Saving Emiko: 68 RHD Restoration in New Zealand

[kiwighia68]

[mcdonaldneal]

July looks good. In my diary. Msg me your plans nearer the time!
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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper

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[c21darrel]

I vaguely remember someone warning you about those one year only high back seats somewhere early in your build...
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GhiaBuild
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=481184
1967 DC build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=693583&highlight=67+dc
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[kiwighia68]

[carl4x4]

[kiwighia68]

The reason why I decided to replace my '68 stock Ghia seats is apparent from this pic. The seats are so wide that it is nearly impossible to extract the seat belt from the B pillar. The seats are also so high that my hair touches the headliner.

I bought 2 old Porsche seats - from a 928, I think - and sourced the cover materials from TMI via KGP&R - to match my existing upholstery. The Porsche seat (original next to the disassembled seat parts) has a similar shape to the original Ghia seat but is narrower and lower and looks like this. (The seat-bottom in the pic has been prepared to receive the seat cover. I used 4mm thin polyester sheeting called "Low loft wadding" at about US$ 9 a linear metre.)

I also sourced 2 Ghia seat parts from Dan in Seattle to fit onto the seat rails on the floorpan. These I had to cut from the seat bottom assembly and rustproof and paint. I had 3.5mm cross-members welded on where the Porsche seats will be attached with 4 captive nuts and their bolts.

The seat covers were made for me by a small upholstery firm in Pretoria, South Africa, during my annual pilgrimage. They used the original Porsche seat covers as a template. Cost? About US $ 160 for the two seats.

I've trial fitted the seat covers and the fit is good. I'll show in a following post how I refurbished the tired Porsche foam on the seat-back.

PS I'll be keeping the original Ghia seats, of course, in case I have to demonstrate the originality of the parts on the car.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[kiwighia68]

The seat bottom looked like this after I had reinforced the foam with fresh polyester wadding:

And like this when the seat cover was on:

Yes, I know there is a bit of a wave towards the back, but these seats are not for show but for comfortable daily use, and anyway, I'm not a professional upholsterer by any means.

I'll tidy up the bottom of the seat bottom before I install the seats. I have some denim material which should do the trick. (I'll have to persuade my wife to do some sewing for me. Pic to follow.)

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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[Mellow Yellow 74]

[kiwighia68]

[Mellow Yellow 74]

Fair enough!

Angus has offered to measure the horn bracket next time he visits his project but if you could measure yours that would be great because I am hoping to make up a new repair piece this weekend.
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1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)

[kiwighia68]

[Mellow Yellow 74]

Thanks Kiwi, that will be helpful when I install the bracket but actually I need to know the height of the bracket itself (or the distance from the bottom of the circular cut-out to the bottom of the bracket) so I can repair it because the bottom is rusted out.
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1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)

[kiwighia68]

[Mellow Yellow 74]

Excellent, thanks Kiwi - it is a little taller than what I thought!
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1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)

[kiwighia68]

I worked on the second seat yesterday. The work starts with de-rusting the seat base and springs. Lots of scrubbing, sanding and rustproofing. I use a Holts product and then paint it over with a Zinc based paint.

Mellow Yellow asked why I was concerned about the underside of the seat bottoms. The reason is that the old foam and bolstering is, well, old, and it is prone to disintegrating. Here's a before shot.

In order to protect the old foam and bolstering from the springs, I intend to place a 4mm foam insert between the springs and the seat bottom. Like this:

I intend to do the same on the upper side of the seat bottom to firm the seat up a bit. Like this.

The diagonal mark on the foam is where the heating coils sat. I removed them.

After adding the blue foam bolstering, the entire seat bottom is covered with wadding before the seat covers come on. Like this:

_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[kiwighia68]

I'm still working on the Porsche seats but waiting for one seat cover to be re-done. (TMI is unbelievably slow, and no matter what their website says, they don't (or won't) respond to an order from outside the USA.)

