Last week we dropped the Karmann off at K-Paz Automotive Spraypainting for the bodywork. This was the third time I'd driven the car and to my surprise it actually drove better. The carburetor, which had been a bit problematic, especially in second gear, seemed to be working fine now. Perhaps running it for a while had flushed out whatever gunk was had decided to lodge in there.
The trim and fittings are removed. The last photo of the car in black.
Back from the soda blaster. Not even the same car.
It has obviously had some filler work done on it prior to receiving its black paint job, which wasn't original. I believe the car may actually have been red originally.
Some more work to be done to investigate under the filler to see what the damage is. So far there is no sign of serious damage.
Shelly is still thinking red, but maybe a little darker shade?
Update - December 2013
Here are a series of detailed photos of the underlying condition of the car.
As expected, there was bogged over rust in the bottom of the doors. This is a common problem in Ghias.
Both sills had been replaced at some point -badly. Neither actually line up with the body-line correctly and filler has been used to fill the gaps to make them align.
Bad rust repair in the left and right lower front panels. These will be cut out and replaced with replacement panels. In this picture you can clearly see that the sill has been completely bogged over as it does not line up with the body.
A small spot of rust cut out and new steel welded in. This is a test repair.
A small rust spot above the front vent.
Pleasingly the front has not been damaged in any serious way. There is a very small amount of fill on the outside of the nose to smooth over some minor imperfections.
Another interesting home repair. Where is the torsion bar inspection hole? It was in fact completely bogged over. This will all be cut out a replacement panel installed.
There was major rot in the boot lid. This was apparent even before the paint was stripped. The rot has completely destroyed the bottom half of the lid but the top is in very good condition.
I managed to source a complete boot lid from the Vee Dub Centre in Osborne Park. The top of the lid is partially damaged but the bottom is good. From the two parts we'll get a single good boot.
Part of the colour history of the car - seven layers of paint! The car was originally turquoise and has been repainted numerous times, blue, red, silver and black. This is the first time however that the car has been stripped back to bare metal.
Link the the next stage of restoration: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2014/03/vw-karmann-ghia-progress.html
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