TheSamba.com :: View topic - Late 1969 Ghia vert preservation/ restoration

Mon Jun 13, 2016 5:09 am

Took the Ghia this morning for the MOT road worthiness test. Sadly the weather was miserable with a 'smirr' of fine rain. What the locals call a 'driech' day.
I haven't adjusted the wheel alignment since I replaced the tie rods, and the car was weaving away like crazy. Luckily, I've asked them to adjust all the wheel alignment parameters, so all should be well!
I got a phone call after a couple of hours to ask where the washer switch was. I haven't got around to converting to the Microswitch mod in the wiper switch, so the washer switch was sitting in the spare wheel well! Easily fixed!
The other problem was that the green dash indicator doesn't light up consistently with the turn signals. Doing some background reading I think I can piggyback the KBL wire onto the 49a terminal of the relay, but I should be able to get it to work.

Mon Jun 13, 2016 3:01 pm

Yay! Passed the MOT, which means, as road tax is free if your vehicle is over 40yrs old, that the Ghia is good to drive for another year!
No advisories either, although my resolution for this year is to install the Microswitch for the windscreen washers into the switch and set up a relay to power the pump.
The tracking has been set to a 'toe in' of 2mm, which is the minimum, and the camber was 30' and 50' on the front wheels, which is within tolerance. The car, of course, drove a whole lot better on the way home!
The afternoon was (mostly!) dry, so I gave the car a good wash, Polish, seal and wax, and polished the chrome. All set now for the KGOC(UK) International Rally at the weekend, although I might see if I have time to wire in the speakers for the radio.

Thu Jun 16, 2016 12:56 am

The car is back at the house now, so I'm pottering about doing a couple of small jobs before the KG meet at the weekend. Some of the overseas visitors have already arrived in the UK and are posting on Facebook, so it's getting exciting!
British readers might understand my frustration with the US market setup for the headlamps. In the UK, we often flash the headlights to signal to other drivers (eg to let them into a gap in traffic). Our US model Ghia doesn't allow you to do this, unless the lights are on. It's such an ingrained reflex though, that I keep trying to do it, and confusing other road users!
It needs a Euro spec relay, with an extra terminal, and I have had one of these, (identical otherwise to the original), for ages. I tried to fit it over the winter, but just managed to fuse the lights! :oops: Nigel Skeet has written extensively on this in the Bay window forum.
I wasn't sure if the relay was at fault, or my wiring :shock: , so I tested it with crocodile clips and a 9v battery in front of the TV last night, and it partially worked, so I went to the car and rigged up this bizarro test arrangement with the car battery... :P

This proved I could toggle between the low and high beams, and flash the high beams with the lights off, so I then 'just' had to wriggle the old relay out from the nest of wires, and wire in the new one!
Success! And everything works from inside the car too!
The pics are irrelevant really, but just wanted to show off my cleaned up wiring and fusebox. No more crappy blue clik-lok connectors, and everything in its rightful place on the fusebox! :D

Thu Jun 16, 2016 6:28 am

mcdonaldneal wrote: Took the Ghia this morning for the MOT road worthiness test. Sadly the weather was miserable with a 'smirr' of fine rain. What the locals call a 'driech' day.
I haven't adjusted the wheel alignment since I replaced the tie rods, and the car was weaving away like crazy. Luckily, I've asked them to adjust all the wheel alignment parameters, so all should be well!
I got a phone call after a couple of hours to ask where the washer switch was. I haven't got around to converting to the Microswitch mod in the wiper switch, so the washer switch was sitting in the spare wheel well! Easily fixed!
The other problem was that the green dash indicator doesn't light up consistently with the turn signals. Doing some background reading I think I can piggyback the KBL wire onto the 49a terminal of the relay, but I should be able to get it to work.

Is that your garage with all of those bays?!

Thu Jun 16, 2016 9:32 am

NOVA Airhead wrote:

Is that your garage with all of those bays?!

HaHaHaHaHaHa! :D

Oh, how I wish! Sadly, the local farmer is letting me rent space and won't let me buy the whole block. Even if I could!...

Fri Jun 17, 2016 2:47 am

Having run out of important things to do, I had a go at reinstalling and rewiring the radio and speakers. The old central dash speaker was broken beyond repair but I had got hold of a bargain pair of '80's NOS door speakers which are almost the right size (complete with wiring and brass connectors!)
I haven't managed to get hold of the correct wire bracket that holds the speaker in place, but there were two screw holes that would take a self-tapper. So, (with some help), I managed to fit the speaker, and it's cardboard damping ring into position. There's not a massive amount of clearance, between the radio (removed for fitting) and the wiper control arms, and the speaker insists on magnetically attaching itself to everything in sight, but we got there!
Then in a flurry of soldering, heatshrinking and fitting brass connectors, I wired in the two door speakers as well, with the NOS wiring that came with the centre speaker. All works as it should, so I'm very happy!

