Forgive me Father...it's been two years since my last post.

Hell if I know how it happened...for some reason, it's been two years since the last time I posted to this blog.  It's not like I haven't been working on the project.   It's also not like I've been working on it a lot.  Most of the work I've done has been under the car.  I cleaned the floor pan and rust-proofed the underside and wheel wells.

So I can't put it off any longer...I have to tackle the rusted nose.  Shortly after I brought the car home and removed the front bumper I discovered the damage to the front clip.   It's as if it began to rust away, and someone fiberglassed over the rust-damaged area.

The three larger pictures below are taken from the front of the car, from the top toward the bottom of the nose.   It need's a "Nose Job" desperately.

View from the top

View from the middle

View from down low

 So I have a few choices, besides the scrap metal yard.  I can replace the entire front clip with a one-piece flip-front, I can replace the fenders and nose with 3 separate fiberglass pieces, or I can replace just the nose section with either steel or fiberglass.  I'm leaning towards the last choice.  I don't want the flip-front because I like the idea of keeping water and road debris off of the back of the dash board.   I would replace the fenders and nose with fiberglass, but the shipping is expensive; and there's not too much wrong with the fenders.   The new fiberglass nose is a cost-effective way to replace the damaged lower section.   It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the 'ridge' in the very middle of the nose is a mess; it's mostly body filler.  The nose section covers the area between the bumper brackets, all the way up to the trunk.  Only the extreme bottom corners would need some attention from rust.  It's nothing that can't be corrected with a lot of grinding and rust-proofing.

Below is a picture showing the area to be replaced - Marked in orange.

Below are two shots of the fiberglass piece that I peeled-off of the rusted areas around the bumper bracket holes.   Amazing.

Wires and white flags!

So it's not like I haven't been doing anything!  I spent the majority of the Spring and Summer searching and purchasing a lot of the missing dash and interior parts.  I was missing gauges, switches, a dash face...you name it...if it was supposed to be on the dash, it was missing!  I tediously rewired most of the dash parts, and the ignition switch, but I was still having continuity issues with the old harness.  So, I decided to purchase a brand new complete wiring harness.  I would have hated to spend so much time on this project, only to have it catch fire because of a shorted wire.  And so the reference to the white flag. 

The entire wiring harness was about $350, but it's extremely well done.  So today, I pulled out the old harness (along with all of my previously spliced-together re-wiring) and installed the new harness.  It only took a couple of hours to remove the old wires, and pull the entire new harness from the back of the car to the front.  So I'll spend the next weekend or two connecting all of the wires to the correct terminals. This harness came with the engine harness, headlight harness, horn harness, master brake cylinder harness, engine harness and all of the dash wiring.  So there's a lot of squinting and connecting involved.  I don't know how the Germans could stamp such tiny numbers on each terminal. 

The new dash face and door panels will be next.  My goal is to get the engine started (or at least get it to turn-over) before Thanksgiving.  Remember...no deadline...no budget!



This is the wiring harness in the box: not intimidating right?  I just have to keep reminding myself that compared to any car manufactured in the last 30 years, this is a really simple electrical system.



This is a quick (blurry) picture of the dash wiring before I pulled it out.  What a mess!

And if you thought the dash wiring was a mess, look at this safety hazard.  It's out of the frame, but it sort-of worried me that one of the heavy gauge wires connected to the voltage regulator, was just connected with the a clip...hmmm.  But that's not the only mess...just look at it.

It's complete!!

No...not the real car.  The engineer's drawing of the body dimension's is framed and now hanging in my office.  It turned out pretty well.  But enough about that; here's what's happened with Project Zambezi this week.




From the Karmann Ghia Factory Body and Chassis Repair Manual



So I've discovered that I'm missing a horn relay, a door buzzer (probably a good thing) and a rear window defogger relay.  Also, the clock gauge must be from a 1971 Ghia, because it's missing the 'headlight' indicator, and the left and right turn-signal indicators.  Even more ominous was the words "Clock Yes...Fuel Gauge No" written with black marker on the side of this gauge.  Below is a picture of the face of the wrong gauge.  I've ordered a replacement with the opposite problem...."Clock No..Fuel Gauge Yes".  Call me old fashioned, but I can use the SUN to figure-out the time within a hour or so...I can't think of any other non-explosive way to check the amount of remaining fuel in the gas tank.  Anyway, I plan to use the clock motor from my current gauge and replace the clock in the newly purchased gauge...Then I'll have all the indicators, a clock, and the ability to check the level of fuel. 


