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Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week?
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J1
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 11:08 pm    Post subject: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

It’s inspiring to see everyone’s restorations and repairs. But sometimes I wonder if I’m the only one making stupid mistakes!

I know I’m not but we usually don’t share our dumbo moves. So I figured I’d start and maybe it’ll provide a little therapy and humor. This hobby is supposed to be fun after all and I for one have had plenty of d'oh! d'oh! d'oh! moments and I need to get better at laughing at myself!

So...

In replacing my rear quarter pan, I decided to leave alone the salvageable seat tracks and butt weld (not overlap). That decision seems to have made fitting the new quarter pan significantly harder, at least for a novice like me.

Even after endless trimming (and a sore back), I’m left with this hack job. Now I need a patch for my patch! d'oh!
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


As it stands, the repair seems to be only marginally better than what I started with:
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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Mellow Yellow 74
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 2:36 am    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

What is the gap like at the front?
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J1
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 9:11 am    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

Mellow Yellow 74 wrote:
What is the gap like at the front?

The front is all good. Somewhere in the trimming I just got too ambitious. It was a bit difficult to measure the cut but I think I might have a better way when I do the other side.

Given the lack of responses, I guess I AM the only dumbo! That’s alright. A dose of humility is good for the soul!
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 11:54 am    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

J1 wrote:
Mellow Yellow 74 wrote:
What is the gap like at the front?


Given the lack of responses, I guess I AM the only dumbo!


Not anywhere close. I'm a member of the school-of-hard-knocks, learning most from my mistakes.

(Who has ever learned anything from getting something right the first time? Not even Einstein - his famous theory was added to an article as an addendum.)

The problem is I made so many stuff-ups it's hard to know where to start.

Do you want to know how many good speedo needles I broke until I got one in undamaged? Or about the time I replaced the globes in the rear light cluster and found that the wiring had gone crazy because - the globes were the wrong type? Or about my experience with drop spindles - and damage to the $10 000 paint job when the fenders and the tyres became too well acquainted with each other?

The list is long.
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TDCTDI
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 3:18 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

J1 wrote:
It’s inspiring to see everyone’s restorations and repairs. But sometimes I wonder if I’m the only one making stupid mistakes!

I know I’m not but we usually don’t share our dumbo moves. So I figured I’d start and maybe it’ll provide a little therapy and humor. This hobby is supposed to be fun after all and I for one have had plenty of d'oh! d'oh! d'oh! moments and I need to get better at laughing at myself!

So...

In replacing my rear quarter pan, I decided to leave alone the salvageable seat tracks and butt weld (not overlap). That decision seems to have made fitting the new quarter pan significantly harder, at least for a novice like me.

Even after endless trimming (and a sore back), I’m left with this hack job. Now I need a patch for my patch! d'oh!
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


As it stands, the repair seems to be only marginally better than what I started with:
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Put a 2x6 on your jack, jack the patch up until the largest gap is minimized, mark the overlap, trim the overlap, jack piece back into place, tack weld every 1.5-2”, then proceed to “stitch” it back together.

Most would argue that my whole thread is a rolling clusterf#%*. Laughing
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 4:24 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

TDCTDI wrote:
... Most would argue that my whole thread is a rolling clusterf#%*. :lol:


This reminds me of the orthopaedic surgeon in Cape Town talking to a young man who had suffered multiple fractures when his Harley had gone one way and he another: "Your leg is f#%*d and it's my job to unf#%*k it."

I've had to do a lot of "unf#%*ing"on my Ghia.

Not too late to "unf#%*k" your Ghia, eh?

Sorry, I couldn't resist that.
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ELFRIED
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 5:46 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

mistakes can always be made but you don't need to invent the hot water when it allready exists.
Learn from the mistakes of others , search on the net, inform yourself if your not sure...


As my grandpa used to say

measure 5 times ,cut one time not the way round...

just my 2 cents as they say in the USA


greetings and a happy Newyear
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 6:00 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

The title made me Wonder hiw NYC figured in to the Vanagon World?

Laughing Laughing

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbo,_Brooklyn

Dave
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Evil_Fiz
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 6:31 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

ELFRIED wrote:
mistakes can always be made but you don't need to invent the hot water when it allready exists.
Learn from the mistakes of others , search on the net, inform yourself if your not sure...
keep sharing your mistakes. If we all share OUR mistakes, others won't have to make the same ones. It's more efficient that way Very Happy

I have made many mistakes so far and I am still in the tear-down/paint removal stage; just wait until I get a chance to do some real damage.

-----
Emil
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TDCTDI
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 6:32 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

kiwighia68 wrote:

Not too late to "unf#%*k" your Ghia, eh?

Sorry, I couldn't resist that.

Nope, I’m having WAAAAYYY to much fun to take it back to stock, & it’s much cheaper than obsessing about all the missing or rotted correct parts. Besides, I can’t fit in a stock Ghia.
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Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.
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Mellow Yellow 74
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2018 6:27 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

J1 wrote:
Mellow Yellow 74 wrote:
What is the gap like at the front?

The front is all good. Somewhere in the trimming I just got too ambitious. It was a bit difficult to measure the cut but I think I might have a better way when I do the other side.


