The resurrection of my 1960 karmann ghia

[Antoine_P]

Ahaha Jaro you're right, that might not be the german "fix" but it solved the wind issues for sure
Thanks a lot guys for the nice words!

While I was working on that part of the body I took care of a couple of holes that were made in the wheel housing:
Before:


During:


And after:


And some epoxy primer on it :




I also removed the broken screw in the upper door fixation plate:


By making it longer via Tig-welding some extra metal to make it longer and finally welding a nut on it :


And it's out:




I could almost re-use it as a screw:


Bests

Antoine

[Jaroslav]

Antonie, that was a success. I hate this situation.

A lot of colleagues use WD spray, but I don't recommend it to them.
The WD will allow, but it immediately freezes and can't be moved again. The result is a broken screw. I'm using "Konkor" mild preservative oil, I'll give it time. As soon as the screw moves a little, I slowly very little turn it alternately, this allows the oil to get into the thread and loosens even very rusty joints nicely.

[cliffrod]

I really enjoy watching your progress, Antoine. Really impressive. You’re setting the bar very high for the rest of us….

[dwmh]

Antoine should be up for the 'Doesn't matter how bad it is, I'll fix it' award.

[Antoine_P]

Thanks so much, you can't imagine how motivating your words are for an amateur like me!!

Here we go for the next update!

So, before putting all the bottom of the ghia in primer, there was one thing left: the heating tubes between the heater channel and the dashboard. On the left it was still there but cut at the bottom:


So I fixed that:


And the other side had been removed (due to its rusty fixation at the dashboard) and the rusted bottom cut so there was a need of work too:






I of course always checked that the parts on top to guide the air are fitting well:




I also received a restored door latch to replace the one that had some play in it:




Stay tuned :wink:

Antoine

[Antoine_P]

So, the upper part of the dash is still yet to be rebuilt but I started by a part of it that was really annoying me..the radio opening or what was left of it:


So let's build the patch :






And checking:


Markings where to cut:


No coming back:


Adjusting:


TIG-welded:


And the repair done and in primer:


It was then time to primer all the bottom parts:










It feels so good seeing it so solid again!!




And for the motivation :




Next step: top and under the dashboard..stay tuned!

Antoine

[dwmh]

I like your side by side before and after photos, they show some of what you were up against. Well done

[Antoine_P]

Thanks a lot David, really appreciated !

So, a small update today!
Under the dashboard was still some work, some small holes and a bad repair I did make at the beginning (good to see it good now, redoing things isn't really progressing but I couldn't feel the idea of somewhere not reaching my wanted quality level!):


So I prepare the patch :




Cutting:


Adjusting:


And welding the patch and all the small holes:










And some primer :








Bests

Antoine

[Antoine_P]

So, long time no updates but doesn't mean I did nothing.. I mostly work on the interior of my 62 ragtop to make it ready for the summer but some small steps were done on the ghia. If you remember well, I already did start the part for the bottom of the back of the right rear fender:






So I finished adjusting it:






And marked for the cutting:


And started to make some cutting:


Under it, more panels are needed so as usual, first build the repair panel and then cut:




Ready:








But before welding it, I want to make the repair panel under the bumper fixation. And before that, I needed to solve an issue with one of the screw for the rear bumper. Someone in the past tried to remove the broken screw by welding it..but did really bad :


So no chances other than removing the fixation :





So I removed it:


And found the great previous work..




So, time to redo the fixation, the new one next to the rest of the old one:


Oh, maybe better seen here :


The built one in details:


Test fit:


As I didn't have a square nut, I built one with a normal nut and a cut disc:




And repaired:


Next: built the bottom patch panel, and then weld all these panels to finish this area!

Bests

Antoine

[steve.murphy]

Very nice work!
Your workshop is magnificent too! You should consider giving a tour on YouTube .