Brand Spankin' Newbie here

[NailsInOUrBacks]

Hi everyone,
My name is Colin. First off, I do not own a ghia yet, but I am very interested in picking one up very soon! I'm a student at UCR in so cal. This is a great forum with so much info and knowledge, problem is, i dont know where to begin (the basics), any direction on maybe some reading materials? Some of the topics/vocab I dont quite understand.

To give everyone an idea what i'd like to do...
Buy a pre 70's Ghia (don't like the big rear lights in moderate condition (just gotta run well enough to bring home) and fix her up! I love the look of the ghia as I'm sure the rest of us do here at the forum. I've been in my buddies 1600 bug and well...it stinks in performance, so i fear the ghia will be similar. Now from what i've gathered, I can get a 1600 and increase the displacement to around 2 liters? Then turbo it (i love torque and the noise reduction)? Would the transmission/drivetrain be able to hold this?

Is this all a pipe dream for a student?

I pull in a modest income ('bout $6xx a month) and make a few grand on the breaks on top of that. Is this plan even feasable within a year?

I've been browsing the classifieds and see I can get a decent condition ghia with some rust for around $3xxx. Rust I fear the most, as I have no welding tools or fabrication skills. I don't have much mechanical know how either, but I'm open to learning, I do have plenty of tools and a garage space also (thanks to my pops!)

I don't want to do a full authentic restoration. what parts are under the skin make no difference to me as long as they work.

Input/guidance is greatly appreciated!

Take care everyone and happy holidays!

---Colin-

[vwdmc16]

welcome Colin you will enjoy you new vw, i think a ghia is ten times better than a bug of any vintage, but thats me.

well as you may know ghia don't really come without rust, it's like rust was a standard feature LOL. i'd try to find one solid as possible and maybe one already with the body work out of the way. mechanicals are cheap body work is not, these cars were HAND BUILT so the few replacement panels that are avalible will not just line up and weld in perfectly because every car is variably different. and as many say, a ghia is nothing without a good body or something like that.

For the power, save your money for your dream engine after getting the stocker reliable, and buy the best parts you can afford, they are worth it. the type 1 vw world is infested with shitty products, go for the american or german stuff and you probably won't need to buy it twice. Turbo vws are fast and may need more attention and usually many times as much tuning to get right, you need to take that in consideration. Would you plan on building it or having it built?

A stock trans can be destroyed with the stock engine if you try hard enough, but if you are a modest driver that doesn't bolt in a 3000lbs stage III Uber Grip clutch and side step it to show that civic who's boss, it could handle 120hp+ many people have gotten away with more.
Now the rest of the car will not support that power either, suspension, brake and tire upgrades are in order to remain safe.

Try to get a '67 or later ghia as they have front discs stock, '68(autostick)&'69+ have IRS rear suspension, these will handle better and feel more solid IMO. they also have 12v and many more features that will be more convenient, safe, easier/cheaper to replace.

As for lingo, go to the "technical" section and read the whole Dictionary, that will teach you loads. Now whenever you have a rather normal question, search for it first it was probably covered many times before.

As for your budget, Yes it is do-able! many people have done it, just manage your funds and save, the biggest lesson i learned was DO NOT BUY CRAP (EMPI=CRAP, FYI) I wasted many grand on "performance products" that i had little knowlege on, these parts either did not fit, fit too proorly to use, or didn't work as claimed. But you have the great advantage of being a samba member before you even have the car, i didn't know about this place untill i had my car 2 years.
Set up a plan of you goals and set that up into small goals (exterior, interior, brakes, rims&tires, trans, brakes, engine, etc.

i hope this gives you a little head start into our world.

Cheers
-Wolff
_________________
"Fiberglass is for boats and race cars-Steel is real-fix it right the first time"-Wolff

'72 Ghia: http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n146/vwdmc17/100_1964.jpg
'72 Honda Z600
'81 Delorean

www.EVILGENIUSRACING.com

[vwdmc16]

heres a list of some good/important books to read

general repair and knowlege:

John Muirs's How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive
oldy and kinda strange but a good book, written in the 60's and updated into the 80's, covers nearly all models

VW shop manuals: Genuine Bently Repair manual -The Bently
it may cost $60 but it has much more technical info you may need compared to other manuals

How to Rebuild Your AirCooled Volkswagen Engine by Tom Wilson
very comprehensive and in depth book to completely rebuilding your stock engine yourself

Engines/performance:
How to Hot Rod Volkswagen Engines by Bill Fisher

This book has many good tips on building a performance engine but is widely regarded as being very aged. the first printing was in 1970, i don't think the 1600 dual port engine (basis of most perfomance vw engines today)is even mentioned in the book. it talks alot on carburetors that aren't even around today (for good reasons). also it considers a 150hp street engine to be the hottest shit possible. FYI there are 300-500hp street VWs Turbo Monster crusing around today, and IMO just about the whole chapter on areodynamics is BS.

VW Beetle Performance Handbook by Keith Seume
great book that covers all performance fields well and is still accurate
and give a nice little history lesson on the VW engine

TurboMania bu Bob Tomilnson
This is the book to read for your turbo plans

There are dozens more if anyone else wants to add to the list

Cheers
-Wolff
_________________
"Fiberglass is for boats and race cars-Steel is real-fix it right the first time"-Wolff

'72 Ghia: http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n146/vwdmc17/100_1964.jpg
'72 Honda Z600
'81 Delorean

www.EVILGENIUSRACING.com

[Ozzie]

Welcomen Colin,
You'll get plenty of help around here. My suggestion is that you learn this site well. The classifieds, the tech forums, the data sections, it's all here. The "search" function is your friend & works well. Go ahead & pick up THE BENTLEY. Read it. Especially at bedtime as it will give you good dreams.
If you are worried about performance & economy, you need a Civic Si.
Plentiful, cheap, no rust, & piles of parts.
If you want class & a good education on how to work on a car, get the Ghia.
Good luck.
_________________
Oversteer is when the back of the car hits the wall...

[Scott-NC]

Colin,

I agree with what Wolff says. An remember cars don't go from project to totally restored in a few weeks. Look for a good looking reliable car, then take on projects a little at a time. The best part about owning a vintage car is driving it and having fun with it. PLEASE don't buy one and start tearing it apart, I've seen way too many cars on ebay lately that this has happened to. Just drive the thing.

As for performance, remember you aren't buying a Porsche 911. You can have plenty of fun driving a stock engined Ghia. I'd much rather have a car that handles the twisty roads than one that is fast in a straight line. Suspension work is fairly easy DIY stuff engine work is not.

happy hunting, and wait til you find a good one.
_________________
"SAVE 'EM FROM THE CRUSHER!!"

[Ghia Nut]

wellcome aboard,
theres also a lot of information at
www.shoptalkforums.com for vws as well incase you get tired or cant find anything here.
_________________
'59 typ1 rajay turbo
'72 Ghia rajay 1641 dual 36DRLAs, 1 3/8" SS merged header and fat boy
78" GL Vert with ej22t swap
This will likely change tomorrow to something else.

[74Ghia]

Welcome aboard. A lot of things mentioned and to be remembered. I'll just suggest two things. Get a Bently Manual for your year Ghia. Mine is orange some are light blue. Secondly, find a local VW club in your area. It's alway great to have that local support as well. And you may get an assistant to help you work. There are web sites for wiring diagrams and such but better to cross that bridge when you come to it. Same for the Bug Me Videos. If you need something about what to look for when buying a Ghia, PM me. I have a checklist that may help. Good luck in your hunt and Merry Christmas.
_________________
Allen C.

2012 Silverado
53 FiberFab MG TD Replica (VW)

Life is hard and its harder if you're stupid.

[vujade]

if I could make one suggestion... buy the Ghia with the best body
you can afford. Mechanicals are not as important!!! Fixing floor pans
is one thing, but fixing smashed noses, rusted out fenders and rustet out
headlight buckets is a whole nother story and will cost you an arm and a leg if you dont have the skills and tools to do it yourself. Mechanical stuff
on a VW, be it beetle or Ghia is relatively easy to learn to fix.
_________________
www.DaytonaWinterJam.com

'67 Sunroof Notchback for sale

[kingkarmann]

My advice would be find the Ghia of your dreams, park it in storage for however long it takes for you to finish your degree. These cars become so addictive and demanding that you will quickly fall behind in your studies
Every once in awhile go buy some nice new shiny part for her and go visist when the urge strikes. When you earn your degree then set about on the restoration but make sure you do this before you settle down and have a family.
If the VW/ Ghia sickness really hits you hard you will end up being a garaged recluse like us typing on a greasy keyboard and wondering what kind of jelly we want on our peanut butter sandwich. Wishing you success and happiness in the pursuit of your dreams.
_________________
"Depression is a malfunction of the instrument we use to determine reality.”

