Hello! Log in or Register   |  Help  |  Donate  |  Buy Shirts See all banner ads | Advertise on TheSamba.com  
TheSamba.com
 
1956 lowlight restoration
Page: 1, 2, 3 ... 11, 12, 13  Next
Jump to:
Forum Index -> Ghia Share: Facebook Twitter
Reply to topic
Print View
Quick sort: Show newest posts on top | Show oldest posts on top View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Braukuche
Samba Member


Joined: September 03, 2004
Posts: 10965

Braukuche is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 8:00 pm    Post subject: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Well, I've got this original Okrasa kit for a 36hp engine and didn't have a bus to put it in, so I bought this stalled lowlight project instead. That's the background to this project.
I've always liked the look of lowlights and I've resorted two Ghias to date, a 60 coupe and a 74 convertible, so I know what's involved with these pain in the rear bodies. But hey, they are a lot smaller than buses so I'm looking forward to bringing this one back.
The car is a black plate original, the plates match the pink which dates back to 1975 when the San Diego owner took it off the road because of transmission issues.
It was purchased about 10 years ago by the last owner, a friend of mine who disassembled it, did a little work, but got sidetracked. That's where I stepped in.
Th car is mostly complete and very original. The doors, hood and decklid are original to the car and w think the engine is, too. So was the trans, but parts for it are hard to find so it has a slightly later rebuilt crash box for it.
The thin back seats are there as well.
The plan is to start in on the body work first prepping it for paint. I will do the metal and bodywork and farm out the paint.
After that I will build the pan but that is a ways off.
Here is what I got delivered today.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now
1973 Ghia convertible
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
PeteSC
Samba Member


Joined: January 26, 2011
Posts: 881

PeteSC is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 4:17 am    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Nice project! Good luck, look forward to following along. The original Okrasa is anice detail.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
boinkffd
Samba Member


Joined: October 07, 2004
Posts: 231
Location: South
boinkffd is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 6:50 am    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Great project car. Will be watching for updates.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
c21darrel
Samba Member


Joined: January 22, 2009
Posts: 8206
Location: San Dimas
c21darrel is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:46 am    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Looks like a heck of a nice project to work on. A fraction of the size of a bus, should move forward faster than a type 2. Nice!
_________________
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!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
aerosilver
Samba Member


Joined: July 29, 2006
Posts: 878
Location: UK
aerosilver is offline 

PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 11:31 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Looking forward to progress on this one Smile

Did any of the interior survive? Always loved that colour combo!

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Braukuche
Samba Member


Joined: September 03, 2004
Posts: 10965

Braukuche is offline 

PostPosted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 8:01 am    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

aerosilver wrote:
Looking forward to progress on this one Smile

Did any of the interior survive? Always loved that colour combo!

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


Yes, the front door panels, front seat cover, fragments of headliner and carpet, that's about it, enough to confirm what I need.
I have a copy of the magazine that picture came out of an was happy to see that the color is more in the blue spectrum than brown, which is what I thought would be the case when I was told it was Gazelle Beige. The car had been repainted pink with a red oxide primer so it was hard to tell what the original color actually looked like
That photo is interesting in that it really brings out the Fifties aesthetic of the car.
_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now
1973 Ghia convertible
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Braukuche
Samba Member


Joined: September 03, 2004
Posts: 10965

Braukuche is offline 

PostPosted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 5:47 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Went ahead and started a couple days ago with stripping the roof using Jasco brand stripper. Good stuff. The plan, as told to me by an old body guy, is to do one panel at a time. This keeps you focused and makes it all manageable. After stripping the top I will next Sand and grind off any remaining paint and rust. I will then attack the underside with a wire wheel and use Ospho to remove any residual rust.
After cleaning the surface I will use epoxy primer to seal the top and underside and then shoot some Poly primer on top of the epoxy before it cures which is sandable and all it should take to smooth out the roof. If there are deeper dents then I will apply filler first and then Poly primer on top of the sanded filler.
That's the plan. I work during the week and weekends are usually spent maintain or fixing my other cars, so this one will get a little love here and there an hour or two or three max at a time. Any time put into it is progress and it all adds up in the end.
B pillar revealed two resprays, a copper color on top of the Gazelle Beige and then a silver on the body on top of that was pink.

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


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

_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now
1973 Ghia convertible
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
lovethatconvertible
Samba Member


Joined: August 22, 2008
Posts: 1434
Location: Las Vegas N. V.
lovethatconvertible is offline 

PostPosted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 6:53 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Keep em coming Dan, can't wait to see this come together. Looks like you could leave the paint stripper on for a little bit longer and get more paint off.
_________________
1960 Convertible
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Braukuche
Samba Member


Joined: September 03, 2004
Posts: 10965

Braukuche is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 12:36 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Caught a dang cold so laid off for a day but got back to it after work for a bit yesterday.
I like to use the least aggressive media, so tried using 50 grit disc on a palm sander but it took too long to remove the left over paint and rust so I got aggressive and used a 7" 40 grit disc on a polisher to strip the roof. The baked on rust didn't want to come off, so I sprayed about a pint of Ospho on the roof and then covered with a plastic tarp to keep it moist over night. Likely will have to repeat this with the heavy layers until ALL rust is gone. Some would neutralize, then epoxy or even POR 15, it but if you get one tiny pit or crack in the surface and any moisture gets to that rust will come back with a vengeance.
The other issue was the copious amounts of metallic filler, e.g. Lead, that Karmann used is cracked on the A and B pillars. The cracks appear to be on the surface so I am thinking I can get away with grinding out the cracks and then covering it with modern fillers. Lead sucks.

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


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

_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now
1973 Ghia convertible
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
calexican
Samba Member


Joined: June 11, 2008
Posts: 727
Location: El Paso, TX
calexican is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 3:33 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

I’ve heard that the filler is pewter...and have always wondered what people did with it when it gets all sun baked and cracked... that’s how mine is too. Looks like a great project, one of my favorite colors too. Best of luck!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website Gallery Classifieds Feedback
c21darrel
Samba Member


Joined: January 22, 2009
Posts: 8206
Location: San Dimas
c21darrel is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 5:25 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

When they built ghias they wrote the color on the package shelf with a grease pencil (exactly where your 2nd pic on Oct 9) just like they did for buses in the headlight bucket. A lot of paint on your lowlight. Enjoy.
_________________
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!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Mellow Yellow 74
Samba Member


Joined: October 14, 2014
Posts: 1615
Location: Sydney, Australia
Mellow Yellow 74 is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 4:25 am    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Braukuche wrote:
The other issue was the copious amounts of metallic filler, e.g. Lead, that Karmann used is s. The cracks appear to be on the surface so I am thinking I can get away with grinding out the cracks and then covering it with modern fillers. Lead sucks.


Grinding lead is not a good idea because it creates dust which is unhealthy if you breath it or get it on you. The best way to remove lead is to heat with a torch until it melts and then wire brush it off. If your lead is starting to crack you should remove it all because it will probably keep cracking as the components separate.

If I had a lowlight in such good condition but with surface rust like yours I would get it redi-stripped (or at least soda blasted) then remove all the lead and redo the lead wiping and it will be good for another 60 years (unlike modern plastic fillers). I think you will struggle to remove all the surface rust if you just try go back to bare metal manually.
_________________
1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Braukuche
Samba Member


Joined: September 03, 2004
Posts: 10965

Braukuche is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 9:04 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Did some reading on the lead and agree, that yeh, cracked areas have to go and the best way to do it it is to heat it and scoop it out where it is cracked.
I didn't want to have it blasted because unless done right, it leads to warped panels. Chem dipped can also lead to a host of issue if not done right. Basically, I don't trust anyone, so I prefer to do it myself. To clean up the roof I used grinding, wire brushes, Ospho and a small sand blaster to clean out pitted areas.
With the rust gone, I had to do a bit of filler work because of the pits and metal degradation, but pretty minor.
I then epoxy primed it.
Tomorrow I will Poly prime it and let everything cure for a few weeks so all the body work shrinks up. I will then move on to the dash and cowl area surrounding the trunk.

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


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


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


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

_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now
1973 Ghia convertible
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Braukuche
Samba Member


Joined: September 03, 2004
Posts: 10965

Braukuche is offline 

PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 8:22 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

The roof is now Poly primed and curing and the underside has been wire brushed and ground so the rust is off and then chemically treated with Ospho anthen coated with epoxy primer. With all that doe I moved on to the front clip today.
I used a couple coats of Jasco to remove the three layers of paint and was happy to find nearly no bondo on the car.
There has been some body damage around the left headlight. There are some shoddy repairs around the bucket and a big fat slab of lead above the bucket which I cannot tell if it is the remnants of the original leading or added later a source part of the repair? Obviously someone removed I assume plastic filler around the bucket so I think the lead must be original.
There is plenty of cracked lead around the base of the A pillars and around the seams near th enose vents which will have to be removed and I have ordered repair panels for the area behind the front wheel wells to the rockers.
This week will undoubtedly be consumed grinding, chem treating an pocket blasting rust. Tons of fun.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


