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Obsessive-Compulsive Details

Chassis # 2 736 697

Work/Parts Needed:

• Suspension/Trans/Steering/Brakes
  • weld frame head
  • steering damper (need R inner tie rod end with hole)
• Engine
  • oil leak? (9/20/97 - replaced seals)
  • install air seal (9/20/97)
  • set idle (5/7/97 - lost spring seat on accel pump lever)
  • Paint tin (9/20/97)
• Electrical
  • fix clock (winder won't shut off)
  • fix/replace fuel sender (10/98 - fiddled with sender & it mostly works now)
  • radio (bad tuner)
  • LR taillight (5/6/97 - open in wire from other taillight)
• Body/Misc
  • lube/adj all locks
  • replace left window regulator (missing teeth at top pos)
  • convertible top:
    • bows (maybe just rear tack strip) (1998-99 - rehabilitated header with epoxy job from cabinetmaker's shop; wood filler and polyurethane to finish.)
    • headliner (4/99)
    • padding (5/99)
    • cover (5/99)
• Paint:
  • body exterior
  • deck/boot areas
  • fuel tank
  • door tops

Parts Needed:

• 6V electric fuel sender
• seal for same
• Windshield washer bottle (1960 only)
• Wiper switch with pump (1960 only?)
• Driver door checkrod parts
• Hinge pillar "Y" seal
• Door bottom/lock pillar seal
• Left window regulator (used/rebuilt)
• Horn boot seal
• Brake reservoir cap - WW
• Engine compartment liner - RMMW
• Rear seat hinge - handcrafted
• Heater knob
• Shift boot for locking shifter
• Floor:
  • tar boards
  • mats - junkyard
  • padding (luggage compartment) - RMMW
  • carpet
• Door panels - TMI/Hilltop
  • clips
  • seals
• Spare vinyl for various covers
• Seat covers -- removed the aftermarket covers and the originals were there in fair condition.
• seat padding
• Wing nut for taillight - House of Ghia
• Front bumper end mounting bolt - House of Ghia
• Rear seat strap
• strap cover plate

Longer-term/post-painting list:

• (check top/window seals)
• Headlite seals
• Front turn signal seals
• Bumper seals, F/R
• Nose grille seals - House of Ghia
• Hood emblem seals - House of Ghia
• Wiper shaft seals
• Molding clip seals
• Door handle seals
• License light seals
• Taillight seals - Fisher Buggies
• Lock pillar on body seal (with big rivet)
• Top rear of door wedge
• Door panel trim strips
• Convertible top trim strips

Accessories and goodies

• blumenvase 9/14/97 - Chris Price
• fuel tap extension
• reverse light kit

Droning Narrative with Thumbnails

My brother Paul located this Ghia in about 1985 in a barn in Recovery, Georgia, less than five miles from the family Christmas Tree Farm.

Per the factory "birth certificate", the car was built in December, 1959 and delivered to Charlestion, SC in January, 1960. The story is that it was bought by a man in Jensen Beach, Florida, as a present for his daughter. She didn't like it (!) so it spent a lot of time in a garage before being purchased by Glenn Sellers of Recovery, GA. Glen's wife drove it back and forth between Recovery and Tallahassee, FL (about 40 miles) for several years.

The car was eventually parked; these first few pix show what it looked like when my brother first found it. A mostly straight and remarkably rust-free car, although the doors had been dinged up. Closer inspection shows that it was probably hit on the left front fender pretty badly, although it appears that the repairer installed a new fender rather than pounds of bondo.

A PO had painted the dash face and door tops silver (shown here in '85 -- I've since repainted it to a closer match to the original Paprika Red). It may have once had a dash pad; what you see here is black paint. The carpet looks OK here, but per my brother tells me it was rotten and wet. When I got it the floors were bare, with a total of about 10 sq in of rust holes. I have the original stained, tattered door panels. Ghia window crank knobs were frozen up, so my brother added some Beetle ones. All the trim except the lower two strips on the door panels (and the convertible top) is intact and complete.

Here's the original 36 horse kicker, circa 1985. Looks about the same today, except the tin has since been repainted. Starts easy and runs strong today. The only mechanical work it needed when I got it from Paul in December, 1997, was some wheel cylinders and a little of the inevitable tweaking of various electrical components.

Here's why I lucked into this car: Paul had a choice between the Ghia and his boat (shown here being crewed by Chairman Mao - he of the yellow fur). Did he choose wisely? :-) This also shows the condition of the car when I took ownership. Paul drove it a few years, did some cleanup and a good bit of mechanical work on the car, but lack of space, time, $, etc. finally forced him to stow it. Luckily, he had a big brother with a VW fetish....

This what the Ghia looked like in early May, 1997. So far I've done very little to the car beyond repairing the floor and compiling a list. Three big items to do are a top, carpet, and door panels. Once those are in place and some mechanical details are fixed, she's a driver. I already take her to work a couple of days a week when it's nice out. Eventually I'll get the body stripped, massaged, and repainted in the original Paprika Red; right now my goal is to make it more presentable on a budget, without destroying anything original.

This shot shows some of the interior budget-resto work I did up through May 1998, including repainting, new TMI door panels, and overall sprucing up.

Here's a close-up of the funky pushbuttons on the Sapphire I radio. I don't know if this was a special version or what, but I've not seen another with these keystone-shaped buttons. Is that dash red or what? Even the top -- I've not yet gotten a satisfactory answer about whether Ghias of this vintage came with those black plastic dash-toppers, so I'm staying with the painter surface for now.

This is a shot of the hinge cover -- which is basically a thick sheet-metal plate covered by this black vinyl with vertical heat-seamed pleats. It looks period, but I'm not yet sure if it's correct. The rear parcel tray is also lined with this stuff.

Here's the spruced-up engine compartment. I'm not thrilled with the silver lining :-) but that's the only repro I could find (available from Rocky Mountain Motorworks). You can get original tarboard liners for Beetles, but AFAIK not for Ghias. Compare this pic to the engine pic above and you can see a great improvement in appearance. I pulled the engine and removed the tin, repainted it with high-temp black, cleaned the engine, repainted the engine compartment (just some surface rust under the battery!), and put it all back together.

Another unsolved mystery: the plug wire holders. As in, none. I know earlier 36hp motors had a metal tube that clamped to the manifold, while later engines have plastic clips that fit on the shroud. This engine had neither, so I improvised, as you see in this pic.

And here's the cool Pon -- yes, that Pon --dealership license frame sent to me by Brian Verbeek from the Netherlands. Makes a nice holder for the German license plate I picked up years ago (a German friend said, "Heidelberg? What do you want a tag from f**king Heidelberg for?" I have no idea why.).

May 1999: I've just finished restoring the top with a kit from Convertible Specialties.