Had some time for my '58 low light today

Porschedave

Howdy Folks
My name is Dave and I have recently purchased a 1958 low light. My goal is to restore the car and get it back on the road. I do not know the full history of the car. The VW museum confirmed that this is a numbers matching car in L352 Cognac and L472 beige grey. It was constructed on the 19th December 1958, left the factory on December 24 and headed to Vancouver BC. It's registered as a 1959 model. It was presumably sold and some time in the 70s it ended up in a farmer's field. It was moved to another field in the 1990s which is where it was when I bought it. So, it seems that for 40 years or so it was sitting in muck - I can certainly attest to that because there is a lot of mud and muck and wasps nest in the car.

Here are a couple of pics as I first saw the car:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

The left front fender has had a pretty hard time of it and they have cut some of the fender away. Restoring that will take some effort. The right front looks better but still not great.

Just for the heck of it, I decided to try and start the engine. It looks like it has never been touched.

Here's a link to a couple of youtube videos ( a bit long) of the attempted start, my friend Gerry with the camera and my buddy Dave helping with the gas in the carb.

Link

and moving the car, no brakes but we did have an emergency brake:

Link

So, the car runs and it runs very well. Now for the body work. I've started with the front end. First, here are the left and right side. You can see that on one side there is a headlight bucket and rust while on the other there is no bucket and lots of crumbled metal.

and a big dent in the nose. After much work, the nose looks much better

and the big dent is gone. I then did a lot of metal work on the left front fender and while it still looks rough at least it looks better than before

Tomorrow I will make a piece based on the right fender wheel opening to match the wheel profile. I need to see how much metal was removed from the right side so that I can make a new piece to fit.

I've restored a couple of notchbacks but this is the first Ghia. They are a cool car but restoration will be an interesting challenge.

Thanks for reading.

Dave
_________________
1977 911S
1958 Karmann Ghia build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=571683
1965 Sunroof Notch build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5600139&highlight=#5600139

John Ghia · Samba Member Joined: April 13, 2004 Posts: 244

You should try using a shrinking disk on that fender. Look them up on You Tube.
_________________
BUS BOYZ

John Moxon · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 12:40 am Post subject:

Welcome aboard Dave...those videos are a hoot...I just love it when these old finds start up and run after years of standing. Very Happy

Looking forward to seeing it as the restoration progresses.
_________________
John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Brent · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 4:42 am Post subject:

Way to go Dave! Can't wait to see how this one turns out. You did an amazing job with the Notch, I'm sure this one will follow the same care and attention to detail. I also have a Ghia that will be up next for a resto.

That start up vid made my day.
_________________
69 Fastback Build

anthracitedub · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 4:57 am Post subject:

Cool car , my 57 had the same color combo as yours. What interior combo do you have, mine had an off white with brown cord inserts.
That left front fender is pretty bad, you may need a magic wand for that.😊
The engine sure is a plus though!!! Mine was swapped for a 40hp when I found it. Good luck with the car.

Bobnotch · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 7:57 am Post subject:

Very cool Dave. You're already making progress with it. Cool

_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

bobnorman · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:02 am Post subject:

I loved following your notch, and now I'm looking forward to watching you work your magic on this Ghia! Subscribed!

vstylist · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:16 am Post subject:

Hi I am in Edmonton and I have a 58 fender for that side. Around the headlight bucket it is really bad but it's a lot better than what you have. Best of all is the price. FREE!!!!! I love these cars and I love seeing them come to life again. If you want it pm me your number and I can text you photos of my fender. We can greyhound it down to Vancouver if you want.

Porschedave · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 9:01 am Post subject:

Hi All
Thanks for the comments and positive support. My next step is to rebuild the fender lip on the left side and see if I can stabilize that a bit more before I try shrinking the fender to shape. I'm waiting for a new headlight bucket to arrive so that I have a form to shape around. And I'm following up on the offer of a used but in better shape than mine fender from Edmonton.
Dave
_________________
1977 911S
1958 Karmann Ghia build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=571683
1965 Sunroof Notch build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5600139&highlight=#5600139

Northof49 · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 9:20 am Post subject:

Very cool. Exactly the same paint scheme as my 58 had.
_________________
1958 Karmann Ghia owner

Porschedave · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 9:39 am Post subject:

Hi Northof49.