Looking "Clockwise" (sorry couldn't resist) from about 10 o'clock Oil Pressure, High-Beam, Nebulous Turn Signal, and Generator.   There should be an indicator to let you know the headlights are on, and separate indicators for the left and right turn-signal.

Remember, this car was void of 80% of the dash when I got it, and the 20% that was there, was in the trunk.  15% of the 80% I had to purchase from eBay.  5% of the 20% that was in the trunk is wrong.  Of the 15% purchased from eBay, 25% will be resold to someone else. 

I'll pick-up some relays from the parts store this weekend.  I think the flasher relay is bad too, but I still need to test it.  I rough-wired everything, leaving out the ancillary electrical parts, so that I could try to start the engine this weekend.  As I suspected, the ignition switch is probably bad.  I suspected this earlier, since someone had mounted a starter button on the dash.  Luckily, I have a new ignition switch which I'll install this week.  It will be good to sit down for a change.  Also next week, I'm removing what's left of the engine compartment insulation and checking all of the 'extra' wires.  I think a lot of these are for the diagnostic port, but it's hard to tell at this point.  I also need to check the wiring to the starter because I think I remember an extra wire there with no home. 

The lights are working, which is a major feat since it didn't even have any wiring for the headlights when I started.  More to come next week. 

Now that the weather is starting to warm-up, I'll probably tackle the dash restoration in the next week or so.  I'd like to get that completed so that I can install the gauges and switches. 



Baby steps.  Small victories.  In this picture you can also see the fine body work I'll get to tackle next.  Nice job masking off the turn-signal huh? 



In case you think I haven't been doing anything...

So, it's been cold.  We've had a blizzard - 31" inches here.  (It's actually snowing right now!)  Even without a blizzard, lots of snow, horse shows and weekend work have kept me away from Project Zambezi more than I would like.  But, I've been working a few hours here and there, and the re-wiring is almost complete.  I still have to wire the headlights, and clean-up the engine wiring, but then I'll be able to start it up. 

I'm going blind reading the three different schematics...one has the detail on the wire size and the DIN codes...one has the color...and one is just like the first, but smaller and clearer. 

So I still need to re-finish the dash, so I'm not mounting the gauges and switches yet.  To re-finish the dash, I'm grinding-off all of the paint, adding a vinyl cover, and either walnut or aluminum inserts...I can't decide which, but I've got a few weeks to decide...Any suggestions?

I've been able to locate almost everything I needed, and something I didn't.  I spent a lot of time looking for the "Fasten Seat Belt" light for the dash.  Turns out, only the late '72's and 73's had this light.  So, I guess I'll be re-selling it, or adding it anyway. 

In an earlier post I mentioned that I fixed the ignition pigtail.  I didn't like the way it turned out, and I bought one from someone.  NO ONE was selling it, but I asked a guy who was also selling ignition switches to bundle it with the pigtail and he sold be both...great deal. 

So next week I'll try to finish the wiring, and get it started.

I'm already starting to 'look forward' to body work. 

Christmas Update 2012

Well the tree was only down 45 minutes when I resumed working on Project Zambezi.  Because of the holidays, shopping, weather, etc. I haven't really done much in the last month or so.  Today, however, was a really bad day to do wiring, as far as the temperature is concerned.  I endured it for as long as I could before I 'threw in the towel' and decided to start a fire in the fireplace to warm my hands.  It was like I was trying to work using 10 Popsicles rather than fingers.  




 

Regardless of the temperature challenges, I able to to make some accomplishments.  I've got the headlight relay wired, and removed the old headlight switch pieces (what was left of it anyway) and the "Brake" light. 




This is the last "tool" I used today!






Here's a nice picture of the pool in the back yard.  Just to give you perspective of the temperature

 



Easy as Pie right?  This is the blown-up wiring schematic that I'm using to "do what I gotta do".  Compared to any of the other cars in our driveway, this should be a cake-walk.  Compared to staying inside where it's warm, it's more like brain surgery.
 



Here's what was left of the the headlight switch (right) and brake indicator light (top).  The hole on the left is for the emergency flasher. 





Here's a picture of the back of the two gauges.  I need find the little lights for each.  The speedometer is on the left and it has two lights (see the two holes?).  The Clock/everything else is on the right.  It has 6 or 7 holes for lights, where someone before covered them with foil duct tape...I don't know why...maybe to keep spiders out or something. 



