Rebuilding my dad's 1966 Sea Blue Ghia

[bobnorman]

I couldn’t find a clear illustration in any of the manuals of the arrangement for reassembling the steering coupler. I had to go back through my photos to find it. This is the way it was originally on my car, which matches some other photos I’ve found. I don’t believe it was ever replaced, so I’m almost certain this is the factory setup.

So, because it took me a while to find this info, and to make it easier in case anyone is looking for it, here it is: Bolt goes in facing upwards (counter intuitive I know), Shakeproof serrated lock washer - Metal flange on box - Rubber steering coupling - Copper electrical connector - Large flat washer - Lock nut. Other side has the bolt, flange, coupler , then wave spring lock washer, and lock nut. Note the bolt with the electrical contact is 2mm longer than the other 3 bolts. The electrical contact is on the left when the flange to box bolt is on the left and you are looking towards the front of the car. The electrical tab is perpendicular to the flange.

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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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[bobnorman]

Been working on the rear brake assembly. As mentioned the rear transmission and brakes are from a ‘63 Type 3. The main difference in the brakes being that the shoes are wider (45 mm vs 30mm). They are also much harder to get parts for. Still, I wanted to keep them as I liked the extra braking power. I thought I found drums for them when I ordered these from CIP1.

https://www.cip1.ca/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VWC%2D311%2D501%2D615%2DE

They are listed as fitting 62-65 Squareback, however, they do not. They are a larger diameter, and simply slipped right over the 63 plates, which was too bad - I’d already cleaned and painted the plates! The early plates (63 down) have an outside diameter of 248mm (same diameter as the Type 1 stuff), whereas the later (64-up plates) have an outside diameter of 265mm. They are the same height (or depth if you prefer) though, and both accommodate 45mm shoes, albeit with a different arc.

I found some proper backing plates in my stash, but they were just too crispy for this project, they looked as if they had spent a part of their lives underwater.

So, here I was with two brand new drums, and two nicely refurbished backing plates that didn’t jive. Decision time: Buy the correct 63 down drums (hard to find)? Or buy the 64-up backing plates and shoes?

Ended up doing the latter. I figured it’s going to be easier to find the ‘64 and up gear now and also later, plus I end up with even more stopping power to tame those 64 or so horses. Thanks to my Type 3 buddy Josh for hooking me up with a set of lovely paint ready ‘65 plates as well as the springs and the longer retaining pins. New shoes and cylinders were sourced easily enough from CIP1.

With that settled I set to cleaning, plating and painting all the hardware. Everything you see here is either zinc plated or has been covered in RPM…no more rust for me.

Had to swap out the upper springs for larger ones as they just floated around inside of the clips, and one of the handbrake lever pins was of a different type (aftermarket I think) which wasn’t fitting properly so I had to reuse an old one, put it all together and there we have it... Rear brake assemblies- done.

One of the rear drums mentioned previously arrived from CIP with the edge chipped.

Didn’t really affect function, but in my mind if the casting was weak there it could be indication of it being poor elsewhere, plus given the level of effort I’m putting in, I wanted it to look right, even if it was only me that would ever notice. So, when CIP1 offered to refund the cost of the drum, I told them that I’d really like to get another one, and sent them a pic of what I was doing with the car. They came back right away, said they would replace it and asked if they could include it in my next order. No problem. They also told me I could keep the other one. To me, that was an excellent customer service experience.

I also cleaned and coated the drums with Rust Prevention Magic (same as the front ones). I wanted to protect them from rusting but also wanted to keep them looking original i.e. bare steel. I don’t know if it works as good as advertised, but everything I’ve seen and read about it is pretty positive. I slowly heated them with a heat gun and then brushed on the RPM.

When the item you’re coating is warm enough it just sort of wicks out everywhere. The final finish is very nice, it gives the rougher parts of the casting a darker finish. As said, I hope it works. I’ve heard reports of people five years in with no rust - just noticed there’s actually a brake drum on the label. The unfinished one is on the left.

To do list for the chassis is getting shorter. Soon be time to get the transmission in and get the car back on its feet!
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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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[sputnick60]

I just added this thread to the "Ghia Restoration Topics – For Instruction and Inspiration." sticky….. its that good!
Nicholas
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'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
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[bobnorman]

[sputnick60]

[bobnorman]

So been working on rear torsion bars. I was just going to replace the outer bushings for now and deal with the rest later, but the car decided it wasn’t having any of that… I noted before that the plate wasn't completely on the torsion bar on one side.

I tried soaking it in penetrant and then, after placing a short piece of pipe over it to avoid damage, ratchet strapping it tight and pounding it back on with a maul. Well that didn't work but I did manage to pop the plate off of the stop ledge. I marked the location of the now relaxed spring plate on the chassis with wax crayon. I also put alignment marks on the plate and the end of the torsion bar.

