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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 5:11 pm Post subject: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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First off, Let me say this post has been a long time coming. I've been a long time lurker on this site, and if it wasn't for this community I don't think that this car would have the care it always deserved.
I got the car about 6 years ago now while I was living in Ormond Beach, FL. Who knew that it would be a spark plug breaking off and going through my intake valves and out the exhaust of my B5S4 that I would find myself looking at an Aircooled Volkswagen. I've always been a VW/Audi fan and when the opportunity came to own a Ghia, I guess I knew I was driving home with it.
It was my daily driver out there for about a year and a half before the motor gave out on it and I was moving to Denver for a new job anyways, so she sat in the garage for a year.
Finally, enough was enough and I decided to put the life back in the car that gave me some great memories on the beach in Florida.
Luckily, my future self wasn't there to slap me with some common sense, because this thing would have been a parts car a long time ago! Even though the car isn't completed yet, I can say there will be a happy ending.
What started out as simple maintenance and maybe a couple of weeks of metal work, turned into a complete body-off restoration.
......and down the rabbit hole we went.
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 5:37 pm Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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Even During disassembly, you could tell that this car was abused sometime in its life. When I got the car it had civic seats that weren't even bolted to the floor pan (or what was left of it).
WARNING!!! Some of these photos just hurt to look at. I knew we were going to have our hands full even before she got to media blasting.
I knew there was rust in the typical areas, but man
I was able to build the "rotisserie" off of some plans here on the forums and worked out really well during the course of the resto
After getting the Ghia on the Dolly, I was able to see what was left of the pan and how the rockers looked. |
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 5:49 pm Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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As expected the bottom 6 inches of this car was toast. It didn't help that it was a Florida car for parts of its life and probably was more rust than metal....and then I remembered I drove it like that
Pretty sure my pan was Flintstone approved as well!
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 6:38 pm Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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Before getting the car media blasted, I was able to prep the pan for the new pan halves.
Using an air hammer I was able to remove the pan halves from the beam. I found it easier to leave the lips of the pans on until I was able to fit the new halves to size.
Took the car the Blast Tech Automotive and Paint Removal here in Denver (Great People!).
I have to admit, it was at this point we realized this was an all or nothing project. To most people, they might have parted out what was left at this point, but something was wrong with us.
Even the 300 days of sunshine here couldn't help and test our patience with the Ghia Gods...Didn't even have time to seal the car before flash rust got to it as it rained while we were picking it up from the media blasting.
Doors and Rear Lid were in pretty bad shape
At least the beam was still in one piece
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 7:04 pm Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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While the car was getting blasted, I was able to source a lot of the replacement panels that were going to be replaced (pretty much the whole bottom half of the car)
Now that the shock wore off of how much work will have to go into this thing it was time to get busy.
The first priority was getting the pan halves welded back onto the beam and get a solid rolling chassis.
Messing around with the rockers and fitting the pan
All welds were ground down then seam sealer was applied
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kgj Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2013 Posts: 418 Location: Uk, Cornwall
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Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 12:46 am Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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Lots of great photos!
How far along is the project now? _________________ 1958 coupe |
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 9:44 am Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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We actually just finished up the body earlier this past month.....it still has some work to be done, but I feel like I'm on the downhill battle now. |
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 10:22 am Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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Before the real fun begin, I'm going to put this out there. I can handle my own when it comes to the wrench, but what I was about to go through for the next few months would be a whole new world.
Enter my best friend Aaron from our glory days in Daytona. Even though he was a body man most of his life, you could say we might have bitten off more than we can chew. During this project I have learned priceless information from blocking to welding...and about damn near everything in between, all from him.
After the shell shock wore off of how much work REALLY needs to get done, we decided that ole girl was going to have her day. The idea behind the car went from rust repair to complete body-off restomod. As Aaron would say, we're about to put a new dress on Grandma and take her out on the town.
I'm not one to take short cuts and neither is Aaron. If the Devil is in the details, we had some words with him.
From this point forward it would really just be me and him, a garage, some air tools, and a hell of a lot of patience.....and maybe some luck.
By the time y'all are reading this, most of the battles will be fought, but probably far from done. Hopefully, someone can use this thread as some inspiration and know that it is possible for two guys and a garage to get ole girl back to the dance. |
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 10:35 am Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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Go big or go home right?
After some discussion, we decided to go with an Air Ride suspension with Airkewld's 17' Smoothies. Surprisingly, the wheels were probably the easiest decision for this build.
I went with Airkewld's 4" PRObuilt Air Ride Beam with their front and rear airbag kits.
We did deviate a bit from the kit as I went with Accuair's Switchspeed Air management and 3/8" line instead of 1/4" |
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:02 am Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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We did modify the rear air ride kit a bit using square tubing instead of what was supplied. There was nothing wrong with the Airkewld kit....we just wanted out own little twist on it...in fact you can see where we had the original tubing welded in before changing it up (Sorry, Pete!)
You can see the original here and that Smoothie begging to be put on
As I said, we used most of the kit, and you can tell the direction we took with the square tubing and fabricating the trailing arms to accommodate the bag plates
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c21darrel Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2009 Posts: 8206 Location: San Dimas
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 6:34 pm Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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Once we pretty much had the air ride suspension wrapped up, it was time to tackle the beast which was the body.
Honestly, getting the car media blasted was one of the better decisions of this build.....as there were a lot more demons hidden in the body.
You can tell that she's been through a lot in her almost 50 years being on the road
I'm pretty sure this started out as "Let's just replace the rockers" to "Let's replace the bottom 6 inches of the car."
I don't think there was a part of this car that hadn't been dinged up and/or had some rust that needed to be taken care of.
Somewhere along the line I was smart enough to keep most of my receipts and make a spreadsheet to give myself a ballpark figure of what was spent on what.
After assessing the car, here was the first couple rounds of parts needed to bring her back to life:
Tools 40 Cu.Ft. Cylinder Purchase
Tools 75/25 Argon/CO2 Refill
Tools Rotacut Premium Spotweld Package
Tools Rotacut 1/4" 3/8"-24THD (3 Pack)
Tools Rotacut 5/16" 3/8"-24THD (3 Pack)
Tools Hobart Handler 190
Tools 50' 40 Amp Blue Extension Cord
Tools .035MM x 10LB Spool
Tools 6" Velcro Pad
Tools (10) Cutoff Wheels
Tools ( Roloc Discs
Tools 3M Hookit Interface Pad
Tools 75/25 Argon/CO2 Refill
Tools 6" Velcro Disc Pad
Tools (10) 3" Cutoff Wheel
Tools 75/25 Argon/CO2 Refill
Tools (5) Roloc-Type T27 Regular 120 Grit Flap Wheel
Tools T29 80 Grit Flap Wheel
Tools (2) T27 Cutoff Wheel
Tools (10) Roloc-Type T27 Regular 120 Grit Flap Wheel
Metal Complete Left Heater Channel
Metal Complete Right Heater Channel
Metal Lower Right Hinge Pillar
Metal Lower Left Hinge Pillar
Metal Front Right Inner Fender Panel
Metal Front Left Inner Fender Panel
Metal Right Inner Door Hinge Pillar Cover
Metal Left Inner Door Hinge Pillar Cover
Metal Engine Lid Repair Panel
Metal Right Rear Quarter (Front Section)
Metal Left Rear Quarter (Front Section)
Metal Outer Right Seat Track
Metal Outer Left Seat Track
Metal Inner Right Seat Track
Metal Inner Left Seat Track
Metal Right Front Fender (Lower Rear Section)
Metal Left Front Fender (Lower Rear Section)
Metal Right Rear Quarter (Inner Front Section)
Metal Left Rear Quarter (Inner Front Section)
Metal Outer Torsion Bar Cover
Metal Inner Torsion Bar Cover
Metal Center Third Inner Engine Compartment Deck
Metal Right Headlight Section
Metal Rear Apron
Metal Left Rear Fender (Inner Rear)
Metal Right Rear Fender (Inner Rear)
Metal Left Rear Fender (Lower Rear)
Metal Right Rear Fender (Lower Rear)
Exterior Door Check Strap
Exterior Door Check Pins
Exterior Left Door Striker Plate
Exterior Right Door Striker Plate
Exterior Fender Mounted Side View Mirror
Exterior (2)Door Alignment Wedge
Exterior (4) Door Wedge Screw
Exterior Gas Tank
Exterior 7" Crystal Headlight Bulb
Exterior Bullet Style Turn Signal Lenses (Clear)
Exterior Front Turn Signal Seals (Pair)
Exterior Chrome Rear T-Bars
Exterior Door Hinge Screws (6 Pack)
Exterior Door Hinge Pillar Cover Plate Seal
Exterior Pan to Body Bracket Bolts
Exterior Rear Hood Seal
Exterior Front Hood Seal
Exterior Bumper Bracket Mount
Exterior Headlight Ring Seal
Exterior Bumper Bracket Cover Seal
Chassis 4" Narrowed Ultimate Air Ride Front Beam
Chassis Ghia IRS Rear Air Ride Kit
Chassis Ghia CLK Installation Kit
Chassis Through Rod Kit
Chassis 4" Narrowed Ball Joint Tie Rods
Chassis Ball Joint Air Ride Shocks
Chassis Dual Circuit DISC Master Cylinder
Chassis Steel Brake Line Kit
Chassis Brake Fluid Reservoir On Top
Chassis Ball Joint Lowered Eccentrics Type 1
Chassis (2) Brake Light Switch
Chassis Wireless Air Ride Controller
Chassis SwitchSpeed Air Management Package
Chassis Front Disk Brake Kit with Lowered Spindles
Chassis Rear Disk Brake Kit with E-Brake
Chassis Accelerator Bowden Tube
Chassis Pan Gasket
Chassis Steering Coupler
Chassis Brake Line Grommets
Chassis Transmission Guide Sleeve
Chassis Fuel Line Grommets
Chassis Front Beam Shock Pad
Chassis Transmission Nose Mount Seal
Chassis (4) 17" 4 Lug Smoothie Wheels (Back Spacing:Front 5.125")
Chassis Stainless Steering Box Fastener Kit
Chassis Billet Body Mount Washers
Chassis Stainless Pedal Fastener Kit
Chassis IRS Control Arm Bushings
Chassis Chrome Spring Plate Caps
Chassis Body to Frame Pad
Chassis Steering Box
Chassis Half-Shaft
Chassis Half-Shaft
Chassis Rear Transmission Mount (Pair)
Chassis Front Transmission Mount
Body/Paint Media Blast Exterior and Interior
Body/Paint 30 Single Sandpaper
Body/Paint 1 Box 3M Gold Automotive 80 Grit DA Pads
Body/Paint 1 Box 3M Gold Automotive 180 Grit DA Pads
Body/Paint 1 Gallon Chrome-A-Lite
Body/Paint 320 Grit Sheet Roll (25 Yards)
Body/Paint 30 Single Sandpaper
Body/Paint 1 Gallon Prep-All
Body/Paint 1 Gallon Thinner
Body/Paint (2) Flexible Sanding Blocks
Body/Paint Durablock Sanding Kit
Body/Paint 1 Quart Evercoat Everglass
Body/Paint 1 Box Maroon Scuff Pads
Body/Paint 1 Box Silver Sciff Pads
Body/Paint 1 Quart Brushable Seam Sealer
Body/Paint (2) Weld Through Primer Spray Can
Body/Paint 1800 Quick Mix Sheets
Body/Paint (6) Plastic Spreaders
Body/Paint Stainless Cheese Grater
Body/Paint Grime Scrub Brush
Body/Paint 3M 80 Grit Sheet Roll (25 Yards)
Body/Paint Evercoat Metal Glaze
Body/Paint (12) Quart Mixing Cups
Body/Paint (3) 30 Single Sandpaper
Body/Paint 1 Gallon 2K Primer
Body/Paint 1 Quart 2K Primer Hardender
Body/Paint 1 Gallon Z-Grip Body Filler
Body/Paint 1 Box 3M 180 Grit DA Pads
Body/Paint 1 Box 80 Grit DA Pads
Body/Paint 1 Quart Evercoat Everglass
Body/Paint 1 Quart Brushable Seam Sealer
Body/Paint 180 Grit Sheet Roll (25 Yards)
Body/Paint (10) 30 Single Sandpaper
Body/Paint Taco Block
Body/Paint (3) Plastic Spreaders |
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 7:00 pm Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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The first priority was to replace the rockers and heater channels, and after the car was structurally sound again, we could focus on the other custom mods and replacement panels.
Thanks to some of the posts here on the forums, the actual process of replacing the rockers wasn't that bad. Just be prepared to grind those welds down!
Since most of the structural integrity comes from the rockers, we followed the advice here and created a brace for the door until the new rockers were welded in place.
Here are a couple of pictures of the inside of the heater channel:
After making sure the rockers were aligned properly, it was time to prep the metal for welding
Once both rockers and heater channels were welded and ground down, it was time to replace the outer body panels:
We put the doors back on the car to make sure that the lines matched up perfectly.
After everything was set in place it was time for some for some short hair fiberglass to reinforce the areas that were just welded.....keep in mind that most of this will get sanded off.
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Mellow Yellow 74 Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2014 Posts: 1615 Location: Sydney, Australia
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 8:42 pm Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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Hi, nice work - I have a couple of questions:
- how did you ensure the new heater channels were in the correct position and height while the door aperture was braced?
- in the photos with all the welding clamps along the bottom of the heater channel, what are these clamping together?
- your door gaps look good with the body off the chassis but dis these change when you put it back on the chassis? _________________ 1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon) |
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 9:51 am Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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Hey Mellow,
I'll have to try to find more pictures of the process since these pictures switch back and forth from the driver to the passenger.
I will say there was a lot of great information in the "How To" threads on the heater channels that cleared a lot of my questions up.
-After bracing the door, we were able to use a level and mark where the old rocker was welded to the rear torsion bar cover, and the A pillar up front.
We cut out MOST of the heater channel and rocker, trying to leave just enough to get an idea where to place it.
The driver's side was completely rusted out including the front A pillar, inner front wheel well, and rear torsion cover making this side a bit trickier to get a starting point.
We left a little bit of meat on A and B pillar, so we could clamp the heater channel to the body for the driver's side.
If you look near the rear torsion cover on the passenger side, you can see that needed to be replaced as well, but it was good enough to butt up against to get the correct placement, and spot weld into place.
-Most of these clamps were from the passenger side (which was a LITTLE more forgiving). I was able to salvage the inner portion of the heater channel to use as a base.
What you see, are the clamps holding the 2 pieces of the passenger inner and outer heater channel....kind of like the picture below:
-We did test fit the pan back on the body after replacing the channels to ensure that the car would actually go back together....which thankfully it did!
The gaps stayed the same after the body was put back on the chassis, and honestly we didn't even end up using the doors that were in these pictures.
Once those channels and rockers are welded in place, those gaps shouldn't change at all. |
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 9:33 am Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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With the rockers out of the way, it was time to start knocking out the "smaller" repairs and modifications we wanted to accomplish.
Off the top of my head, we had the following list of repairs to get the body back to her old self:
-Replace the passenger side headlight including the bucket
-Shave the front turn signals, and return to the bullet style of the other Ghias
-Shave the Gas Tank Door
-Shave the hole for the antenna
-Replace/Repair almost the entire engine bay
-Replace the rear inner and outer quarter panels
-Shave/replace the inner engine bay panels
-Repair the front nose
-Cut out and replace any miscellaneous rust
....And to spice things up, Aaron wanted to put his special touch on the car, we decided to reverse the opening of the Bonnet |
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 9:46 am Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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After cutting out the old headlight, we were able to spot weld it into place.
I think the hardest part about this was making sure that the body lines would flow to the end of the bucket, and almost making sure that it was aligned with the driver's side
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:02 am Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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We finished welding it to the panel, being careful to cool down every weld since we didn't want it to warp any of the panels.
Everything that has been welded will get a coat of small hair fiberglass to reinforce the area
With the headlight now welded in, we could now fabricate some metal to delete the 70's style turn signals with something a little more appropriate.
Here are a couple shots of the Driver's side with the welds ground down:
After all of welds were smooth, it was time for another coat of fiberglass across the whole section
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:19 am Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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We did a little multitasking and fabricated the metal to cover the gas tank door, antenna hole in the front, inner engine bay, and a couple of patches on the front.
Here is a little sneak peak at the Bonnet that we were talking about reversing.....honestly it looks like it should open this way.
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rward011 Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2015 Posts: 54 Location: Denver
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:39 am Post subject: Re: Ryan's 1970 Ghia Coupe Restomod |
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Now that most of the important metal work was completed, we put a skim coat of bondo (plastic filler for the sensitive), and sanded in down to see what we had to work with before putting on the first coat of primer.
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