Karmann Ghia Engine Bay Restoration

So after staring at this vintage VW in my driveway for the past couple weeks the time has come to start wrenching! The obvious issues with the Ghia are the body damage and nonrunning motor. Rather than tackling the exterior body work first i decided to concentrate on the cars vitals. The project was received without a battery, which was no problem b/c the original battery was probably cooked anyway. I was able to reuse the Bosch Premium Battery left over from the rabbit project! Next I sourced some metric fasteners and proceeded to overbuild an aluminum battery tie down.

Although i said i would not get involved with bodywork until a later date there were some areas in the engine bay that needed some immediate attention in order to prevent weathering. I removed all of the side paneling and gaskets, stripped down damage metal, prepped the solid portions, and painted the entire bay Eastwood chassis gloss black. So far i have had great success with this paint and though the finish isn't show quality it has proven to cover well & be quite durable.

Other recent milestones for the ghia include:
-Chopping off bent and rusted exhaust tip (I was constantly tripping over it, grrr...)

-Removing the rear bumper brackets and shrouds (1 bolt had to be massaged off with the grinding wheel while the other three just broke off)

Some Before Pictures for reference:

There are many more parts and updates enroute! The next project i would like to conquer is to restore the gas tank.

Best Porsche(s) Ever!

Gone Cabby Gone

Thats right, as of 8/10/08 i am no longer the owner of the 1987 Cabriolet Wolfsburg! The car was placed on ebay and auctioned off to the highest bidder. In this case the winning bidder was a somewhat local and promptly picked the car up. The new owner has intentions of making the car into a straight 96Volt electric car. He said using an adapter plate to the transmission you can bolt upto standard DC motor housings. These combonations have been shown to get around 80-110 miles before requiring to recharge. Pretty cool stuff!

Time to focus on other projects now that there is a little brething room in the driveway!

4th Autox - Mr. Ed's Debut!!!

Comments to follow...

Results: http://www.phillyscca.com/solo2/results/2008/SO071308.shtml

Ghia Collage

First Rallyx

On June 22nd I had my first rally-cross exposure and after playing around in the dirt and gravel all day I can never look at my SX4 the same way again. This event was my first real exposure to organized off road racing, and the experience was unforgettable. Originally I had intended on raising the coilovers on the hatchback and going to town. However days turned into weeks and the car was not ready prior to the event. With the hatchback out of the picture and this being the only scheduled rally event of 2008 another vehicle would have to stand in. Enter the SX4!!

That’s right I rally raced my then 4 week old 08 Suzuki! Some of my peers & competitors thought I was crazy for racing such a new car, but I was up for the challenge. The learning curve for the event was rather steep for me. The SX4 has a number of different features that needed to be tweaked or disabled to really take advantage of the car. First of which was the traction control system. In the preliminary runs I did not realize that the traction control was engaged, and due to the offroad circumstances the car was constantly in TC mode. The traction control works by cutting the throttle when it detects any of the wheels slipping. The system was engaged so frequently that I actually stalled due to lack of throttle coming around a turn-around section. Despite these electronic hardships in the AM sessions, I came out strong in the PM session! The afternoon course was much more open and less confusing (And I was becoming more comfortable behind the wheel)! Overall the day was a complete success and quite possibly one of the best automotive experiences I have ever had!

See this link for some additional pics: http://www.tristatetuners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58131

Results: http://www.phillyscca.com/courserally/results/2008/CR062208.xls

Can’t You Just Drive It?

The simple answer is no… The daily driver, which I swore I would leave alone, continues to receive little upgrades here and there. The most recent round of upgrades has come all the way from Japan and the Philippines.

The first item is none other than a genuine Suzuki Sport Shift knob in White Duracon Plastic. After waiting weeks for this item to be stocked in Japan, packaged and shipped to PA, it arrived. I was thrilled to see the knob show up at my door, but utterly disappointed to realize that the knob isn’t threaded and relies on a setscrew for mounting. Having installed many set-screw-style shift knobs in the past, I knew I was destined for disappointment with this knob. Not surprisingly the knob was installed and came loose by the third shift. Good thing I: a) Paid a premium for genuine part b) Paid a premium to have it shipped half way around the world c) Waited for weeks on end for it to arrive…The lesson learned here is to go with what you know! I knew from day one that I should have ordered the cheaper greddy knob, I knew the thread size and pattern for Suzuki, and finally I knew I would get burned! An update w/ replacement knob to follow !!

The state of affairs

Over the past week or so the sx4 has received a number of oem upgrades. The first of which is a Suzuki Works Techno carbon dash kit. These pieces were of excellent quality and fit perfect! Additionally I installed oem carbon dash sills for that extra touch when you open the doors. (Excuse the artsy night pic...)

More sx4 parts to come!

Got a new grill for the hatchback :P Undersized cooling system no more! I have decided to use the moroso can as a coolant reservoir rather than a oil catch can. The hunt for the oil catch can continues.

And finally some pics of the mess that is workshop. Drastic changes are pending. Before long all these parts will either be sold or installed, only to be replaced by new parts of a different flavor.

Farewell Whitey

So today is the day, whitey is sold. Since Winter 2007 it has been an excellent daily driver. Never leaving me stranded once, it was super reliable and provided a great introduction into the sport of autox. It was parted out (and still is being parted out). With a 190k on the clock, it still runs very well and it should serve its new owner very well. Rumor has it that something german this way comes, shhh....