1969 Karmann Ghia restomod

[kimkinzie]

Engine Instrument Panel

Although gauges are great for providing driver feedback, I prefer to keep the instrument cluster as clean as possible to focus on dynamic elements of locomotion: fuel, speed, and RPM. This is great on the Karmann Ghia with the classic "Mickey Mouse" layout. A dash gauge that makes perfect sense to balance with driving is an Air/Fuel mixture readout to monitor the engine dynamics over a wide range of speeds. Beyond that, warning lights and indicators should intrude as little as possible - unobtrusive - the same goes for status indicators. These are best removed from the direct line of sight and are often placed beneath the dash in a cluster or in the glove compartment.

The solution that works best for me is to have the engine related readouts and status indicators available from within the engine compartment. The battery was moved to inside the cabin, centered on the rear seat shelf. This in turn freed up some space in the left hand rear wheel well. Since the Ghia body is effectively ground for wiring connections and mostly sheet metal, it made sense to use magnets for flexibility and to avoid drilling holes and/or welding mounting brackets. Using electrical components found at Home Depot and Ace Hardware, this is what I came up with:

Temperature readout comes from a VDO sensor that is mounted along side the pressure sensor (red/green speedometer oil warning light). RPM comes from a spliced connection on the distributor and should be identical to readout in the cabin (helps with idle speed adjustment.). Power is fed off the battery junction terminal and runs through a 1/2" switch mounted in one of the bracket bolt holes. A copper wire was bent into shape to serve as grounding straps for the individual instrument readouts, with a ground screw post conveniently located in the housing which holds a 2" gauge perfectly snug. Magnets are located beneath the black tape and securely hold the cluster in place as well as ensure electrical connection.

These are some of the essential elements used in the setup:

- 4-Hole 90-Degree Angle Strut Bracket - Strut Fitting (Home Depot)
- 2 in. Insulated Metallic Grounding Bushing (Home Depot)
- 16-10 AWG Copper Split-Bolt Connector (Ace Hardware)

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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

Weber 44 Carburetor Rebuild

It's been almost one year of ownership, and I've been able to narrow the problem to somewhere in the #3-#4 carburetor idle circuit. Adjusting the fuel mixture screw didn't affect the idle speed very much, #4 didn't have any effect at all (perhaps the adjuster screw was overtightened?) Another clue has been the wet Bosch spark plug on #4 cylinder noted during one of the first engine inspections. I eliminated the spark plugs / coil / wires as culprits by hooking up the timing scope to each plug lead in turn to verify a consistent RPM on all cylinders coming from the distributor.

I finally decided to tackle the heart of the MPG issue : fuel delivery. I ordered up a set of Redline Weber 44 IDF Carburetor Tune-Up Kits, pulled out and cleaned the individual elements, and blew dry with compressed air to clear passages. This was done only to the driver's side, since #1-#2 idle adjusters were responding well and spark plugs looked to be functioning properly.

Problems resolved in the rebuild:

1) torn gasket beneath cylinder #3 air intake
2) worn out accelerator pump membrane
3) float set less than 1/4" (6mm) in the closed position

The gaskets were in horrid shape, made of some quasi-rubber/paper membrane that was very ill-fitted, welded to the metal flange, and full of air leaks. They were all carefully removed and the remnants scraped with a plastic spade to avoid scratching the soft metals. Thick paper gaskets from Redline fit well and matched the existing templates - copper washers were also refreshed.

Previously, there was an odd hesitation / stumbling / surge that was very evident at cruising highway speeds right around 3,700 RPM. Initially, I imagined it was #4 cylinder cutting in and out on the main fuel circuit. After reviewing Youtube videos (EZGZ and Motor7710), I came to the conclusion it might also be that the left and right carburetors were imbalanced in their float levels. This turns out to be the *primary* problem. I adjusted them to a stop of 0.5 in (13mm) and full extension of 1.25 in (33mm).

After re-installing the carburetor, adjusting advance and idle, and clearing the idle screws one last time ... the engine came to LIFE. Idle jumped cleanly into the 800-900 RPM range, and #3 cylinder responded well to idle adjustments. Engine side-to-side vibration stopped, and there was smooth acceleration. There are some minor adjustments needed (sticking throttle, link geometry) .. but it feels like it is really RUNNING on all two liters of engine.
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'69 Ghia

[Steelz21]

Ten McGyver points for the conduit grounding bushing.

I love it.

Andy

[kimkinzie]

Carburetor Rebuild

Following up on the success, I rebuilt the right side (#1-#2) carburetor and corrected much of the same issues: torn gaskets, accelerator pump worn out, and junk caught by the inline filter elements. Unlike the driver's side, however, the float level was set correctly around 13mm before activating the check valve.

