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  #1  
Old 11-30-2009, 06:28 AM
redoxide redoxide is offline
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Default personal project

I cant afford to own some of the cars Ive worked on recently, but I need a rolling project I can use and make replacement panels for before it goes off the road for restoration.. IE kind of a rolling resto but basically providing a bench for making parts and panels and remain a daiy driver.

Looked all over for a decent project that has to be cheep to buy, have a great aftermarket part supply be easy to live with, have some style and plenty "SHAPE" that I can be chalenged making replacement panels.

The car Ive come up with that ticks al the boxes is a VW Karmann Ghia.

lots of curves, reverses, sweeps swoops bulges and most every other coach built shape and form.. and above all cheep and cheerfll with a good resale ..... pretty much for me, the moon on a stick.....

Loking over the shapes on the car one im having a headache working out is the detail in the door skins that run into the rear quarters ... how would the panel go about making a door skin of this style with basic tools

!Bfm(52w!Wk~$(KGrHqYOKigErzI,sUysBLC!foYeL!~~_12.jpg
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  #2  
Old 11-30-2009, 07:08 AM
abarthdave abarthdave is offline
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if you find a decent one its a good place to start,

but they can really be rust buckets if you get a bad one ,
also check the nose, it sticks out farther than the bumper and its rare to find one that has not been damaged,

Also bumpers are expensive , and if you need to rechrome the original one its expensive since there are so many pieces,

But they are a really nice driving car once they are sorted out,

any more questions just ask.....

Dave
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  #3  
Old 11-30-2009, 08:01 AM
redoxide redoxide is offline
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Dave had a look at a few and even the supposed good ones are full of filler... Im not worried about rust repair, thats the point.. The idea is to get a decent driving car with good mechanicals so I can drive it... Ive got my eye on a filler queen, but at least its not pretending to be anything other than, unlike some of the more expensive ones on offer.. The ultimate would be to build a full ally body for one, but to start with a remake of most of he rusted areas in steel to make an honest solid body is the aim.

Most of the shape is standard shaping but im not to hot on these deep angular shapes in the middle of panels. Would it be the case of chasing the shape in over the edge of the bench or making the skin in a number of parts and welding together ?

Im looking for one off methods not productio or semi production methods.. Same goes for the detail at the top of the door and the rear quarter panel bulge

I think it has all the elements of earlier type cars, a worthwhile learning curve, and an interesting project to boot..Forget its a VW and think more of the shapes...
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Old 11-30-2009, 10:11 AM
Barry Barry is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redoxide View Post
....making the skin in a number of parts and welding together.....
...would be the most likely approach - the creases/v-shapes would be tipped at the edge of the smaller panels you'd be making. ie your weld seam 15-20 mm away from the detail line. Enough space to dress out the weld and the detail line would add strength to help with weld distortion.

That'd be my approach anyways. Be interested to hear others.

Barry
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  #5  
Old 11-30-2009, 12:18 PM
benchmarc benchmarc is offline
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Default Ghia Specialties

redoxide,

John Kelly is the go to guy for all things Ghia. His website is: http://www.ghiaspecialties.com/
or you can look him up under John Kelly in AllMetalShaping's member list.

Cheers,
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  #6  
Old 11-30-2009, 12:50 PM
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german8rcoupe german8rcoupe is offline
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Alright big man, remember I have a complete grp one here if you want to borrow any panels for flex patterns etc.



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  #7  
Old 11-30-2009, 01:57 PM
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John Kelly John Kelly is offline
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The body detail on Ghia doors is pretty tricky. It has a crown front to back, and the detail blends from a point into the more flat part of the door. I would simply buy a door. There are tons of them available. But since you want to practice metal shaping, the Ghia is a good car for that. I've learned much of what I know on Ghias making nose sections, flares and t-tops. They have beautiful and subtle lines (at least the early ones do).

I would shape a panel with the correct amount of curve in all directions, and then tip the edge up, stretch it slightly to restore the front to back curve, then tip it again to get the return bend that turns into what makes the bottom of the door skin. The trickiest part is getting the detail correct, It curves a little bit if I remember right. Might be easier in two pieces. A flexible shape pattern would be a good idea.

Shameless plug alert! My last Ghia is for sale with a bunch of parts, with or without rear flares, and t-tops. I'm too busy beachcombing to care about cars much : ) Video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffZBSW7PFTY

There are also plenty of Ghias in the classifieds at: www.thesamba.com

Also see my videos below for making flares. The same techniques can help you make most of a stock quarter panel. Pretty easy with only two pieces used for the main surface area.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com
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Last edited by John Kelly; 11-30-2009 at 02:00 PM.
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  #8  
Old 11-30-2009, 04:16 PM
redoxide redoxide is offline
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Barry I fully understand the technique you described, thats one that I thought would work if I felt the need to make a skin as part of a project.

Ross, shows how much attention I pay, I never saw that at your place.. would be interesting to take shapes off a filler free shell...

John I never realised that you were a VW man.. the car you have for sale with the parts looks like a bargain to me, the fairly average car Im looking at is selling for £3500, thats close to $7000, all get is a plopped up driver...
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