Cars

I finally, with the help of TheSamba.com’s forums, figured out how to find the spot welds on the trunk lip so I can get the front fender’s off. So I’ve been working on it for about 3 hours, and haven’t made much headway at all.

Sitting in the trunk.

From Removing Fenders

I’m removing welds along the green line right now.

From Removing Fenders

A hammer and chisel takes care of it.

I’m told a rotary file will help me too.

No, this kind…

I Googled “the first cut” for it’s thoughts, and I got two conflicting opinions on the subject. First was “the first cut is the deepest”, followed by “the first cut wont hurt at all. Who am I to believe? I’ve been mulling over where I’m going to start cutting on the body for the last.., well, since I’ve gotten it.

There are a couple weld lines that I have highlighted on this picture. The red lines show the basic routing of the fresh air duct. It comes in from the nose and runs along the inner fenders to mixing boxes under the dash where you can turn fresh air on or off, or mix it with warm air from the engine. The welds on the red lines are pretty easy to cut out. You just drill out each spot weld. The other weld line runs along the seam between the tops of the inner and outer fenders. This weld also holds the weather stripping for the hood. There are no clear spot welds here, so I’m a bit stumped.

So here’s where I am now. Trying to decide where to cut.

Turns out that the guy didn’t want to sell that car for $100. Or maybe he did until he figured out that people all over the world would pay him $150 just to cut a piece off and sent it to them. When I called him, he wanted $100 for a fender. I think I can do with what I have for now.

I’ve been job hunting, and I might be getting close, so I’ll be able to afford to dump money into my Ghia pretty soon. I look forward to getting started.

I overlooked this 1961 Ghia in Kent when I was shopping because it looks like it’s either had serious front end damage, or has just been customized to remove the fresh air intakes in the nose, usually something that happens when it’s been squished. It also is missing most of the interior. But now, I’m thinking that it will be a good parts car. It’s got an engine, glass, and fenders. I’m thinking that $100 will earn me more from selling unwanted parts, and get me the rest of the major parts that aren’t reproduced.

I’ve got the windows all out and all the outside trim off. I’ve also uncovered a munch more bondo on the front right fender. I might have to find a new one there too… I’ve also pulled the loose rust out a few places. I hope it’s not too deep behind the right side door… I may have a good left fender coming. There is a picture of the running 40hp engine though.

I have wanted a Karmann Ghia ever since I was in high school. My friend Nick was into VWs back then, and brought a Karmann Ghia book to school with him. They were so cool. So about a year ago, when I needed a new car, VWs were at the top of my list. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a drivable Ghia that was in my price range. So I got a 1974 Super Beetle instead. A month ago, I completed a major milestone in my life, so I decided to reward myself with a Ghia. The first one I looked at was a 1959 up in Bellingham for $900. It was a rust bucket, but had a lot of potential, plus, it was the early body style, which changed in 1960 in favor of slightly higher headlights and larger nostrils. I brought my dad up with me to pick it up, but he was scared by it’s rust, something that I didn’t really care about since I could get all the replacement panels online. I ended up not buying it.

The second Ghia that I considered buying was a located in Idaho, but from the pictures and talking to the owner on the phone, it sounded like it had very little body damage, and was nearly rust free. I decided that even though it would cost about $400 in gas to get there, the amount I’d save in not having to replace so much sheet metal would be worth it. So after emailing and talking to the owner on the phone a couple times, my dad and I decided to head out and pick it up.

When we go there after a 13 hour drive, it appeared to be exactly what I was looking for. They guy even started it up for us! The original 36hp engine ran! I was happy with it, so the seller started it up and backed it out of the barn so we could hook up the tow bar. When I was under the car hooking up the tow bar, I noticed something that didn’t look good. At about the same time, dad was also noticing something that wasn’t good. I was seeing some crinkles in the metal inside panels, and my dad had noticed that one fender looked very different from the other. The nose had been hit pretty hard, and the driver’s side fender was squished in. Someone had started a very half assed job at fixing it, and then given up.

I was pissed. We’d driven all the way out there for this piece of shit? I’d rather have had the 59 rust bucket than this! So I told that guy that I really wish I’d known about all the damage before hand. I felt that he’d been a little dishonest, but I didn’t tell him that. He said that he thought he had a cut up front end out back and went to see if it was there. It was, and I asked to see it, and it turned out to have a lot of metal that would help me a lot. So I asked him to throw that in as well. He reluctantly did so, but wouldn’t go any lower on the price. At this point, I felt that there was enough to make a good car, and that the price wasn’t too bad, so I agreed on $850 and we loaded up the spare front end. So the money and titles exchanged hands, and my dad and I finished hooking up the car and the lights, and headed out.

When I got the car home, we started chipping off the bondo, and removing parts. All the chrome trim for the windows is very good, and it looks like all the interior trim is there. So far, I have removed all the windows, bumpers and lights on the outside. It turns out though, that it’s not as rust free as I’d thought and been told. It actually does have all the normal Ghia rust. It’s just all been covered up with bondo. Still, the pan looks fairly good, as do the rockers and heater channels. So far it looks like about $600 worth of sheet metal, which isn’t too far off the cost of getting the 59 Ghia back into sound condition. The trim and good wheels probably make up for this though, so in all, it’s about a wash. Right now, what I think I’m going to do with it is paint it in an original two tone 1962 color, maybe anthracite or paprika.

I’ll also put sewn vinyl and cloth seats and side panels in, and probably a mild 1700cc engine in it. So it wont me a true ‘restoration’, but it will look very close to original, only better quality.

Here are the pictures of the car as they are now.

Front end with some bondo chiseled off and the windshield removed.

This is the area with the most damage. The picture doesn’t show it well, but the fender is pushed in about 2 inches.

Interior is mostly there

View from the rear

This is the spare front end that will provide some good metal for the nose.