Post by Volktales on Oct 18, 2014 11:11:50 GMT -8
Here is a car that if you have lived in Nanaimo for any length of time you will recognize. This Saturn Yellow 1972 Ghia was once owned by Charles Vanantwerp who was a well known philosophy instructor at the old Malaspina College in Nanaimo. "Chuck" was also well known for his love of VW's and once owned this Ghia for many years. He used to own an earlier Ghia prior to this one but it died of severe rust issues. The sills in that one where formed of aluminum industrial diamond plate... Anyway he wanted a true rust free version and bought this one in Arizona around 20 plus years ago. He had some initial work done to it and then drove it in the summer only... It went through a few changes over the years, and for a while it was very low with tiny 135's on stock rims. Later a used set of yellow painted Empi's was used! Chuck later had serious health issues after his retirement and could no longer use the car. Eventually it was sold to his good friend Brian and I bought another '64 Ghia from him which was intended for his daughter (she did not want it!) Although driveable, the '72 required some work and Brian is FINALLY doing something with it!
Brian has just finished his workshop and just got a new hoist! Here is the car as it appears today. Extremely solid but issues with microblisters will necessitate a new bare metal repaint...
Brian already had the bumpers straightened and re-chromed years ago. He yanked out the engine today.
This is the only rusty part of the car. As usual battery acid is to blame. A new battery tray will be required.
Although things look shabby here, he already has the new door panels. I gave him a very nice set of original seats I salvaged from a '72 Ghia I parted out several years ago. That car was a total rustbucket but the interior was near mint... Those nasty speakers have got to go! Incidentally Brian did a lot of interior work to my '72 Bus and the seats were a part trade. We were both very happy...
This engine has an interesting history... Brian was a long term friend of Chuck and rebuilt this engine for him when he first got the car. As it still runs great, it will be cleaned and detailed only. That nasty muffler will be replaced with a Vintage Speed version. Engine is a 1776 with Italian Weber 48 IDF's. These will be rebuilt and used again!
This is the steering wheel that will be used. It is very familiar to me as I once used it on my 1970 Beetle and it stayed there for 17 years. It was a birthday present to me and is a Formuling France. It was pretty beat looking when I gave it to Brian but it looks great after he restored it!
And these are the wheels the car came with. Although they were ugly looking then as the spokes were yellow! Brian spent a lot of time repainting and polishing them but they look great now. He intends to get the bodywork and paint done soon. Given how solid the car is, it should be a quicky project. Right Brian?
And here is an update... Brian has been continuing to strip down the Ghia. He has been using chemical stripper and a scraper. So far things have been going well. Some discoveries have been made however...
Some old bondo has been found in the nose (what a surprise...) and a little in the front fender. Neither are hiding rust, just some dings and scrapes.
Most areas are like new, but more bondo was found in the quarter panel.
Although fairly thick, again it is over a dent, not rust. Whoever put that bondo there was very good at it because it was impossible to see before hand. This will be removed and the metal pulled back to where it should be.
Imagine how fun it must be to remove all the paint from those vents like that. Brian is making good progress so far. I will be on his case to continue... I dropped off the remainder of the 1972 Ghia parts that I saved off the car I scrapped, so Brian has lots to do now...
Brian has just finished his workshop and just got a new hoist! Here is the car as it appears today. Extremely solid but issues with microblisters will necessitate a new bare metal repaint...
Brian already had the bumpers straightened and re-chromed years ago. He yanked out the engine today.
This is the only rusty part of the car. As usual battery acid is to blame. A new battery tray will be required.
Although things look shabby here, he already has the new door panels. I gave him a very nice set of original seats I salvaged from a '72 Ghia I parted out several years ago. That car was a total rustbucket but the interior was near mint... Those nasty speakers have got to go! Incidentally Brian did a lot of interior work to my '72 Bus and the seats were a part trade. We were both very happy...
This engine has an interesting history... Brian was a long term friend of Chuck and rebuilt this engine for him when he first got the car. As it still runs great, it will be cleaned and detailed only. That nasty muffler will be replaced with a Vintage Speed version. Engine is a 1776 with Italian Weber 48 IDF's. These will be rebuilt and used again!
This is the steering wheel that will be used. It is very familiar to me as I once used it on my 1970 Beetle and it stayed there for 17 years. It was a birthday present to me and is a Formuling France. It was pretty beat looking when I gave it to Brian but it looks great after he restored it!
And these are the wheels the car came with. Although they were ugly looking then as the spokes were yellow! Brian spent a lot of time repainting and polishing them but they look great now. He intends to get the bodywork and paint done soon. Given how solid the car is, it should be a quicky project. Right Brian?
And here is an update... Brian has been continuing to strip down the Ghia. He has been using chemical stripper and a scraper. So far things have been going well. Some discoveries have been made however...
Some old bondo has been found in the nose (what a surprise...) and a little in the front fender. Neither are hiding rust, just some dings and scrapes.
Most areas are like new, but more bondo was found in the quarter panel.
Although fairly thick, again it is over a dent, not rust. Whoever put that bondo there was very good at it because it was impossible to see before hand. This will be removed and the metal pulled back to where it should be.
Imagine how fun it must be to remove all the paint from those vents like that. Brian is making good progress so far. I will be on his case to continue... I dropped off the remainder of the 1972 Ghia parts that I saved off the car I scrapped, so Brian has lots to do now...