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dc Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2004 Posts: 1426 Location: Kitsap Peninsula
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2020 9:11 pm Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Some seam stitching the other day - driver's side is prettier welds - thicker metal here:
Passenger side metal is thinner - harder to get a clean line -
Careful grinding should make both sides pretty good with minimal filler needed - so that's good!
Lower edge area traumatized me and I'm not working on it for a few days! _________________ 1963 Karmann Ghia |
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Inchpincher61 Samba Member
Joined: February 05, 2016 Posts: 141 Location: Germany
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:52 am Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Well done man !!
Its probably the best way to weld this area point by point just to avoid deformation due to too much heat. I did just the same when we reworked the nose. I hope there will be not too many pores or holes after grinding it down.
Keep going |
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dc Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2004 Posts: 1426 Location: Kitsap Peninsula
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 7:34 pm Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Inchpincher61 wrote: |
Well done man !!
Its probably the best way to weld this area point by point just to avoid deformation due to too much heat. I did just the same when we reworked the nose. I hope there will be not too many pores or holes after grinding it down.
Keep going |
Thanks!
Back at it tomorrow is the plan - more slow and careful- nothing looks warped or "oil-canned" at this point - whew!
I did a lot of moving around the entire panel and then only about 1" at a time. _________________ 1963 Karmann Ghia |
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TRS63 Samba Member
Joined: December 17, 2017 Posts: 998 Location: Stuttgart - Germany
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dc Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2004 Posts: 1426 Location: Kitsap Peninsula
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 5:40 pm Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Several more hours of work later...
Grind the welds carefully:
Seam seal with metal/epoxy
Careful use of polyester filler - the pro variety
Primer Filler coat (over selected areas of self-etching primer)
It all looks really nice and flat - one of my best panel repairs ever
The parts that look crappy and uneven - under the driver's side vent and around the turn signals and the cruddy outer parts of the vents - are all areas that i didn't try to fix. I'm not going for perfect - the whole car would need to be blow apart for that But it's a weird way to fix a car...
More sanding, blending, painting, sanding, painting, etc. to go - but I'm happy with the progress so far _________________ 1963 Karmann Ghia |
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Marcdeb Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2019 Posts: 3031 Location: Vermont
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Onceler Samba Member
Joined: May 28, 2010 Posts: 1646 Location: Indiana
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 7:36 pm Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Nice work. Don’t be afraid of filler. Convex areas are the easiest to shape. As opposed to flat surfaces, it’s easy to spot waves on a bus.
Use 36 grit to shape the filler, and primer and finer grits to remove the scratches, not to shape. Keep up the good work! _________________ 1972 Karmann Ghia |
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dc Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2004 Posts: 1426 Location: Kitsap Peninsula
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 7:49 pm Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Onceler wrote: |
Nice work. Don’t be afraid of filler. Convex areas are the easiest to shape. As opposed to flat surfaces, it’s easy to spot waves on a bus.
Use 36 grit to shape the filler, and primer and finer grits to remove the scratches, not to shape. Keep up the good work! |
Yeah - true -
I like the filler I'm using and I may do work on the driver's side. Body work is a slow process and it's not always easy to be patient!
I am excited to get the bumper on this car _________________ 1963 Karmann Ghia |
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Onceler Samba Member
Joined: May 28, 2010 Posts: 1646 Location: Indiana
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dc Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2004 Posts: 1426 Location: Kitsap Peninsula
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2020 6:50 pm Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Another day and half of body work refining the driver's side under the vent area - it's better!
Another coat of primer - sand- a coat of sealer - and THEN-
some Dove Blue - which was great....
Until I ran out up near the top passenger side... started low on purpose and knew it would be close.... oh well - it really need two coats at least
Not sure if my paint place is open on the 3rd Might be a couple days yet _________________ 1963 Karmann Ghia |
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dc Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2004 Posts: 1426 Location: Kitsap Peninsula
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:54 am Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Second coat of paint is on :
Been working on prepping all the nose jewelry _________________ 1963 Karmann Ghia |
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9640 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2020 7:36 pm Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Quote: |
Second coat of paint is on : |
Sure looks good after all your grafting and smoothing. Will you paint the entire car with those custom-mixed spray cans, or will you attempt a repaint using a spray gun? |
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dc Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2004 Posts: 1426 Location: Kitsap Peninsula
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2020 8:01 pm Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Thanks!
I will paint the whole car that color and finish but not with touch up cans- kinda spendy! I have a gun and compressor for painting big areas... but it will be nice to drive the car this year before I worry about painting the whole thing _________________ 1963 Karmann Ghia |
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dc Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2004 Posts: 1426 Location: Kitsap Peninsula
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 9:16 pm Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Done with the nose
Well...mostly done - still gotta re-install the horns and fix the latch on the replacement hood
Really pleased with how it turned out.
Again - far from perfect - it's hard to know where to stop when you just do spot repairs
All the replacement bits- the nose/grill vents, emblem, bumper, signals are all used/worn parts that either came with the car or were bought to match relative wear and tear... _________________ 1963 Karmann Ghia |
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Vladiiiii Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2019 Posts: 518 Location: Munich, Germany
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:20 pm Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Honestly? Looking great! Congratulations on the repair. And the new color has a quite vintage theme to it, too
Vlad _________________ Vlad's 72 Ghia (Once in a Lifetime Restoration topic)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9237746#9237746 |
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Marcdeb Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2019 Posts: 3031 Location: Vermont
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dc Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2004 Posts: 1426 Location: Kitsap Peninsula
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Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 10:00 pm Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Wanted to get that nice script back on the deck BUT I was tired of looking at the yellow and purple paint in that spot. So I hit with some blue!
Also note the modern WA State tags - oh well
Messed around with an old NOS Sun 4K tachometer and transmitter box for 6 volt - 4 cylinder....
It only sort-of works Very erratic needle movement with a temporary hook-up using alligator clamps and a 1.5 volt lithium AA battery in place of the "bad boy" mercury 1.35V battery it came with originally....
4K is a little low BUT it's a cool old tach - still in the box date 2 of 1962 ! MAYBE I can get it to work...
Quick dash shot:
Yeah - I know that's a Ford Ghia badge minus the red and blue in-fill - but I kinda like it there (it's just held with some glue)
My radio is a re-furbished unit that is bench tested to work fine - but I can't get anything but soft static in the car - bad speaker?
AND
I changed the oil today for the first time since the giant rebuild - oil looked good - typical first change look - kinda gray and sparkly with teeny-tiny metal bits from break-in. I used a new sump plate and drain plug 'cause I had a leak there before! _________________ 1963 Karmann Ghia |
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sputnick60 Samba Moderator
Joined: July 22, 2007 Posts: 3915 Location: In Molinya Orbit
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Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 2:36 am Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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dc wrote: |
My radio is a re-furbished unit that is bench tested to work fine - but I can't get anything but soft static in the car - bad speaker? |
Try bad antenna, then try missing link on the DIN connector joining the RF audio out to the power amp. At least you know the audio stage is functional.
There is often a trim capacitor adjustment on the radio at the back that matches the antenna and improves reception on AM radios. Ita about 1/8" in size and usually at the back of the radio accessible without removing the covers.
Nicholas _________________ '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! |
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dc Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2004 Posts: 1426 Location: Kitsap Peninsula
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Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 9:32 am Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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sputnick60 wrote: |
dc wrote: |
My radio is a re-furbished unit that is bench tested to work fine - but I can't get anything but soft static in the car - bad speaker? |
Try bad antenna, then try missing link on the DIN connector joining the RF audio out to the power amp. At least you know the audio stage is functional.
There is often a trim capacitor adjustment on the radio at the back that matches the antenna and improves reception on AM radios. Ita about 1/8" in size and usually at the back of the radio accessible without removing the covers.
Nicholas |
Great advice! I will try those ideas/investigate _________________ 1963 Karmann Ghia |
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9640 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 11:35 am Post subject: Re: '63 Ghia - Second Chance |
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Quote: |
There is often a trim capacitor adjustment on the radio at the back that matches the antenna and improves reception on AM radios. Ita about 1/8" in size and usually at the back of the radio accessible without removing the covers. |
I remember that feature from AM radios I had in my VWs in the mid 1970's. There may be a small reference label on the radio body for this "trim" operation. By memory, the antenna needs to be fully extended, select a station ~ 1300, then turn the trim adjustment until the signal is strongest per the clarity of the speaker. |
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