My '68 Ghia Build

[slalombuggy]

Last weekend I finally dragged home a car I have wanted for years. A 1968 Ghia Coupe. I had one 25 years ago and sold it when I bought my Callaway turbo'd widebody '84 GTI. I was looking at a '61 and the owner told me about a southern car on Kijiji (Canadian Craig's list) so I checked this one out as well. When I got there (a 45 minute drive to a small town) I was told that someone else had already spoken for it and would be coming for it in a week. I looked at the car and immediately knew it was a great car. there were some issues but it still had original paint in the inner fenders not rust like all the local ones. I waited a few days and phoned the owner and offered him more money than asking price and after he thought about it, he honed me back and accepted.

I've built a few fiberglass buggies and in 2014 finished my 1957/70 Oval on an IRS pan and took it to Bonneville to race on the flats like I did my buggy a couple of times before that. This car is not destined the flats, I'm thinking of keeping it mostly stock with some upgrades in power, braking and suspension. I've got a 2332 with Super-Pro heads and an FK-87 and 48 IDFs sitting in the stand looking for a home.

The new ride filled with all the boxes the car came in including all new rubber, seat covers, dash pads and repair panels from KGP&R.

MY Oval landspeed car

The build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=483669&highlight=

My autocross/landspeed buggy

The build: http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/forum/topic_show.pl?tid=1801

I just spent the entire day out in the garage and it looks much better now. I can actually move around and work on things........more to come.

brad

[John Moxon]

Welcome to The Ghia Forum Brad it's a privilege to have a red-blooded Bonneville racer in our midst.

I don't think you were there in 2011 when we visited for "The World of Speed" but I certainly know of your exploits.

I often cite the Bonneville Ghia guys when people ask in the forum what are the best air-dam and rear spoilers for Ghia stability...160mph...no air-dams, no rear spoilers.
_________________
John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[slalombuggy]

Hi John,

Yes Ghias are very stable at high speeds without any aerodynamic improvements. If I had any brains, I would have built one to race instead of a flat windshield, wing shaped Beetle. The only aero problem I know of is air pressure building up in the engine compartment, popping the deck lid open and having the lid slam up and down at speeds over 140mph as happened to my friend Britt. I try and make it down every 2 years, this is to be a race year for me, but I may only be going to deliver the Oval to its new owner and say hi to all my friends for a day and drive home. We have something unique planned for our next run on the salt. Maybe our paths will cross some day.

brad

[SoCalJes]

Hi Brad, quick question. Do you know if the front beam on your Ghia is stock width?
_________________
Jesse
71 Ghia
______________________________________
Just because it didn't come that way, doesn't mean it shouldn't have.

[slalombuggy]

Yes it's never been touched, everything on the front end is OE and mostly worn out the steering box sounds like a stamp mill.

[SoCalJes]

Are those centerlines and do you know the width. I'm ordering a set of polished ones and mounting vw caps on them. Kind of like smoothies but half the weight but I have a narrowed beam so of your picture I think I can get an idea what width I can run upfront.
_________________
Jesse
71 Ghia
______________________________________
Just because it didn't come that way, doesn't mean it shouldn't have.

[slalombuggy]

LOL. The Centerline is just one of the wheels off my buggy I set under the car to see what it looked like. It's a 3.5" wheel with a 185/60 tire, not that that means much LOL. The car will probably get a set of Iron Cross wheels. I tried one out on Saturday and it looks killer. Are you getting a set of CMS wheels? I don't think Centerline is making 4X130 wheels any more. The nice thing about CMS is you can make your own wheel and adjust your offset to what you need. Sorry I couldn't help. I've got some dropped spindles coming so as soon as I get those I can put the beam together (It's all in boxes too) and get the beam on the pan. If you're not in too much of a hurry I could try the Centerline on there again and give you some idea of width an offset.

brad

[60ragtop]

Good find , Brad.
Not going to make a salt car out of it? To bad I redid a 64 ghia years back and could help you out on the salt I've been out there a time or two. Even met John on his trip out there.
_________________
Rick
Certified Mechanic by the State of Michigan in 1977
ASA certified in 1987
Certified Hunter Wheel Alignment Master Technician 1986

[John Moxon]

[slalombuggy]

[SoCalJes]

[60ragtop]

maybe going down but first Speed week to get the 109 in the 200 MPH club. last time we ran 199.6. then no racing for 2 years
If the ghia is a true 68 you don't have to worry about the pivot bolt being loose
yeah I been told today (at least now I have)
_________________
Rick
Certified Mechanic by the State of Michigan in 1977
ASA certified in 1987
Certified Hunter Wheel Alignment Master Technician 1986

[slalombuggy]

[Rome]

After squeezing your hands down between the dual carbs and the side panels of your hi-po Beetles, you'll love all that extra space on the Ghia when you fit your big engine.

Probably one of the first modifications you'll want to consider is to cleanly cut off the air cleaner stand on the right engine bay panel, and relocate the battery to under the right side of the pan under the rear seat bottom like where it'd be on a Beetle.

Looking forward to progress photos.

[fes]

Hey from the far-east..Nice score..love the '68, but I'm Biased..
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'68 Campmobile-Pedro
'15 Golf-Stella Blau
'56 Oval-The Turd (for now)

[slalombuggy]

[slalombuggy]

Not too much to report.

Welded metal plugs into the antenna and mirror holes. Put the front beam together with some dropped spindles and rotors from my buggy with good FAG bearings and seals. Took the jack and lugnut tool and blasted them in our cabinet at work and painted them. so they look like new. The pedals and mount were in very nice shape, not all rusted and corroded like what is usual around here. Blasted and painted those too. Had to replace the clutch pedal as it was cracked in the usual spot. Had the spring zinc coated to resist rust.

I was wondering about a couple of parts and would like some opinions before I order them.

The first is the repop early fender mount mirrors from CIP1. Has anyone used them? Good? Bad?

And second, I want to be able to get in and cruz on the highway. Has anyone ever installed the 12.5 gallon fuel tank the CIP1 offers? Thoughts?

Oh, and I went and found a pan from a 70 KG so I don't have to do a bunch of fab work to get my IRS.

brad

[c21darrel]

Im not sure if all the repop mirrors are from the same manufacturer. Several have complained about looseness at the neck/head. I bought one from WCM and it is tight. I see originals pop up in the classifieds, not too rare, yet.
No experience with the long haul tank. It looks like it is a fill from under the hood. Are you planning to weld up the original outside fill location?
_________________
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!

[60ragtop]

Brad,
I had one of those tanks in a late bug I had years back. Worked pretty good but you lose trunk space as it sits up higher.
you building another car for the salt?(not this one)
_________________
Rick
Certified Mechanic by the State of Michigan in 1977
ASA certified in 1987
Certified Hunter Wheel Alignment Master Technician 1986

[57BLITZ]