advCo's '70 Ghia Project Log - Brace yourself

[advCo]

[advCo]

The previous of the '70 sent me some parts that came with the car. Turns out he actually bought the car from the original owner ('s son). According to some of the paperwork, that little Ghia actually did around 140k miles between the two of them. A few manual's and the John Muir "Idiots Guide" were a nice plus. Some headlight bulbs and trim rings, fuel pump and some other assorted stuff.

I've finally reached a turning point in this project. I went ahead and ordered some POR-15 and the peripherals and decided to test it all out on the beam while I am waiting for parts. Stripped it all down with a wire wheel and hit a few hard to reach areas with the spot blaster. Degreased, etched, hosed it off and put on 2 coats of the POR-15. Got some brush strokes I'm not entirely happy with so I'll have a roller handy next time I apply, but all in all pretty impressed with it.

I am going to scuff it up and top coat it in about a week or so. I bought the POR-15 top coat.

Ignore the motorcycle on an IV bag in the background, thats the Ghia's new German friend.

Feels good to have things starting losing their crust and rust around here
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"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett

[c21darrel]

Dont worry about brush strokes. 2 coats is great future protection and no one will ever see your beam once you are driving.
Are those "new" headlight rings? Nice!
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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!

[advCo]

[bugpowered]

The donor section that you have is in great condition. Excellent piece to work with in comparison your recipient is not in such steller condition. Take your time and think about the grafting on the underside.
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the parts that you buy from me today, will fund my projects tomorrow...

[advCo]

Made some more progress this week. I have some repairs to do on the tunnel and napoleons hat before the pans go in, but I wanted to get all the rust removed and some POR on the tunnel so that task is off the to do list. Bought a good 3M respirator, shaved off my beard and went to town. I pulled the rotted beam off the tunnel. Some jebroni welded the beam to the frame head. Is there any reason for this?

This spot needs to be repaired. Surprisingly enough it’s the only rotted spot on the entire tunnel. I plan to splice the identical piece in from the napoleons hat on the ‘68. When I splice the patch piece in, can I make a square cut and splice the piece right in, or should it be staggered for strength?

Got a big ass wire wheel and set in. I originally planned to have this blasted but decided to do it myself and spend the money elsewhere. Next time I’ll send it to the blaster

Stripped, degreased and etched. This whole process for the POR-15 just seems wrong but I’m trying to trust the system here.

Since this thing is so cumbersome and I have no way to hang it to paint it in one shot, I reluctantly did the bottom first and top second. I made sure to scuff up all the areas where the paint would overlap for proper adhesion.

First coat on the bottom. It looked great until about 300 bugs dive bombed into the tacky paint

The stuff lays on really nicely. This time I got a cheap 3” roller and a bunch of spares to help smooth out the brush strokes. It worked great. My only worry is the paint seemed to almost wick away from any hard edges, almost like It was too thin.. I’m hoping that the top coat will cover these spots adequately.
_________________
"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett

[Basketcase]

a lot of work but it turned out great
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'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)

[KGCoupe]

Wow - that paint came out really nice, shiny and smooth.

It's a job well done ... which is a good thing, considering it cost you your beard to git r done.

[advCo]

Ha! The beard will grow back, so I’m happy to sacrifice it to save my lungs. There’s quite a bit of rust to remove so I’ll be face bald for a while

Thanks guys. I’m quite happy with the way it turned out. I’ll have to grind some paint back and touch it up after repairs then I plan to scuff the entire thing and top coat it once the pans are installed.

The workflow is kinda bass ackwards but I thought it would be more manageable to get that job done before the pans were in place.

Is it preferred to apply seam sealer before or after top coat?
_________________
"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett

[advCo]

This thread has been inactive for longer than my liking. The usual "life gets in the way" as I've sold 3 motorbikes and scratch built a kitchen for the house. I have been itching to get back at the Ghia and while my funds are limited for this build at the moment, I think I'll start making a plan to splice the '70 roof onto the '69 body since I have the parts already.

I had originally wanted to do this last since it will be a pretty visible repair, but its easily the most daunting task of the project so I figure if I get it tackled first it'll all be downhill from there.

First things first, before I cut anything off the keeper body, I will get some scrap steel and brace both door openings as well as diagonally across the interior of the body. I've seen some pics on here of bracing for heater channel replacement on 'verts, so I think I will follow that example.

I also think I need to brace the flat panel forward of the bulkhead in the rear (thinking sheet metal screws into a plywood buck??) to keep that area from distorting while welding.

This weekend I will grab some pics of my hack-job butchery removing the dash from the front pillars, and use some slow days at work to draw up some sketches of the inner structure. I think I will need to use a layered approach to first weld the inner structure together and then stitch in the outer skin.

Any tips are much appreciated. Am I crazy for trying to attempt the roof replacement first? Should I reel it back and do some hidden repairs FIRST before I go all out here?
_________________
"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett

[advCo]

Ok switching gears for a minute. I have the opportunity to pick up this nose clip and I was hoping to get some opinions before I pull the trigger. The price is pretty reasonable and bar a small 2-3" dent along the ridge, it looks pretty straight and rust free. Its definitely better than the swiss cheese I've got going on mine. Yea or nay?

