Grindhouse
Posted on August 13, 2009
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Whilst stripping the car down, and preparing it to lift the body from the floorpan:
I found that one of the previous owners had cunningly welded the body to the floorpan with this sketchy weld:
So, time to get the grinder out and use my sketchy grinding skills to cut away at the bit of metal without damaging the floorpan or body…
Fortunately, it seems that my line was a good one…
Gauges
Posted on July 30, 2009
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I mentioned I took the clocks out of the car the other day; well, two of them (I couldn’t get the aftermarket Brazilian fuel gauge out).
The gauges are illuminated by the teeniest little bayonet bulbs I’ve ever seen (complete with funky West German dashed wire).
Rather than replace the bulbs with… well, replacements, I think I want to swap the bulbs with LEDs. I tried a couple of colours, and white looked best.
VIN Checks
Posted on July 29, 2009
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Just checked the VIN against the database on TheSamba.com… I thought she was incorrectly registered in the UK as a 1965 model as the 146 prefix suggests 1966; and indeed she is a 1966MY, and according to the VIN built sometime between January and July 1966.
Engine out
Posted on July 28, 2009
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Big day today – engine was taken out of the little car.
It took us about half an hour to get the engine out – not too bad at all, given it’s the first time I’ve done this (Neil is an experienced hand at this, though).
There’s a lot of space in there!
I’ll rebuild the engine, replacing any worn components and put some twin-choke Weber carbs on there to replace the single-choke Solex unit.
Hello
Posted on July 27, 2009
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I have a new project.
She’s a 1966 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, and she runs beautifully… although she does look to be in a bit of a sorry state. We’ll sort that out.
She was imported from South Africa in 2001 I believe, and has had two previous owners in the UK.
I’m gonna strip her right down, and split her from her floorpan; then it’s a full respray job in a colour I’ve not decided and reassembly.
Should be fun, and she’ll look good when I’m finished.
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