Wednesday, March 21, 2012

John Copello Horn Rebuild Kit

For those curious on what is in the rebuild kit John Copello produced for the 58 horn here it is.  Yeah I was one of those who ordered the kit when he first offered it.  And it ended up in the parts stash.

So what is in there?
3 springs
3 slotted screws
3 washers
3 plastic insulators
3 plastic cups

Hope this helps people on their projects.

Inside the Nose

 There be rust here at the bottom.  Notice it extends to the bumper bracket hole on the driver side. Fun!
 Another picture of the corrosion.  What is the purpose of that metal flange with the eye hole?
 Color matching, its grimy and faded, fuel tank with sender.  Plus over-spray of the inspection hatches.
 Not sure how to interpret this corrosion just above the horns.  Was there an oops with the nose?
 Passenger side, does not look its ever been ever hit.
Same for driver side, seems the metal is undamaged after all these years.

Front turn signal

I am so looking forward to finding out what is underneath all this cracked paint.  Really I am.

Headlight buckets


One of the things I am doing is going through all the parts that have accumulated without me trying to sort them.  In a cardboard box that I guess I got when I bought the 58 Ghia I found the above headlight assemblies.  Are these the correct ones for a low-light?  I know one of the rings is wrong, but that should be easier to find than two assemblies.

Updates

I may need to start looking for a whole passenger rear quarter to include the tail lamp area judging from this picture.  Looking down and seeing daylight is not a positive sign.

The outer top door chrome trim screws are not correct according to Loren.  So another thing to add to shopping list.  But that is why I am snapping pictures and posting so I can get things right.

Showed the documents to a German friend.  The handwriting is difficult to read but the 12 December 1957 was the estimated delivery date.  The other date might be 10 December 1957 but its hard to read.  The one that shows the VIN and engine serial number is a receipt.  More to learn so stay tuned.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Number of the Badge


More important information to be found in the Karmann Ghia.  This data is very important to track down when a particular low-light Karmann Ghia was built.

Top picture is the is the chassis number.  It is located on the shelf bulkhead behind the spare tire.  My chassis number is 27001.  Bottom picture shows the metal data tags that are located on the passenger side of the spare tire wheel well.  What is also noticeable is the two screw holes above the data tag with the car's VIN stamped on it.  This is where the Karmann Karosserie badge is supposed to be.  The assumption would be there was a badge since there are two holes.  And as a guess when the second owner let Maaco paint the poor car that badge vanished.

What is really interesting about my Ghia is it's a US spec car.  But the VIN places it just five hundred or so before a radical visual change for US bound Karmann Ghias.  Beginning with VIN 1764743, ram protection, or towel over-riders, on the bumpers became standard for US cars.  My VIN is 1764204 so mine has the European short bumper guards.

I wonder if anyone can make a reproduction Karmann Karosserie badge for my car?

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Papers please?


One of the coolest things that came with my low-light Ghia was the original paperwork that came with it.  Along with owners manual, September 1957, and the little accordion fold tips booklet. Both are in English.

All these documents need to be conserved.  The top one has been folded for so long only slivers are holding the three pieces together.  But one can see in that document dates like 12 December, 1957 and 30 December 1957.  And through the white-out can be spied a price of 7.525DM.  Penciled in just under the 7.500DM price is 1785.71 where I guess Rush converted the price to US dollars.  Also its a Type 143US and color Brilliant Red or L343.

Bottom document lists the VIN, original engine number, again Type 143US and color of brilliantrot.  And a stamped date of 3 January, 1958.  And a final price of 7.530DM.

So my Karmann Ghia was one of those made to US specifications but delivered to a US service member stationed in Germany.  He bought the car from a VW dealership in the town of Trier which is more famous for its Roman ruins and connection with Constantine. 

Tails of a Ghia

 Passenger side, seems got a bit of repair to do.  Like the mounting bracket that has been cut in half.

Driver side is just a bit better.  Still looking at some repair work.

Friday, March 16, 2012

It's A-Door-Able!

 Here is the passenger door after I pulled the handles and aftermarket black door panel.  Can tell the color difference between the original paint and the Maaco red re-paint.  Also the lower bolt for the window lift channel is covered in RTV, so pried that off.

Better picture of the mechanisms in situ.  And the overpaint and other muck.  The window glass has stuck in the up position.  That increased the fun when I later removed the glass.
 The window winder and door lock mechanisms fully out of the door and on the concrete arranged as they are in the door.  Like everything else I remove both of these items would be tagged with part numbers and description.

Everything is out of the door but lift channel that is holding the glass in.  Gives a good shot of the hard demarcation line between colors.  I think the rough texture on the inside of the outer door skin was an attempt by Karmann for sound insulation.
 Peering at the front inside of the door.  Got some surface rust to fix it looks like.
 Now I am about to remove the door glass.  I got a 10mm wrench.  Checked it against late model coupe glass bolts to double check.  Then proceeded to remove two 10mm bolts from the 58's glass.  Glass not budging.  So rattle glass just a tad, afraid of breaking glass with reason as I later discovered.  Pulled the door felts out.  Looked down the channel and realized why glass was still in place.  I had forgotten to remove the upper two 10mm bolts holding the glass in. %)#)!!!  So had to contort left hand with wrench to loosen bolts while right hand held the glass in place.  At last both bolts were out and was able to lift the glass out intact.
 How the door looked after removing the glass.
 And here is the 58's door glass laying atop the passenger door glass from my 1970 parts coupe.  Very different shaped glass.  Would have had lots of fun tracking down the correct door glass if I had broke it or dropped it.  Whew!
 Now the outer chrome trim removal.  I followed Loren's advice - got a piece of scrap 2x4 and a hammer.  Then tapped the chrome towards the body.  About 1/4 in should do it.  Except in my case the outer mounting screws decided to hold on for dear life.  Took a lot of shifting the trim back and forth before the chrome parted from the door.  But it did come away in one piece and unbent.
 With the chrome trim removed and a lot of the grime/corrosion scrubbed away with a wire brush.  Now can see the mounting screws which are almost impossible to replace.
Here is one of the screws.  Can see why they are a bit hard to replace.  Instead of having a complete round Phillips screwdriver head, two of the sides are flat.  This allows the chrome trim to slide over, fall down, and when slid back lock the trim in place.

Shopping List

As I take the car apart, the list of parts I need grows.  My coupe was produced in mid-November 1957.  Which has impact on some of the parts I need.

  1. Engine lid and license light housing.
  2. Headlight buckets [2].
  3. Under nose patch panel.
  4. Rust patch panels for both lower rear quarters under bumper ends.
  5. 28PCI carb, metal fuel line, and correct fuel pump.
  6. Door panel chrome trim.
  7. Window winders with white Ghia knobs.
  8. White Ghia knobs for dash.
  9. Driver door pull strap.
  10. Correct two tone interior and headliner.
  11. Floor mats.
  12. Interior light.
  13. Sapphire 6V AM radio.
  14. Rubber kit for whole car.
  15. Lock pillar ornamental plate screws [8].
  16. Door handle and winder springs [4]. 
Well that is the list so far.

Washer Fluid

If you ever wondered what replaced the Beetle washer fluid bottle for the early Karmann Ghias.  Well wonder no more, this is what it looks like.  Its a bag of water attached to the driver side of the front trunk.