DJ's Oct '58 Coupe - Motor '57

[John Moxon]

[djway3474]

Still need to stitch down some corners and remove a few wrinkles but the front and rear seats are basically finished.
Those front seats are difficult. Every section of the seat has some weird angle to it, and looks odd out of the car.
I got the chrome pieces back that I had plated again and they are very nice so the windows will be back on the list of to doooos.

The back seat is just sitting in place. I added some visual interest to the back seats.

[oldbusboy]

Interested in seeing the LED taillights working. Any pictures?

Trevor
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1968 porsche

[djway3474]

[djway3474]

The quarter window rubber kept rolling off so I taped it on one side. Worked great

the key to seating these is to keep the inner lip inside the chrome tucked down. Hammer, tuck, hammer, tuck until seated.

Only one quarter window to put in and then I can get to the adjustment of the door glass. I am happy with the polishing results on the glass, could be better but so far from where it started.
Now to just get the rear window chrome problem resolved.

[djway3474]

I installed the last quarter window.
I have not had much time for the Ghia as my daily driver 914 FI has fritzed on me. I was trying to fix a cut out and I did something. Now it just pours gas through the injectors. Just a few minutes run time can eat a quarter tank.
I know nothing about FI so I am just downloading articles and trying to test one component at a time. Found some good size vacuum leaks and my gut is telling me the PO fattened it way up to compensate so I am probably dealing with multiple issues. Everytime I get one item resolved another shows up.
Tomorrow I go back to step one and work my way through the checklist.
I would really rather be adjusting my door glass so the windows would be finished.
This Ghia is close to a test drive. biggest hurdle is fixing that rear window c channel chrome.
Down but not out of the race. Never surrender!

[djway3474]

I finished up the driver and passenger door pulls. Loren supplied me with the leather strap, rivets and chrome beauty parts. I made the metal strips the strap rivets to and the underside metal part for the passenger door pull. I painted that the Stonebeige as all the other metal parts in the interior are done the same. The original door pull appeared to be glued in the pictures I have seen but I decided to sew it instead.

Check another project off the list

[CiderGuy]

Very nicely done! As always your attention to detail is always top notch.
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Cars Currently Owned:

1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1973 Karmann Ghia Coupe - Project car for sale
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (Body off restoration)

Timing is everything

[djway3474]

I started laying out the carpet today.
Since this car had little carpet in the cabin I decided to just go with a nice carpet in a color that went well with the Dolphin Blue. I did use a carpet that had the same texture as the original but I decided to not go with the light gray.
I will trim everything to exact fit then sew on the binding.

[djway3474]

I switched the window scrapers from the lowlight style to the 60s style. After all those hours polishing the glass, and seeing how the original system was built, I decided to use the later scrapers as they cover up the inner metal strip.
After this picture I did install the window trim chrome. The screws used to hold the chrome on is one of the absolute worst design fails on the car.

[djway3474]

All the glass is in and adjusted. Just one problem. The press fit door glass is not holding in place when I roll the window down. It seems the new rubber is much to thin that fits between the glass and channel. Just a year or two later they ran the bolts through the glass to hold them them in place, now I just need to figure out a way to get the glass to hold when rolling down. I crimped as much as I dared on the channel.
Any other ideas?

[Loren]

Go to your local auto glass shop and they should have the rubber for the window chanel in different thicknesses. You should be able to use a thicker piece of rubber to keep it in place. Your Ghia is looking great!

[djway3474]

Thanks. I am looking for information about the order of the Windlace assembly. Is it Windlace first, metal retainer over that, and then the carpet tucks into the metal part? Is the metal part exposed? If so what color is it?

[danny gabbard]

http://www.mcmaster.com/#rubber-u-channels/=13f7xoy worth a try , Or how about makeing shims from sheet metal to fill gap ??
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Shipping is NOT included in any of my products or parts. Just want to say thanks from GAB-FAB for any purchase!!

[John Moxon]

[djway3474]

[djway3474]

[djway3474]

The interior I made is mostly in now. The door panels will not go on until I am finished with the exterior chrome as I am mounting it in a different way than stock.
Not perfect but I am pleased.

[djway3474]

I made an under dash cover and carpeted it to hide all the wiring

I debated the next thing for quite a while. In the end I don't feel comfortable driving without seatbelts. I installed 3 point belts with as little done as possible if ever it was desired to return to no belts at all.

The latest chrome shop promised to have repaired the rear window chrome in a week. That is now 3 weeks.

[calexican]

Really looking nice, I've been enjoying your thread because I have the same car, year and color, so I dream on. One suggestion I have for your interior would be getting the rubber tunnel mat you can get from Wolfsburg West, fits perfect, a little long, but you can trim it and it hides under the back seat. I put seat belts in mine too, smart choice. Looking forward to seeing the chrome!