Also, an old friend from my hometown started restoring a Ghia years ago, and the project has been sitting stagnant for probably the better part of a decade. I asked him about it yesterday and he told me his dad is willing to part with some of the bits. So I'm going to give him a call and see what year it is and if any of the sheet metal is any good. I'm going to actually be back in my hometown this weekend, so I may even try to get a look at it.
_________________
"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett

[advCo]

Ok guys (if anyone's still out there ), I still haven't been able to get out to work on the Ghia, but I have been busy sourcing some sheet metal and parts and lots of research. So no progress pictures but I'm mostly putting things here at this point so I can keep track of things.. Lots of projects winding down at the house and in the shop so I promise I'll be moving forward soon and post lots of pics to make up for all the boring words lately.

With any luck I will have a new nose and a useable engine bay and rear apron heading my way within the next few weeks, which should take care of 2 very troublesome areas. I still need to source the section under the rear seat as I'd like to start there so I can get the rear seat frame and heater channel connections in place. As an aside, I have one of my project motorcycles up for sale and I hope to turn that into an English wheel and a shrinker/stretcher so I can begin fabricating some sheet metal in house.

I have been debating (internally ) how to deal with the engine. I have not confirmed that the engine is original, but the '70 chassis had 140,000 miles on it. The top end was serviced about 10,000 miles before it was parked in the mid to late 90s and I have the receipts for that work stashed away somewhere.

My original plan was to tear the engine I have down to the cases (actually halfway there already), clean/paint all of the tins and refurbish/replace any components that need to be addressed, free up the rings and lap the valves and slap it all back together. This way, if I need to source a new motor I'll have all the components and tins prettied up and can easily swap over.

Meanwhile, I would like to build a larger displacement motor once the car is back on the road and running with the OG engine. I'd like to have a stronger engine and possibly a lower geared transmission to keep up with the traffic down here in Texas. Leaning towards a 1915, as from what I've read so far that particular kit is a good mix between power and reliability. I'd even like to add A/C but that will be way later down the road.

Anyways, I'll be doing more research on this as the engine is low on the priority list at the moment. Any and all opinions are welcome.
_________________
"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett

[advCo]

So I was able to score a complete engine bay with fairly straight rear apron from a fella on a Ghia parts Facebook group...should be en route within the next day or so.

I am also picking up another donor body this weekend for $150. I believe it to be around '68, but I didn't care to look for any numbers while I was there. The parcel tray on the new donor is very solid, as well as the heater channel connections. The front clip and dash have been removed but I am hoping that there will be more usable metal. I will post pics when I get it back to the house.

Now that I have 2 donors I should have some spare fenders, head/taillight sheet metal and other bits to stash and/or sell off to aid someone else's project.

Left to source for sheet metal:

-Passenger side front rear inner fender
-Passenger side dogleg
-Drivers rear bumper support (new donor possibly usable)
-Front apron
-Both sides fresh air ducts (new donor possibly usable)
-Driver's rocker panel (small patches, will fabricate)
-Both sides front inner fender (small repairs, will fabricate)

The list is getting small. I hope to build a rotisserie within the next few weeks to make the welding less painful.
_________________
"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett

[advCo]

Busy weekend. I picked up another donor body for $150 from a guy a few towns away. Its been hacked up but the parcel shelf is solid (which is the reason I bought it) and there is some other usable metal there. A couple of us threw it in the back of my truck and I made it home without it falling off on the highway Who needs a long bed?

Sunday I went and looked at a pair of Bay Window buses that my buddy acquired last week, one standard and one Westy. We messed around cleaning them out and checking them out for most of the day. He decided to keep the standard bus and I will be buying the Westy - which I am absolutely stoked about. I'll create a thread on that over in the Bay forum, and I'm going to attempt to keep my focus on the Ghia for now.

Yesterday I got back into the shop and finished pulling most of the tins off with some advice from dad. I'm going to degrease the engine, pull the heads and jugs and make sure the rings are moving freely and clean. If necessary I will re-ring and hone the cylinders, paint all the tins and put it back together.

_________________
"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett

[Evil_Fiz]

[TDCTDI]

A few towns away?!? You gotta go 75 miles just to get the hell out of Houston.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[advCo]

[advCo]

Started degreasing the block last night. I uncovered the engine numbers, I'll do some research to see if this is the orig motor or been replaced just out of curiosity.

I made a DIY pulley puller tool using some 10mm threaded rod with a T-handle that I made up for splitting the crankcases on one of the motorcycles and a scrap piece of 1/4" plate.

I drilled two 1/4" holes spaced 80mm apart, and a larger hole in the center of the two. I ran a 10mm tap through the center hole. Nut and bolts on the back side of the pulley, and a couple of nuts on the back side of the plate. Worked like a charm and the pulley popped right off.

_________________
"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett

[Tanoki]

That is a big project you have gotten for your self 😃
But one of the most satisfying jobs when done.

Keep up the good work and dont forget to enjoy it 😃

Cheers
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“Let me know the rules so I can ignore them”
My Ghia build : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=703728

[advCo]

Thanks for the kind words^

So it looks like the B6 prefix on the engine is correct for this car which was manufactured in 08/70 if my memory serves correctly.

I know that its the correct type, but is there a way to cross check the engine and chassis number to tell if it is the original motor that came with the car? (Besides a birth certificate?)

_________________
"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett