1966 Ghia coupe restoration

[Era Vulgaris]

So here goes the beginning of re-covering my dash pad. The factory dashpad I have is actually from my 64 donor car, so my car is going to have a slight dashpad backdate with the seperate speaker grill rather than the hole-punched "speaker grill" in the vinyl that 66 had originally.

First I stripped all the original vinyl off, and then gave the fiberboard a coating of epoxy resin to firm it up, as it did have a few cracks, but thankfully none that went all the way through. It is missing one of the threaded tabs by the driver side defrost vent, along with a small chunk of material, but I can handle that.

It helps that I saved the dash from my donor car. It makes for a good stand!

The vinyl I got has a pretty thick cotton backing. So rather than use foam under the vinyl, I'm going to simply cover the dash pad twice. Even on just the first covering alot of the little bumps have been hidden. And I suspect with the 2nd covering they'll disappear altogether. That's the hope anyway.

And now with the speaker and defrost vent holes opened up

While I was able to get the vinyl to lay flat and smooth over all the contours (the outer ends where it meets the A-pillars were a real PITA but I managed it), the one area I had problems I couldn't resolve was the underside of the gauge brow. With it being concave, there was no amount of stretching that was going to get rid of the extra material, so I had to cut a couple darts out. I'm going to have to really spend some time on the 2nd covering to figure out how to deal with this. I plan on tackling the 2nd covering before new years.

_________________
Currently own:
66 Karmann Ghia, L390 Gulf Blue, under construction, here: www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760505&highlight=
99 Mazda MX-5 10AE, Sapphire Blue Mica, 6 speed, LSD

Previously owned:
98 Porsche Boxster, silver, 2.5L -- 67 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1500sp -- 98 BMW Z3, Atlanta Blue Metallic, 2.8L I6 -- 75 Porsche 914, Laguna Blue, 2270cc -- 72 Porsche 914, Signal Orange, 1.7 FI -- 74 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1600dp -- 74 Triumph TR6 with O.D., sapphire blue

[Era Vulgaris]

Success! It's not perfect, but it turned out a lot better than I had initially imagined. After the headliner and now this, I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of stretching vinyl. Now I just need to pick up some black paint for the defrost vents before I install the dash pad.

_________________
Currently own:
66 Karmann Ghia, L390 Gulf Blue, under construction, here: www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760505&highlight=
99 Mazda MX-5 10AE, Sapphire Blue Mica, 6 speed, LSD

Previously owned:
98 Porsche Boxster, silver, 2.5L -- 67 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1500sp -- 98 BMW Z3, Atlanta Blue Metallic, 2.8L I6 -- 75 Porsche 914, Laguna Blue, 2270cc -- 72 Porsche 914, Signal Orange, 1.7 FI -- 74 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1600dp -- 74 Triumph TR6 with O.D., sapphire blue

[WrennMetallWerks]

Kool project…. Your going love rolling around in it.

Good job on the window trim.

The last time I tried it I gave up and took it to a automotive glass company .

It’s just so tricky. When I worked for Bugformance they had us put the trim in on the bench them installed the window into the car. It was always a challenge and took a couple techs to get it in. Well done. Keep going. 👊
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⚒ Believe In The Power Of Positive Thinking ⚒

Purpose Over Pleasure 🕊

“Hard Werk ⚒ God First “

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=0-PSeV52tZ4&si=wpcuRnQyvIFo2nCJ
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[Braukuche]

Dash looks fantastic.
_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now

[Rome]

Excellent work on the dash cover! For the air vents, I suggest semi-gloss black instead of full gloss. Might even be VW's L43 "lava black" such as the '66 steering wheel color. Wolfsburg West sells a spray can in that color.

[DaveB9]

That's a great result on the dash cover - it looks superb! Very satisfying to rescue an original.

[Era Vulgaris]

[Era Vulgaris]

[Era Vulgaris]

Getting some interior work done. A little bit at a time because those glue fumes are no joke.

_________________
Currently own:
66 Karmann Ghia, L390 Gulf Blue, under construction, here: www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760505&highlight=
99 Mazda MX-5 10AE, Sapphire Blue Mica, 6 speed, LSD

Previously owned:
98 Porsche Boxster, silver, 2.5L -- 67 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1500sp -- 98 BMW Z3, Atlanta Blue Metallic, 2.8L I6 -- 75 Porsche 914, Laguna Blue, 2270cc -- 72 Porsche 914, Signal Orange, 1.7 FI -- 74 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1600dp -- 74 Triumph TR6 with O.D., sapphire blue

[obus]

Looks sharp!!
_________________
July 1959 Mango Standard Bus aka Obus L346 L347 https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=256592&highlight=
June 1973 Pumpkin Orange Thing aka Othing L30H
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=711775&highlight=
1960 Paprika Red Karmann Ghia Convertible aka Schatze L452 built 5/20/60
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...highlight=
66 21 window bus built 8/31/65 https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=777273

[Era Vulgaris]

[Era Vulgaris]

And speaking of brick red vinyl...I got my front seat covers this week. I had Sewfine make them with the 58-60 upholstery pattern with hidden-stitch pleats, but with the separate seat-back-panel construction for 61-67 seats so I can fit them onto my seat frames. I'm playing a bit loose with "correctness", but I like the 58-60 look better And I think these covers with the hidden stitch seams and padding will be a bit more lux than the stock 61+ heat seams.
Now to immerse myself in seat re-upholstering videos...

