The Cal-look Lounge

I bought a '70 karmann a while ago, what you could call a 20foot beauty, mostly standard, surtenly not in perfect condition, needs new floorpans, and some welding up here and there.
here are some pictures

more photo's

and some more...

the last for now

If everything stays the same, it will kind of look like this:
Buggy bumpers
turnsignals behind the nostrills
empi 8spokes (originals->still looking...) probibly goldisch or something color
bullet mirror
candy applle red color
twin quiet pack (if suited for big engines)
IDA-motor, not yet desided how big
Simca rallye seat
empistyle rearseats
gene berg shifter (old model)
narowed and lowerd front axle with disc brakes
porsche 356 grill in the rear deck lid with an oilcooler coming out (kind of like in the porsche in King of the mountain)
and some detailing that is not yet fully desided

to give an idea, here is something I put together using karmann selecta and paint:p

remove the trim doors  more cal look  8)

356 horn grill like salem ghia ??

you ask, I serve :p

something like that yeah, I saw that karmann on EBI,
but mine hase to be able to open up because the cooling wil come under that gril, I'm not sure if both will be possible, but or the grill or the oilcooler wil kom there.., I'm going to try to go for both first

lookng good playboy!  keep El Salvatore workin' 
I don't know what you mean with candy apple red but I would not go for that color.  Maybe you can choose a porsche red color...

the candy apple can work,look up dyno dons ghia. it is something similar. but like speedwell said leave the sidetrim off. take frenchy's ghia and go from there.  ;)

I'll get my bat and make sure that El Salvatore works his ass of  ;D the color is open for option, I guess it will be a few months untill it is ready to go to paint, we'll discuss that over some beers one of these days/weeks ;)
dyno dons ghia is cool indeed, I love that ghia! the sidetrim stays of, that's easier for me, now I don't have to search for them :D.

Glauco,

The candy apple red like you described it can work!  I've looked again with google pictures but most of the pictures that I see is with "bling bling" style, a more resto-cal color.  Again, the color that you want is nice.  So if you go to the guy that will paint your car choose from a colorcard and don't say: I want candy apple red....  you could get end up realy f*ck*d!  ;D   ;D 
I hope that the deal with the real empi's work out, it's a nice set for a nice price.  good luck.

Dem

just got of the phone with a guy that had a fully restored chassis of a 1967 american karmann ghia, papers and everything, it realy is in mint condition, with front axle, and gearbox and everything else, a good rolling chassis, and he is just asking 850 euros, I think this is a real honest price, and if my calculations are correct, restoring my chassis will cost a little bit more, knowing it is actualy ready to go to the junkyard. I'm going to take a look somewhere this week, I hope it's as good as he tells me, and then I can see..

dude,

that seems like a real good deal to me if it is like you describe it.  Hook me up if you cruise to that chassis, got plenty of time to waste on cal-look chats on long cruises in the mk II   ;D  ;D

I'll call you ass soon as I know whet I can take a look at it, it will be somewhere this week, I'll fire up the gti and we can chat like hell, it's a one hour drive   ;)

Buying a new pan seems like a good idea. I've done the same for my '70 Beetle as the original was so poorly repaired. You'll be into hundreds of Euros for each pan half, so it make sense to buy the restored one, especially as it comes as a roller. Just one thing to think about - is your Ghia IRS? My '71 KG was swing axle as it was a European car, but I don't know where your car came from originally. The '67 pan will be s/a too.

to be honest, I'm not sure if my karmann is a european or a american, the previous owner claimed it was an original american, but as far as I know it only had american bumpers, it had an speedometer in kilometers, so I'm not 100% sure, but my karmann is swing axle for as far as I can tell.

Sounds just like mine, that had US bumpers but kph speedo and amber rear indicators. The other giveaway is the rear reflectors - if they're round (like the bullet indicators) it's European, if they are rectangular and wrap around the sides so there is a side reflector then it's US.

great info, I didn't know that (that and a 1000+ other things I don't know about the car:p) but doesn't get me further, I don't have rear reflectors  ???