I took the car for a road trip down to San Diego - approximately 500 miles of scenic coastal drive along Route 1 through Big Sur, Santa Barbara, and into Los Angeles' full-tilt highway speeds. Acceleration was smooth along the entire rev range, with minor imbalances solved by adjusting the link geometry. The results were clearly visible in the improved fuel economy:

Stopped along the way to visit my old surf shop - The Frog House in Newport Beach. The mural on side of the building provided a cute backdrop, along with a final reflection of the California palm trees ...

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'69 Ghia

[DORIGTT]

That looks awesome!
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To err is human, but if the eraser wears out before the pencil does you're a major screw-up.

[kimkinzie]

Brake Follow Up

In August the brakes were examined and some temporary fixes put in place to make sure the stop light indicators illuminated properly. Despite bleeding the system, there was always a 'spongy' feeling when coming to rest at a stop sign, at times requiring a pumping of the petal to maintain pressure on the calipers. The master cylinder required replacement, so a high quality TRW unit was ordered, along with 3-prong sensors for the brake signals.

The final straw was the right rear flexible brake hose - apparently, it had collapsed and caused the caliper to seize and build up significant heat, dust, and eventually wearing the pads down to their metal mounts and causing that all-too-familiar screeching sound. I finally just parked the car and waited for parts to arrive, with CBPerformance disk pads added to the list. The picture below shows the right rear / left rear / new:

Installation was very straightforward, without having to pull the pedal assembly, the 13mm bolts holding the master cylinder were loosened at the firewall (being careful to leave the spacers in place.) An 11mm flare nut wrench was immensely helpful to avoid stripping any of the hard line connections. The new flex line got fitted to right rear, and the entire system was gravity bled. After a short test drive, the brake pedal is much improved, with nice progressive feel and no fade at the stop light.

I need more time to splice in a connection for the dash warning light - those connections are shown trailing off in the bottom of the photo above. It is also the reason for the empty space connector on both of the 3-prong sensors.

I noticed that the driver's side upper and lower ball joints had split. I'll replace both once Rockauto delivers the replacement parts.

While in the general vicinity, I finally took some time to scrub the transaxle with a brass brush. Lo and behold, it wasn't painted black after all:

Original condition from the pre-purchase inspection on two post hoist:

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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

Courses for Horses

The speed limit on Maui is 55 mph, on a single stretch of road leading to Mount Haleakala. All the remaining freeways have a posted limit of 35 or 45 mph, and most locals don't dare exceed these by much, since the local police are very 'productive'. They often 'prowl' in wolf packs of 4-6 vehicles that scour the island handing out citations. It's best just to cruise and take your time.

Maui Classic Cruisers is the local classic (70's and older) car club. Although there are a few VW bugs and buses on island, the vehicles that show up regularly for drives and weekly shows are mostly MOPAR - a few vintage horseless carriages, but a lot of big burly Detroit steel. Eventually I may show up to see how well the Karmann Ghia can represent ...
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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

The brake warning light in the dash was the final task to be completed. After replacing a burned out bulb, checking the +12v power, along with proper grounding, I was able to get the light to illuminate when pressed.

A splice was added to the existing dash warning light lead (red) and the other power lead normally reserved for the 2-prong connector was covered with heat shrink (blue). The dash warning indicator helped to verify that everything was working according to the Dual Circuit Brake Switch guide. I re-checked the tail signals using a popped engine bay hood see the 3rd light indicator illuminate when pressing on the brake pedal. It turns out I had the rear sensor wired incorrectly in the previous post. All fixed, now

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'69 Ghia

[TC/TeamEvil]

[Olli from NJ]

kimkinzie,

What wheels are those??

Olli

[kimkinzie]

heya Olli ~

The wheels are Enkei Compe 15" rims wrapped in Kuhmo Ecsta PS31. It is quite a nice lightweight setup, running a bit smaller (23" diameter) than stock.

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'69 Ghia

[Olli from NJ]

Kimkinzie,

Thanks for the info. It really is a nice redo of the traditional 8-spoke by a well known wheel manufacturer. And hey, "in stock" at Tire Rack.

Olli

[Buggeee]

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig

A must read. What a great book!

This is a gorgeous looking build, and performance comes in many forms - including design language.

Good to see your progress in sorting through the issues confronted by a VW driver. Thank you for sharing the journey.
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1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[Busstom]

[kimkinzie]

Quality

"If you want to build a factory, or fix a motorcycle, or set a nation right without getting stuck, then classical, structured, dualistic subject-object knowledge, although necessary, isn't enough. You have to have some feeling for the quality of the work. You have to have a sense of what's good."

