First year Anniversary

First anniversary, for our Karmann Ghia that is! Our VW was a Father's day present for me last year, so this makes it a whole year since it was towed to our driveway and pushed into the garage. Looking back, it has not really changed in appearance, unfortunately, but in all the little details there has been a lot of change. There were originally about 114 problems with the car; 27 body related like rotted body seals and missing bumper seals, 14 electrical issues including miss-wired connections and burnt wiring, 14 miscellaneous problems like seat belts not installed properly and the rear seat clasp missing. The rest of the list (59 items) was all mechanical problems, some pretty severe like the clutch pressure plate and missing valve train parts. We are happy to report that 43 mechanical issues have been 100% resolved, and only 3 mechanical items are at a 0% status with only 1 of those that affect operation.

In other words, it's coming together mechanically even though I have not been able to do anything with the body yet. This week I was able to spend three hours testing carb main jets and optimizing ignition timing. I compromised on the timing because what works best in the low RPM range is a couple degrees too advanced for freeway cruising, so I backed it off a little to get the best throttle response in the upper RPM ranges. Only way to get the best of both worlds is to change the mechanical advance curve. Right now with a dual vacuum/dual advance distributor it's set at 7.6 BDC with the vac advance disconnected during timing. As far as the carb settings, I wish I could tell you the jet number, but I can't because it's a hand drilled main jet and I only know that the engine loves it. I have to borrow a jet measuring tool and will let you know what the equivalent jet size would be. I only know that, where it is now, it gets the best balance of solid performance (rubber in 1st and 2nd gear), economy (30-35mpg), and head temperatures. This jet also ran the coolest out of them all.

I also put the "correct" shocks on the car. It came with what looked like original shocks on the rear (only one worked), and rusty KYB gas shocks on the front. Handling was mushy in back and hard in front... not a good combo! I ordered some Monroes that were supposed to be same as OEM, but turned to be gas charged. They were not bad, but were a bit too bouncy overall and the fronts were too firm. Handling felt crisper, or like it SHOULD have been crisper, but actually seemed worse with a lot of understeer and plowing. I had to slow way down so the tires would not squeal while turning into our sub, and curves felt firm but somehow off balance. The car would just not rotate well, almost as if it had a much higher polar moment of inertia than it really did.

Not satisfied, I ordered 4 Sachs oil shocks. They turned out to be on back order for a couple weeks. The store ordered some more expensive Cofap oil shocks (OEM supplier for Brazil VW's) and was able to get them next day. After purging the air bubbles (necessary on some oil shocks, but not gas shocks of course), I did the 25 minute swap for all four corners and took a test drive. Now, my original thinking is that these would be the same as the gas shocks, only softer, and that handling would be slightly worse but the ride would be softer. Was I wrong! Most of the bounce was gone, and the ride was steadier, but the handing was much better(?) It turns out that the gas shocks have about the same damping rates for up and down (jounce and rebound), which Ghia's, apparently, do not like.

The oil shocks have soft jounce and firm rebound which appears to have the tendency of softening up bumps but keeping the car flatter when cornering. A benefit I can see is that a sudden lane change will let the outer wheels take a quick set and prevent the inner wheels from lifting as quickly which makes the suspension more reactive and reduces roll at the same time. Now, I had read old magazine reviews that claimed the car handled like "it has gyro-stabilizers" and also handled exactly like the Porsche Speedster. Yeah, riiiight! Not in my book unless they got the gyro comment in comparison to some of the 50's land barges. However, with the calibration of these shocks working with the spring rates and roll characteristics of this body, it all comes together and you finally see what they were talking about. This was put to the test this very morning on the exit ramp from I-696 East to South US-24 in Michigan. US-24 is under construction at this point, and instead of a nice merge lane, it intersects at 25 degree angle with a yield sign. Traffic was clear and I had slowed to about 45mph. A quick flick of the wheel should be enough to pull off the merge, but the way the car used to handle it would have gone wide with the front tires squealing. Instead, the car just switched direction with no drama whatsoever, and not much body roll either.  Ok, I'm happy now.

Paul

Last edited by Altema (2010-06-18 11:41:17)