I went to take a look at the chassis today, It was realy in mint condition, fully complete with gearbox, swingaxle, original shifter, puma front axle with disc brakes and everything, realy good shape, I'm going to get it next week or so, tomorrow I'm going to get my body and chassis seperated, seems there welded together, and not a few dots, around whole the body  >:(
wish me luck!

Good luck, mine was welded together in lots of places too! If the heater channels need replacing, don't bother with the available repair panels - just buy chunks of car from a californian import. I bought the right hand side of a californian car from Volksheaven in the UK, cut between the hinges at the front and just below the latch at the back, complete into the bulkheads. It was so much easier to fit all of that than it was to just replace the outer sill on the left hand side! :o

I've got some photos at home somewhere - I had posted one or two on the samba but I cant find them now! ::)

good move to buy the chassis.  It realy looks clean, no rust, good diskbrakes, special gearboxmounts etc...   "dubbele webè wè"  ;D

I also found the link of the site of the "3l man"   ;D  ;D

for as far as I can tell for now the heater channels are filled with a foam, so my guess will be they are in very bad shape, I don't know If it will be that easy to find chunks of car, I'll see how bad they are when I get there, hopefully by the end of the day..

A little update today, actually yesterday, I finisched cutting most of the welds, now it's just cutting away the last welds and the body will be loose.
just got in a little trouble do, when I jacked up my body the front came loose but the sidestep desided to stay on the chassis, great damage but damage that needed fixing anywy, so I'm still optimistic  ;D  :-\
here's some photo's of the broken peace, the floor pannels and the first (and baddest) side of the car
ow yeah, the black marker lining is the places where my magnet wouldn't stick, so that will be fun too  ::)

the next pictures,
the other side and wath fell on the ground during cutting
last photo is to show you how far the body and chassis are divided for now..
just need some bars in the body to tighten it up before I take it completely of.

Glad to see you are still optimistic dude.  that's the spirit.
I would have trown the towell in the ring of walked into "the Atlantic" and screamed that everybody was gay, just to end my life...  ;D  ;D
Haha, I will provide you every week with some pep-talk to keep focussed and optimistic.  :P   :D

Looks Like You will be Getting some Pointers from Roy  as his Ghia was also  Rusty and Required lots of Metal Work But outside of looking for another Body there is really no turning back If you Love the Car Thats all that matters anything and everything can be Fixed if you have the Desire to do it. Keep us updated on your Ghia Project  ;D

for now I still believe it will turn out just great, I don't think there is no unrepareble damage, but we'll see how optimistic I'll be furderon in the restoration  ;D

Looks like you need to have a meeting with Grelland ;)

does anyone know how the back end of the body is mounted to the chassis, I found the bolts underneath the backseat and 2 under the car, but it still won't cave, found some welds today but they're gone now, anyone has an idea?

On the inner fender, like a bug???

Exactly like that. One under each arch, one under the back seat each side and the rest are under the floorpan. Don't forget that the rear seat frame is part of the body, not the chassis, and not seperate like a beetle.

thanks!
do you by any chance have photo's of this?

I should have some photos at home - If I get home early this evening I'll have a look. :) If the bodymount is rotted out, Beetle ones fit, and the front bulkhead is the same too. I think the crossmembers under the rear seat are similar, but I always repair mine rather than replace them as only the '71-on panels are available.

here:

Sorry I dont have a better pic of the rear seat frame, but here you can see the shelf beside the seat, and the frame is visible in the lower part of the pic, I can take a few more pics later tonight iy you like.