Fri Jun 17, 2016 10:29 pm

Yay!
Today's the day! The U.K. Karmann Ghia owners' club has their International rally, and this year it's close to home, in Stirlingshire, Scotland!
It's been raining all week, but today has dawned bright and clear should be a great day. It's 6am and I'm going to pick up a friend as a co-pilot, drive to meet another Ghia in Edinburgh and then drive the rest of the 2hrs to Stirling to meet the rest.
Happy day! Wish us luck!

Sun Jun 19, 2016 1:33 pm

So, get ready for a few pic heavy posts!
We've finally got home after a fabulous couple of days, combining the two day meeting of 47 British and European Ghias, including (apparently!) a record nine Type 34's all together in the UK and, Shona and my 25yr University reunion in Edinburgh, which finished with an '80's disco that got us home at 4am!

Saturday was a bright, clear day, but quite cold (about 12degC!) The continental Europeans were all complaining that it wasn't Summer, despite a few of the Scots donning kilts!
I picked up a friend in Gullane (Shona had reunion organising to do!) and we met up with another Ghia in Edinburgh and headed off to a hotel in Stirling to meet the others...

Sun Jun 19, 2016 1:43 pm

The first proper stop, after a scenic drive, was Glenturret whisky distillery. Home of 'The Famous Grouse' whisky experience.
We all had fun on a very interesting tour of the whisky making process, and tales of the world record mouse-catching cat! Luckily, they provided little pots for the drivers to take away their tasting drams, as Scotland's drink-drive laws are stricter than the rest of the UK! :D
My tool kit came in handy for some running repairs too!

Sun Jun 19, 2016 1:59 pm

After the tour, I was conscious that I needed to start driving home to get ready for the evening Uni reunion.
Ian and I set off on a scenic route through the rural hill roads of Perthshire and West Fife.

Everything was going well, picnic lunch taken (next pic!), when I smelled the dreaded smell of raw fuel as we drove along!...
Quickly checked that we weren't on fire, :shock: then pulled into a layby.
The engine compartment looked (and smelled) fine, but looking under the front I could see petrol raining down onto the ground.
Shit! :o
I have a fuel filter in the line from the tank to the tunnel and it was leaking here, but access was a problem to even stop the fuel gushing out. So, quickly jacked up the front and removed a wheel and was able to get a grip wrench on the hose. The filter had split at the inlet!
Some struggling and swearing (eventually) got the filter replaced with a spare I luckily had with me, and we were on our way, over the Forth Road bridge.
Sadly, my arms and face were covered in underseal and grease, and I was now running late for my appointment with a shower and a dinner suit!
Aaargghh!
All's well that ends well though, and Shona and I made it just in time for the start of the evening's events!...

Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:57 am

Never use plastic filters. I always use one that has a metal can. More difficult to find but avoid problems like you had.

Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:23 am

I'm on the lookout for a metal filter NOVA. In fact, given that I have a resealed tank, with a mesh filter in the tank and in the fuel pump, it's tempting to leave out the filter altogether!

The reunion was a blast, everyone dancing like they were 18 again, but the disco finished at 3am in Edinburgh... By the time we had driven home it was 4am and we were due to be up at 8am for the Ghia rally. I said to Shona we could give it a miss, but with her YOLO attitude we got on the go bright and early!
First stop of the day was a marvel of modern civil engineering, the Falkirk wheel, which is an enormous rotating mechanism to raise a canal barge, sitting in a water bath, up by 79 feet to join two canals at different levels. You can see it in the photos. While we were gathered in the car park, a cool looking 1966 beetle arrived on his Sunday drive and was delighted to meet us all and have a chat!

Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:01 am

I know it goes against the grain, but I really like that ghia with the spots in place of the nostrils.

Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:16 am

This is a filter that I recently found at my FLAPS, if you can find something similar where you are at.

If you have a new tank filter and a Pierberg fuel pump you probably don't need anything further. The Pierberg has a filter built in that you can remove and clean.

http://www.napaonline.com/p/FIL3031

Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:27 am

This is what I have on mine:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mr-Gasket-9746-Chrome-Ca...SwYmZXKMaL

Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:40 am

paul_round wrote: I know it goes against the grain, but I really like that ghia with the spots in place of the nostrils.

Ah, but which one Paul? This one:

Or this one! :wink: :lol:

Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:41 am

paul_round wrote: This is what I have on mine:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mr-Gasket-9746-Chrome-Ca...SwYmZXKMaL

Good call, I'll investigate!

Mon Jun 20, 2016 11:08 am

For all you fans of European number plates, we had a good selection:

Danish

Dutch (must be an old one, as they've been yellow and black for years!)

And German

My personal favourite, as the coolest car there, was this 1955 lowlight. The lady owner has had it in her family since new (I think), and it is apparently a pre-production prototype. She was very happy to show us the details, including the VIN plate and a strengthening bar behind the nose which she explained (in German) as a feature to prevent the car becoming 'nose light' at speed. I can't confirm that, but I'll post some pics I took...

Mon Jun 20, 2016 11:12 am

Ooops!
I forgot I hadn't loaded all the pics onto my iPad! :oops:
Here's the rest!

Mon Jun 20, 2016 11:24 am

With regard to the nose light comment, I do remember many years ago, talk of putting a block of concrete in the nose to help the handling.