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Appw
Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2020
Posts: 6
Location: SoCal
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 Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 9:50 pm Post subject: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Hi!
I'm Austin! I'm 16, and this is my first car!
Me and my Dad started this father/son project when we got it in 2018. I've discovered this website not too long ago, and now I've finally got around to posting about it. Its been awesome and I've learned so much from my Dad as we've gone through the car and gotten it driving.
So I'll start with when I brought it home.
After at least 15 years of being in the PO's garage it went up on craigslist. My Dad asked me to find a car to work on with him, and this is the one I chose! I didn't know the first thing about volkswagens, but when I told him I wanted to start on a volkswagen, he told me that he had repaired and tore into tons of bugs when he was my age.
We plucked out the motor, and started there. We took it down to the block, and built it back up with a slightly bigger bore, dual port intake, a double barrel carb, and chrome everything.
With the motor running, we focused on the car and tied up as many loose ends as we could, until it was sent off to a body shop to do everything my Dad couldn't teach me, body work, paint, and upholstery.
After it finally came back, we installed the motor! Then I wired it all back up, installed new wheels, installed disc brakes, restored the speedometer, and installed the radio, among many, many many other things.
So...It looks like this now!
Excuse the unconnected wires, these two \/ & /\ are before I wired it.
I drive it to school! It's incredible! I love how it sounds, how it looks, and how it drives! My Dad taught me stick in it, and I love how much horse power it doesn't have! Even so, with a dual barrel carb, it pulls itself uphill no problem!
Hope you all enjoyed!
I'll probably post updates with more pictures or about the things I'm still working on! |
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69 GVert
Samba Member
Joined: October 20, 2014
Posts: 61
Location: San Jose, CA
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| Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 10:07 pm Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Nice color!
Do you have the color code for that?
My first car was a '65 too.
Well both first cars.
The first one I got to drive to school was a '65 Mustang that my dad taught me body work on. (It had a big crease down one side before we straightened it out.)
The first one I bought myself was a '65 bug that someone had added fiberglass front and rear fake hood scoops on. Got it cheap 'cause it ran very poorly. (Turned out it was the center pin on the distributor cap broken in half.)
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Aircooled? Drive one a day, that's all I ask! |
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sputnick60
Samba Moderator
Joined: July 22, 2007
Posts: 3916
Location: In Molinya Orbit
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Marcdeb
Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2019
Posts: 3031
Location: Vermont
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:39 am Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Beautiful car! Paint looks awesome and that color really works well on a Ghia. Nice work. What a wonderful experience to have done this car with your father. Precious memories that will last your lifetime. Your father must be very proud of you. Enjoy the beautiful Karmann Ghia. 
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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 |
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Braukuche
Samba Member
Joined: September 03, 2004
Posts: 10999
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 8:19 am Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Super nice car Austin.
_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!
Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now |
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xzener
Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2006
Posts: 1777
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 8:29 am Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Whoa! Nice work... DONT EVER SELL IT!!
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My 70 beetle was totaled Now to build the Ghia I always wanted. Rest in peace Ruby, I will miss you. Hello <insert Ghia name here>! |
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John Moxon 
Samba Moderator
Joined: March 07, 2004
Posts: 13952
Location: Southampton U.K.
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rbsurfguy
Samba Member
Joined: August 10, 2008
Posts: 1757
Location: Fairfax, Northern Virginia Formerly Huntington Beach, SoCal
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 10:27 am Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Beautiful color and great work! Is it copper? Or what is the color name you chose? Really looks classic.
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= |
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xzener
Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2006
Posts: 1777
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 11:30 am Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Its hard to tell... Are those Goose Neck Mirrors on the doors?
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My 70 beetle was totaled Now to build the Ghia I always wanted. Rest in peace Ruby, I will miss you. Hello <insert Ghia name here>! |
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myghiarocks
Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2009
Posts: 143
Location: DFW area Texas
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 12:01 pm Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Awesome car. as others say, don't ever sell it. Everyone wishes they still had their first car (usually)
Looks like a custom front wiring cover, painted too match. very nice |
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Steelz21
Samba Member
Joined: January 09, 2017
Posts: 130
Location: Ontario canada
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:48 pm Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Very nice.
Great choice on your first car. |
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74 Thing
Samba Member
Joined: September 02, 2004
Posts: 7390
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 4:36 pm Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Go hug your dad and say thanks and keep the car since it will bring good memories of the time you spent with your father.
Keep it clean and make sure to wax, seal, or coat the paint! |
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TRS63
Samba Member
Joined: December 17, 2017
Posts: 999
Location: Stuttgart - Germany
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kingkarmann
Samba Member
Joined: November 05, 2003
Posts: 4111
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| Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 10:49 am Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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I had a 67 Ghia in H.S. back in the mid 1970's
Mine Ghia was no where near as nice as yours! 
Congrats, enjoy. and keep your head on a swivel while your driving! You and that Ghia are gonna get ALOT of attention!
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"Depression is a malfunction of the instrument we use to determine reality.”
Mike Gerson
What is your "Bespoke Reality"? |
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Vladiiiii
Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2019
Posts: 518
Location: Munich, Germany
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| Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:56 pm Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Wow, such a nice car with 16, a dream 
And you had a really good starting base, too! I hope you are really proud about how it turned out Congratulations on all the work!! The car looks like a gem, a nice color! Reminds me of the early LowLight "Cognac" color, you may want to google that out.
With the whitewalls and the color, it really looks like my dream Lowlight.
Now just enjoy and keep it
Vlad
_________________
Vlad's 72 Ghia (Once in a Lifetime Restoration topic)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9237746#9237746 |
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Appw
Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2020
Posts: 6
Location: SoCal
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| Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 2:57 pm Post subject: Re: '65 Ghia - First Car! |
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Thank you guys!
Chances are, I'll never sell it. Even If I something happens and I can't keep it anywhere, I've got family members I can count on.
For the color, I've never heard of that lowlight color! The story behind the color I have however, is that I just picked it out of the paint & body guy's color swatch box. I pretty much had put off the decision until the last day I could, and I needed to pick a color before I left. I started with the oranges, because at least I knew I wanted that, and narrowed it down from there. (with the help of sunlight of course)
It's a modern color, believe it or not.
For the mirrors, yes they're totally in the wrong spot! One of the PO's moved the holes, and while I could've had them moved back, I think it doesn't look half bad. Although, I did have to stick on some little $5 dome mirrors, because otherwise they're completely useless!
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