Do you still have yours? Do you have any photos? One of my concerns is getting paint to match. I have the beige grey but cognac seems to be very difficult. The local folks at PPG were unable to make some. There is a Glasurit supplier where I might be able to get some but they won't talk to me because I am just a garage guy. I need to find a local paint shop who might be able to get me some. What was your experience?

Dave
_________________
1977 911S
1958 Karmann Ghia build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=571683
1965 Sunroof Notch build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5600139&highlight=#5600139

djway3474 · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 1:13 pm Post subject:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=536551&highlight=cognac try that thread for your color code

Porschedave · Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 12:28 pm Post subject:

Hi Guys

Well, here's an update. Today I made a couple of adjustable stands so that I could get the car level and begin to think about how to make the metal for the fender.

I have also got two tall posts from my friend Peter - he used them as part of a Porsche 962 project. The bases are adjustable so that I can ensure that when set up they are vertical - they don't look vertical in the picture but that's just the lens.

I am going to try and make templates from my good fender and then use them to shape the new fender or even make a new fender. If anyone else has done this I sure would like to hear about their efforts.

Dave
_________________
1977 911S
1958 Karmann Ghia build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=571683
1965 Sunroof Notch build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5600139&highlight=#5600139

oldbusboy · Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 10:28 am Post subject:

Hi Dave,

Looking good so far. My Ghia has the same style fenders/headlight mess Crying or Very sad

I'm contemplating trying to replace the whole fender or perhaps something like this:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1522583

Trevor
_________________
1958 Kombi

Wanted: rear dove blue hatch, rear pressed bumper, cargo door

Porschedave · Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 11:52 am Post subject:

Hi Trevor

I've seen that ad and contacted them. I too would like to use one of those for my left-front fender. The guy responded that he was flat out and could I wait a couple of weeks. I said sure, i've got time. I hope to get one anyhow. We'll see. Let me know what yoiu find out. I'll post any info that I get from him.

Dave
_________________
1977 911S
1958 Karmann Ghia build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=571683
1965 Sunroof Notch build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5600139&highlight=#5600139

Northof49 · Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 12:34 pm Post subject:

Dave, sorry I just saw your question about the paint on my 58. Unfortunately I went the easy route and completely changed the color to silver.
_________________
1958 Karmann Ghia owner

calexican · Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 2:24 pm Post subject:

Could you post up some interior shots? Looks like you have a nice coat of Cognac on the gas tank, how did the dash hold up? My 58 had a very similar life as yours sitting in a field since the 70's. Cognac is a great and seemingly rare color, along with the antelope brown. Pretty amazing you guys got the engine started, great videos.

Porschedave · Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 3:27 pm Post subject:

Hi
Sure, I'll take a couple of shots. The dash is ok but the choke cable frozen in its tube. I put a 6 V radio from my notch into the dash as the original radio was gone. I spoke to my local PPG folks - they've been good to me and were able to get me the orignal coloour for the notch - but they have not been able to come up with a mix for cognac. I have a code that I'll take to a different supplier but in Canada there is some problem for garage guys like me getting paint.

I'll try and post some photos tonight.
Dave
_________________
1977 911S
1958 Karmann Ghia build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=571683
1965 Sunroof Notch build thread here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5600139&highlight=#5600139

CommodoreCollector · Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 3:58 pm Post subject:

Nice save dave! Where did you find that ghia? in BC?
_________________
Christopher

Not For Sale:

1969 Karmann Ghia
1961 Type 2 DD Panel
1960 Euro Kombi
1959 Type 2 Single Cab
1958 Type 2 Panel
1958 Type 2 Single Cab
1958 Karmann Ghia

djway3474 · Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 5:16 pm Post subject:


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