The K_R_A_K_E_N_N : a 70 Ghia Convertible reinterpreted

[kiwighia68]

Drilling out spot welds is the WORST job in the restoration of a Ghia.

And Phil made me do it right at the beginning, I suspect to see whether I had the stamina and stubborness to actually help work on the panelbeating.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[Evil_Fiz]

I picked up a "new to me" toy today. An experienced Craftsman 2HP 20 Gal compressor. The previous-previous owner converted it to a 3 wheeled, easy to roll around model. Now I need to run a 240 VAC circuit into the garage so I can use it. While I'm at it I will probably run two 50 Amp/240 VAC circuits since I plan on buying a 240 VAC MIG welder next. Fortunately my breaker panel is next to the garage door so the runs will be short and easy to do.

As soon as I get my hands on a siphon style sand blaster, I can start blasting the larger panels on the car by cranking the PSI up to 125, holding the blaster gun about 3" inches away and perpendicular to the metal, and indiscriminately blasting all traces of paint and surface rust from the car.

Did all the air just get sucked out of the room?

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“…It's not just about what's interesting. It's also about what's helpful, and it's helpful even if it helps just one other guy working on a Ghia.”
kiwighia68

See my build on TheSamba at:
The K_R_A_K_E_N_N : a 70 Ghia Convertible reinterpreted

[CiderGuy]

I'm not sure if your compressor will have enough power to do what you want. I have a 5hp head with two 60 gallon tanks, and at times it struggles to do what I ask of it. I hope you get lucky with yours.
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Cars Currently Owned:

1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1973 Karmann Ghia Coupe - Project car for sale
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (Body off restoration)

Timing is everything

[Mellow Yellow 74]

I'm not sure what you want to do is a good idea - indiscriminately sand blasting doesn't sound like a great idea unless you want to risk warping your panels.
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1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)

[WooleyNelson]

Had a compressor identical to yours for 30 years. Got so noisey had to quit using it. It will sandblast, but you will need to wait for the pressure to catch up quite often. I don't think you'll have enough power to warp anything.

Good luck!

[c21darrel]

^^^Concur. Thats a nice little compressor but it will struggle to keep up with a sandblaster, even a cabinet model. It will get frustrating quickly. I have a 5 horse, 60 gallon tank and i still have to wait at times. My first compressor was an upright but otherwise about the same size to your machine (2.5 horse, 26 gallon). It was more waiting than blasting. I've never warped a panel using several different blasters. I think that is a worry if you farm out the job and they use a large commercial unit which builds much more heat.
If your goal with the welder is VW rust repair a quality 110 Lincoln or Miller/Hobart will do it all for you. I remember in J1's thread " can a regular joe...heater channel repair" several posters purchased the Eastwood 110 unit with good results. The 220 will also obviously work and do more in the long run, depends on your chores you have planned for it.
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GhiaBuild
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=481184
1967 DC build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=693583&highlight=67+dc
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Evil_Fiz]

I was being a smart-a** with the sandblasting comment although before starting this project I was completely oblivious to the dangers of overheating and warping metal via media blasting, so a big thank you to the restoration community for all the cautionary tales.

As for actual sandblasting, I have more time than money or space at the moment and only plan on blasting small components (trailing arms. steering box Etc.) and the pan, a little bit at a time. My long term plan is to dip and e-coat the body because I don't think media blasting, even when done properly, would get at ALL the rust. I used a small sand blaster fed by a 20 Gal compressor on my first Ghia about 25 Yrs. ago . If I get the same level of performance I got then, I will be happy.
_________________
“…It's not just about what's interesting. It's also about what's helpful, and it's helpful even if it helps just one other guy working on a Ghia.”
kiwighia68

See my build on TheSamba at:
The K_R_A_K_E_N_N : a 70 Ghia Convertible reinterpreted

[c21darrel]

[bobnorman]

I've got a similar compressor, about 30 years old, 4hp 20 gallon tank, but right now it's just a space taker-upper. Back in the day I used it to paint 3 beetles, plus run any airtool I had. It could keep up with whatever I needed, ran a bit hard when painting, and never really used it for blasting, but worked perfectly. I really need to get it looked at as I miss it. I bought a pressure blaster a couple years ago and have yet to use it, but I think it should be able to handle it when I get it running again.