You could move the panel back and make the rear fit the awkward shape for a tight butt weld then butt weld in a half inch rectangular patch at the front.
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jeffrey8164 Premium Member
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2019 4:43 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

I love a tight butt.
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J1
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2019 9:54 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

I think this captures the intent of this thread well:
Evil_Fiz wrote:
keep sharing your mistakes. If we all share OUR mistakes, others won't have to make the same ones. It's more efficient that way Very Happy


And these are the concrete, practical experiences that I can put in my back pocket for future reference... and they also add a little empathetic chuckle into my day:
kiwighia68 wrote:
Do you want to know how many good speedo needles I broke until I got one in undamaged? Or about the time I replaced the globes in the rear light cluster and found that the wiring had gone crazy because - the globes were the wrong type?

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Peter D.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 1:51 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

I probably lost my mind in the last few months thinking about rust and how to get rid of it out of the tunnel. I sent it to a place in Pennsylvia called MEC to have it acid dipped. They got out most of the rust but not everything. I could hear chunks rattling around in the frame head too. It wasn't the miracle I was looking for.

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


Not satisfied I started spraying Prep & Etch in the tunnel.

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


It looked like a gunky mess and I wasn't sure how the Eastwood Internal Chassis coat would react with the slime the Prep & Etch left behind. So I spent hours with a wire brush trying to scrape it out. I should have watered it down maybe or washed it off before it became an oozy mess.

Did I mention I already had a big hole in the bottom?

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


I decided to make the hole a little bigger along that red line so I could remove that last bit of corrosion under the heater cable tubes.

Then I was looking inside the frame head and there was still rust! Ugh. So I went to home depot and purchased the biggest container I could find and made this:

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


The frame spent a week leaning against my house. The outside did get a little surface rust here and there but I got rid of it with more prep and etch. A ton of rust came out of the frame head.

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


But I could still hear chunks rattling around and previous experience with rust electrolysis told me I need to use a wire brush inside. Here's where I get really stupid: I cut a hole into both sides of the frame head so I could wire brush inside! It's now welded shut.

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

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


I used a wire brush and diluted prep & etch and got the rest of the rusty and black chunks out.

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

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


After many hours of cleaning with a wire brush on long dowel, I got my tunnel cleaned out as best I could. Yesterday I painted two coats of Master Series inside using a foam brush on dowel. Chuck wasn't kidding when he said it won't come off of your skin!

Next I'm going to weld the patch into the bottom. Then I'll need another coat on the inside bottom of the tunnel. Then finally I can start on the floors!

I have two unused cans of Eastwood Chassis coat that I might paint over the Master Series for an extra layer of protection. I probably missed a few spot inside.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 5:41 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

Nice work Pete, you can never have "too little" rust, and curious timing with the container dip tank.

I was thinking yesterday how I could submerge my rockers in Prep & Etch to der-ust them in much the same way you've done your tunnel. I thought of plugging all the holes and flooding the rockers and heater channels with prep & Etch but I fear I won't get all the exit points covered. Anyone have any better ideas than creating a large shallow pond, filling it with Prep & Etch, and setting the car body in it to submerge the rockers/heater channels? I wonder if C21darrel's fish tank pump idea can be adapted for this sub-project.

-----
Emil
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Peter D.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:14 pm    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

Laughing Thanks, Emil! There's still lots of surface and flash rust but I think this is the best I can do. I think the Master Series will put it to sleep for a good long time. And I this car will be garaged and out of the rain.

Here are some pics of of the tunnel with paint.

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.


I missed a spot.

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


I think if you wanted to get the rust out of your rockers you could squirt prep and etch in there with a garden sprayer. If there was an opening you could use a chimney cleaning brush to scrub everything out. Then rinse and repeat with diluted prep & etch. The stuff is kind of syrupy so you need to get the goo out before it solidifies. I don't think paint will adhere.

Or if your feeling ambitious build a rust electrolysis tank with some lumber and a couple of layers of tarps. As long as you have the right ratio of water to washing soda, size is not and issue and it will work. And as long as you're not in a freezing climate like Connecticut.

The problem with this is that you need to wash out the converted rust debris (gritty black stuff) and you will get lots of flash rust so either way you'll need Ospho or diluted Prep & Etch.
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 10:56 am    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

Peter, I’m not seeing the dumbo part! All seems like good industrious work to me. Way more intelligent and thorough than my approach of just snaking in the cumbersome Eastwood Internal Frame Coating, creating a messy and what I can only assume is a subpar treatment!

If you had to do this again, maybe you would have skipped the Prep and Etch and just jump right to opening up access holes and wire brushing?
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 11:06 am    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

Haha yeah, you're right. I should I have just posted this on my resto topic.

The Prep & Etch in squirted into the tunnel is a big no-no unless you rinse it right away and have access holes. I spent hours over my Christmas break getting rid of the dried goo and white powder.
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2019 12:05 am    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

My next (and unlikely not my last) contribution of dumbo moves.

Trying diy carpet. Had my existing carpet kit as a template so I laid it on the new carpet and outlined it with a sharpie. Fits nicely.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Except the carpet is upside down in the above photo!
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2019 7:45 am    Post subject: Re: Dumbo edition... What did you do to your ghia this week? Reply with quote

No worries Bro, at least you are continuing our hobby, which to most of us is all about DYI. Bonehead moves are part of the fun, and frustration, but by posting this it allows the rest of us to know what NOT to do! I can guarantee I would never be able to do as much of the assembly on my own Ghia without the awesome help from this community. I have even printed out and put together a reference manual of many of the topics I find here so I can hopefully avoid doing things more than once! Keep up the good work!
Jeff
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