Is there a z-bar on your car? In the picture of my inner fender, you can see an opening surrounded by the red paint. This is originally a hole for the z-bar, but I opened it up underneath, so I can lift the body without removing the bar. BTW, I will use a trapes so called cup-bar to stiffen the rear, not the std z-bar, but the issue may be the same

There is no such thing as unreparable damage, believe me :-)

Great project, by the way, Ghias on EMPI 8s are great, and I still have a debate inside my head about bumpers/no bumpers :-)

Let me know if I can help you out in any way

here's a shot of the crossmember under the seat, it is not attached to the floor pan

I had a look through my pictures last night and they were all too big for my photo hosting site! I'll shrink them down tonight and try to get a few up, but Grelland has posted most of the ones you need! :D

I think I have a different car, I don't recognize any of the pictures :p
I just removed a plate and found 2 other bolts, tomorrow I'll do the other side and then have another try..
thanks for the pictures, I've printed them and I am going to take another close look at the car  ;D
Glauco

Here are where the Bolts are located under the rear seat on a Ghia and there is also one bolt located in each rear wheelwell hope this helps

thanks shubee2, you're almost like a gardian angle  ;D

LOL  ;D ;D

I finaly got the body and the chassis seperated.
thanks guys! now the real work can start  ;)
does by any chance somebody knows how much men you need to lift a KG body  ;D

c'mon man, where are the pictures?  you lazy @ss...   ;D  ;D

if it is rusty? you dont need as many just shake it a few times and see what falls off LMAO ;D ;D  I would Say 6 Guys

No need to search 6 guys to lift the body.  Just call Dim!  He will fix it all by himself...  ;D  ;D  ....If he didn't got bitchslapped by his wife...  ;D

dim trew the ball and chaines out, he is a single man now  :D

[/quote]if it is rusty? you dont need as many just shake it a few times and see what falls off LMAO ;D ;D  I would Say 6 Guys
[/quote]
all in all it isn that rusty, my guess would also be 6 guys...

hye guys,
a little update.
yesterday I finally got the chance to bring the chassis home so that's a start.
I wanted do close the holes for the bumpers but found out that the the complete front end is welded and rewelded, doesn't look to good, half of it is wasted away, thinking about putting in a complete new front end.
I'll try to make some photo's tomorrow

C'mon man, give us an update.  I know that you are working on a wicked backseat...  pictures please!! :D

I'm still working on the backseat for now, I needs a little more polyester than I expected so I'll have to wait untill tomorrow to get some more, and then I'll show some pictures, first I got to make sure it gets together  ;D

ok, a little update for now
I now it has been quit the last few weeks, but I've changed work and still need to get it all together  :-\
I've been working on a new backseat, made a form and coated it with polyester, it's not finished yey, but here are some photo's, don't mind the collourdifference, half of it is still wet...
what do you guys think?
glauco

here you can see the backseat in the car, this is how it will stay for a little while, hope it won't rain this week so I can do some bodywork...
glauco

hye guys,
long time no hear, here's a little update
I bought some weld in parts for the car, the headlights, the parts under the door, the weel arges.
the front end is almost finished, the holes in the dashboard are gone too, there will come new ones, the tank lid is closed, and that's about it for now I think

first foto shows my paintskills:p, it shows how the dasboard is going to look like (sort of), allong with meters, radio and equalizer, under the dashboard there will be an 8-trackplayer and maybe an amplifyer (all original '80s style). I was also thinking of a kamei console with 4 holes for more meters, also originaly from the '80s. what do you think?
second foto is the tank lid
third foto shows the front end
don't look at the bad welding, I had to archweld them because I broke the TIG-welder this will be fixed somewhere this week.
enjoy ;)
glauco

today almost was another day of doing nothing because of the rain (don't have space in the garage to work) , but I found a way to work in the rain  ;D
it keeps me dry and this way the work can continue  8)
cheers
glauco

allright! Keep up the good work, it's not very long anymore till DDD, better not make it to ddd and finish the car like you want, don't start cutting corners and it will work out fine...

Dem

yeah keep up the good work.

is that a 205 GTI i see in the background??? love to own one. have had two 205's but never a GTI... supercars, but not good to have an accident in.

yeah, it's my brothers, he has a 2 GTI's, the one you see in the back is a GRIFFE, it's a limited version, few are alive, and than a black one, with an MI16 in it, 170hp, fast as hell.