I really am hoping for a warmer day soon.  I want to sand and refinish the dash board.  The stock dash had the molded thin plastic cover, with a dash pad on top and bottom.  I've got the top dash pad.  I really don't like the plastic cover.  I think I'm going to try covering the dash in thin vinyl, using spray adhesive to keep it in-place.  I'll also add some wood in-lay pieces for that "European" look.  I would just paint the dash, but there are a few slots cut into it by VW...not sure why.  You can see these slots in the picture of the headlight, brake indicator and hazard switch. 

I also have to install the glove box door, fresh air vents and assembly, the dash pad, etc.  Lots to do. 

More to come soon.  Several horse shows over the next few weeks, but I hope to get in a couple of hours next weekend. 

The only practical use for diet soda

I took-out the fuse box yesterday for a little light cleaning.  Despite all of the scrubbing, I really only cleaned the tarnished brass terminals. I wasn't entirely sure they would actually conduct electricity.  S0, I came up with the idea to soak them in some diet soda that we've had for several months.  I soaked them overnight and this is what I woke-up to this am.  It looks great!  I can't wait to starting connecting everything.  Got to buy some wire, some terminals, and some shrink tubing. 

 

I mentioned earlier that some time over the last 40 years, someone stripped all 6 wires coming from the ignition switch.  I could have left it and just made sure there was a fire extinguisher in the passenger seat. Below is a close-up picture of the pigtail that comes from the ignition switch.   I probably need to buy a new ignition switch...assuming that the reason the wires are stripped, and the reason the mysterious starter button was added was because the switch was bad.  Maybe not...after all a new switch is $11 from Autozone.  Why go through the trouble buying a starter switch??? We'll never know.   Yeah...that's a wire nut...even worse; there was another bare spot about 6 inches from the end...I have no idea why. 

Below is the repaired version.  I've been looking for a new pigtail for the last 3 weeks with no luck.  I'll probably have to buy a used one somewhere.  until then, I reconnected, soldered, covered the splice in shrink tubing and covered in wire holders.  These are heavy 10 gauge wires so it took two. 

Helpful Ghia Links - Version 1

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to include some of the websites which have proved very useful to me.  Selfishly, I'm only including these so I can look at them from any computer.


Research
The Online Karmann-Ghia Resource has a bit of everything, but most useful recently has been the wiring diagram.  It also includes lots of cool things like a complete parts list, copies of sales brochures, paint chips, engine repair...and a ton more.
http://www.type-14.com/

TheSamba.com is a great online community of aircooled Volkswagen owners and enthusiasts.  From this site you can shop from the classifieds, participate in a bulletin board discussion with other owners, buy from online resellers, research technical issues, view pictures check-out the various VW clubs.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/

The Wikipedia page for the Karmann Ghia has some cool history bits that didn't know like the type 34 Ghia, the Brazilian Ghia, and that relationship with the Sirocco and Rabbit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Karmann_Ghia


Parts
As far as retailers go, there are a few that are really good.  In no particular order, here are some of my favorites. 

The Karmann Ghia Parts Resource out of Ventura CA has a huge selection of parts, as well as technical articles and a Parts forum.
http://www.karmannghia.com/home.asp

Aircooled.net out of Murray UT has a decent selection, including the tiny little bulb holders for my oem gauges.
http://vwparts.aircooled.net/

I love this place!!!  M&T Manufacturing out of South Kingston RI has a cool website and a really large selection.   Even better...they are only an hour away.  They too have a some helpful links to blogs, clubs, etc. 
http://www.mtmfg.com/

California Pacific J-Bugs has a great selection and good prices. Their search feature works really well. 
http://www.jbugs.com/

Some of my other favorites retailers are:

JC Whitney - Good place for cheap parts
http://www.jcwhitney.com/classic-vw-parts-classic-vw-accessories/j6s2.jcwx

Autozone - close and convienient
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/

NAPA - Good quality and also convenient
http://www.napaonline.com/

Airhead Parts
http://www.airheadparts.com/home.asp

Bug City - Also close, but I just discovered it.  I'll have to look closer.
https://bugcity.com/index.htm?-session=BugCitySess:0C6FD9051b6b82EE22WKt3CE1ECA

Last, but certainly not in priority, Ebay and Craigslist have a ton of parts.  If you have time, you may just get lucky that what you need is available.  I'm a big fan of used parts, especially for parts that really don't wear-out.