Mike Gerson

What is your "Bespoke Reality"?

[jdub07]

hahhaha I like kingkarmann's advice.

I just got my ghia about 2 months ago. Already have a family so getting into the garage as often as I'd like is tough. If the wife wasn't on my ass so much I'd be in there a lot more. I get a hour here or a few hours there to do my work then I'm off to play with the kids or some other thing around the house. I do spend a lot of time at work planning my next moves with the car though.

Like suggested don't just get it and rip it apart. Make a plan then set small goals. Sometimes I'll look at my ghia and get overwhelmed with what needs to be done. Just keep your head in it and go one step at a time and maybe someday there will be light at then end of the tunnel.

Took me over a month to get my ghia to start. Now I need to get it to idle by itself, next will be body work/rust repair/rust repair/seats/dash/winshield/body work/did I say rust repair/paint each of these will have their own long processes within them and lots of time here at the samba making sure I don't go and fubar the whole project.

I bought mine with the intention to be a paint project. I want to paint another car of mine but don't want to wreck it so I bought the Ghia as a guinnie pig. Figured I might as well have a classy car to test my painting ideas on. Good luck on your hunt

[NailsInOUrBacks]

Wow, such great responses! Thank you everyone!

Wolff- I just ordered the books off amazon last night! thanks! they should be arriving within 2 weeks or so.

Is there a huge difference between IRS and swing axle? I do love taking corners. I'm sold on the front disc's. It seems the 69' is what i'm looking for then. smaller tail lights, front disc, IRS. nice.


Ozzie - I'm not worried about economy at all. I have a reliable daily driver (accord). I want a fun project car to drive around/work on on the weekends, the simpler the better. I'm also a bit of a speed junkie (who isn't?!) while i'm not trying to build a drag or race car, I would love to run a few laps on Laguna Seca with some friends (and beat them!) Plus you're right I do want the classy look of the ghia!

I have no intentions of tearing the car apart. I want to do things one at a time, bring out her gorgeousness over the period that i'm at school and living at home (don't gotta pay for rent plus i have space to work!)

I'll post up a link to an online journal that i'll be keeping while undertaking this project, if anyone is interested.


Is fixing floor pans easy or a big headache??? I've seen a few ghia's with rusted out floor pans and i decided to not consider them, but, if it's a relatively easy fix, i'm all ears.

Kingkarmann - lol! I love it. I've seen that sickness, my brother was an avid volkswagen enthusiast. He never got into the type 1 era, but he went through and raced just about every vw from the 90's onward.

When I first started looking, I figured I'll spend about $6k total, but now I see, ~$13k is more realistic with what I want to do. Which is fine, as long as it is going in the right direction, I don't mind the expenses along the way.

Thanks again everyone for the input! I will begin car/body shopping come January.

Oh I almost forgot, I will read as much as I can and try to build the engine myself in my garage, but I do have a family friend who's built numerous dune race bugs and is just a short drive away. Note taken on building first a reliable motor to drive with! Turbo-Frankenstein will stay in the garage until it is fully ready

Take care

---Colin-

[vwdmc16]

these 2 vids will get your blood pumping:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3930678169189994233&q=karmann+ghia&hl=en

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDjkMtWaHMI
_________________
"Fiberglass is for boats and race cars-Steel is real-fix it right the first time"-Wolff

'72 Ghia: http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n146/vwdmc17/100_1964.jpg
'72 Honda Z600
'81 Delorean

www.EVILGENIUSRACING.com

[kingkarmann]

[thefabulousnip]

[vwdmc16]

17 out of 100?
_________________
"Fiberglass is for boats and race cars-Steel is real-fix it right the first time"-Wolff

'72 Ghia: http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n146/vwdmc17/100_1964.jpg
'72 Honda Z600
'81 Delorean

www.EVILGENIUSRACING.com

[John M.]

[thefabulousnip]

Nah, it was 17 out of 30. I just thought it would sound more dramatic if I left that out. I think everyone that has ever taken such a class realizes that it's not hard for the instructor to make an exam that no one can pass.

[Ozzie]