Restoration thread: my 60 strato blue coupe

[Basketcase]

nice finds, love those steering wheels
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'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)

[ELFRIED]

this is really top metal work.
wish i had those skills....

[TRS63]

Thanks a lot guys

So, update about the pan

I finally received the last missing seat rail, so directly welded the small bracked to stop the seat on:

And welded the driver's side rails

Starting to look like a real pan:

And one "happy driver", first time I was able to seat on MY ghia's seat

But there was still some work left. First cleaning the welds/putting the bottom in primer:

And you surely noticed the missing jack points, so here we are:

Everything with welding primer:

Adjusted:

Welded:

And in primer:

Pan is now ready, waiting for it's coat of fresh paint but before, I will "use" him in order to weld the heater channel properly. So here we are, with the heater channel waiting to be fixed on it before I lift it under the body

Stay tuned

Antoine
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Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906
My 52 Standard Zwitter :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10086685#10086685

[rbsurfguy]

Outstanding Antoine, I love following all the progress you have made!
Jeff
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1971 Ghia convertible (Body off rebuild)
2019 VW Atlas 4Motion
2012 Passat-Sold


See my build on The Samba at:
Jeff's 71 Vert Restoration/Reassembly http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6...highlight=

[sputnick60]

I love that photo of you behind the wheel imagining the completed car around you. Maybe another with the same pose with the finished car would be fun.
I’m enjoying this restoration.... keep it up.
Nicholas
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'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!

[Basketcase]

so....gotta ask.....how did the engine sound?
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'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)

[TRS63]

Thanks a lot guys!
@jeff: thanks for the support, I will continue to share my journey here
@Nicholas: I will try to think about it when there will be a body on the pan, good idea
@Basketcase: like an oldspeed themed 36hp with 2 carburetors and a sebring exhaust... I was already dreaming about the body around me so imagining my dream engine was just the next step

By the way, if any of you is coming to Bad Camberg for the meeting in ~3 weeks, keep me in touch, we can meet

Antoine
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Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906
My 52 Standard Zwitter :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10086685#10086685

[TRS63]

So, next update!

If you remember, I wanted to use my bead roller for the metal part in front of the tank but broke my wooden prototypes. After discussing with some "experts", I decided to try my luck with some hammer work

I built myself with some rest material the basic installation:

And it was time for a test part:

Turned up quite ok I think:

So I decided to start on my "real" part. Process is in several steps: hammering the basic shape, correcting it by hammering the contour and then planishing it using a rounded dolly behind. Here in pictures:

And then there were four beads:

Stay tuned for the next steps

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906
My 52 Standard Zwitter :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10086685#10086685

[TRS63]

Next on the panel was to create the side's holes:

With the same width as the original ones:

The first one finished:

And then they were 2:

Cheers

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906
My 52 Standard Zwitter :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10086685#10086685

[TRS63]

The logical next step was cutting the central hole:

The small cut in the bottom:

And bending the top:

Test:

And with the central part before cleaning/blasting:

Cheers
Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906
My 52 Standard Zwitter :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10086685#10086685

[kgj]

That series of photos deserves a thumbs up.
Handmade panels!
_________________
1958 coupe

[TRS63]

Thanks a lot, really appreciated!

So the next update:
I was then time to make the holes on the top part:

And weld the (original, sandblasted) nuts to hold the tank:

Next step was to blast the central part with my original body number.
Before:

And after:

Positioning them together:

And welded:

On the car for a last fit:

Now let's finish to clean all the metal behind, put some primer and then I will be welding it back

If anybody here is also going to Bad Camberg this weekend, please get in touch, would be a pleasure to meet!

Bests

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906
My 52 Standard Zwitter :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10086685#10086685

[iboughtrustandbondo]

Your metal work is beautiful. Mad skills! Looks great.

[GHIA]

Antoine tu vas concurrencer Fred si tu continus comme cela

Good job

[TRS63]

Thanks guys

So, little update

I made some trial adjusting and it looks good:

And with the old air channel that will help to position everything right. Of course in the end I will weld my homemade ones!

But before all the welding I will bring it all to bare metal and in primer

While playing with the front part,I also decided to save the original bumper bracket:

Stay tuned for more

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906
My 52 Standard Zwitter :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10086685#10086685

[Peter D.]

Wow, outstanding work! Amazing skills, you should be proud!
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2019 Golf Alltrack, '65 Ghia Coupe Restoration in Progress

[Mrfun2fly]

I probably already know the answer but have to ask. Are you doing 12 volt change and keeping the brakes drum?

Love your work!

Lee

[TRS63]

Thanks a lot!!!
Lee: as you probably imagine, I am staying 6v (Daily driving my 62 ragtop in 6v without issues so don‘t see the need to change..) and original brake drums (until I can afford myself 356 drums )

So,in the process of cleaning and preparing to weld my front part, I had to fix a few parts on the way.
Like here on the driver‘s side:

Made a patch:

And welded, grinded, along with few other holes above it:

And the same on the other side:
Before:

During:

And After:

Cheers

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906
My 52 Standard Zwitter :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10086685#10086685

[ELFRIED]

Great work. Gives us all inspiration

[TRS63]

Thanks a lot!!

So, as I was progressing on the front, I continued with cleaning it to bare metal:

The driver‘s side was a bit damaged:

So I put it back to shape:

Also found as usual some rust issues:

Thought I can go with a small patch:

But as usual, it wasn‘t nice after opening:

So I had to open more until there are only surface rust to see:

A new patch including the indent had to be created:

Checking the indent:

Adjusted:

I will be welding it after replacing the rest behind, when I will be replacing the heater channel. In the mean time I progressed on the back of the ghia, stay tuned for more

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906
My 52 Standard Zwitter :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10086685#10086685