— Robert Pirsig

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance struck so many philosophically sweet chords in my mind, I am still dancing to the music. The whole notion of building a relationship with a mechanical beast, along with the enduring freedom of movement as a reward, mirrored against the fragility of human endeavors was the original inspiration to take on this whole ethos involving car maintenance. I picked up a wrench shortly afterwards. And yes, performance does comes in many forms. aesthetics. authenticity. audaciousness. design. dedication. devotion...

"The real cycle you are working on is cycle called yourself. The machine that appears out there and the person that appears to be in here are not separate things at all. They grow towards quality or fall away from quality, together."
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'69 Ghia

[Buggeee]

Awesome! Thank you for the quotes, I no longer have my paperback but I think I will get another one. I was a motorcycle mechanic as my first job, and had been building bikes, and go carts, and whatever else I could garbage pick or drag home for paper route money since elementary school. When I read that book as a youngster I was really excited that other people were wired the same way. I especially like when he makes that handle bar shim out of an aluminum can and talks about what things are compared to what the things mean.

Bug on!
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1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[kimkinzie]

Push It

After feeling like the car was finally running smoothly .. well .. I had to push it to the limits doing a dyno run using the IPhone app called 'PerfExpert'. For the VW engine, you creep along a straight level surface and shift into second, followed by a run at full open throttle. Results below 2,000 RPM are discarded, and it has adjustments for fuel level, driver weight, and barometric pressure (weather report).

Not bad. This was the best of 2 pulls.

On the way back, however, I noticed a distinct "whoosh" sound from the engine compartment. Pulling over into the nearest exit, I found that I had shredded the fan belt to pieces. Luckily it was caught even before the engine warning light kicked in. Took the bus to the local car part store and picked up a Masterpro 7355 belt just to get me home. Since then, attempts to get a 9.5mm x 905mm belt has been 'interesting' given that Continental belts are now .5mm wider, but still have the old part number.

At least I now have a baseline from which to measure improvements or setbacks.
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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

Pins and Needles

In the ongoing effort to get dual Weber 44 carburetors balanced, I came across yet another gotcha. Everyone mentions that the floats need to be properly adjusted - 10mm-13mm in closed position, 33mm full open. fine. Nobody mentions to check the float responsiveness (resistance to full compression, cutting off the fuel supply), nor to check how the needle adapts to the seat chamber (wear ring at the end of the pin head).

The engine was having difficulty holding a particular RPM at cruising speed. There was an odd, intermittent surging/stalling that felt almost as if a cylinder was misbehaving. After re-verifying the float tolerances, I noticed that the #3-#4 carburetor had difficulty shutting off the fuel supply when blowing air into the fuel intake while compressing the float. Worse yet, it was a different length compared with the #1-#2 needle (which was working fine). I put in a replacement that came with the Weber rebuild kit. That seemed to balance the engine, but the surge/stumble cycle wasn't completely eliminated (the amount of pressure required to shut off the fuel supply wasn't balanced.) Below is a picture of the non-working, replacement (both from the left carburetor), and the working version (from the right carburetor).

None of them match. The solution was to purchase on Amazon a "genuine Weber needle & seat ~ (PAIR ~ 2) 1.75". They went in .. the heavens opened up .. engine settled in and absolutely purred with glee, holding any RPM range without any weird surging. One of the best fixes to date ... I'm thrilled.
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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

Haleakala climb

To celebrate the improved running condition, I took the Ghia on a run up the volcano, Mount Haleakala. Where else can you go from sea level to 8,000 feet in less than an hour? The sunset was spectacular, and car ran like a champ.

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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

Took the car out for another run up the mountain - no pops, hesitations, or misbehaving carburetors. I ended up following a line of cars for the last 2,000 feet of elevation in 3rd gear, with the motor happily working the idle circuits in the 2k-3k RPM range through a series of hairpin turns. Coasted down with the transmission in neutral and engine off (but key ignition turned on to provide brake signals) - equally thrilling.

I noticed that there was some difficulty with the shifting after stopping for gas. First gear was being a bear to find, despite pushing in the clutch pedal to the floor (finally ended up 'crunching' into gear.) Similarly, finding 4th at highway speeds turned out to be a similar hunting expedition. I kinda remembered reading the "Slips and Jerks" - chapter XIII of John Muir's "How to keep your VW alive" manual, so I went gentle on the drive home doing my best to avoid traffic signals. Got home with a bit of rattled nerves, but read up on the adjustment procedure and took out almost 1.5" in pedal play by tightening the wingnut connected to the clutch cable beneath the left rear tire. Jumped back in the car and tried to back out of the garage and the reverse lockout mechanism on the shifter broke. dang! Back to the waiting game for a new one to arrive from the VW parts store ...
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'69 Ghia