68 Ghia

[Tom]

You did all that in one weekend ? Wow !

[Brown]

The thing that took the most time were the rear brakes, removing the old frozen brake lines, etc.

[Brown]

Got some work in on Sunday!!

Replaced the old clutch and accelerator cables and re-installed the peddle assembly. Installed a new (used) gas tank and started repair on the wiring for the turn signal switch. PO must have replaced it and all the wires were being held together with bad electrical tape. I removed all the tape and started to crimp them together. Two wires left to go then i need to swap the steering wheel from the 71 to the 62.

Ran into a problem with the seats. Went to swap in the seats from the 71 and discovered that the seat rails on the 68 and older are about 2 inches wider then the seats used after that. So now I'm on the hunt for a couple of older style seats. If anyone has any, please let me know. Thanks!

next big step is to take the fan shroud off the engine and clean it up good then adjust the valves and replace the valve cover gaskets and replace the main seal. Should I re-torque the head bolts or just leave well enough alone?

[Brown]

if i can't find seats, does anyone have any experience welding in aftermarket seats?

[Raj]

if i can't find seats, does anyone have any experience welding in aftermarket seats?

would it be better to weld the orange tracks to the floors on the INSIDE of the correct tracks? maybe you can squeeze the ornage seats in? I have a pair of 71 bug seats I can donate to the cause

[Brown]

Over the weekend while up at my parents i picked up another 68 Ghia to use for parts to build the blue 68 but in looking the car over, other then the front driver fender which was hit with a snow plow the car seems to be in better overall condition so i may use that as the car and take the parts i need from the blue car.

here is a shot of it getting towed back to my parents
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8566/1613 ... 0c44_b.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7507/161 ... 1e56_m.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7543/159 ... 3791_m.jpg

[Brown]

I posted this before but no one answered!

I removed the engine from the Blue Ghia and want to remove the shroud to be sure there are no nests built in there. I plan on removing all the tins decreasing and cleaning all the fins .

Is there anything else i should do while it is out a stripped of its tins?

Thanks

[Raj]

I posted this before but no one answered!

I removed the engine from the Blue Ghia and want to remove the shroud to be sure there are no nests built in there. I plan on removing all the tins decreasing and cleaning all the fins .

Is there anything else i should do while it is out a stripped of its tins?

Thanks

sorry!
Not sure how nutty you want to go. If thins thing is a beater roll it as is!
If not.....
- check the hoover bit
- foam around the oil cooler
- oil cooler seals ( top and bottoms)
- intake to head gaskets
- rubber intake boots ( def do.. these crack and you get no idle)
- check the end play ( either the right way at the flywheel , or at least push pull pulley)
- flaps all working
- thermostat?

[Brown]

Raj,

Thanks, those are all very doable. What us the foam around the oil cooler though?

[AoT]

when i replaced my oil cooler there was a thin layer of foam that lined the inside of the housing. the foam wrapped around the sides that were solid and not where the vents were exposed.

[Brown]

OK Thanks, I recall that now. I'll see if i can find a picture of it!!

Ordered some parts last night for the engine.

Main Seal
manifold to head gaskets.
Oil cooler seals
Spark Plugs
Dual Port Intake manifold boots
valve cover gaskets
oil filter gasket set

[Tom]

Who did you order from ? BusDepot ?

[Brown]

I order from a bunch of places but this was from Wolfsburg West!

[AoT]

This samba thread has info on sealing up the cooler plus the position of the foam on the cooler a couple of posts down. My bus engine had a blue hard caulk to seal it which I removed when I replaced the cooler.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... oil+cooler







This is the foam set up I used.

[Brown]

Some Pictures
Brakes before and after swapping from orange Ghia








This is why i pulled the engine, to see if there were any nests in the fan shroad!


Also to clean around the cylinders for better air flow


Painted Tin's - Won't run better but will look purdy!!




Waiting for its power plant


Donor car!!

[Raj]

Looking good Ken! Looks like she will be all ready to run by St pats!

[Brown]

I've been working away at the Ghia swapped the steering column from one to the other and it looking at the wiring i discovered an interesting thing that i thought maybe some of our historians might be able to explain.

Both Ghia's I have are reported to be 1968 but the wiring is set up per the 1970 wiring diagram on TheSamba. I checked the chassis number for the Blue Ghia and that comes back as being built Dec 70, so i am thinking problem solved. But then i check the ID plate on the inside of the trunk and that shows it being built in 1968. The body looks like the earlier version so I am very confused. Any ideas on why everything seems all over the place?

[Raj]

Any sign of prior body swap? Remember..... crazy shit happens with 50 yo cars!

[EDNCAROL]

Pan was switched or the nose was changed. Maybe.

[Brown]

I thought about both of those but the wiring and dash control knobs seem to follow the 70 wiring diagram and i don't see any welding seams for the nose.

it was an auto stick in its former life so maybe that has something o do with it. The Tan Ghia seems to be set up the same way although i have not checked the chassis code on that one yet.

I'm making progress though. Swapped in the steering column from the tan car as the signal switch wiring was a mess. Reinstalled the motor and had it running on gas poured into the carb. Could not get it to draw gas from the tank yet though. Still a lot of electrical issues to work through with the following not working.
Gen Light, Headlights, turn signals, emergency flashers, horn! Will start with a good cleaning of the fuse holders to clean up contacts and then trouble shoot from there.

[EDNCAROL]

Ken look the windshield post over real good and the rockers. Some one might have weld up a whole front clip dash board and all.

[Brown]

I'll check but it doubt it. Both cars are listed as 68 and have the same wiring configuration. so the chance of having two with front ends grafted onto them is remote i'd think.

[Brown]

So i have been working onthe ghia whenever i get the chances and after pulling hte motor and cleaning it up i put it bck in over the weekend.

After putting it back in and fixing the wiring i got it to run by pouring gas intot he carb but it would not run off the tank. After playing around with the filters and soft hoses it turned out the metal line through the chassis was clogged in two places, front and back. Using copper wire and steel wire and the cable that supports the garage door and some carburator cleaner i was able to free up both clogs and roto route the pipe. The engine starts right up and runs.

Next on tap is the wiring .

Here is a before and then after picture.





Here is my roto router setup. Garage door cable installed in cordless drill



End of cable poking out of the gas line by the tank. I was happy to see this pop through!!

[Brown]

Electrically I have the following issues.

No emergency flashers or turn signals
Starter switch does not work in accessory position.
No headlights
No horn
No generator light when the car firt turned on.

Thougt the best was to start to trouble shoot the electrical isues was to pull out the fuse holder and give that a good cleaning. Marked all the wires, took abunch of pictures and yanked it out.

Hear it is right out of the car.

[Raj]

Great job on the roto router. I just something similar recently to one of the things. The clutch cable snapped inside and was binding on something. So I used an old cable in a drill and ran it through about a 100 times for each side. Nice a smooth now!

Ghia is looking good.... and timing is perfect! Summer is coming.