If all goes well, and I hope it will, the part underneath the door (don't know how they say it in english) will go in tomorrow, I just cut it out, than I can put in mount, than the otherside and than she can go on her new chassis, and that the biggest work is done. not all the work, not in a long shot, but we'll see how far we'll get, I still have some time 'till DDD ;)
I hope I'll make it, but I'm not going to put in half work so we'll see  ;)

Nicolas,  Glauco's brother has also a black one like he mentioned above...  It's equipped with a MI16 engine of a 405 GTI and some other sweet speedparts...  AND it's for sale for a bargain...  Okay, it's not Cal look but it's pretty fast  ;D  go for it  ;D  ;D

thanks for the info guys. keep up the good work. i sure want to know what a good bargain is, but i am very low on cash right now as i will collect the engine later this month.

see you guys soon

here's a little update guys
if finished welding up some parts today, pretty impressed if I say so myself  :o
just hope the door will still fit  ???
just ordered the rear section so this side will be completed soon, and then it's of to the other side, wich is in better condition, so that's a little motivation ;)
glauco

here are some pictures of other parts I've finished earlier one
the backsidewindow and cutting out the dash, didn't put the new part in yet, I'm still searching for some meters first ;)
glauco

and last pictures for today, some parts I've collected (from my dad's collection  ;D)
realistic equalizer from the '80s, have the radio that goes allong with it too, but I'm not sure if I'm going to use it, because I've got a '60s blaupunkt radio, allong with an '80s amplifier.
I also have a 8track and some woofers to go allong
last picture is one of my 3 empi 8spokes, this one is a 2piece, but doesn't have a logo, can anyone explain this? ???
glauco

I suspect that someone has polished the logo off! On mine the logos are still there but the corners aren't as sharp, but if it's 2-piece then it's genuine!

i'm thinking the same  , because i've an 8 spoke without the logo , but on mine they drilled the hole on the logo ,if you look closely the lug hole is on the right of the screw of the center caps , and on mine the lug hole is on the left side of the centercaps screw error in the factory  :-\

ok, thank's for the info, but the lugholes are eggshaped so I can't use it anyway, but the other 2 are in good shape, so I'll only need 2 or 3 more to have a complete set and a spare :p

some more progress made today, tried out the drivers door to make sure everything was in order, because after some messurements I came to the conclusion that the drivers door section was 1cm wider than the passenger, so after some pulling finaly got it right.
picture 1-3 shows with the door in, but without the part underneath the door, picture 3 you see where my dad needs to do some remodeling to the door :P
picture 4 shows after I welded in the first part and tried out the last part, don't mind the gap between the lower part and the door in de right half, it's not in place yet, still need to cut some parts off the body to make it fit correctly, will be something for tomorrow after work...
glauco

last picture for today, here you see the gap I had to close, here it's already better then in the beginning, at first I couldn't even close the door, the hook didn't reach the receiver, now everything works like it should work :)
I'm happy with the progress to be honest  ;D
glauco

just had a cruize with dem in his bug to classic vwparts, a local aircooled vw shop to pick up the (hopefully) last weld-in pieces and bought myself an empi shifter and a original '80s kamei-console, it's ok for 4 meters, hopefully it will look nice :)
glauco

the console in leather look is realy nice for an 80-ies concept, go for it. 

wow, it's been a while sinds I posted here  :o
to be honest, untill last week I didn't do to much workinghours on the karmann, have been busy on another car in the driveway all the time  >:(
for a little update, welding is almost done, I hope I can put in on the chassis somewhere these weeks, if I find the time..
I'm also going to look at a 67 beetle one of these days, maybe I'll go home with that, so I can drive around this summer :D
that's it for now, I'll try to put in some photo's asap!

nice kamei consol

thanks!
I guess it will look great in the karmann :)