



Background: I purchased this ghia from the classifieds here on The Samba back in 2005. Here is the only picture I had to go on when I bought it:







The two selling points were 1.) Arizona (low rust, clean pans) and 2.) it had an 82 mm crank based ~1886 in it. Memory may be hazy on the original engine size.



After receiving it and a little TLC I drove it as my daily driver for a year or so. I was content with the race car style rat look it had at the time, but that soon changed.



My friends have a couple of shops, one is a motorcycle custom place and the other a car paint and body shop. One fine day a buddy of mine decides to test out his can of aircraft stripper on the roof and proclaimed "Hey, it comes off pretty easy". I have a feeling he wasn't making discovery but rather a statement. The two weeks of 12 hour days were launched by this one act of bravery.



Some photos:



















































The following couple of years I spent a good deal of time keeping her running and enjoying driving. I was pretty happy with the original result and continued to work on improving the car.



One fateful day though, someone decided that bright red and old weren't strong enough deterrents and backed into my rear quarter in a parking lot. The damage was significant enough to require repair and, since she was going back under the knife, improvement.



My buddy (who I mentioned earlier owned the cycle shop) decided the Ghia could use some slight customizations, namely frenched headlights and counter sunk taillights. I obliged, having seen some of his previous work and trusting his taste in cars.



Here's some photos from the second repair/respray:











































At the same time I took longer to repair the engine compartment metal, sent the engine off to be completely rebuilt and delved further into the other areas of the car for a more complete restoration.



Eventually I discovered my shop of choice for the rebuild made some critical judgment errors (blocked a camshaft bearing oil return with RTV from the camshaft cap and used chromoly rings, which combined with a rich condition caused them to become unseated) and decided to rebuild again. I had a guy locally who had been working on old VWs since they were new and really knew his stuff. Why I didn't use him sooner is beyond me, he was in between locations at the time and I wasn't smart enough to.



Some engine info: Porsche Journal 82mm crankshaft and custom block originally paired around 1979, 2233 Eagle Racing Cam (Adv. Duration 272° / Dur. @ .050" 234° / Lift @ cam .371) 90.5mm pistons and 042 ported heads. Carburetion is handled by 2 x 44 mm Weber carburetors.



These days I am at the point where my laundry list is very simple and I get to drive my favorite VW as a daily driver. It's mostly the little things I work on.



It's been a long 8 years and I have enjoyed the experience immensely and wanted to share it with the community.



She's even been an extra in a movie,







Thanks for looking!



I am now eyeballing a 70's Kombi bus...





~ Thanks to Keith Jackson of Keith's Auto Reflections, Chris Durham, Sandy Halterman and Norman Sherrod of Teutonix for the help over the years with her~ I realized that in spite of owning my car for almost ten years now I have never shared it with the Samba community. This thread will be a minor attempt to correct that.Background: I purchased this ghia from the classifieds here on The Samba back in 2005. Here is the only picture I had to go on when I bought it:The two selling points were 1.) Arizona (low rust, clean pans) and 2.) it had an 82 mm crank based ~1886 in it. Memory may be hazy on the original engine size.After receiving it and a little TLC I drove it as my daily driver for a year or so. I was content with the race car style rat look it had at the time, but that soon changed.My friends have a couple of shops, one is a motorcycle custom place and the other a car paint and body shop. One fine day a buddy of mine decides to test out his can of aircraft stripper on the roof and proclaimed "Hey, it comes off pretty easy". I have a feeling he wasn't making discovery but rather a statement. The two weeks of 12 hour days were launched by this one act of bravery.Some photos:The following couple of years I spent a good deal of time keeping her running and enjoying driving. I was pretty happy with the original result and continued to work on improving the car.One fateful day though, someone decided that bright red and old weren't strong enough deterrents and backed into my rear quarter in a parking lot. The damage was significant enough to require repair and, since she was going back under the knife, improvement.My buddy (who I mentioned earlier owned the cycle shop) decided the Ghia could use some slight customizations, namely frenched headlights and counter sunk taillights. I obliged, having seen some of his previous work and trusting his taste in cars.Here's some photos from the second repair/respray:At the same time I took longer to repair the engine compartment metal, sent the engine off to be completely rebuilt and delved further into the other areas of the car for a more complete restoration.Eventually I discovered my shop of choice for the rebuild made some critical judgment errors (blocked a camshaft bearing oil return with RTV from the camshaft cap and used chromoly rings, which combined with a rich condition caused them to become unseated) and decided to rebuild again. I had a guy locally who had been working on old VWs since they were new and really knew his stuff. Why I didn't use him sooner is beyond me, he was in between locations at the time and I wasn't smart enough to.Some engine info: Porsche Journal 82mm crankshaft and custom block originally paired around 1979, 2233 Eagle Racing Cam (Adv. Duration 272° / Dur. @ .050" 234° / Lift @ cam .371) 90.5mm pistons and 042 ported heads. Carburetion is handled by 2 x 44 mm Weber carburetors.These days I am at the point where my laundry list is very simple and I get to drive my favorite VW as a daily driver. It's mostly the little things I work on.It's been a long 8 years and I have enjoyed the experience immensely and wanted to share it with the community.She's even been an extra in a movie, CBGB's opening next year.Thanks for looking!I am now eyeballing a 70's Kombi bus...~ Thanks to Keith Jackson of Keith's Auto Reflections, Chris Durham, Sandy Halterman and Norman Sherrod of Teutonix for the help over the years with her~



Last edited by crapweasel on Tue Jan 01, 2013 5:27 pm; edited 1 time in total