Meantime, I've been using my little nailgun compressor to blast small things in my cabinet. It works, but it runs a lot, I wouldn't do much with it other than nuts and bolts and a few smaller parts -brake cable clamps, harder to reach areas of the steering box, bearing retainers etc.
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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

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

[Evil_Fiz]

We are curious creatures. If you ask "what compressor should I buy?" the answer is usually "get the biggest, baddest, hallytocker (pronounced holly-talker) you can fit in your garage but if you post a picture of an old, relatively small compressor you just bought, many come out in support of your choice and share their positive experiences with a similar unit. I am comforted in knowing that the opinion of trusted and more experienced Samba members is a favorable one. Thanks for the feedback.

Now, here is a new can of worms. Should I get a pressure or siphon blaster to go with my new 2HP compressor?
_________________
“…It's not just about what's interesting. It's also about what's helpful, and it's helpful even if it helps just one other guy working on a Ghia.”
kiwighia68

See my build on TheSamba at:
The K_R_A_K_E_N_N : a 70 Ghia Convertible reinterpreted

[63 vwnotch]

^^ true, even some "new" larger units advertised HP and CFM are exaggerated... in my limited experience with compressors I have found the older ones seem to produce better, I had an old one similar in size '20 gal' with cast iron etc, stout unit... I sprayed a Bus and my Notch with it no hiccups, waiting for pressure etc...

I know for a fact the newer units of same size aren't very good, I tried to paint a jeep last year with a similar sized 'newer' unit and it struggled, had to break the jeep up panel by panel... complete joke...

By the looks of that one and it's old school build I'm going say you'll be just fine for what you are doing...

look forward to the progress....
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BUS WANTED: 13 window BUS any year considered..

[kman]

I have the 2 1/2 hp version or your compressor. It's great. I do blast with it. I use a small nozzle and sift my sand well. I sometime add a 2nd smaller compressor to the system if I have to blast for a long while. It's great for paint. Best of all it's very serviceable and rebuild-able. The brand name on these old sears models is Devilbiss. can't go wrong with that. Make sure to change/top off the oil every so often.

[c21darrel]

A pressure feed system is faster and more efficient use of air.
My source...
http://azglassclasses.com/Reference/SiphonVsPressure/
_________________
GhiaBuild
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=481184
1967 DC build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=693583&highlight=67+dc
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Evil_Fiz]

Well it’s been a bit over a year since I started this thread and some progress has been made on the reinterpretation of The KRAKENN. It’s been a bit since my last post so here is what I have been up to. Cleaning parts. That’s it. The budget is a bit thin at the moment so I am doing low cost work to keep the project moving forward.

In the past few months I managed to score a 1980s Craftsman 20 Gal/2 HP compressor and a $10 ALC, 50 Lbs., siphon style media blaster from the mid 80s as well. I must say the little blaster works great and the 20 Gal. compressor keeps up just fine. I also built a small, low cost blasting cabinet using stuff I had laying around and a sheet of Plexiglas a neighbor was throwing away. I thought the compressor would be the weak link but it is static adhesion of dust on the Plexi that slows me down. If anyone has tips on how to keep glass dust of the window I am open to suggestions. I have a vacuum attached to the back of the cabinet (not in the picture) that helps with visibility but not enough.

Please forgive the typo in the picture. Too late to fix it now.

I have blasted a few parts so far and the results are positive.

One of the parts is the muffler. I need you help to determine if the muffler is OE and worth saving or an aftermarket unit not worth the effort. Here is a picture of the logo on the front. It looks like J&J with the second J a mirror image of the first. The car sat in storage since 93 and the muffler is well rusted so it is probably a late 80s to early 90s unit.

Next on the shopping list is a MIG welder so I can start on the floors and body panels. I think Santa is going to be good to me this year or so help me he is going on the naughty list.
_________________
“…It's not just about what's interesting. It's also about what's helpful, and it's helpful even if it helps just one other guy working on a Ghia.”
kiwighia68

See my build on TheSamba at:
The K_R_A_K_E_N_N : a 70 Ghia Convertible reinterpreted

[Evil_Fiz]

“HOLY MOTHER OF NEPTUNES MOTHER”
Mermaid Man – Sponge bob Square pants, unknown episode.

