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sputnick60 Samba Moderator
Joined: July 22, 2007 Posts: 3918 Location: In Molinya Orbit
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9656 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 11:47 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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We are still experiencing technical difficulties...
VW Fever — The Lost Episodes
Oddly, I have only recently recalled three other VW’s that have passed through my life in one way or another, for better or worse.
Episode 1
I now remember lusting after a bug with a sunroof during my high school years. It was owned by a rival in my group of friends. He was older and cooler but I was smarter and played guitar. The group was in tension, swaying back and forth in leadership. The bug was the ultimate totem though, tough to go cruising on the back of a solid body electric. The whole fiasco went up in smoke when we moved out of that El Paso desert back to Connecticut for my senior year. It seems my lust for the bug suffered the same fate. _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 10:45 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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VW Fever — The Lost Episodes
Episode 2
So, after graduating from said high school, I met a fellow guitarist from another school and we started gigging. Became my best friend at the time— we even started up at the same univeristy.
One of our early gigs was at this school in some basement they had set aside for student activities. I have not thought about this gig in a long time but I now remember it was where I first played an original song. I don’t think I ever played that song again...
Anyway, we got hungry. I think marijuana had something to do with his hunger but, believe it or not, I never tried it— and this is 1969! For some reason, I was sent out on a McDonalds run. What’s odd about it is that I did not have a car and had to borrow my friends. Yep, an old school bug (no sunroof though). I swear even I with my complete car naïveté knew it was an old one (oval window?). Well, even odder, it was his father’s.
Now that I think about it, this must be the car I learned to drive a shift on as he was the one who taught me.
So here I am alone in my friend’s father’s VW, just having learned manual, on a lonely back road driving back with a bunch of McDonald’s when I come to a one-lane railroad underpass. And there is another car coming the other way...
We seemed to be at an impasse for a moment and then the doors of the other car open and this group of unruly kids come at me with bad intent.
Without much thought, in a panic, I grind away trying to find reverse (notice how some things never change). Some how it popped in and I starting backing up wildly. Of course, this just egged them on— a chase! They all ran back into the car and started after me— forward to my backward. I knew I had to try to turn around and gave it a shot but, as I did so, I went up on some embankment and hit a tree with the left rear fender.
To this day, I think that saved me from a much worse fate. The idiots rolled down their windows and gaffawed at my predicament as they drove on down the road. And I had to face my friend who had to face his father with the sad tale.
With the whole point of the trip spilled on the floor.
If anyone out there was on the other end of this exchange I would like to have a word in private with you. _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 11:08 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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VW Fever — The Lost Episodes
Episode 3
Time passes. An amazingly short amount as it did not seems so back then.
And my friend meets a girl and marries her lickity split. I think it might have had something to do with her new yellow 1971 Super Beetle.
Yet another VW that passed through my life. I don’t believe that I ever drove it but do remember sitting the in back seat as though I was their child as we would drive to Perkins Steak ‘n Cake for breakfast. It was all shiny and new with that crisp German feeling.
The fact that these cars got lost in time just goes to show you that these were just generic in my mind. I spelled car “V” “W”.
And the next car I bought was a Bus that we turned into the camper I wished it was.
And the next car we bought was a Rabbit.
And the next car... well it would have been some VW as well. We went to a VW dealer to buy one of their demonstrators. Seemed to be a reasonable deal but you know me. Remarkably, after being sold on it by someone higher up than a salesperson, a salesperson took us aside and warned us that the car had been in an accident. Equally shocked by the news and his candor, we demurred with his superior and never walked on a VW lot again.
Guess they hadn’t figured out that its the customer not the sale yet.
We bought Japanese every car after that until my TTS. _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 4:30 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Please stand by...
_________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:31 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Best. Father’s. Day. Ever.
_________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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rbsurfguy Samba Member
Joined: August 10, 2008 Posts: 1757 Location: Fairfax, Northern Virginia Formerly Huntington Beach, SoCal
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:58 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Your kid helping you run wires?? Awesome, Happy Father's Day!
Jeff _________________ 1971 Ghia convertible (Body off rebuild)
2019 VW Atlas 4Motion
2012 Passat-Sold
See my build on The Samba at:
Jeff's 71 Vert Restoration/Reassembly http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6...highlight= |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:59 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Yep. Thanks Jeff!
And as you might imagine, we’ve never worked on a car together before!
Happy Father’s Day to all! _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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Marcdeb Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2019 Posts: 3039 Location: Vermont
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 7:44 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Jeez, I think you might be right Marc! _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 2:22 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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So here’s what using the top of a shift boot for booting the wire harness to the tube:
Not a tight fit, so we zip tied it in. Looks like we need to do at where the wire enters as well.
Here’s our test fit:
It seems that it needs to be pushed up and out even more but it’s hard to see how this can be accomplished. Maybe tightening the bolts just enough to hold and some judicious hammering?
So, is there something I need to put on this painted panel to preserve it or can we just leave it pretty? _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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c21darrel Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2009 Posts: 8211 Location: San Dimas
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 4:32 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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c21darrel wrote: |
Body color is one way to go. Rubber mallet is a great tool for getting hinge cover in place
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Oh man, wasn’t thinking of it like that— thought maybe some sort of protective coating. We did do a bit of rubber malleting — perhaps we we try again with a bit more persistence.
Thanks Darrel! _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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c21darrel Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2009 Posts: 8211 Location: San Dimas
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Marcdeb Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2019 Posts: 3039 Location: Vermont
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Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:19 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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I have the same dilemma; nice freshly painted hinge covers that don't match the wheel well which in my case is undercoated. Maybe a good cleaning of the wheel well and a light coat of flat or semi gloss black paint?? _________________ Marc
68 Karmann Ghia Cabrio Autostick
71 Karmann Ghia Cabrio
Previously Owned:
2011 VW EOS Hard Top Conv
2008 Saab 9-3 2.0T Conv
2003 Saab 9-3 SE Conv
2001 Saab 9-3 Conv
1998 BMW 3 Series Conv
1997 Saab 900 Conv
1997 Mazda Miata
68 Ghia Vert Survivor with 22,350 miles: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768107&highlight=
71 Ghia Vert Restoration: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=726710&postorder=asc |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:23 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Oh, and don’t you know there are literally billions of people who would love our problems? _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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sputnick60 Samba Moderator
Joined: July 22, 2007 Posts: 3918 Location: In Molinya Orbit
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 3:49 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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sputnick60 wrote: |
Rubber mallet, some type of lubricant, and a heat gun to soften the seal.
Nicholas |
Don’t know why I didn’t think of this — exact same routine to get the robot up and running.
Thanks Nicholas! _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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sputnick60 Samba Moderator
Joined: July 22, 2007 Posts: 3918 Location: In Molinya Orbit
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