakes, has a stuck wheel or two but runs when it will turn over (have power but no crank)

According to the vin 1807XXX it's an early august 1958, model year 59 if I'm not mistaken. However it's not on the original pan, but rather pan # 1102030XXX. Which if I'm deciphering correctly is a 69 beetle pan? Has later model steering column and key.

Also has what appears to be 1 piece bumpers with oddly mounted over riders?

It's a long term project, but one I'm happy to have.


Loaded for transport

Two layers of red over a black layer

Engine

Licence light housing

Rear shot (showing bumper)

Passenger side

Drivers side

Shot of dash/steering wheel

Trunk area

Better shot of "custom" nose badge

[Loren]

The bumpers are for a Type 3 VW. Nice looking project!

[CiderGuy]

The body appears to be in very good condition for its age.
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Cars Currently Owned:

1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1973 Karmann Ghia Coupe - Project car for sale
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (Body off restoration)

Timing is everything

[John Moxon]

[crazy tarzan]

Oh it's got some bondo, and a bit of rust for sure. It has a ton of rivets-in fact the whole trunk area has the carpet riveted down. Pretty sure someone used the beetle pan with repo ghia pan halves on it. Does have irs in the back though (and 4 lug rims ). The silver button on the left of dash runs the horn. It might actually have been black originally since the front trunk is also black under the carpeting. Doors are sagging and rear deck lid doesn't quite line up. And I have an awesome karmann ghia sticker on the deck lid.

I'm excited though! It will probably end up being a resto-mod in the end (thinking original looking body/interior with hopped-up vw/suby drive train and suspension). Hoping to fix brakes and be able to drive it a bit before that endeavor starts.

[Basketcase]

not a bad looking project. keep the pics coming!
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'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)

[crazy tarzan]

Been tinkering and examining in my spare time just to get a feel for what's needed with the car.

It wouldn't start with the key after I got it home, but pushed it would. After examining wiring under the car to no avail I took a gander at the battery. Lo and behold there is an extra wire and two spade connectors on the positive battery cable. What the heck?

Aux starting solution:

Yep. Jumper between the two connectors and it will crank and start if you've left the key on.

Decided to look closer at the trunk area. The awesome wiring job (fancy duct tape AND totally cool blue painters tape) might have some to do with the key issues.

Wiring snafu:

Also what appears to be a custom cut/fit/weld wind shield wiper motor arrangement?

I also found these gems of speakers which when (if ever) I get the cassette radio working means I can totally rock out!

Ive mentioned it currently has no brakes, though it also doesn't roll freely, and think this may have something to do with it:

Empty brake fluid reservoir:

And tucked into it's new home for now:

[Loren]

Here are some wiring photos of an origial 59 Ghia that might help:

The pink wire in the flasher regulator is not original. It was an added ground wire to make the flasher work.

If you need some original wires to replace the non stock ones on your Ghia let me know. I have a few donor wiring harness that should have what you need.

[KGCoupe]

[crazy tarzan]

Thanks for the reference pics!

Now to get to the point of doing wiring (and then getting a helper since I'm partially red-green colorblind and wiring is a doozy - I can barely tell the pink wire is pink vs gray).

It doesn't help that the only original gauge is the clock. . .

[crazy tarzan]

Just some more random pics as I slowly delve into the project I've obtained.

I have come to the conclusion that one of the previous owners either owned company stock in, or knew of no other way to fix things than with rivets. At this point I wouldn't be surprised to find the pan halves riveted on and the body/pan riveted together. I've had rivets in almost every piece of carpet, the door panels, metal patch panels, tail light bulb holder, random new panels installed, and am sure I'll find many more as I go.

I also found that the drivers side taillight has a screw in the middle to hold it on, and the lens is hot-glued to the chrome housing. However on the passenger side gorilla glue was used to attach the lens to the housing :/

Chassis(?) number tag 28895-where do I find possible matching numbers on body panels?

Pulled decklid lights:

Pics of both door jambs:

Shot of inside rear drivers fender:

Tail light area driver side:

bulb holder drivers side (notice the repair?!), and can these be re-furbished?

