1969 Karmann Ghia restomod

[kimkinzie]

Brembo Rotors

follow-up from earlier post, races pressed, grease in hand

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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

Bluff

AMZN /Amazon shenanigans were purely for illustration purposes, will be immediate <return> ... see <acting, decoy, fodder>

I can drive 10 miles to Carquest, thank you

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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

"Be Prepared"

removable for race day, yet ready for any road hazard, or tune up? ... or road trips ... most stuff bought for $3-$10 at garage sales

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'69 Ghia

[kingkarmann]

[kimkinzie]

Well, that took quite a bit of time to get all the parts in the car, but she is now ready to get on a few test tracks

choices, choices .. which pony should I benchmark against ?

test results will be posted after tune-ups

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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

progress .. and possibilities in the future [[[ Porsche Boxster underpinning, KG <styling> ]]]

Do you think a snorkel is too much (already enough downforce in rear from Porsche 356-style 2054cc, spoiler not needed) ? I would certainly need full rear window visibility, so an open view through to the engine make sense

muffler off -

future -

future <hybrid>
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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

fun.fun.fun .. 'til daddy takes the t-bird away

driving approach : goose & glide

adding : improved tuning on valve heads, geometry, and ports

todo : geometry verification in 420-440 range, currently there is a rough crank sound, but it wants to fire up [[[ valve geometry adjustment 2.morrow ]]]

remaining : colortune on idle, Bosch 009 advance tuning to 33 degrees +/-, ignition points, verify rotor and new spark plugs, wires, and #tolerances <everywhere>

in-flight testing : carburetor sync & balance, new test gauges in engine bay
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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

starting to lighten the overall weight, hopefully by <official> track day, it should be around 1,700 lbs

no idea about gearing, final drive, and needs speedometer calibration on new set of 1969 vintage (OG) gauge cluster, interior upgrades, and Alcantara headliner and back shelf.

Muffler and license plate repainted in flat statin black, heat [ ceramic ] treated and cured, needs in-car heat cycle. Using extreme high heat rattle can paint from home depot (to 2000 degrees). cut-down chromoly (Taiwan sourced) adjustable push rods. adjusted to zero lash, 2 x 1/6 shims removed under each header bolt.

Added removable, lightweight instrument cluster for engine bay - voltage, oil pressure, oil temperature, and RPM (for carburetor tune in back). Lights to be able to see during any road rally stop. Tools up front only during road trips, and debugging runs. Interior is 100% stock cluster with clock -> 6,000 RPM tachometer.

major new components : Brembo front brake rotors, Timken bearings/grease; fluff : removable Blaupunkt radio (purely for shows), single 4.5' speaker in dash, stereo antenna testing under way

tuning : speedometer is currently reading 10-12% low. e.g. 74 mph speedo = 65 mph in actual speed (GPS verified). This needs to be fixed in order to get accurate speed & distance calculations. Running 185/55R15 on all 4 corners with Enkei classic rims and Kuhmo Ecsta high performance summer tires. It's dry in California, right now. Sun shining. It's gonna be epic
future: corner balance, pans

original 1958 catlalog:

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'69 Ghia

[Rome]

[kimkinzie]

sure hope we aren't '#Illuminati-shy":

[jeffrey8164]

I can’t find the link for the people that can re-gear a stock speedometer.
You can however get a programmable speedometer.
https://www2.cip1.com/c34-ees9-1b36-04b/

There are GPS based senders for them too.

https://www2.cip1.com/c34-vt-1000/

I went the first route since I’m running 195/45s on my fronts.
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Volkswagen!
Turning owners into mechanics since 1938.

“Let he that is without oil throw the first rod”
(Compression 8.7:1)

[kimkinzie]

Been a while since the last update. A number of changes were made in the last 5 months:

- cut down a new set of Chromoloy rods 1/4" for improved valve geometry
- recalibrated valve lash to .006"
- installed new Bosch distributor cap
- set Timken races and bearings into Brembo rotors, installed on front
- repainted exhaust in matte black, new gaskets and mounting hardware

The push rods were a bit of a job to get right. In the end, I re-inserted a .06" shim beneath the rocker arms and ran the car for a few hundred miles to seat the cut-down rods.

The valve covers continued to leak, and stained the exhaust with oil leaks. On the advice of a local air-cooled shop (Old Volks Home in Santa Cruz, CA), I ordered up a set of Aluminum bolt-on valve covers to handle the extra lift on the valves (this whole push rod/geometry issue started with dimples found on the inside of the previous covers). These were *great* - after a bit of adjustment, the oil leaks stopped and now allow for work to begin on the carburetors and brakes.

The gas mileage started out horrendous, and now is just bad. I examined the back disk brakes and found the caliper slide rods a bit dry due to cracked, brittle, and broken rubber boots. A bit of Permatex brake grease was applied to stop a bit of residual binding, and new boots are on order.

The front brakes are another deal - both calipers are binding after stomping hard on the pedal. I ordered up a rebuild kit from Rockauto and will make sure all the seals and slider are working when there is enough time to take it all apart and inspect.

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'69 Ghia

[Ian Godfrey]

Good improvements to your Ghia
most people run Chromoly pushrods at 'loose zero', due to the different expansion rate to an VW pushrod.
If yours sound a bit noisey (clickity) it is something to consider.

[kimkinzie]

Push rods had sufficient break-in period, so adjusted to 'loose zero' as Ian suggested. In general, the engine is sounding better than ever before. I believe the extra clearance at the valve covers helped a lot with oil consumption and case pressure. The oil catch can remains dry.

