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1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration
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Legacy
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 2:49 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Over the past week or so my focus has been on the lower left rear fender. Lots of rust / bondo that needed to be cut out and replaced with new metal.

Welded in a new lower rear fender behind the wheel well and a left rear outer panel. Still have to make up a patch panel for the area above the lower rear fender that had lots of rust and therefore was cut out.

Rusted lower left rear fender
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Welded lower rear fender
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Left rear outer panel where bumper bracket goes through rear apron
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Lower rear fender welded to rear outer panel
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rbsurfguy
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 3:34 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

That looks really good, great job! I am so envious of those of you who can weld these problems away. But I do enjoy watching all of you work your metal shaping skills!
Jeff
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1971 Ghia convertible (Body off rebuild)
2019 VW Atlas 4Motion
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See my build on The Samba at:
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Legacy
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 19, 2020 5:22 am    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Spent a fair amount of time making a patch panel to replace the rusted area I cut out above the left lower rear fender. Took longer than I anticipated due to the compound curves in that section of the fender and the sharp bend where it attaches to the tail light frame.

Finally got to the point where the dry fit lined up with all the existing edges of the fender and got it welded in place.

Fender hole needing repair
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Patch panel
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Welded patah panel
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Legacy
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 3:05 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Had time over the weekend to fix the 3 rusted areas in the left rear wheel well. Made up some repair panels using my small shrinker/stretcher to match the curvature of the wheel well and welding on some extension pieces. The extension pieces were necessary because I have found that the max width I can shrink or stretch is about ¾ of an inch in width and 2 of the 3 rusted areas extended beyond ¾ of an inch from the wheel well lip.

Aside from the additional welding of the extension pieces to the curved repair piece the fix was pretty much straight forward. Cut out the rusted areas, fitted the repair pieces to the cut out area, did tack welds every inch or so, grind down the tack weld dots, planish out the weld tacks wherever I can get behind the weld, and keep repeating the tack weld/grind/planish process until the weld joint is completed.

Repair panel with extension. Had to extend the bottom portion to have the curve of the wheel well flow into the lower outer skin:
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Repair panel for leading edge of wheel well:
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Repair panel with extension at top of wheel well:
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Next step will be to apply some filler to the welded joints to compensate for any misalignment or warpage in the panels. After that is done I can declare the work on the left side of the car completed!
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Marcdeb
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 5:10 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Very nice work. I haven't done anything even close to what you are doing, but the small projects I did were fun and rewarding so you must be pretty proud of doing such awesome work.
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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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Legacy
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 4:44 am    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Marcdeb wrote:
Very nice work. I haven't done anything even close to what you are doing, but the small projects I did were fun and rewarding so you must be pretty proud of doing such awesome work.


Thanks much for the kind comment.

When I started I never really did any serious welding so I am learning as I go along. Still have a long way to go to get to the point where I don't have any misalignment or warpage in the panels.
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Legacy
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2020 3:09 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Applied some filler to the welded joint areas to take care of any misalignments or warpage in the panels. Most of the filler was a skim coat with the worst case being filler no more than 1/32 of an inch thick. To preclude surface rust from developing I applied rattle can sandable primer. My plan is to leave that on the car until I finish all rust repairs and then remove the primer before applying a DTM epoxy.

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Next will be to start the rust repair on the right side of the car. Basically will need to duplicate the repairs I did to the left side.
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Legacy
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 9:18 am    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Started the repair on the right side. Basically I’ll have to duplicate on the right side all the repairs I did on the left side. Hopefully the second time around will go a little quicker.

Initially I am focusing on the rusted areas behind the right rear wheel opening.
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First step was to cut out all the rusted areas, including the section below the taillight, lower part of rear fender behind the wheel opening, and the rear bumper mount.

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One issue I was concerned about was ensuring the bottom or the rear fender behind the wheel opening on the right side was the same height as the left side. Otherwise when viewed from the back the car might appear lopsided. After considering different techniques I came up with this homemade jig.
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The reference point for the jig is the hole in the rear fender for the side reflector. After verifying the hole was located in the same position on both the left and right rear fenders I set up the homemade jig on the left side to determine the distance from the reflector hole to the bottom of the fender. The drill bit holds the stick in the reflector hole, the level ensures the stick is not offset from vertical, and the carpenter’s square is moved up the stick until it contacts the bottom of the lower rear fender and then held in place with a spring clamp. I can now use the jig to position the lower rear fender repair panel on the right side when I get to the point of welding it in place.
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Marcdeb
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 9:26 am    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Legacy wrote:
Started the repair on the right side. Basically I’ll have to duplicate on the right side all the repairs I did on the left side. Hopefully the second time around will go a little quicker.