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


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


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


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

_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now
1973 Ghia convertible
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
otahuhu
Samba Member


Joined: July 15, 2007
Posts: 561

otahuhu is offline 

PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 3:50 am    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Looks like someone removed the left side headlight bucket to work the panel then tacked it in and added the lead?
Love the early early ghias and will definitely be following this thread, hope it all goes smoothly for you...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Yahoo Messenger Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Braukuche
Samba Member


Joined: September 03, 2004
Posts: 10965

Braukuche is offline 

PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 7:36 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Been chipping away at this and naturally running into more issues, the worst so far being the right fresh air intake which had some brass repairs done.
The area had been stripped and exposed so there was a lot of mangled metal and I had to figure out exactly what was going on. It looks like the intake is formed of several overlapping pieces of metal which are then lap welded together and covered in generous amounts of lead.
I cut out the rotten areas and brass repair and removed the lead to get down to the steel. I then had to form patches which I welded in to restore the basic shape which will have to be finished, like at the factory, with filler in their case lead in mine short haired fiberglass filler aka kitty hair.
I also welded up one of the odd holes in the cowl.
I also sandblasted the rusty pitted areas and Ospho treated it. I will go over it with a grinding disk before sealing with more Ospho and then epoxy.
I know have to figure out the mess at the end of the rockers. Not sure what it I suppose supposed to look like so must do some research.

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


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


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



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


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


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


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

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

_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now
1973 Ghia convertible
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Braukuche
Samba Member


Joined: September 03, 2004
Posts: 10965

Braukuche is offline 

PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 6:38 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Took me several days to sort out the mess at the front end of the rocker. There are a lot of compound curved pieces down there that end with a block off and since mine was rotted away I had no idea how it looked. Found some pix on the internet, but what really helped was a donor rocker I got with the car. I was able to fabricate pieces and weld it all back together. A real good time and spent on an area no one will likely ever see, but if you are going to do something...

I finally then welded in the lower quarter patch. As you know the one sold by the vendors is for the skinnier later model, but luckily whoever cut out the lower rot saved the wheel arch all the way down to where it meets the rocker so I was able to trim the patch and weld it in while maintaining the rather interesting curve of the lower quarter.

That done I moved onto the nose. I had to grind and then sandblast the nose, cut out the smoothed down emblem area, cut it out, fit in the patch and use my stud welder to pull out some dents as there is this brace across the nose used in the earlier cars blocking access and I don't want to cut it out.

I already started welding the emblem patch in but it got too dark so I didn't finish.


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


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


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


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

_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now
1973 Ghia convertible
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
c21darrel
Samba Member


Joined: January 22, 2009
Posts: 8206
Location: San Dimas
c21darrel is offline 

PostPosted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 12:13 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Nice looking nose patch!
_________________
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!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Braukuche
Samba Member


Joined: September 03, 2004
Posts: 10965

Braukuche is offline 

PostPosted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 5:41 pm    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

c21darrel wrote:
Nice looking nose patch!


Thanks.


Got home from work and welded in the emblem patch and ground the welds down from the outside. Still have to do it from the inside of the nose, but I'll save that fun for tomorrow. Will have some pin holes to fill as well.
I also began to build up the seam with welding wire as it was uneven and I don't want to use kitty hair or worse, filler, to build it up.
Ran out of decent light, this time of year do t have much good light after work. Can't wait for spring.

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

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

_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now
1973 Ghia convertible
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
c21darrel
Samba Member


Joined: January 22, 2009
Posts: 8206
Location: San Dimas
c21darrel is offline 

PostPosted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:58 am    Post subject: Re: 1956 lowlight restoration Reply with quote

Its gonna get darker earlier before it stays light longer. Crying or Very sad Dislike this time of year.

Did you make the nose/badge patch? Shocked Really nice!
_________________
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!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Forum Index -> Ghia All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time
Page: 1, 2, 3 ... 11, 12, 13  Next
Jump to:
Page 1 of 13

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

About | Help! | Advertise | Donate | Premium Membership | Privacy/Terms of Use | Contact Us | Site Map
Copyright © 1996-2023, Everett Barnes. All Rights Reserved.
Not affiliated with or sponsored by Volkswagen of America | Forum powered by phpBB
Links to eBay or other vendor sites may be affiliate links where the site receives compensation.