Introducing the Ghiapet

[TDCTDI]

Today I addressed some simple stuff like free up a seized door latch assembly on the passenger side & then do the same to the drivers seat tracks, unfortunately, the seat still needs to go back another 4"-5" to fit comfortably.

Next, I decided to attack the rear of the car first & since the Thing front end should raise the front approximately 2.5", I'm going to shoot for roughly a 3" raise in the rear. I have some Bilstein shocks for it & those tend to raise a car about an inch so I plan to go up about 2" by adjusting the torsion bars which is just a bit less than the one notch on the outer splines, we'll start there.

Since this little guy was sagging pretty badly in the rear, the three raise of three inches, along with notching of the spring plates should still give me decent downward travel. I will be using 944 axles, CVs, & outer stubs with some bus to bug flanges at the trans (to better cope with the increased angles) & a set of type III rear drums.

So I unbolted the passenger side trailing arm & removed the spring plate cover.

Then I removed the access cover in the rear quarter & slid the spring plate off the torsion bar, through the access hole and then turned it up45* to slide it up & over the torsion bar.

And then removed the spring plate.

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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.

[TDCTDI]

Here's the difference between the new shock & the original.

So, to get a bit more travel, I installed the shock & released the trailing arm so that it could go full droop so I could determine how much of the spring plate to remove. I reinstalled the spring plate & bolted it to the outside of the trailing arm, jacked up the trailing arm ever so slightly and then scribed a line on the inside of the spring plate where the suspension stop is so that the spring plate tops out before the shock does.

Then using a straight edge I scribed a line to cut along, then put the spring plate in the drill press & drilled a hole to stop at & then trimmed away the piece to be removed. Since the stop tab on the torsion housing only makes contact with the inner spring plate, I left the outer one alone.

Then I reassembled it all & here it is with the passenger side done.

Keep in mind that it will raise a bit more when the other side is done as the passenger side is holding up the driver's side to a degree.

Why yes, it is snowing, here it is after the first 2", I went home before the next 10"

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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.

[TDCTDI]

I pulled the front beam out of the other project & the first thing that I did was to cut the upper adjuster free so I could reposition it to get the trailing arms closer to stock height, then I rewelded it & touched it back up.

Then I started to remove the beam in the Ghiapet. I started by removing the passenger side tierod

Then I removed the speedometer cable.

Next was to remove the retaining clips for the brake hoses & then the hoses themselves.

Once those were out of the way, I removed the gas tank to gain access to the steering coupler.

And then the beam to body bolts.

I then went underneath and removed the upper beam to pan head bolts.

Before removing the lower bolts, I bolted the wheels back on, then removed the lower bolts & raised the car to drop (literally) the beam.

It looks like the ideal time to replace the nonfunctioning master cylinder.

_________________
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.

[Basketcase]

not wasting any time on this one. lookin good!
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'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)

[TDCTDI]

[TDCTDI]

While trying to reassemble everything, I noticed that the steering coupler wasn't liking the angle that the steering box was at & it occurred that due to the differences in seating position & roofline between the beetle (that donated the beam) and the Ghia, there would be a definite difference in the angle of the column.

This was easily remedied by swapping the steering box clamp from the original beam.

So I buttoned it all back up & dropped it down.

Here it is outside.

I even straightened the grilles.

I still need to reposition the drivers side rear spring plate & make final suspension height adjustments.
_________________
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.

[Basketcase]

what's the plan for the body? clean it up and call it a day? or tear into it?
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'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)

[TDCTDI]

[Basketcase]

then driving the ever lovin' dog snot out of it.


now that's a plan
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'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)

[Basketcase]

then driving the ever lovin' dog snot out of it.


now that's a plan
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'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)

[bhartwell59]

[c21darrel]

[TDCTDI]

[Basketcase]

bhartwell59 wrote:

Haha, a gasser Ghia!

Fun watching this thread.



I'm glad that someone finds it entertaining, just wait until it's roadworthy.



well I thought it too....I just didn't want to be the first to say it.....
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'72 Karmann Ghia Coupe (the Boss's)

[c21darrel]

[TDCTDI]

[c21darrel]

Whats the matter you wanted them to use the braided stainless steel covered rubber lines??
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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!

[TDCTDI]

Nope, I usually find them either rusted away or they have been butchered with compression fittings, this was a new insight into the mechanically inept's understanding of automotive repair.




Out with the old.

And in with the new.

I then used one of my hammers to prop up the master cylinder so I could start the bolts.

Since I haven't had a chance to buy a roll of brake line yet, I tossed in a new/ longer speedometer cable since the original no longer reached.

_________________
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.

[sputnick60]

Since you’ve been doing a good job both on the Ghia Pet and with documenting the mechanical work, I’ve made a spot for this in the “Ghia Restoration Toipcs - for Instruction and Inspiration” sticky. You’d be on your best behavior now 😄
Nicholas
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'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[TDCTDI]