Vintage Radio

I purchased this period-correct Blaupunkt radio from Ebay sometime last year and stashed it away in the garage. It is in working condition, so I went ahead and got a 4" dash-mount speaker. The antenna was a simple windshield-mount that ensures adequate reception and tucked nicely beneath the front hood. To fill the enlarged gap (and sharp metal edges) from a previous after-market stereo, the dash hole was fitted with a rubber gasket usually intended for a door guard.

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'69 Ghia

[Rome]

I'm glad your Ghia's engine has not overheated yet. You're running German heater boxes with NO cooling air blowing through them. All the heat that stays inside the HB will rise and contact the underside of the head and outer ends of the cylinders/pistons.

You either need to remove those plugs from the fan shroud rear face and from the rear breast plate, run hoses down from the shroud to the inlets of the HB; or remove the HB entirely and use J-pipes.

Your 044 heads have larger than stock exhaust valves; they usually start at 35 mm diameter. Using those with the stock German heater boxes which were designed for 1 3/8" internal pipe diameters and 32 mm exh valves is another mismatch- the HB cause a restriction for the increased exhaust flow going through the larger exh valves. Another reason to ditch the HB and use some 1.5" J-pipes.

[kimkinzie]

All the engine tin is in place, doghouse cooler in the fan shroud, the heater vents and engine rear apron have been properly sealed. Going the J-pipe route opens a whole 'nuther can of worms (and forum backlash). The short merge collector on the existing dual exhaust is indicated to provide 12% improved flow (3605 Streetster Dual Quiet Pack).

Quite honestly, I am not worried about the engine temperatures. There is an external oil filter and an extra-deep oil sump from CB Performance. I installed a VDO temperature sending unit next to the oil pressure sensor and corresponding VDO 120-300 gauge. A solid freeway run at 65 mph (3700 RPM) indicates an oil temperature of 180 degrees.
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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

Finally getting around to the brake system. All four corners were bled with DOT3 fluid; caliper slides re-greased and dried rubber boots were refreshed. This immediately removed the squishy pedal feel when standing on the brakes at the stop light. The driver-side front ATE-1 disk may need rebuilding in the future due to a latent rubbing sound.

Gas Mileage

This has always been a thorny issue. The new pushrods and bolted valve covers lifted the mileage from the single digits (after a break-in period). Setting the timing advance to 30 degrees and balancing the carburetors has smoothed the running condition, but cylinder #4 spark plug remains a bit wet compared to all the others. It seems that the idle adjustment screw has no effect - so Redline rebuild kits were ordered to clean up the Weber 44s.

Gearing

Well, this is definitely NOT a freeway flyer transmission. I used the guide from https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7908377 to determine that the final gearing ratio is 4.38 (4.5 turns of crank in second gear for full rotation of IRS rear wheel.)
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'69 Ghia

[jeffrey8164]

I know you’ve been chasing mileage for a while. I wish I had a magic answer for you but I don’t.
I’m running a 2276 with a Web 86a cam, dual 45 Dells and a Chrome 094 distributor with a Pertronix II setup. I changed my transaxle from the rip off (that’s another story) 4.37 to a 3.88 with a Weddle .82 4th and a Peloquin differential.
I’m getting 28mpg so there is hope.
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Volkswagen!
Turning owners into mechanics since 1938.

“Let he that is without oil throw the first rod”
(Compression 8.7:1)

[kimkinzie]

Thanks for your words of encouragement, jeffrey. I fundamentally feel that this car has good components, they just aren't working in an optimal fashion (tuning required.) After discovering that the transaxle isn't quite what I was told, replacing the R&P gears to a 3.88 makes perfect sense - it seems like a straightforward procedure if/when the motor and transmission are removed. I am summoning the courage, and will take some more time to research your build and other forum posts. Knowing this a viable option on a stronger motor opens up a lot of possibilities ...

In the meantime, I am removing any residual friction points. While bleeding the brakes, the driver's side front always seemed to produce bubbles in the see-through tubing going into the catch container, no matter how delicately the brake was pressed/released. The fix was traced down to the bleeder valve itself - it was seriously rusted. Replacing the screw with a 7mm x 1.0 from Amazon fixed the issue. Brake calipers no longer bind after verifying on a gentle downslope without the engine running. Hard stomps and gentle feathering produced zero noise at all four corners.

There was some residual grease that was starting to spray in the fender wells due to cracked CV rubber boots (noted in photos a year ago.) I went ahead and ordered up some IAP replacements from Rockauto and installed the CV axles. Boy, what a messy job ...
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'69 Ghia

[kimkinzie]

Breaking Bad Brakes

Brake wiring for 1969 year models is very confusing. Referencing the diagrams on Samba, you get various different interpretations and configurations. These need to be reconciled with the setup you have installed on your VW. The final two configurations allow for the dash-mounted warning lamp to light up in the case of a misconfiguration or malfunction:

I snapped a picture of the master cylinder while the front wheels were removed for brake bleeding. After finishing up, I noticed that the rear stop lights remained lit (ON) when there was no pressure on the brake pedal. Using the guide from Dual Brake Circuit Warning Lamp, it was able to isolate the problem to the rear brake sensor. The 2 prong connector was +12v on both spades, indicating a malfunction. In order to fix the non-functional warning lamp, I went ahead and ordered two 3-prong connectors. The wire coloring on the front sensor was hidden beneath a rubber boot - pulling back the sheath, it clearly showed that the front brake sensor was wired wrong.

Looking back at the original wiring diagrams and probing each wire for +12v, it seems that the wiring harness was set up for the middle (3 * 2 prong) configuration. IF the warning light was working, it would have lit up every time the front brakes were activated. I went ahead and rewired the front sensor correctly, pressing the two leads which had been previously zip-tied into service. Due to the fault-tolerant nature, unplugging the faulty rear sensor produced the correct stop light behavior once again. I'll get the dash warning light functional once the new sensors arrive.
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'69 Ghia