Had some time for my '58 low light today

[Braukuche]

[djway3474]

Great to see the progress. Feels good when it is going back together

[Clatter]

I'll throw my $.02 in and say that I prefer a floor-pan that's detailed and painted.

When people just 'slather some bedliner on it', it's usually to cover up sins.


Even if your pan is right and tight, it will seem like you were just cutting corners, dig?
And you're not (cutting corners, that is)
So,
Paint or powder coat gets my vote for the pan treatment.

Masterseries is some tough stuff;
Been doing some side-by-side durability testing vs. powder-coat, and it seems to be a tie so far.

(Take that FWIW)..

Been watching this all along,
And love how you have taken on the mother of all projects.

Only thing that woulda been harder, is if was a vert, and/or wrecked!
_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Porschedave]

I decided to go for the bedliner because I wanted it tough and no one would be looking at a nicely painted pan when the car is assembled, well maybe a few.

I had one last "major" repair and that was to the lower part of the tire well. It was pretty rusty so I cut it out.

and used it was a template to make a new piece

first in cardboard

and then metal and then welded it in place.

I am now moving onto the final stages of prepping the body, fixing small thing that I passed by earlier. It's looking more and more like a complete car.

Gosh, I might even get it in primer before the summer. But first I have to take out the windows and I'm not sure how to remove the rear quarter windows. Guess I'l search this site for some ideas.

Thanks.

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

[Porschedave]

Howdy folks
So, some serious progress in the past few weeks. All of the metal work is done - yea! and I've managed to spray on a coat of epoxy primer. Now that it is primer I can spray on some hi-build, hang the doors and lids and then block the car in preparation for painting. Here's how it looks now:

and that classic low-light nose

I've managed to find a steering wheel, which is awesome. It needed a lot of work but now looks very cool.

I have a trip to Europe coming up so work will pause until July but maybe I'll get the car painted by the end of the summer. Wouldn't that be nice.

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

[xzener]

Beautiful job Dave. Have you chosen a paint color?
_________________
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>!

[Porschedave]

yes, the original, Grey White on top and Cognac on the bottom.
_________________
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

[xzener]

Oh, that's gonna be nice. Can't wait to see it... My KG is going in on Monday for paint. Can't afford the trout blue I was wanting, but found that a color match looks just as good.
_________________
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>!

[Inchpincher61]

Dave,

Respect to the work that has been done so far. Its so cool to see the result after hours and hours of welding.

I am looking forward to the paint because I really like the Cognac!

Seems to be exciting here in the next month because there are a lot of projects close to paintwork .

[Porschedave]

Hey Folks

It has been a while since I did any work on my KG. Too many family things to take care of but. ... hey I got some time and here's an update. I thought that I was ready to blow on some hi-build so that I could block the car in preparation for painting. But, after looking it over carefully I noticed that there was a concave section in the left rear corner, just behind the driver's door. You can see it in this photo.

This section is visually important because there are two body strips along there and they would emphasize the curve. So I tried all manner of bumping it out but it was no go. I opted to remove the piece I had originally made and make a new one.

I first made a wooden buck to give me the rocker shape.

And now clamped in place. At the end of the day I hung the door and today will check all the lines to make sure it is straight and I can weld it in place.

We'll see how that goes. 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

[karghia74]

Excellent work.
_________________
69 Ghia Autostick (Also Gone)
68 Ghia (gone)
560SEC (gone)
530I (gone but not forgotten)

1969
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=609541
1968
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=459544

[TRS63]

I just read your whole post and I want to thank you for sharing all of this. Really interesting and quality work!
Greetings from Germany
Antoine

[Porschedave]

Danke Antoine. Ich war letztes Jahr in Berlin. Und ich werde nächstes Jahr auch Berlin besuchen. Gibt es Karmann Ghias in Berlin?

Working on this car continues to be a challenge. As I pointed out above I wanted to repair some of my earlier work on the section behind the driver's side door. I decided that I should fit the door before trimming anything and sure enough the door fit along this corner was lousy. I ended up removing lots of factory lead and cutting away a rusty piece of door jamb and then made a new piece.

I was able to get this piece to match much more closely the door panel.

and now when the door is closed the gap is much better. I still have some work to do along the back edge where I melted out the lead but this is a much better fit than earlier. Now that it's welded in place I will finish the replacement piece.

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

[Mellow Yellow 74]

That vertical weld looks a bit suspect to me - you want decent welds here.
_________________
1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)

[Porschedave]

Hey Mellow Yellow

The weld was not more than a few tacks to hold things in place. Here's shot from today after welding that seam and getting the new piece closer to being a good fit ...

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

[TRS63]

Moving forward, that is good!

For your question, I know no one in Berlin but you are welcome in Stuttgart if you come here

Antoine

[Porschedave]

Hey Folks

I have a question about the trim for my car.

I seem to have a mixed set, some came with the car and the others were given to me. There appears to be two styles for the clips, as shown in the above photos. I have not been able to find the metal style in the lower piece. Are the new ones that can be bought today the same profile using the plastic clips?
Is the quality okay? It seems to me that the only style available will be the ones using the plastic clips. Can anyone verify that for me?

Thank you.

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

[xzener]

I recommend this... https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5588729#5588729

I have used this method. By far the best way to install the side molding.
_________________
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>!

[Porschedave]

Hi Folks

As I work around the car there's something I missed earlier and would like your help.

Looking at this photo you'll see that the slot for the left-side bumper bracket opening is different from the right-side. Given the state of this car when I bought it, this comes as no surprise. I'm hoping that one of you knows the proper dimension for this opening, just the height or length and the width would be helpful

Thanks

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

[Mellow Yellow 74]

On my 62 they are about 70mm x 22mm - I cut these myself into a repro nose but the size and locations were based on a template off the original.
_________________
1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)