|
Post by Volktales on Mar 12, 2016 21:03:55 GMT -8
Back on the track again...
I became bored so decided to paint the car the original Ruby Red again. Or not. I had previously cleaned the area under the gas tank in the past, and it was still relatively clean. All that red paint is original and still even shines a bit too. I won't be repainting it. I removed the fuel tank to replace the small fuel hose and discovered a slight leak from the tank spigot. Will have to reseal that, although the threads on the spigot retainer were not all that good...
I also decided to adjust the original steering box, instead of replacing it. It was not that bad, but a little tweak to the adjustment screw (the slot head visible inside the ring of the 17mm wrench), made a noticeable difference. We will see how it feels on the road. I do need to top up the fluid level in the steering box. That little square head plug is the hole to add fluid. In this case, these early boxes were filled with "pourable grease". Good luck finding that at Lordco or Bakers nowadays. Neither had any idea what I was talking about. I will have to find a different source...
Now onto the inner front fender panels. Since I applied fresh undercoating to the rear of the car, I wanted to repeat this to the front. The drivers side was mint with the exception of some irritated daddy long legs that had taken up long term residence. The passenger side had some issues however... Long ago this car saw some accident action to the passenger side. The rear quarter panel was completely replaced and whoever did this job, made nice work of it. Whoever replaced the front fender, should have received an ass kicking... The outside of the front fender was replaced with a new one, welded along the original seams. EXCEPT they left a very large overlap underneath, and made no attempt of any kind to seal it. If this car was not from California, that poor repair would have rusted to nothing in no time at all...
I borrowed Dad's Dremel tool, and carefully cut the overlap off as close as I dared to the welded line. Fortunately only very slight surface rust was seen, although there were some spots where bondo had been pushed through some pinholes. It is common to find on older cars accident damage that was pulled out using old dent pullers. These tools required drilling holes that were supposed to be welded up later. Many shops left out that step and just troweled on the bondo, and let is squeeze through the holes like toothpaste. Saw a few of those on this car...
I sealed up the gaps with a good seam sealer. After this dries I will apply the undercoating. This is what that crappy body shop SHOULD have done all those years ago... Tomorrow morning is undercoating time, reinstall the freshly painted shocks, put the tank back in, and then move a bunch of junk out of the car's way. If the weather cooperates, hopefully the car will move outside...
|
|
|
Post by PICTUP on Mar 12, 2016 22:29:36 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Mar 13, 2016 19:45:02 GMT -8
Well the weather did absolutely NOT co-operate today... Car is still in garage. Fuel tank still has to be installed because I am looking for a better fitting that screws onto the bottom of the tank... The threads in this "nut", are not very healthy and you wouldn't want it to come undone...
|
|
|
Post by Wongai on Mar 14, 2016 7:05:37 GMT -8
The weather is not helping at all. I've got both my buses out there right now, while I finish the beetle and detail my Toyota for sale. Makes me sad to see them sitting out there. B
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Mar 18, 2016 20:07:26 GMT -8
So a quicky update... The undercoating has been completed, the ignition switch has been changed for a better looking item, a prototype prop rod for the engine compartment lid has been "found" in the back yard... The basement was cleared out and the car actually moved outside under its own power. For a couple of minutes anyway... I just turned it around and drove it right back in the basement as it was my intent to complete the tuning there. Anyway I decided against this, so will back the car out tomorrow and finally set the timing, carb balance, mixture, etc... Hope the damn thing works better then it did in the past... We will soon find out...
|
|
|
Post by PICTUP on Mar 18, 2016 21:22:28 GMT -8
Hope the damn thing my cherished Ghia works better than it did in the past... We will soon find out... Fixed that for ya I am sure it will, how can it not?? Better watch it though, it might become a daily over the summer
|
|
|
Post by Brenticon on Mar 19, 2016 11:55:50 GMT -8
I'm off for a few days if you need a test pilot ...
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Mar 19, 2016 19:43:12 GMT -8
Here we go again...
This is what the repaired area looked like after undercoated. I used a Pro-form gravel guard material instead of true undercoat. This was bought by mistake, but I liked how it looked and used it anyway...
And here we are outside, giving the car its first wash in quite some time. Funny how this thread has been continuing for awhile, but I never had a picture of the complete car here.
Those tailpipes are a bit bigger then original, aren't they? On the Vintage Speed muffler, they are welded on and not removable. I am quite pleased with the sound, although a bit noisier then I hoped. A much deeper, throatier noise than stock.
Had to clean up the dash before this picture. I tried turning the heater on and was rewarded with a spectacular dust and debris shower. The air flow out the defroster ducts was impressive compared to other VWs I have owned. I seriously doubt the heater boxes have been hooked up in decades.
And there it is. I spent a lot of time fiddling with the linkage and carb adjustments while the engine was still on the bench. As a result of this, not much time was spent on this once up and running. The timing was set at 7 degrees before top dead centre for now. The vacuum port I added for the vacuum advance distributor works fine, so was happy about that. Once the engine is broken in a little, I will spend more time fiddling with the optimum timing. The carbs balanced up nicely, as did the fuel mixture; the linkage needed a very slight tweak. So far, so good.