Initially I am focusing on the rusted areas behind the right rear wheel opening.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


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


One issue I was concerned about was ensuring the bottom or the rear fender behind the wheel opening on the right side was the same height as the left side. Otherwise when viewed from the back the car might appear lopsided. After considering different techniques I came up with this homemade jig.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The reference point for the jig is the hole in the rear fender for the side reflector. After verifying the hole was located in the same position on both the left and right rear fenders I set up the homemade jig on the left side to determine the distance from the reflector hole to the bottom of the fender. The drill bit holds the stick in the reflector hole, the level ensures the stick is not offset from vertical, and the carpenter’s square is moved up the stick until it contacts the bottom of the lower rear fender and then held in place with a spring clamp. I can now use the jig to position the lower rear fender repair panel on the right side when I get to the point of welding it in place.


That is well thought out. Great ingenuity. This car is lucky to have ended up in your hands. Amazing how good it looked when you first got it! A good example for what people need to look for before buying.
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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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rcooled
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 10:37 am    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Legacy wrote:
...I applied rattle can sandable primer. My plan is to leave that on the car until I finish all rust repairs and then remove the primer before applying a DTM epoxy.

Looks like everything's coming along really well...good job! Amazing how much damage was hiding beneath that fairly decent-looking paint job Shocked

One question: After welding in the patch panels, how do you protect the back side of the patch from rusting...especially if the back side is inaccessible once the patch is in place?
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'67 Ghia convertible (current)
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Legacy
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 1:45 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Marcdeb wrote:


That is well thought out. Great ingenuity. This car is lucky to have ended up in your hands. Amazing how good it looked when you first got it! A good example for what people need to look for before buying.


Thanks for the kind comment about my ingenuity. I do enjoy trying to solve problems using things I have laying around the garage.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread I inspected the car before we bought it and could see evidence of the half ass restoration including extensive use of bondo. We knew what we were getting but the price was really good. My advice to anyone considering buying a classic car is to always check the body over with a magnet.
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Legacy
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 1:57 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

rcooled wrote:
Legacy wrote:
...I applied rattle can sandable primer. My plan is to leave that on the car until I finish all rust repairs and then remove the primer before applying a DTM epoxy.

Looks like everything's coming along really well...good job! Amazing how much damage was hiding beneath that fairly decent-looking paint job Shocked

One question: After welding in the patch panels, how do you protect the back side of the patch from rusting...especially if the back side is inaccessible once the patch is in place?


I try to protect the inside of panels with epoxy paint before welding them in place. I've tried weld thru primer but not with much success so now I just paint the entire piece and than after the paint cures I remove the paint only at the weld joint before welding. I have also used the Eastwood internal frame coating spray paint when I can find a small access hole to the cavity I want to protect. It comes with a hose and nozzle that allows you to put the spray on internal areas such as a boxed frame of a car.
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Legacy
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:50 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Didn’t have much free time today so decided to do something different on the car. Rather than working on repairing the rusted areas, decided to modify the driver’s seat track to allow for more leg room. Although this is my wife’s car when we both go out in it, I generally do the driving. At 6’3” plus and around 270 lbs it is not easy getting in and out of the car. There is adequate leg room when I’m in the car, but as my wife says, it is not pretty watching me get in or out of it.

Rather than detaching and moving the seat tracks further back on the floor pan and welding them in place I saw a thread on this forum that talked about bending the seat track tabs/prongs down, and installing bolts. Credit forum member “donmurray”, https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=457971&highlight=leg+room for the idea. Sounded like a simple solution that wouldn’t take long to do and doesn’t require any welding inside the car.

Took me about an hour to complete the modification. I made myself a template based on the original tabs/prongs to ensure the holes I drilled for the bolts were positioned correctly from the top of the track and the spacing between them was the same as the tabs/prongs. Only thing I did different than the referenced writeup is I used 3/16” stainless steel bolts rather than 1/4 inch bolts. Didn’t need to grind them down, which would have to be done if using 1/4 inch bolts. Besides, I figure the shear strength of a 3/16” stainless steel bolts is plenty adequate for holding the seat in position.

Moving the seat track “stops" back 2 inches made getting in and out of the car significantly easier, although my wife would still say its not pretty.

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In case you are wondering, the white residue on the top of the seat tracks is DuPont's Teflon non-stick dry film lubricant. Stuff works pretty good and not as messy as grease or some other lubricants that attract dirt.
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Legacy
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 07, 2020 4:19 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Spent some time over the last couple of days repairing the rusted areas behind the right rear wheel opening.

Fabricated a repair piece for the lower section of the inner wheel well that was rusted out. Welded in a new rear bumper mount and the wheel well repair piece.
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Since the rear fender was rusted far up the side of the fender (see pictures earlier in this thread) had to weld in a piece of sheet metal to extend the fender down far enough to have solid sheet metal for welding in the aftermarket lower rear fender patch panel.
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Because of the compound curve near the taillight opening found it easier to fab that piece separately and weld it to the lower rear fender patch panel before welding the whole thing together. Used my home made jig, discussed earlier in this thread, to ensure the bottom or the right rear fender behind the wheel opening was the same height as the left side.
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There were a couple of rusted areas on the wheel opening lip that I had to cut out, fab a couple of patch panels, and tack weld in place.
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Next steps will be to finish weld all the panels that were tack welded and fab repair panels for the rear portion of the right rear outer panel where the bumper bracket opening is located.
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Braukuche
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 07, 2020 4:33 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Nice job, those areas are a PITA to repair.
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1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
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1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
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Legacy
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:10 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Focused on repairing the rusted section below the right tail light over the past few days.
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Due to the compound curves in the section below the tail light and the rear apron, I knew I wasn’t capable of making a one piece repair panel to fix the rusted area so decided to do the fix with two repair panels I could make up.
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This is the first piece I made to span from the rear apron area and curve down to meet the lower rear fender. Key for me was to make sure the bottom of the repair panel curved down the same as the left side so when looking at the rear of the car things looked symmetrical.
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Once the first repair piece was welded in place made a pattern for the second repair piece. Took some time to get all the compound curves right and have the repair panel fit tightly in the enclosed open space.
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Don’t have any pictures of it but wanted to mention that I made templates at various vertical points, about 1” apart, between the section below the tail light and the rear apron. I used a contour/profile gauge on the finished left side to trace the various curves onto a series of templates and then used the templates to make sure the curves in the repair panels were similar to those on the already repaired left side of the car.

Still need to cut the hole in the repair panel for the bumper bracket and apply filler to the welded joints to compensate for any misalignment or warpage
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Legacy
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 28, 2020 4:11 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Finished repairing the rear right fender / lower tail light section.

Cut the hole in the rear panel for the bumper bracket.

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Applied a skim coat of filler over the weld joints to correct any misalignment / warpage and sprayed primer on the repaired areas.

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Next will be to attack the right side heater channel, rocker, inner and outer lower skins in front of rear wheel, front dog leg and any other surprise rusted areas I find, and I’m sure there will be some surprises.

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 25, 2021 4:47 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Over the past few days got to start repair on the forward section of the right side.

Repaired the right side fresh air ducting. Cut our the rusted areas, made up some repair panels, treated rusted areas with rust converter, welded the repair panels in place and treated all joints with seam sealer.

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The A pillar on the right side was like what I founded on the left side, rusted out areas in the lower section of the A pillar. Made up a bunch of repair pieces, did rust converter application, and welded the repair pieces in place. Wasn’t concerned about cleaning up the spot welds or how the repair pieces looked. My focus was on ensuring functionality and not appearance. May not be factory original but considering it will not be visible when exterior sheet metal is in place I figured it will serve the purpose of directing air from the heater channel to where it is suppose to go and save me some money by not having to buy aftermarket repair pieces.

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To finish off, will paint all repair pieces and where appropriate apply undercoating.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 04, 2021 1:47 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Been a while since I’ve reported on progress on my wife’s 69 KG restoration. Since my last update I’ve replaced all the rusted areas on the right side of the car. Basically, I duplicated the repair work I did on the left side. Cut out all the rusted areas.
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Fabricated and installed my home made heater channel. Forgot to take pictures but the fabrication and installation is the same as what I did on the left side (see page 3 of this thread for details of the fabrication and installation. Removed the old rocker panel and welded in a replacement aftermarket rocker
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Replaced a few rusted sections of both wheel well openings.
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Cut out the rusted portion or the rear quarter inner and outer lower sections in front of the rear wheel well. Welded in replacement sections.
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Replaced the rusted lower portion of the front wheel well dog leg.
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Nice to have the right side of the car done.
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Now that both sides and the rear of the car have all the rust taken care of next I will tackle the portion of the car I’ve put off till last (the front end) because I’m not looking forward to it. The entire lower section of the nose needs to be replaced, the nose ridge is pushed in; the fresh air vent openings have rusted edges; the headlight openings/buckets need replacing; the sections below the headlight opening have extensive rust; and both fenders in front of the wheel wells, while not rusted, are damaged badly from an apparent accident and will need a fair amount of hammer and dolly work. In some places the bondo on the front of the car was well over ¼ inches.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 12:25 pm    Post subject: Re: 1969 Karmann Ghia Auto Stick Restoration Reply with quote

Worked on the nose today. Nose had been pushed in (is anyone surprised) so decided to try a homemade tool to body work the ridge and flat spots on either side of the ridge.

This is the homemade tool I used. Nothing fancy, just part of the shank of an old bolt bent to match the curvature of the nose ridge. To have something to help hold it in place and hammer against I just welded on another bolt I had laying around. Had to make sure the welded “bolt handle” was in line with the curved bolt shank. Just made sure both were laying flat on my welding table when I welded them together.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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


Using the tool and a dolly with the right curvature I was able to work out the flat spot in the nose. All work was done for the inside of the nose with the spare tire removed.

Doing an “eyeball” check from the side and with a template that was made from non-damaged sections of the nose indicated the repaired area matches well with the rest of the nose curvature.


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.
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