_________________
Currently own:
66 Karmann Ghia, L390 Gulf Blue, under construction, here: www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760505&highlight=
99 Mazda MX-5 10AE, Sapphire Blue Mica, 6 speed, LSD

Previously owned:
98 Porsche Boxster, silver, 2.5L -- 67 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1500sp -- 98 BMW Z3, Atlanta Blue Metallic, 2.8L I6 -- 75 Porsche 914, Laguna Blue, 2270cc -- 72 Porsche 914, Signal Orange, 1.7 FI -- 74 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1600dp -- 74 Triumph TR6 with O.D., sapphire blue

[Marcdeb]

Looking good. You're moving along and making a lot of progress. Can't wait to see it all finished. My 71 only needs the interior put in so I've been watching your progress. What glue did you use for the rug?
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Marc
68 Karmann Ghia Cabrio Autostick
71 Karmann Ghia Cabrio

Previously Owned:
2011 VW EOS Hard Top Conv
2008 Saab 9-3 2.0T Conv
2003 Saab 9-3 SE Conv
2001 Saab 9-3 Conv
1998 BMW 3 Series Conv
1997 Saab 900 Conv
1997 Mazda Miata

68 Ghia Vert Survivor with 22,350 miles: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768107&highlight=
71 Ghia Vert Restoration: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=726710&postorder=asc

[Era Vulgaris]

[Era Vulgaris]

My first two Ghias didn't have much in the way of sound deadening, and they had a tin can resonance to them, as well as alot of road noise. I'm hoping that some dynamat and 40oz jute padding in the rear luggage area will quiet things down a bit in the cabin, and deaden some of that tin can resonance.
I used dynamat along the front firewall as well, but forgot to snap a pic before the carpets went on. I have some more sound deadening material for the floors too, which I'll post when I get to that.

_________________
Currently own:
66 Karmann Ghia, L390 Gulf Blue, under construction, here: www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760505&highlight=
99 Mazda MX-5 10AE, Sapphire Blue Mica, 6 speed, LSD

Previously owned:
98 Porsche Boxster, silver, 2.5L -- 67 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1500sp -- 98 BMW Z3, Atlanta Blue Metallic, 2.8L I6 -- 75 Porsche 914, Laguna Blue, 2270cc -- 72 Porsche 914, Signal Orange, 1.7 FI -- 74 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1600dp -- 74 Triumph TR6 with O.D., sapphire blue

[kiwighia68]

You're doing good work. I'm impressed.
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[Era Vulgaris]

[mg50]

Nice interior work. I'll definitely be revising this thread when I get further along.
_________________
1971 Super Beetle & 1971 Karmann Ghia

engine rebuild: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=775424&highlight=

[Era Vulgaris]

For the sound deadening on the floor, I didn't want to use dynamat. I'm sure it would probably be fine, but in the back of my mind I'm not 100% convinced that the foam part of dynamat won't hold water. So I didn't want to use it in any of the typical places water might pool if a seal leaks. Instead, I bought West Coast Metric's "tarboard" mats. This stuff is not so much tarboard, but rather just heavyweight hardened rubber.
Then on top of that, I put some 20oz jute padding on the front half of the floor pan, as well as on the center tunnel. It'll aid in sound deadening and also give a softer feel to those carpet areas.

WCM's "tarboard" rubber mats

Naked floorpans

"Tarboard" installed

Jute padding

And carpets are in

I'm not quite done with the carpet yet, because I still need to install the heater cables and levers. Once those are in, I can put the ebrake cover on, and then glue down the center tunnel carpet. I have an obstruction in the passenger side heater cable tube that wasn't there when I took the car apart, so I need to figure out a way to snake that tube so I can run the cable through.
_________________
Currently own:
66 Karmann Ghia, L390 Gulf Blue, under construction, here: www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760505&highlight=
99 Mazda MX-5 10AE, Sapphire Blue Mica, 6 speed, LSD

Previously owned:
98 Porsche Boxster, silver, 2.5L -- 67 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1500sp -- 98 BMW Z3, Atlanta Blue Metallic, 2.8L I6 -- 75 Porsche 914, Laguna Blue, 2270cc -- 72 Porsche 914, Signal Orange, 1.7 FI -- 74 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1600dp -- 74 Triumph TR6 with O.D., sapphire blue

[mg50]

Do you use contact cement to hold the tar board down?
_________________
1971 Super Beetle & 1971 Karmann Ghia

engine rebuild: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=775424&highlight=