More random riveted madness in left rear (with a funky access panel):

Front drivers side behind tire fixes (rivets. . . ):

[crazy tarzan]

Well, finally got the VW birth certificate from the museum orderd in Nov 2017, arrived in Apr 2018. Very impressed with the quality of the certificate. Very heavy weight paper, embossing, very nice looking.

Glad to see the car was originally Aerosilver with a white roof, sorry but I'm not a fan of red as it is now. It's an early 58, and I now have a color and direction to take the car. Will be a "resto-mod". Mostly stock body/interior but with some tweaks (like maybe a banjo steering wheel, 4 wheel disc, suby?). I'm going to have to scrounge parts for a while though, since it's got late 60's running gear underneath.

[Basketcase]

cool!
I like red, the wife's Ghia is red, my truck is red, I've had several red cars. But I think 8 out of 10 trucks I've had have been red...If I never own another red car that'll be fine with me.
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'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)

[crazy tarzan]

for not liking red cars, I've had my share 1/2 dozen over the years. Both ghias I've purchased have been red - go figure.

[Rome]

Yo've got a long road ahead of you to get the Ghia running and driveable... But the '70 chassis (3rd digit in VIN is 0 = 1970) could be a decent basis for a good driver. Have you checked if the front axle has disc brakes or drums? If drums, then chances are the pan, or at least the beam started as a Beetle. Yes, the 11 starting numbers of the VIN indicates a Beetle.

Did you get a registration or title from the PO? Which numbers are on it- those of the chassis (110...)? Hope you can get the car registered without any hassle.

When I modified my '64 Ghia cabrio to sit on a '70 Ghia chassis 35 years ago, I used the 12V windshield wiper from the '70. It fit into the '64 quite well, just needing to bend the vertical cowl support slightly so that the wiper motor cleared it. But it appears that your '58 did not have such a support. My wiper assembly fits much better than yours, being tucked up just like the original 6V. Maybe your wiper was adapted from a Beetle?

Patchwork here- the bottom of the driver's rear quarter panel has been cut off and a rust patch panel installed. On the right, the bumper mount has been "adapted". Normally there are two welded on nuts for the M8 bumper bracket bolts to fit into.

[crazy tarzan]

It does sit on a beetle pan (according to the #'s and vin charts), drum brakes up front

However PO had titled as a 1958 KG showing the original vin on the title, and by golly I did the same - since it was in state I didn't have to have it inspected either (yeah )

I'm sure it's got its fair share of body work necessary - considering the amount of stuff I've found without removing paint (like the rivets - oh the weight savings from removing just the rivets alone!).

I will probably change as much body/interior as I can back to low light - with upgrades where it makes sense (handling/chassis, seat belts, lights etc) while trying to keep the visual cues a little less prominent.

It's never going to make it back to a concurs level of originality, but I do like the original style enough to mostly put it back.

[crazy tarzan]

Since I feel bad just letting my poor ghia sit, once in a while I spend 5-10 min tinkering with it. Recently I purchased a stripping pad for the grinder and have been taking suspect spots down to bare metal.

Front drivers fender

Rear ¼ panel

I’m guessing something has happened to drivers side. Side swiped or ran it along a fence or who knows, maybe it was an angry deer 🦌?

[c21darrel]

the filler is going to create quite a dust storm grinding. You can take a propane torch and heat the area and peel it away with a stiff putty knife. No flying dust.
Good Luck.
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[Proper Built]

It looks like a great start. I've always liked the process more than the product. Collecting the pieces, tracking down correct parts and finding other pieces that will do the trick is where the fun is at. I've spent the past 6 years piecing mine together Johnny Cash style, its been a ton of fun.

[crazy tarzan]

Tried my mini propane torch. Wasn’t very effective with the ½” of bondo on the car. Might have to get an oxy/acetylene torch for this.

Did some more investigative grinding today:

The ¼ panel is dented in starting just after the curved body line.

Not sure what kind of repair this was. However the trim holes are still apparent, after grinding of all the body filler.