It was just as well that it all came out, as it was so tightly seized together I had to use my shop press to get the plate off of the bar. It was only rusted in one spot at the bottom, but may have been cocked. After an initial pop and movement it wouldn't move any further so I had to press it again.

Anyway, cleaned it all up and coated it with POR (following the 3 step process).

Here’s the pax side before scraping and brushing and cleaning with a variety of instruments. Both sides had a lot of rust flakes around the recess for the bushing which I chipped off, as well as rust and dust inside the tube.

The bars were really dusty with a few rust spots, mostly near the outer end. Splines were good on this side, and separated from the plate easily.

Cleaned that out and PORed the outside bit where the bushing sits, and sprayed frame-rail coating inside using the supplied tubing.

I've read VWs dire warnings about the smallest nick the paint of the torsion bars causing them to fail... well these had rusted spots, that I decided to clean up with the wire wheel. I coated them with POR. Will they fail? I haven’t heard of it happening, and they haven’t so far with all the rusty nicks already on them, so I’m thinking they won’t.

All I can do is try it and see. Reassembly next.
_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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[bobnorman]

I bought a bushing kit from CIP1. I must say they weren't the best… sort of an odd mix: Two not quite matching in casting with nothing written on them at all; one with “EuroMax” written on it (Chinese made); and one with a part number and “arriba” where "oben" would be (that was the only one with any directional indication). The two with nothing on them were smaller than the others, even smaller than any of the 4 original ones. Bentley tells you that the orientation is important as the part marked top (oben or arriba) is a different thickness that the opposed side. The replacements all had varying sizes, some with little difference at all.

Here are two originals on bottom and two replacements on top, with some handwritten notes.

Searching here told me that supposedly, the inside bushings have a larger inner diameter – 1 7/8” than the outside ones -1 ¾”. Further reading tells me that the bushings ending in part number 245 is the left outer or right inner, and 246 is the left inner or right outer… which would seem to conflict with the theory that both inners have a larger inside diameter than both outers. I did notice that the originals all have either 2 dots, or 1 dot cast into them on the side that is supposed to go up. The 2 dot bushings part # ends in 246, the one dot ends in 245.

In the end I used two replacements on the driver’s side and one replacement (outside bushing) on the pax side. That replacement inner (as far as I could tell) bushing had a much too small Inside diameter, so much so, I could barely get it on the spring plate and then could barely squeeze it into its intended recess. I figured it would either squeak or fail so I put in a used VW stamped one. The used original wasn’t from this car, looked to be in great shape and was likely only used for a few years. If it fails I’ll deal with it then, at least everything should be easy to come apart now! I coated them with baby powder (talcum) as suggested.

You can see the above mentioned reference marks on the spline/plate, as well as where the plate sat when not under tension. It seemed to me to be the easiest way to keep the original settings for putting it all back together.

I ratchet strapped the bar to get it just above the stop before finally tapping it on with a rubber mallet.

Took some force, and would only go in so far, hence using the longer bolts to help bring it all together. Bentley mentions this.

Once things closed up I replaced them with the correct ones., torqued them to 25 ft lbs – found that spec here, it’s not listed in Bentley or W/O Guesswork.

Another job done - fingers, bones, and limbs still intact.

As I said I wasn't going to do this now as I didn't want to mess with the settings and didn't think it would be easy with no weight of the car to counteract the force… Glad I did it though, as it was the one place that I hadn’t opened and dealt with. This should be the last of the hidden rust on the chassis.
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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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[fes]

Sweet, I'll be using this for reference when I do my squeaky seals,
Good call on the talcum powder, I found an empty package of rubber seals in the loot I recently brought home.They are from WCW and are indeed rubber,the old ones were with the package..
Hopefully you don't end up with a an annoying arse-end like I did..I don't think they installed any medium with the seals; and hopefully not any grease.
the petroleum is known to break down the rubber..
Good work Bob..I feel I'm overdue for a visit.
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'68 Campmobile-Pedro
'15 Golf-Stella Blau
'56 Oval-The Turd (for now)

[c21darrel]

[bobnorman]

[bobnorman]

[bobnorman]

Well, with the rear spring plates sorted there was no reason to continue procrastinating on the transmission install. I had removed the rear tubes and associated bearings, retainers, seals, spacers and such in order to clean it all up, address leaks from the side plates and replace the boots.

I had original ordered split boots but I really wanted original style solid boots. After seeing a few videos I figured I’d give it a go. Happy to say that it is possible. Looks impossible, like a golf ball through a garden hose, but it can be done. Just make sure the boots are plenty warmed up in hot water first. Here’s a video that is closest to how I did it.


