made some progress today - Karmann Ghia

[MYBAD79]

If a VW engine does NOT leak at the pushrod tubes, how will you tell if it's got oil in it?

haha..... when it stops leaking it's empty...... :lol:

 

[MYBAD79]

That's one of the coolest ghia's I've seen.

thanks

next weekend I should be diving it..... have to bleed the brakes first, then it's good for a first test drive...... no doors yet but that's ok

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

no doors yet but that's ok

that seems to be a recurring theme around here

 

[MYBAD79]

no doors yet but that's ok

that seems to be a recurring theme around here

Yes

I am not very patient, not going to wait for the doors ..... If I get the brakes bled on Friday it's going for a test drive no matter what....

I already asked a buddy to stop by so he can shoot the video .....

 

[MYBAD79]

here we go..... it's really a lot of fun to drive but that little engine is loud as hell, even with the stock exhaust.....


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[Twin_Turbo]

stock exhaust? man that thing is loud. The neighbours are gonne love you even more now that you can drive this one too lol. You're gonna be the most popular guy on the block

 

[mrvette]

stock exhaust? man that thing is loud. The neighbours are gonne love you even more now that you can drive this one too lol. You're gonna be the most popular guy on the block

:clap: Yeh, the retired old crusty coastie across the street hates my vette for the loud exhaust....and so I put Maggies on it....

 

[MYBAD79]

Little more progress: installed the passenger side door (I have two pairs)... Still needs some tweaking for better fit ... Put the hubcaps on and took a few pics ...

 

[MYBAD79]

The other set of doors don't fit at all, I trimmed around the edges, had to re-weld because the skin would seperate .... What a pain .... Here's a good pic of what it took to make it fit



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Now it's close to perfect ..... Took some cutting, welding, filler .....


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[MYBAD79]

Started on the interior ... The big brown truck stopped by the house and delivered some good stuff from TMI interiors :




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[SuperBuickGuy]

looks excellent - I love how the colors compliment each other

 

[MYBAD79]

Thanks !!!!!

I ordered a few samples of vinyl and carpet, there are so many colors and two tone combinations to choose from..... I spent weeks trying to figure out what I want.....

More progress:



That Permatex carpet glue is some nasty stuff !!!!!


I'll email the guys I bough this interior from and see if I can get some extra carpet and vinyl to close the gap between the rear seat and seat back, for now I used some leftover vinyl from the headliner but carpet would look way better....



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Of all the color combos I looked at I really wanted two tone seats and door panels but I think it would look too "busy" with three colors inside the car....

No doubt if the car wasn't red I would have bought brick red interior with off white piping, door panels brick red and off white.....that combo would look awesome on a charcoal or black car.....

 

[Sam Cogley]

Ugh. I hate glued-in carpet and interior trim in German cars. Worst stereo install I ever did was a Porsche 944 - the lunatics in Stuttgart thought it was a great idea to put the rear quarter windows in AFTER installing the interior quarter panels. Nothing like trying to run wires under cemented-in carpet and side panels that are actually under the window seals...

Still a beautiful Ghia, though!

 

[MYBAD79]

Thanks for the reminder: I ran all the wires for the radio and amp but I have not run the speaker wires from the front to rear

:crap::crap::crap:

 

[DeeVeeEight]

That's a great looking car and some beautiful work. Makes me go nostalgic too. My family doctor always had a red Karman Ghia convertible. That was back in the day when the doctor made house-calls with his little leather bag.

 

[MYBAD79]

Almost done with the interior, have to order a few things like the door handle covers, hinges for the glove box door .... No idea where I put that stuff when I took the car apart 5 years ago.....



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[BangkokDean]

Looking really good.

 

[MYBAD79]

Ok , I found these glovebox hinges in one of the many boxes of VW parts ..... Stripped, wire brushed, primed, painted .... Like new again :


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The radio is going to be inside the glovebox, I'll fab up a plate that fits inside the glovebox to hold the radio.
In the middle of the dash will be the stock 1960's Saphire AM radio for the "classic" look

 

[DeeVeeEight]

So sweet....

 

[69427]

That car is looking pretty sharp there, Karsten.

 

[mrvette]

That car is looking pretty sharp there, Karsten.

Yeh, it does, but I want to see it 'run through the jungle'......


:bump:

 

[MYBAD79]

Ok .... After a few weeks I finally got back to working on my VW again: pulled the tank since I only painted the top part and left the lower half in epoxy primer ....
I had some charcoal grey metallic left over and a buddy gave me his DeVilbiss GTI gun so I could compare it to my Finishline ...

Well, let the photos do the talk:


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This is straight from the gun, no color sanding no polishing ... Damn that gun is sweet, lays down metallics and clear just as advertized...

 

[MYBAD79]

This is the "original appearance" Blaupunkt Saphire radio, I think it might be the "correct" radio for 1968 so there it is :



Too bad it's AM so we need a "real" radio with MP3 player in the glovebox ..... Here's what's holding the radio inside the glovebox (will be painted body color after some filler work) :

 

[MYBAD79]

Painted the support for the radio:



And installed.....


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Under the hood: the radio has to be angled down so it doesn't interfere with the hood hinge:


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[MYBAD79]

Going to pull the engine to fix a nasty annoying oil leak .... Stopped by the hardware store and got a few 12" sections of 2x12 pressure treated lumber .... These are securely bolted together awith 4" Spax screws .....
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[SuperBuickGuy]

but how will you tell that you're out of oil if it doesn't leak? :fishing:

 

[MYBAD79]

but how will you tell that you're out of oil if it doesn't leak? :fishing:

Haha.... VW aircooled engines: When they don't leak you need to add oil.....

Lol

 

[MYBAD79]

Ok.... Spent some time going thru my scrap-metal pile and then fired up the welder....


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It makes engine removal and install sooo much easier:
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[MYBAD79]

I have a feeling I need a bigger garage .....


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[BangkokDean]

I have a feeling I need a bigger garage .....


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But if you had a bigger garage, then you would need more toys......:banghead: