|
|
Post by CrazyBrit on Aug 31, 2017 21:28:37 GMT -8
As many of you are aware, my Dad has been beavering away rebuilding a 1961 model year Karmann Ghia. It was built in the latter part of 1960. I found this car whilst on holiday in Cape Town back in 2001. It appeared to be a structurally solid, but mechanically pooched vehicle. It turned out to be completely mechanically done, as first thought. Unfortunately it wasn't quite as solid as I had first believed, but was still way better than anything RHD available in the UK at less than lottery winning prices. He finally got it roadworthy this year and although there are still some bits to finish, he wants to drive it whilst he saves for rechroming of bumpers etc. Unfortunately he has been plagued with gearbox problems and as of last weekend it was back at the gearbox rebuilders having the transmission pulled for the third time since it was rebuilt. Here are a few photo's (taken at the transmission shop!   The black bits on the side trim are bits of rubber to prevent damage in it's storage unit. It's rather narrow in there!  And proud Dad with his car.  And one inside it's current storage location - a forty foot shipping container. In the photo's above the windscreen chrome trim was not in place. We had just finished installing it before we took the below photograph. The early C shaped trim on these early Ghia's is a bit of a nightmare to install. My fingers have only just recovered!  |
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Aug 31, 2017 21:55:06 GMT -8
Nice Ghia! Don't those containers suffer from condensation problems? I would be worried.
|
|
|
|
Post by tony on Aug 31, 2017 21:59:31 GMT -8
what a beaut!
|
|
|
|
Post by CrazyBrit on Sept 1, 2017 10:07:28 GMT -8
Nice Ghia! Don't those containers suffer from condensation problems? I would be worried. It does a little at times in the winter. Both of my cars used to live in there though and don't seem to have suffered any ill effects. We used to get a little condensation on the roof when it was cold, but as cold air doesn't hold much moisture it used to stay on the roof or drip a little - the air was reasonably dry. With a plastic sheet strung across below the roof, it was fine and nothing touched the cars. |
|
|
|
Post by CrazyBrit on Nov 22, 2021 21:01:49 GMT -8
After enjoying driving his car this summer, Dad has been busy spending money and working on his Ghia. His latest update were a set of Newton Commercial carpets.    I am also looking at replacing the carpets in my Ghia, so was interested in what he had to say about his new rugs. Apparently the fit was very good and he said that Newton were great to deal with. He went for the narrow weave, as the correct square weave are crazy pricy and not available in the blue that he wanted. The only area of the fit that he said was not great, was where the rear mat extended under the front seats. They came up short on the cross piece that is welded to the pan at the front of the seat rails. He checked with Newton about this and they said that this was the way VW made theirs back in the day (I believe that the car would have originally had a rubber mat in this location, the same as a Beetle). The other area that was not catered for was his bulkhead mounted main beam dipswitch. I looked into this on thesamba and it seems that the switches were not all mounted in the same location. He had to make the hole for this himself. The set did not come with the rear parcel shelf, which he ordered separately and at additional cost. Originally this would have been a vinyl covered card. He had to cut the slot for the rear window vent, but as this has the metal trim over the top, this was not an issue. Volktales is also looking into these carpets for his Ghia and has confirmed that Newton still have the template for this piece that my dad provided to them. Looking good Dad! I look forward to seeing it in the flesh. |
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Nov 23, 2021 22:27:46 GMT -8
I see one other change I might have to make. Your Dad's car features a cut-out which exposes the entire bottom of the shifter assembly. Earlier cars did this, but was later changed to just a round hole with the bottom of the shifter covered up. Not sure what my '64 would have originally featured. I prefer the covered look, so may have to request that...
|
|
|
|
Post by CrazyBrit on Nov 24, 2021 12:09:10 GMT -8
I just got off the phone with my Dad. He says that he is very happy with the fit of the parcel shelf. He drew the template to get the carpet to sit tight under the rear window seal. He is going to get a better photo of the parcel shelf and send it to me.
He also noted that there are no holes cut for the studs on the floorpan just ahead of the front seats, and the ones that are located at floorpan level at the bottom of the cross member under the front of the rear seat. I believe that these are intended to hold the carpets in place and stop them from sliding around. He did not cut his carpets as he didn't want to see the studs and is planning on affixing some velcro under the front carpets to make sure that they don't move. He did say that the front ones are a very good fit. He also noted that there was no hole for the fuel tap lever. I don't think that the 64's had a fuel tap lever, but if yours does, then they do not have a precut hole for this.
|
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Nov 24, 2021 12:23:17 GMT -8
Those "studs" your Dad referred to were for holding the original rubber mats in position. Not needed with carpeting, so likely why the holes are not pre-cut. I do not have a fuel tap, so that is OK for me. Hope that red carpet sample matches my seats and door panels well!
|
|
|
|
Post by owdlvr on Nov 29, 2021 16:23:18 GMT -8
I see one other change I might have to make. Your Dad's car features a cut-out which exposes the entire bottom of the shifter assembly. Earlier cars did this, but was later changed to just a round hole with the bottom of the shifter covered up. Not sure what my '64 would have originally featured. I prefer the covered look, so may have to request that... Looks to me like it might be a similar style to the way TMI does it. You can mount above or below the shifter. Click the image to get to my flickr and zoom in on a larger version:  IMG_20190504_2028011 by Dave Hord, on Flickr |
|
|
|
Post by CrazyBrit on Aug 31, 2022 20:07:13 GMT -8
As many of you know, I just got back from a great European trip. 4 nights in London, a week and a bit at my parents, a couple of nights in Paris, three nights in Rome and Florence, a couple of nights in Venice, back to my parents and then another couple of nights in London. It started with asking the kids where they would like to go on vacation and my son chose Rome, because he had read about it in his Rick Riordan books. We were blow away when he started explaining the stories behind the paintings in the London National Gallery and the statues in the Louvre in Paris to us. My daughter similarly knew about many of the Parisian and Italian landmarks from a Nintendo Switch game that she plays! Thankfully there is some education from these computer games. Anyway, a trip to the UK would not be complete without some Ghia time with Dad. This time it centred around cruising around the local area, rather than working on the car.  |
|
|
|
Post by CrazyBrit on Aug 31, 2022 20:13:53 GMT -8
|
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Aug 31, 2022 20:26:07 GMT -8
Must have been fun cruising with your Dad in his Ghia!
|
|