Link

Also, when I was pulling off the pax side axle tube, I was using a puller and the tube itself to get the bearing off which was working great, to a point. I realized that I had somehow neglected to remove two of the loosened nuts on the plate and when pulling on it I caused it to warp slightly. I tried a bunch of things to smooth it out, with limited success, so it’s still slightly warped. I also learned that the paper gaskets are not merely gaskets but shims to set the resistance of the tubes up against the daisies. Also, the kit gives you a large O ring which is not used for early cars. There has to be a lip that it sits in, Bentley is not super clear on this but a bit of research shows it. All that said I put a small bead of silicone on the inner mating surface on that side, I also positioned them in a way that I thought they would be less likely to leak. The warp was very slight, so maybe I’m overthinking this, but I really hope there will be no issues.

I didn’t take a lot of pics of the transmission work, as I sort of picked away at it while other jobs were on the go, so I’ve spared you all the minutia of detail that I’ve fallen into with this car.

So briefly, here’s some of the things I did:

As mentioned previously, I plugged the detent holes with aluminum inserts and siliconed set screws in place, cleaned up the whole thing and painted it black (that’s the way it came from the factory). I cleaned up the bell housing and took apart the throw out bearing arm and clutch return spring, plated some of the parts, including the engine bolt behind it. Greased it all up and reinstalled it.

Before

After

I still have to replace the main seal.

I also took off the nose cone, filed some small burrs off the hockey stick and replaced the sealing gasket. Interestingly there is no seal at the end of the nose, not on this one anyway. CIP1 tells you that you need it, but you don’t; the brass bushing is all that is there.

Ready to lift into place. Still didn’t have the pax side tube on at the point. Thought it might have to come back out as I wasn’t sure I could put it on in situ. I could.

Cleaned up bumpstops, had them blasted and PORed, reassembled using original rubbers.

Using marks made earlier I lined up spring plates for a rough guess at geometry. The marks that were already there were not aligning with the marks on the plate so I had to add a second mark. Blots etc. were all zinc plated. Interestingly I had five bolts of one length, and one a little longer. Decided that the longer bolt should hold on the bumpstop. Will dig out another one for the other side.

Before

After

Bearing retainer and such, ready to go. Kit from CIP1 seems pretty complete, but the retainer I had taken off the passenger’s side had two large rubber rings (right), kit has only one which is correct, but this tells me someone might have had a bad leak previously. Coated the cleaned retainer with RPM. Note the driver’s side retainer is on the left, not fully cleaned yet.

Reused the old rear mounts, replaced the nose mount with a new one from CIP1.

Enough work for now, time to turn the mind to what this is really all about. Saturday we went to our annual Dubshow, great turnout this year, in all there were about 140 cars, including two Ghias. Was great seeing friends old and new and to check out all the rides.

The gorgeous red and black ‘68 of course belonging to Fes, who chimes in here from time to time; in my opinion it was one of the show-stealers, generating a ton of interest -sorry I don't have a close-up shot. The other ('71?) is a recent import, owned by the son of the local VW dealer and dubshow sponsor…another very well done restoration. All-in-all was a great day.

I took the Westfalia - last on the left above all the cool cars..

This girl had fun..

As did the rest of the clan…

Didn’t get a chance to take many pics at all, was kinda busy making sure my boy didn’t jump on/in any cars. He had a penchant for running toward the Porsches, dinkies in hand.

Next up finishing installing bearings and seals as well as shocks, brakes, drums, and finally wheels. Then it’s back on all four. …Who knows maybe I’ll even throw the engine in.
_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289807

[sputnick60]

[fes]

Thanks for the kind words Bob..Scarlet drew a lot of attention for sure. Dan's is a '70, Nice car,nice transition year before they really started going "fat chick" (not that I have anything against the big girls)
This was my favorite Dubshow so far I think,besides the great venue this year, I finally got to meet a few people I've been meaning to for awhile now..
I think I may have to split my time now between you and Steve,By that I mean drinking beer in your respective garages and yelling slogans at you..
Keep it up
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'68 Campmobile-Pedro
'15 Golf-Stella Blau
'56 Oval-The Turd (for now)

[bobnorman]

[bobnorman]

[bobnorman]

So the bearings were a bit of a bear going on. Didn’t take any pics of the driver’s side, which was the side I found the hardest. Basically Bentley says drive them on with a drift. I used a few different things including some abs pipe, finally bought a plastic hose T, but still could only get the bearing on so far. After that no amount of tapping could get it in further on the splines. The axle shaft itself moves in an out, and by tapping on the bearing, I felt like I was pounding it into the side gear which just didn’t seem like a healthy thing to be doing. I realize now that with the movement the bearing was actually bottoming out in the recess in the axle tube. I needed to actually pull the axle out while pushing the bearing in to get it further on the shaft. So, after pounding it on so far, I cut so much off of the plastic T and used the axle nut to push on the bearing while pulling out the shaft.

