Say hello to Plopp :)

[plopp]

still haven't started the engine..... but made some progress on the wheels:

[plopp]

ok, it's been a few weeks and here's the "progress ": i got a battery and my plan was to bleed the brakes and get the Ghia off the jackstands....



well, didn't happen...... two bleeders snapped on the front calipers so I ended up buying two calipers.... while I was at it I repaced the rotors, wheel bearings, tie rod ends.....



now I have two drop spindles on order as well as new ball joints.....

stay tuned .....
.

[plopp]

ok...... after a few days of pure pain I finally got the font suspension and axle beam out........
come to find out a few torsion leaves are missing so now I have two sets on order (upper and lower torsion tube) .... cut the beam to weld ride height adjusters in place, going to be adjustable +- 1" up/down ... starting 2 1/2" below stock because of the drop spindles :)

her's a few pics:

beam cut and blasted..... also blasted the disc brake backing plates and one last part of the engine tin......


.
here's the beam halves in epoxy primer.... you can also see the shock towers are welded solid, from the factory they're only spot welded


.

.
here's the backing plates primered.... in the background are the drop spindles......
.


.

[plopp]

cut the beam in halves to weld adjusters in.... that torsion spring setup is really growing on me.....


.
beam welded and painted.....

.

.
.
here's the Ghia as of tonight: 2" drop spindles installed, new shocks, new brakes, just what the doctor ordered......

.

.

[plopp]

got the throttle linkage sorted out..... the carb is a Weber progressive and apparently this one was not designed for a VW, the throttle turns counter clockwise which made the install a little more difficult.


.
.
installed the headlights and front bumper.....
.

.

[plopp]

It's alive !!!!!!!! Have to fix a oil leak at the pushrod tubes, other than that it runs great !!!!!

click image to start video !!!

[plopp]

I have two sets of doors, one set is shaved (no window opening, no door handle), the other set of doors is stock but doesn't fit at all, I trimmed around the edges, had to re-weld because the skin would seperate .... What a pain .... Here's a good pic of what it took to make it fit



.
Now it's close to perfect ..... Took some cutting, welding, filler .....


.

[plopp]

And the other set of doors.... Shaved.... No glass, no handles.....


.
.

[plopp]

It's been over a month .....the new saddle interior and oatmeal carpet is scheduled for delivery tomorrow.... More updates soon

[plopp]

The big brown truck delivered.......



That Permatex carpet glue is some nasty stuff !!!!!


I'll email the guys I bough this interior from and see if I can get some extra carpet and vinyl to close the gap between the rear seat and seat back, for now I used some leftover vinyl from the headliner but carpet would look way better....



.

Of all the color combos I looked at I really wanted two tone seats and door panels but I think it would look too "busy" with three colors inside the car....


Almost done with the interior, have to order a few things like the door handle covers, hinges for the glove box door .... No idea where I put that stuff when I took the car apart 5 years ago.....

[plopp]

Ok , I found these glovebox hinges in one of the many boxes of VW parts ..... Stripped, wire brushed, primed, painted .... Like new again :


.


The radio is going to be inside the glovebox, I'll fab up a plate that fits inside the glovebox to hold the radio.
In the middle of the dash will be the stock 1960's Saphire AM radio for the "classic" look

[plopp]

After a few weeks I finally got back to working on my VW again: pulled the tank since I only painted the top part and left the lower half in primer.
I had some charcoal grey metallic left over and a buddy gave me his DeVilbiss GTI gun so I could compare it to my Finishline ...

Well, let the photos do the talk:


.


.

This is straight from the gun, no color sanding no polishing ... Damn that gun is sweet, lays down metallics and clear just as advertized...

[plopp]

This is the "original appearance" Blaupunkt Saphire radio, I think it might be the "correct" radio for 1968 so there it is :



Too bad it's AM so we need a "real" radio with MP3 player in the glovebox ..... Here's what's holding the radio inside the glovebox (will be painted body color after some filler work) :

[plopp]

Since nobody can "reply" in this thread:

I'm going to pull the engine again to fix a nasty pushrod tube oil leak. I ordered these SS pushrod tubes that are a little longer on the engine case side, hope these will fix it.... I'm currently using spring loaded aluminum tubes but like I said, they leak on the driver side on two pushrods... I suspect there might be something wrong with the sealing surface on the engine case so I don't want to bitch about these spring loaded pushrod tubes just yet....

While I got the engine out I might as well do the alternator conversion, that generator that I currently got is not charging the battery... I read something about the "idiot" light necessary for it to work, got to read some more (I am not an electrician) ....

Any help/insight you guys can provide, please feel free to drop me a PM..... Same thing when you see something stupid on these pics, let me know ....lol

[plopp]

Painted the support for the radio:



And installed.....


.


.
.

Under the hood: the radio has to be angled down so it doesn't interfere with the hood hinge:


.

[plopp]

Ok.... Spent some time going thru my scrap-metal pile and then fired up the welder....


.

.
.
.

It makes engine removal and install sooo much easier:
.
.
.


.
.

[plopp]

Oil leak seems to be fixed, engine ran for 30 minutes, no leak, not a drop :)

These pushrod tubes are "stock look" windage style in stainless .... Shiny ...

While I had the engine out I removed the clutch and checked crankshaft endplay: .030".... Wear limit is .006" .... So there is a engine rebuild in my future but I've heard of engines running with way more endplay than this so I'll wait and see....it's going to be ok for another 2-3000 miles I hope....

Anyways..... No leaks, going to get up early and go over to the tag office and get it registered..... Might be driving tomorrow.....

[plopp]

Another update: started on my alternator conversion. With a small carburetor spacer it will fit. It is tight but it fits.


.
Nice chrome kit, it is Empi which is pretty much the lowest quality stuff money can buy but so far it all looks pretty good, can't say it's a bad kit but don't know until it runs......

With this style fuel pump there's plenty clearance. It's a pump that I got on Amazon for $30, it has enough meat to tap the inlet/outlet for NPT and it is smaller than the stock pump.
.


.
.
At the carb it is much tighter, need either a spacer or get the Dremel out.... Spacer seems much easier....


.

The chrome sure looks nice :D

[plopp]

Live and learn.....

I ground some material off the alternator and got it to fit. Bolted the carb to the intake, no more interference until I realized the throttle linkage wouldn't move anymore because the acc pump linkage hit the alternator..... So I ground the China chrome for no reason.....ordered a 7mm carb spacer, test fitted today, seems to do the trick..... Too bad that now I have to cut the inside sheetmetal of the decklid because the decklid is crushing the air filter.....
What really annoys me is that a year ago I welded a patch into the opening that was there..... Guess now I know why it was there and going to cut my weld patch out again.....

Hope to get it out on the road Sunday.....

[plopp]

It's finally running AND charging the battery.... Had to spend some time reading up on that idiot light and how the excitation current on that alternator works..... This added a few more grey hairs to my head but I'm glad it finally works..... Now I have to fix the rest of the wiring but for now it is drive-able.... Got it registered too so I put a few miles on it and damn: this car is fun to drive!!!!

[plopp]

The first time on public roads in almost 10 years.....

Didn't break down and made it back home, successful first drive :)



Got antique plates too...

[plopp]

Wow this is a fun car to drive!!!



So far I put about 15 miles on it, no problems so far..... Looks like everything works fine .....

Next on the list "to do" is the wiring and getting lights to work, then the radio.....

[plopp]

Still needs a few things here and there but so far it's running really good.....