• Registered: 2009-06-25
  • Posts: 558

Topic: New member, just sayin' hi!

Hello everyone, just joined here today. I'm a former racing mechanic who grew up with beetles and buses, but never had the opportunity to own one myself... Until now!
Our new baby is a 1970 Karmann Ghia, and it's my first time actually getting to know the deep inner workings. Used to watch my father do minor things to his when I was little, but he never did anything major.
Our Ghia is a coupe, yellow, and I bought it without seeing it in person. Turned out to be a great find, with a solid body and no bondo. There is some rust above the left headlight (buckets are still good), and a little bubbling in front of the rear wheels. The owner refused other offers to buy, and sold it to me because she felt I understood the car and had the ability to bring it back to life. It was non running when they towed it here, but after about 4 hours of work I drove it around the block. Still have to shop for a generator and undo the other screwups done by the shop that was attempting to get it working. I'll post a couple pics after I go back and read the how-to on image posting.

  • Registered: 2009-06-25
  • Posts: 558

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

PS: Oh, I'm in SE michigan.

  • Registered: 2009-06-25
  • Posts: 558

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

Here's a couple pics on the day of arrival...


http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee288/altema/Karmann%20Ghia/Ghia01arrival.jpg


http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee288/altema/Karmann%20Ghia/Ghia02aarrival.jpg

  • From: Colorado Springs, CO
  • Registered: 2004-03-27
  • Posts: 3,622

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

Welcome, Altema! Nice looking Ghia you have there. Is that a re-paint? It sure looks pretty!

Clancy

  • From: Grayson, GA
  • Registered: 2008-03-19
  • Posts: 444

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

Welcome. Beautiful Ghia.

1971 Standard Beetle. Answers to the name "Big Bird"
1974 Westfalia. Answers to the name "Winifrid"

71_georgia_beetle's Website

  • Registered: 2009-06-25
  • Posts: 558

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

Clancy wrote:

Welcome, Altema! Nice looking Ghia you have there. Is that a re-paint? It sure looks pretty!

Clancy

It's a repaint on the exterior by the previous owner, but fortunately not hiding anything. Under the lid is the original paint. I'll have to get the car painted properly once the mechanicals are brought up to snuff. Ignore the yellow paint on the wall of the garage... it's not a test area for the new baby; our youngest grabbed a can of spray and climbed on a chair. Fortunately that was long before the Ghia, unfortunately the blue car in the background did not escape the wrath of the nozzle  sad

  • Registered: 2009-06-25
  • Posts: 558

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

71_georgia_beetle wrote:

Welcome. Beautiful Ghia.

Thanks for the welcome!

  • Registered: 2005-06-02
  • Posts: 427

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

Oooooooooo  nice car!
Looks like it will stand out in the neighborhood.
What are your plans??
Welcome along!!

(Artistic kid eh? =+)

Patty B.
'69 stock bug
  • Registered: 2009-06-25
  • Posts: 558

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

Patty B. wrote:

Oooooooooo  nice car!
Looks like it will stand out in the neighborhood.
What are your plans??
Welcome along!!

(Artistic kid eh? =+)

It stands out alright, took it around the block and people were staring.
Plans are to get it sorted out mechanically, then work on the cosmetic details and missing pieces, like the engine cover latch mechanism and fuel door release... both are completely missing! After that, a proper repaint. A friend of mine's father builds one-off custom cars and is VERY good with everything including paint. The last car he built was bought overseas without even being seen. I'm hoping he can do the paint and bodywork for me.
Now, if it get rich unexpectedly, it will be a full body off restore maintaining stock appearance but with a 2300cc stroker.

Artistic kid? Yeah, autistic too!

  • Registered: 2007-03-27
  • Posts: 2,422

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

AAARggghhhhhhhhhh !
  Race Car or Car ????
  Plann car from it's conception !!
  2300cc mean's car need's to be completely re- configured from ground up , just to hold a 100 horse Motor !! 2332cc usually runn from 180 horse to 220 horse's !
   Mean's Full on Roll Cage or some serious Re- Engineering of the Pann !
  10 Grand <<< What they get for 2332cc from Reputable Builders at 200 + horse's  !! Hey that would include the Transaxle geared and built for it probably ???
   Welcome To Volkswebbin ! Nice Ghia !!
                                                        Sean

  • From: B.C.Canada
  • Registered: 2005-01-26
  • Posts: 2,610

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

Welcome. Can't believe you found that in Michigan. Was it from elsewhere? I had a '70 Ghia in '77 in Ontario and it was already rusted very bad.