I can’t believe I have not updated the thread in over three months.
I’ve been lazy but I have done some work on the car. The disassembly process is now officially complete. This video, shot and edited by my 9 Yr. old son, documented the momentous event.

Link


I have abandoned my makeshift blasting cabinet because the dust cloud inside makes it hard to see what I am doing, even with a shop-vac attached. I have adopted an open-air approach involving the tarp used to cover the car during transport and the cardboard box my new shower door was packed in as a media containment system.
Open Air Blasting Setup

This approach also allows me to media blast larger parts while being able to recover a high percentage of the media used. Thus far I have been able to blast most of the engine tin, the front beam, part of one wheel, and the two rear diagonal arms. Next up will be the chassis, which has been stripped of all seam sealer and tar-like substances (can be seen in video.) So far I am down about 1/3 of a 50 Lbs. bag of crushed glass media.
Satiny, Mostly Clean Parts

Next up is a nasty surprise I got yesterday. It looks like I may need to do surgery on the rockers. Here are some pictures of the driver side after I removed the paint with a wire wheel on the grinder (OE plus two repsprays, no Bondo.) The heater channel looks good from inside the car but I have not gotten to bare metal yet. The pictures below depict the extent of the damage to the driver rocker skin.
Behind Driver Door

Close-up Behind Driver Door

Forward Door Opening

Driver Side Lower Rear Wheel Arch

The way I see it I have 3 options:
1) Ignore the holes, burn the pictures, and cover it up with mud and hay. If I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist.
2) Drill out the spot welds, carefully remove the entire rocker skin, asses and repair the damage to the skin and structural members, and finally return the skin to its regularly scheduled location.
3) Cut the rocker skin inside the edges and seams, repair the skin damage, weld the cutout back in.

I am leaning towards option 2 since it will allow me to reuse the repaired rocker skin in the event I need to replace any of the structural pieces.

At this point I will open the floor for discussion and advice .

PS,
Santa avoided the naughty list and brought me a very well priced Eastwood MIG 135 welder. Now I need to decide on a 20 CF or 40 CF 75/25 CO2,Ar bottle and of course, learn how to weld.
Advice needed on what bottle and mixture to buy.
(Scavenging for old bed rails is harder than I thought.)
_________________
“…It's not just about what's interesting. It's also about what's helpful, and it's helpful even if it helps just one other guy working on a Ghia.”
kiwighia68

See my build on TheSamba at:
The K_R_A_K_E_N_N : a 70 Ghia Convertible reinterpreted

[CiderGuy]

What media are you using ? Looks like sand. A 20lbs. Co2 tank can be found cheap and they will fill it with argon mix up to 90% of stated pressure. I use one and its good for 2 plus hours of non stop welding.
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Cars Currently Owned:

1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1973 Karmann Ghia Coupe - Project car for sale
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (Body off restoration)

Timing is everything

[kman]

I would get an 80cf tank. It's still somewhat portable. The full size ones are cumbersome. 75/25 mixture is fine and not too expensive. Unless you like making frequent trips to have it filled.

Take the rocker skin off as carefully as possiblel. You may not reuse it but at least you will have the option (I wouldn't, welding up holes like that is extremely frustrating and a waste of time) You will likely find that things are much worse inside.

Good luck. Be patient and focus on one thing at a time.
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71 vert build. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=572951&highlight=dead

[Evil_Fiz]

[CiderGuy]

Our Miller 175 actually gets over 5 hours of constant welding time. I misspoke. It doesn't use a lot of wire, we use a number 1 or 5 size spool.
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Cars Currently Owned:

1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1973 Karmann Ghia Coupe - Project car for sale
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (Body off restoration)

Timing is everything

[c21darrel]

I vote #1!

I cant believe a 10 yr old did your video, your kid is talented!!

Im in the middle, I have a 40 cf tank, dont get a 80 if it wont fit in your cart.
I like your outside blasting set up. I am actually doing exactly the same right now on my current project because of large parts and dust.

I can see plenty of rust thru the holes, better get krakken and find out if your HC's are ok. Good Luck!
_________________
GhiaBuild
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=481184
1967 DC build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=693583&highlight=67+dc
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!