Sams 1968 California KG project

[SandHamwich]

Hello! My name is Sam. I’m from Northern California and I’ve been a long time ACVW fan since I was a kid. It’s been many years since my last T1 and I’m excited for this New project.

1968 all original California survivor!



Runs drives and stops but there will be lots of work done very soon. Everything original. Engine code says H5 indicating early 1968 build date.

I’ll be doing my best to update regularly.
Thanks for looking!

[kiwighia68]

Nice paint job. And the car is nice too.

Welcome to the '68 club.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[SandHamwich]

So far from I can tell it has a narrowed, lowered beam with adjusters. The adjusters look to be the ‘heavy duty’ style, not puma. However, they were welded in pointing nearly straight down. I’m surprised they haven’t been completely ripped off by an angry pot-hole by now.

I may eventually put an unmodified (rebuilt) beam back in with drop disc spindles.

Another immediate concern is the shifter being extremely wobbly. Difficult finding 1 and 2. My guess is the bushing is toasted. So that appears to be first on the list of repairs.

The speedo also was bouncing all over on the freeway until it stopped completely. My guess was it needed lubricant until it might have broken all together. Time to investigate the cable.

[SandHamwich]

[kiwighia68]

[Vladiiiii]

Welcome to the Forum Sweet ride you have there! All things considered, 68 may be the best model year, as it has the old look but with improved gear underneath Enjoy it!
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Vlad's 72 Ghia (Once in a Lifetime Restoration topic)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9237746#9237746

[LVGhia72]

Nice find. Looking forward to follow your journey.

[Ant B]

Love it sir.
mine is a 68 too.

i will be following with anticipation.


Ant

[SandHamwich]

Took some pics today and gave it a quick inspection. Very very little rust. Overall this thing is in amazing shape.

There is one major area of concern and that’s the rear quarter(s). There seems to have been a collision and lots of body filler. Not a professional job either. Eventually I’m sure I’ll be replacing the outer skin of the entire right rear section. Not something I’m totally afraid of but also not something I want to dive into right away.

And it’s all there! A complete CA original. Interior looks to be all original.

Here’s some pics:

[LVGhia72]

It looks good. Some OG parts still on it like the washer bottle and horns etc... Hopefully, the rust areas around the inside and outside of the rear glass don't become a huge rabbit hole. If you know what I mean. I will certainly enjoy watching your progress on the Ghia.

[SandHamwich]

So I decided to do the first repair on the car. The dreaded shift rod bushing and coupler. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I want expecting, having read all the tech articles about it.

What did make it difficult was the top beam adjuster sitting right in front of the access hole. Since the shift rod is bent it had to be ”encouraged” to be removed. I had to partially disassemble the adjuster to get clearance.

I also measured the beam to see what was what and it looks like it’s 31’’ across at the center seam of the towers, so apparently stock width. The adjusters are pointing straight down so I’m assuming it was turned to get the front to drop.

I have acquired another unmodified beam that I’m planning to rebuild with drop spindles, eventually.

Under the back seat revealed some rusty pans but so far this is the only rust I have found. The heater channels looks great. It does look like the front was too low at one point and beat up the body under the nose cone. One more thing to fix!

Here’s a few more photos.

And lastly...my father in laws newest project. A one owner 1967 Triumph GT6! I have a lot of history with this very car. It belonged to a long time friends dad so I’ve been drooling over it for almost 30 years. He finally decided it was time to part with it so I felt I had to find it a new home.
Hopefully this doesn’t take up too much Ghia time haha!

[LVGhia72]

The radio tag is a nice piece of history. It has a date and address on it. I would preserve that, as it dates and identifies the cars location back in the day.

[SandHamwich]

[lonotch]

If you use a stock beam with dropped spindles they might ad width and could create a tire rub issue with the outer fenders. Im not positive but I think that CB dropped spindles ad 5/8” per side.
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It's not about the window, it's about the people.

German Folks

[SandHamwich]

[kingkarmann]

[c21darrel]

[SandHamwich]

Thanks for the tip, that convinces me. I do want as wide of a tire as possible. My wife has a lead foot!

And as for the face, I was drawing in
Procreate while I was forum surfing. It was a rainy day...

[scottandhis68]

68 would have had a wood veneer dash face. Paint looks good too. Just a preference. Also it would have had round reflectors on the rear quarter panels. Also something some people remove and weld up. Good luck and have fun. Make it your's. How you like it.

[scottandhis68]

Also, be glad you have good bumpers, trim, and seats. Good bumpers are hard to find. Seats are one year only so those are hard to find too.