I was talking to another novelist yesterday and she asked about my Ghia. After I had talked - too much, no doubt - she said, "It's like writing a novel, isn't it? Getting the car back on the road is the equivalent of the first draft. And then you do the editing to make it better.

There's a lot of wisdom in that, as my long list of "editing" projects testifies. This week:
Finish and install Porsche seats
Install fire extinguisher somewhere (maybe just in a box behind the seat, as Rich has done)
Squeaky clutch cable to be removed and lubricated before re-assembly
Front fender flanges(?) to the ground down and rolled to prevent rubbing
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[kiwighia68]

Still waiting for one seat cover. So:

Excerpt from the novel, Saving Emiko-

De Villiers walked back into the store. 'Where is he?'
'Who?' the shop assistant asked. 'There's only another woman here.'
'I mean the other woman, whatshername.'
The shop assistant pointed with her thumb towards the back and De Villiers walked through without asking permission. Whatever was bent over a box with bubble-wrap.
'I'm not ready,' Whatever said.
'Change of plan,' De Villiers said. The idea had come to him while he was sleeping. The subconscious solving problems while the conscious mind was offline.
Whatever straightened up. 'Like how?'
'Like I think we are going to need a bigger and more powerful drone. One that can carry some weight and deliver things.'
'You mean a cross between a drone and a robot?'
'Are there machines like that?' De Villiers was surprised. He knew about drones and he knew about robots, but flying robots?
'For sure, but none legal and none available except from the Dark Web. Or hand-built from imported kit parts.'
De Villiers knew about the Dark Web. Policing that domain was part of his remit as head of the International Crime Unit. To detect and prevent terrorism and drug dealing.
'What do you want the machine to do?' Whatever asked.
De Villiers explained.
'I have one at my house. A prototype of my own design.'
'Does it work?'
'I'll make it work.'
De Villiers took a deep breath. 'Let's go then,' he said, 'but bring the drones you have in the box anyway. Our flight leaves in an hour.'

They stopped in front of Vaishna's block of flats. 'I'll be back in five minutes,' he told Whatever.
De Villiers took the stairs. There was a faint smell of curry in the air.
'Are you ready?' he asked when Vaishna opened the door.
'Can't you smell it?' she said. 'The neighbours have been complaining for the last two days.'
'Okay then. We move tomorrow morning at first light. Final briefing at my house at 21:00 tonight.'

The road to Ardmore Aerodrome took them along the backroads of south-eastern Auckland. They watched the Beechcraft Baron land. Barefoot Matt and Anonymous loaded their guitar cases in the boot.
'We're ready, Colonel,' Matt said with a mock salute at the driver's window.
'Get in,' De Villiers said. 'We're on action stations now.'
'Battle stations, you mean, Colonel?' Matt teased.
'I'm a navy man, Matt,' De Villiers responded. 'Battle stations is for foot-soldiers.'
'Who's this?' Anonymous asked when he slid into the back seat next to Whatever.
'You're going to have to give us a name,' De Villiers said.
'Call me Sandy,' Whatever said.
The three men shook their heads.

What a bunch of misfits! De Villiers said to himself as they sat down to work through the final details of their plan. A cancer-ridden policeman who doesn't follow orders. Another police officer, a deadly shot with the mind of an assassin, who might, De Villiers suspected, have been a member of a terrorist group in Sri Lanka. Two foot-soldiers of the Angolan War, and a transgender drone and robot specialist who looked and spoke like a hairdresser.
'The good news,' De Villiers said to the others, 'is that no one is ever going to believe that the five of us could pull off an operation like this.'
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[John Moxon]

I've missed the gang...pleased to see they're still hard at work.
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John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
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[WooleyNelson]

^^^ Yes! Me too! Was wondering if the tale would ever continue.

(Kiwi too busy driving that beautiful Ghia to write...)

[kiwighia68]