No pics from the driver’s side but here is the process on the pax side:

First I sanded smooth and lubed up the shaft. Then drifted the bearing on so far. Note I had to tape my high-tech drift tool back together for this part. Have to also make sure to lift the axle tube so that the bearing is lined up with the recess in the shaft.

Then, using the cut off T, I installed the axle nut, and turned it with a breaker bar. I inserted a piece of pipe into the T part to keep the whole thing from turning. Worked a treat, as they say.

I then used an assault ratchet to drive it on all the way. The shaft is less likely to spin this way, just had to be careful not to drive it too far and damage something. Still a bit of play between the bearing and the recess, which should tighten up with the final installation/torqueing of the drum.

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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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[bobnorman]

The push has been on to get this thing on wheels before we have a little R&R later this week. I've had some late nights in the last few days but it's paying off.

Shocks: I got the shocks from NAPA, can’t recall the brand at the moment but they are made in the USA. They come in blue which wouldn’t be right for this car so I scuffed them with steel wool, gave them a coat of semi-gloss black Tremclad. Bolt orientation is incorrect in this picture.

They each come with 4 serrated edge washers, but I didn’t use them, as I could find no evidence that that was what was there originally. I cleaned and plated the original hardware, had only 3 of the big flat washers so I improvised a solution for the fourth one, a small part of my life and a bit of an Easter egg for my kids, or whomever, to find down the road. Looking in the Parts Manual I found the correct bolt orientation, nuts facing out. Torqued them to 43 ft lbs.

Cleaned up and installed the other bearing retainer, again gave it the RPM treatment, followed by a new oil seal, O rings, and paper gasket. Some say to put a paper gasket behind the backing plate as well, and the kit does come with two gaskets, however I see no evidence of this there previously, no mention of it in Bentley, and the gaskets are too small for that area, so I’m not sure that it was intended to go there. I does kind of makes sense though that it is an area that could possibly leak, so ended up putting a tiny bead of RTV silicone around the area before putting it all together and torqueing the bolts to 43 ft lbs per Without Guesswork. When I first assembled this there was a bit of resistance around the oil seal, I took it off again and noticed that the outside spacer (the one that fits inside the oil seal) had popped the spring off the seal. I simply put the spacer inside the seal first then installed the works of it together.

By the way, in case you are following Bentley when doing this, the illustration shows the large O ring in the wrong spot. It’s easy to figure out when you see it.

With that done, I hooked up both handbrake cables, torqued the wheel cylinder and cable clips to 18 ft lbs, and slapped on the drums!

I was putting off doing the main trans seal for some reason. Maybe an irrational fear that the replacement wouldn’t fit and then I’d be shagged, or that I’d somehow tear up the opening. Whatever it was, it came out super easy.

They were slightly different, as the replacement doesn’t have a lip on the outer edge to act as a stop.

In the end I just hammered it in, again using my high-tech hose T as a drift. I drove it until it was seated flush.

Figured I may as well torque down the drain plugs as well now. I took them out to put on some copper anti-seize compound and was surprised to find about a cup of oil waiting to drain out. I guess it collected after all the shifting and moving about. I then torqued the plugs to 14 ft lbs.

Before I can fill it, I’ll have to get the chassis back on the ground to take the strain off the axles so I can position the boots correctly to install the outer boot clamps. I’m really hoping for no leaks.

...and that, I think, pretty much concludes all the things I need to do while this thing is elevated. On with the wheels! Another small milestone, now were’ getting somewhere!

From this when I first lifted it in place late last October:

To this today:

Time to see if I can get this thing down without too much damage. I lifted it into position by myself, but doubt I could lift it down now.
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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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[bobnorman]

Not much activity lately. I did manage to lift the chassis down with a little help.

Now have it on rollers but sitting level. Trimmed and placed the pan in position, and have it leveled up along the outside edge with my high tech support system. Cut a pattern from the Ghia heater channel to make sure my front to back alignment was ok. Still have to strip the primer and POR it before I do much more.

_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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[Mellow Yellow 74]

It looks like your pans are too short at the back? I am having the same problem - the flange has 3 dimples for each hole except the one at the back which only has 2 because the pans are too short. There is enough overlap onto the lip on the chassis to weld them in but it will mean I end up with a gap that I will have to fill with seam sealer rather than having the pans sit flush.

They make the pans 3/4" too wide but 1/2" too short. I have had to do a lot of work to make these crappy aftermarket pans fit, including cutting and welding the jack mounts because they don't fit.
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1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)