Do you have a Bentley Manual? Here are some useful links.

http://www.type-14.com/
http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/inf … 71ghia.jpg

jim

'71 SB(DD only 79K(now 84K miles) & '78 FI Westy (project)
PO of '65 Beetle in '69, '70 Crewcab & '70 Ghia in '77
'71 Super inside rear vents now available
http://www.openroad.ca/volkswebbin/view … p?id=85915
  • Registered: 2009-06-25
  • Posts: 558

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

Sean's wrote:

AAARggghhhhhhhhhh !
  Race Car or Car ????
  Plann car from it's conception !!
  2300cc mean's car need's to be completely re- configured from ground up , just to hold a 100 horse Motor !! 2332cc usually runn from 180 horse to 220 horse's !
   Mean's Full on Roll Cage or some serious Re- Engineering of the Pann !
  10 Grand <<< What they get for 2332cc from Reputable Builders at 200 + horse's  !! Hey that would include the Transaxle geared and built for it probably ???
   Welcome To Volkswebbin ! Nice Ghia !!
                                                        Sean

Don't worry, when we do move forward, it will be with a plan. Just got the car running adequately a couple days ago and need some time to think! If I do decide to go for performance, it will be moderate depending on what the chassis will handle without stress... maybe 70-80hp. I mentioned the 2.3, but have no idea what the actual HP numbers were from that supplier because they don't list any! I know it will not see the racetrack unless it's for a nostaliga event, and I'm not sure that stripping the Ghia of it's character for the sole sake of performance would be a good thing. Besides, we already have one car to embarass the Jags and Mustangs wink

  • Registered: 2009-06-25
  • Posts: 558

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

jamesdagg wrote:

Welcome. Can't believe you found that in Michigan. Was it from elsewhere? I had a '70 Ghia in '77 in Ontario and it was already rusted very bad.

Do you have a Bentley Manual?

Hi Jim, I can't belive this one is from Michigan either, unless it was stored in winter and kept out of the rain in summer. I plan on meeting with the former owner for lunch and hopefully get some history.

I was even expecting the spare tire to be held up by bungee cords to keep it from falling through, so I was surprised to find solid metal with a little surface rust in the very bottom.

No Bently manual yet, but will need one sooner than later. Found a Chilton's in the car, but I don't really like them.

  • Registered: 2009-06-25
  • Posts: 558

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

jamesdagg wrote:

Welcome. Can't believe you found that in Michigan. Was it from elsewhere?

jim

Discovered a couple of clues; one is a window sticker that is barely readable, and the other is the remains of parking sticker for...

Memphis University!

So it appears to be from South of here, or at least it spent a few years (1982-1984) in a better climate.

  • Registered: 2009-06-25
  • Posts: 558

Re: New member, just sayin' hi!

Finally had a chance to talk to the former owner's daughter for a minute. Her father found the car in Tennesee in 1995, bought it, and drove it to Michigan. He was attempting to restore it, but had health issues and never finished the job. That's a mixed bag: the good side is there are a few things he replaced. The bad side is that some parts were removed for repair or replacement, and are missing. The ugly side is that some things were installed SO wrong!.. like the inner door glass felts that were installed with SCREWS that scratch the glass! Anyway, from the information gathered so far, I know it was in Tennesse from at least 1982 until 1995, and here after 1995. Cannot confirm the whereabouts between the date of birth and 1982 though, and I doubt Carfax would show anything for older cars.

On a lighter note, I was driving around looking for tools yesterday and stopped at a light. Facing me on the opposite side of the road was a classic Jaguar, and the driver put up his hand and waved! Then I got to the parts store and the clerk was asking questions about the car. Turned out he had a '70 or '71 Ghia, so we chatted a bit about the cars. Unfortunately he plans on pulling the body off and installing it on a front engine chassis, despite the pan being good. My thoughts after leaving the store was that I wished I had the money to buy and save it sad
The only way I'd drop the original layout is if there was semi-decent body with a ruined pan. In that case I'd build a tube chassis and install a 2.4 four in front of the rear wheels as a mid-engine.

Enough rambling for now, back to work!