And look! Proof I actually drove it! Actually put on a whopping 9 miles today. Then the rain started...
So what now? The test drive was successful. The basically free transmission that I installed worked flawlessly, so I was very happy about that. The gearing is much better suited for this engine. With regards to the engine, it pulled smoothly at all rpms without any hesitation or popping. The vacuum advance installation was a success. Even the brakes felt better then I remember, and it is nice I now have a fully functional park brake! So what does the car still need???
|
|
|
Post by CrazyBrit on Mar 19, 2016 19:51:59 GMT -8
Looks fantastic Russ. It sounds like what it really needs is to be driven. I'm sure there will be plenty of volunteers!
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Mar 19, 2016 19:55:40 GMT -8
Well, there is one thing that MUST be done because it WILL irritate me every time I get behind the wheel. The driver's door is not latching properly. And the culprit is extreme wear. (What a surprise.) The door hinge pins and bushings are extremely worn out and have been that way for a very long time. As the door sagged, the catch assembly took quite a beating and is well worn out as well. I am not looking forward to the job of replacing the pins and bushings, but it must be done. Otherwise it is just a case of yet more cosmetic improvements. I will continue to colour sand and buff the paint one panel at a time.
The next big job will be to repaint the roof in ruby red. At the same time a new headliner will be installed, new windshield, new proper style rubber seals with the missing chrome reinstated. I am very much looking forward to get rid of the ugly "Cal-look" window rubber. As to when exactly this will get accomplished is undecided at this time. The shop has already been cleared and cleaned in anticipation of the next "quicky" project. I am not at liberty to say what that is yet, as the VW arriving is not mine. Mr. Bus will have to explain that one...
|
|
|
Post by Wongai on Mar 19, 2016 20:38:14 GMT -8
MAN! That is SWEET. Love it. Congrats on the first KMs!
I need to go for a rip with you to check it out. Ill buy the ice cream! B
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Mar 19, 2016 20:39:35 GMT -8
It is also funny that I never got around to talking much about the history of this particular Ghia. Here is what limited information about it I do know... I bought the car from Charles Van Antwerp of Nanaimo in 2008. "Chuck" was a well known Philosophy Instructor at the old Malaspina College (now Vancouver Island University) in Nanaimo. Chuck already owned a bright yellow 1972 Ghia and used it as his daily summer driver. This car was well known in Nanaimo and is currently being restored by my friend Brian. Back in 1998 however, Chuck decided he wanted another Ghia to restore; this one for his only daughter. As he was well versed in Ghias, he knew exactly were to look for rust. And he found lots in all the local cars for sale. Given that he had dual Canadian and American citizenship, he went to California to find a rust free car. And he found one, a 1964 model in Mammoth Lakes California. The previous owner was named Gail Trojanowski. I googled that name and one person came up many times. Very much a new age hippy type, she is about the right age to have owned a car like this. Kind of scared to e-mail her however...
Anyway when Chuck acquired the car, it was a very ugly dark maroon with black top. The 1200 barely was running, and Chuck trailered it back to Canada. I took the original engine apart for Chuck, and it turned out to be spectacularly worn out. Not one part was in usable condition, including the case which needed line boring, but had already been done to the maximum in the past. Even the crank gear was loose on the crankshaft and clunked back and forth! Clearly a new engine was required... The interior was a total mess, and everything had been covered in flat black paint. Lots of evidence of past damage, but at least it was not a rust bucket...
Initially Chuck wanted to stay stock with a six volt 1200 engine. I actually found one too, but you had to buy the whole car to get it. It was a very low mileage, all original 1965 Beetle. The key word being WAS. This car was formerly owned by my co-worker, and he had bought it off the original owner, a proverbial little old lady. The car was Ruby Red, and 100 percent stock and solid. My co-worker later reluctantly sold it to some guy who decided flying down dirt roads in this all original car was fun. It probably was until the idiot rolled it... Anyway the car was for sale and I was interested in the 1200 it contained. The dude who owned it had repaired the rollover damage by chopping big chucks out of the internal roof structure, then beating on it with a sledgehammer. Then covered the mess with spray can black. The car still drove OK, but obviously was only fit for parts at this stage. Mr. Owner felt otherwise, and bragged how nice the dashboard was... It was too; to bad about the rest. Anyway he thought this pile was still worth $1200, which was stupid back then. Never saw or heard of this car again...
Anyway, a replacement 1200 could not be found, so Chuck agreed 12 volts and 1600 cc was probably more practical anyway. So one of these was found in a tacky 1968 Beetle which was acquired for $800. This was installed for Chuck, and remained there until I eventually bought the car from his daughter in 2008. See the beginning of this thread to see what happened next...
|
|
|
Post by CrazyBrit on Mar 19, 2016 21:44:14 GMT -8
Your car is stunning. It's even one of my favourite colours on these cars. You motivated me to go out and do a late evening hour in the bus tonight!
|
|
|
Post by Brenticon on Mar 19, 2016 22:02:40 GMT -8
Even more stunning in person .... and holy crap, does ever sound sweet! Lookin' good Russ ....
|
|
|
Post by camplug on Mar 20, 2016 7:47:33 GMT -8
Hey Russ...I like your car.
|
|