1965 Manilla Yellow Coupe Project

[Peter D.]

My Ghia saga continues! My last project, a '64 Coupe and then a '67 didn't work out the way I hoped. But I bought a '65 coupe from Palm Springs, CA and had it shipped East. Miraculously, it turned out to be everything I hoped it would be... no rust, no bondo, and no body damage.

All the parts I've been collecting and restoring for the '64, seats, chrome, wiring, dash parts, rubber, etc, are going into this '65 Coupe, which I'm going to paint the original color, Manila Yellow with a black roof:

My body guy said it's the cleanest Ghia he's ever seen... yes the body is dinged up and it needed a bunch of body work but the rockers and heater channels are dry.

Here's an artsy shot, lol:

Here it is a month ago. he's been getting all the dings out and pulling some small dents.

Pan is off to the blaster, only needed a patch in the back:

Meanwhile, I bought a really trashed parts car from upstate New York. I parted out everything with the exception of a nice original gas tank. door handles, and this trunk liner.

Before cleaning and painting:

After painting with Duplicolor. This picture is off but the paint was a perfect match (can't remember the exactly shade right now. Brain fart! )

I painted the door handles with SEM paint and had the metal trim powdercoated since they were really scratched and oxidized. The paint dried sticky so I had to spray Tac-Free on them.

While I'm waiting for the Ghia to get painted, I decided to work on my interior.

I bought some new door cards and test fit them to a rear clip I'm selling. The position of the holes for the door panel clips wasn't quite right so I had to drill out to make it fit. I also added a ton of extra holes to make it flexible. The original door card material was almost like cardboard so it flexes really easily. This new material is very stiff and doesn't want to curve to meet the contours of the body. So I'm glad I test fit before I reupholstered.

Lower corner hole had to be drilled out.

The original rear door panel vinyl had a nice speaker hole. Thanks, previous owner!

I kept the original ribbed vinyl from the top and replaced the bottom with new pleated vinyl. The spacing of the original pleats is 1.25 inches. All I could find was 1 inch unfortunately. TMI sells reproductions that are very close but I don't feel like paying and I wanted to see if I could salvage what I have.

Salvaging the ribbed vinyl was actually much harder than I anticipated because it had shrunk over time. And the stiff door card material didn't help either. I had to stretch and heat up in the sun. The leading edge by the door opening came up short. The solution was to stretch like crazy and glue it down flat instead of folding over. The rest I stapled with 1/8 inch upholstery staples and then painted with SEM. Luckily I had the original metal trim from my '64. If you look closely you'll see a few cracks and other flaws in the finished product.. These are not going to win any awards but they look nice enough to me.

I actually have an original panel but need to find the passenger side. When it turns up, I will replace both.

Seat covers are new from West Coast Classics - Houndstooth cloth inserts and black vinyl. Slate gray fabric is actually correct for a '65 (https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/65ghiacolors.php) but I couldn't find it and I decided that I didn't care!

Got a call from the shop today... I'll be in primer in about two weeks. Hope to have a painted Ghia within two months sitting in my garage that I will reassemble over the winter. Fingers crossed.
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2019 Golf Alltrack, '65 Ghia Coupe Restoration in Progress

[TRS63]

Really cool project and what a great basis

Keep us updated

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

[Marcdeb]

Nice solid body. I like the color combination you mentioned. I think it sounds very classic and fitting for an earlier coupe. Looking forward to more pictures.

I bought masonite board for a future project to restore a set of 71 door panels. The masonite has exactly the same thickness.
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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

[Era Vulgaris]

Nice work man!

How was the process shipping a non-runner from the west coast to the east coast? I've shied away from dry west coast non-runners thinking it would be a major hassle, but would be curious to hear from someone who's done it.
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Currently own:
66 Karmann Ghia, L390 Gulf Blue, under construction, here: www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760505&highlight=
99 Mazda MX-5 10AE, Sapphire Blue Mica, 6 speed, LSD

Previously owned:
98 Porsche Boxster, silver, 2.5L -- 67 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1500sp -- 98 BMW Z3, Atlanta Blue Metallic, 2.8L I6 -- 75 Porsche 914, Laguna Blue, 2270cc -- 72 Porsche 914, Signal Orange, 1.7 FI -- 74 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1600dp -- 74 Triumph TR6 with O.D., sapphire blue

[Braukuche]

Smart move on stepping up to a clean body.
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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

[Peter D.]

[Peter D.]

[Rome]

Excellent plan on your Ghias, to pass off the first rough ones and invest in a solid one and minimize rust/bodywork. It'll be a treat to see it in person here in New England, and meet you.

In what NY town was the parts Ghia located?

Have you seen Samba member Sebastian Gaeta's '65 from southern Michigan, which has the same color scheme as what you are planning?

[Peter D.]

That picture looks very familiar. I saw another Manila Yellow Ghia on Facebook which looked awesome and since it's the original color for this '65 I thought "why not?!" Plus yellow paint was cheaper than Pearl White (cost of paint is through the roof).

The parts Ghia came from Altamont, NY. Marcdeb got the original tar boards. The stripped body and pan sold to a guy in Florida who had a shipper come pick it up. The trailer didn't fit on my street so I had to use my Alltrack to drag it a mile down the road. The truck driver sat in the Ghia with only the hand brake and just one bolt hooked up the steering coupler. The front wheel locked up and made a god awful noise. Left a skid mark from my house to a parking lot a mile away. That was quite an adventure!

I thought I might try restoring this one but it was held together with bondo and pop rivets.

My hope to is to have this Ghia ready for the show in Terryville next Father's day. Or maybe for a cruise in the Spring.
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2019 Golf Alltrack, '65 Ghia Coupe Restoration in Progress

[Bill Silvestri]

Fantastic project, Peter D! This is going to be one fine Ghia! Love the houndstooth seats! Looking forward to seeing it live!

[Peter D.]

Thank you, Bill! My goal is the Terryville, CT show next Spring.

Here are some early door panels I actually got from Bill Silvestri, mounted onto new 64-66 cards.

I removed the map pockets, took them apart and painted them first.

SEM soap, vinyl prep, adhesion promoter, followed by three or four coats of black.

This is the finished product with new trims from Airhead, retaining strips from Australia, door handles, and the map pockets stapled in place.

I used some bits and pieces of vinyl from the door handle cutout and scraps from the back to fix the damaged areas. The vinyl had actually shrunk badly so I had to glue down flat along the front edge. Although they are not perfect if you look at them closely in person, I think they came out pretty decent considering what they looked like before. Anyone mad that painted original cards can file a complaint at the home office in Osnabrück!

Hope to have an update on the body and chassis soon. Body shop guy is friends with the Matt Steedle, a very in demand transaxle builder in NJ, so I'm getting the hook up.
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2019 Golf Alltrack, '65 Ghia Coupe Restoration in Progress

[Peter D.]

I received the new covers for my back seats and they look great. I'm going to let the shop recover the front seat frames because I assume they'll do a better job than me and I just don't want to mess with it.

The rear seat, however, I think I can do... maybe?

First consideration is the material is much thicker than the original with a foam backer sewn in place. Uncompressed it's about .5 inches.

I emailed the shop for a recommendation but the question is, do I go with foam padding the same thickness as the original or something a little less thin? I don't want the seats to appear over-stuffed or not lay flat when the back seat is folded down.

The horsehair material on my old seats doesn't have mildew but is slightly compressed so I'm just thinking of reusing it. Either that or new foam from Westcoast Metric.

Any thoughts?
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2019 Golf Alltrack, '65 Ghia Coupe Restoration in Progress

[Peter D.]

Made some minor progress lately... at this point it all comes down the money, money, money. It takes hours and hours to sand the body and get it ready for paint. So as long as I can find the necessary cash I can get it painted in a couple of months. It's about halfway ready right now.

I got my front seats back from West Coast Classics and they came out great. I actually exercised some self-control and haven't unboxed them yet.

I decided to save a couple of dollars and do the rear seats myself. I learned a ton in the process so if I ever do this again they'll come out even better next time.

Overall I'm happy with how they came out with the exception of the bottom corners of the backrest. It bulges out a little because the new material won't fold at a 90 degree angle around the wood frame. They old stuff was thin but the new upholstery has a half inch of foam sewn in. But I did work hard to get the small details and folds correct. I will update my other post about rear seat upholstery with more pictures very soon.

I also decided to scrap my door panel project and get new panels from Kev. I'm just waiting on shipment but as you can see by the state of the body, I'm in no hurry.

That's it for now... headed for the clinic to sell a kidney so I can keep this project moving forward!
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2019 Golf Alltrack, '65 Ghia Coupe Restoration in Progress

[Era Vulgaris]

[Peter D.]

Thank you, it's been a long slow process but I'm hopeful I'll be done within a year.
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2019 Golf Alltrack, '65 Ghia Coupe Restoration in Progress

[Marcdeb]

Interior upholstery looks fantastic Peter. Door panels look especially nice. Will the panels come with holes for door handles a window cranks? Or are you doing those yourself?
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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

[Peter D.]

[Braukuche]

That interior is going to be worth every cent you put into it. After all it what you mostly see of the car once your in it. Can’t wait to see this one done.
_________________
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

[Peter D.]

Thanks, I can't wait either!
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2019 Golf Alltrack, '65 Ghia Coupe Restoration in Progress

[Peter D.]

I haven't posted in a while but I've been making progress. At this point it's a question of cash money. I have to spring for another 30 or 40 or so hours of sanding and painting to complete the body. Here it is in primer:

Thanks to the amateur efforts of the previous owner, the body required a ton of filler. Dennis, my body guy, told me someone hammered the car from in the inside out with a ball peen hammer. So there's a lot of area of filler all over the car. He has about 50 hours to get to this stage. It's not a sculpture project though, the filler is sanded thing. All the body panels are original VW metal.

I'm probably going to have him start on paint in about a month, he's tired of working on it anyway so it's getting parked in the corner of the shop.

I got my pan back from the powder coat shop. That was a bit of a disaster as they blew a bunch of holes into the pan and then proceeded to powder coat over them. So now I'm stuck with pinholes.

Without going for aftermarket floors, the only solve is to use POR Patch, sand, paint, and undercoat. It's far from perfect but also can't be helped.

I'm ready to rebuild my front end. I got a new 12 volt transaxle rebuilt by Matt Steedle.

Last but not least I set up my spring plates last weekend. When I took the torsion covers off, the outer bushing was missing! LOL. Here's what's left of the inner, all dry rotted and cracked.

I'll post again in a week or two once the beam is built and I've installed the transaxle.

(this is costing a small fortune by the way)
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2019 Golf Alltrack, '65 Ghia Coupe Restoration in Progress