The resurrection of my 1960 karmann ghia

[Antoine_P]

Hi,

Thanks a lot Charlie!

Another update on the frame and the steering parts.. soon I will start to detail you the work on the body, but I am only at its beginning

So, the frame. Now that the pans are welded, I still had to weld the gas pedal fixation:


So I mounted it:


Measured everything, put some weld primer:


Welded and with primer:




Of course the pedal assembly has been disassembled, cleaned, painted,...






Now it is time to take care of the steering box:


All necessary seals, oil,..:


And rebuilt:




I also rebuilt the spindles:






Antoine

[Antoine_P]

Update

Well, I am waiting on the last seat rail to come (sadly will only be end of march apparently..well, everything is prepared for it and it will then go fast and be warm enough to paint the pan so not that bad..always seeing positively!!) so I started on the body. It was clear to me since the beginning that I will have to remove the front fenders as it is quite rusted under it:


And it had apparently a small accident in the front so the nose will need work or to be replaced (still unsure until now, more on it in a future update). So I traced every needed lines:


And we went from there:


To there:


To there:


To there:




Now we can see better where the journey goes :twisted:

Not only the front will require some work but also the air boxes:




Have a nice day

Antoine

[Jaroslav]

Beautiful work. The floors were surprisingly healthy. According to the pedals, the car probably no had too many kilometers.
I remember the car when I was young. Disappeared 30 years ago.

[cliffrod]

That's very impressive, Antoine. Almost bought a Karman Ghia as my first car.

Your shop/barn has such wonderful post & beam work and probably some masonry details we can't see in the pictures. It must be a very fulfilling place to create & work.

[Onorius]

Verry nice job, I like karmann ghia verry much

[Antoine_P]

Thanks to all of you!

@Jaroslav: well, floor pans are repro parts that needed to, be adjusted/reworked. There were riveted fiberglass pans when I bought it

@cliffrod: thanks! Yes, love my barn, it's a protected building due to its historical meaning for the city. It was first build in 1560 and partially reconstructed in 1719 after a small "earthquake" that means I cannot do everything I want to it but on the other side, what a nice place to work on my toys!! I will try to make some pictures to show it better to you!

@Onorius: thanks a lot. Yes, not a sports car but I love its design and all the details of it

So, finally found some time to upload more picture..means it’s time for an update!

Let’s make one update now

So, except one, I have all seat rails but not the central part between the rails.. So I had to build it

Let’s first trace it:





And it’s time for the build:





Bent:



Let’s not forget the end that needs to go on the rails:



Checking:



Ready to be welded:





Stay tuned, several updates will come in a short time to bring you to the actual status!

Antoine

[rewdco]

You're doing a great job Antoine!

[Antoine_P]

thanks aa lot Jan!!

Well, here comes the next update

I know you can buy the splash guards but: I want to learn more and I try to keep this project on a reasonable budget so I built mine..
As usual, first is the drawing:


Then I build myself a hammerform out of wood:




Ready to cut:


cut and I started to bend the sides using my bead roller:


and then it's time for the hammerform:


and after some hammering, some shrinker/stretcher action,... I have it:


Fitment check:


and it's time for the second side:


check:


and after making the holes, all in primer: 8)


Just to give you an idea of the condition of my ghia..this felt down just by moving the body:


Stay tuned

Antoine

[Tobi/DFL]

Great work, Antoine!👍

[Charlie Myres]

Well done Antoine!

Rust repairs can bring so much pleasure; I often sit in the workshop at the end of the day with a beer in hand, admiring a repair,

Cheers Charlie