Bumper rebuild

I have been digging out all the parts for the front and rear bumpers and making sure I have all the correct hardware to fit them. I bought new front and rear grommets for the bumper irons from the KGOC (GB) and also new seals for in between the bumper overriders and the blades - these are the original style broad section ones.

The set of overriders is made up of 3 NOS ones which it took me 15 years to track down and were intended for my 1965, plus one rechromed one. This turned out so well that I am going to have the originals from the 65 rechromed as well in due course. They are made of aluminium, not Mazak as many people will try to tell you.

I now need to just paint the inside of the blades to protect them and then build up the complete assemblies.

Wiper assembly rebuild

I have been sorting through the parts for the car in anticipation of the completion of the respray, more of which later.

I pulled out the wiper assembly and a quick look at the rust on the end of the spindles for the wiper arms made me think that there might be some problems ahead. I removed the motor linkages and found that one spindle has stuck solidly, no amount of releasing fluid or brute force would shift it. Luckily I had a couple of spare assemblies, I have taken the best frame and the best 2 spindles plus a NOS motor as the components for the rebuild. Whilst the original motor performed well under test and parked correctly it was a little slow and it seemed sensible to use the new motor in view of the difficult nature of replacing the assembly once fitted.

I used new one piece seals to fit the spindles\bushes in to the body but have not yet been able to find any end caps to go over the spindles of the correct size.

I called into see the car in the body shop's new premises. Whilst the respray hasn't been completed yet a good deal of effort is still going in to it with 2.5 days last week on just flatting down the 3 coats of paint that have already ben applied. The upshot is I am convinced I will get a good end result and prefer to wait my time rather than rush at this final stage.

Front vent frames rebuild

Whilst waiting still for the elusive completion of the respray I thought it was time I rebuild some parts.

I have fitted the new seals to the from vent frames and also fitted the new glass to the passenger side that I got at a meeting some years ago, plus for the other side I used the one I picked up from Mick Blondin at the 2005 celebration of the Karmann Ghia launch in Germany during 2005.

The early years of production featured a slightly different latch mechanism on the glass, not visible until you try to take it apart but they also have a smaller head to the chromed button that is visible on the outside of the glass, nice to have the correct early ones fitted.

I went touse the repro black packing spacer for betwen the glass and the chrome fitting but they were useless, wrong shape and hole in the wrong place. The originals were servicable and have been used. You can see the difference in the photo between the 2 of them.

the original drivers side cats eye mirror has been fitted, I have decided not to fit the cats eye mirror I picked up for the passenger side at this stage and might offer it back to a guy who promised me huge bucks for it to fit on his notch restoration. Just got the felt runners for the window channels left to fit.

News on the completion of the paint will follow - yet again I am pressing for this week as the completion point.

Anodising completed

I collected the anodising on Friday as planned. It looks good but does show up where some of the pieces still look worn even after polishing and refinishing. Still they are much better than thet were as like everything on the car they were in bad condition or missing.

Called the bodyshop, they said the move in process had taken them longer than anticipated and were only getting back up to speed next week when they could hopefully make a start on the final stages.

The aluminium trim is a bit boring to post photos of so here is a shot of 4 of the 5 type 3 Karmann Ghias that attended the KGOC (GB) international in North Yorkshire last weekend.

The second photo shows a shot of the June 69 343 of Thomas Voss, a very nice original car.

End of June update

With being abroad for most of June I didn't get much chance to check progress on the bodyshell. The bodyshop has now moved to its new home and I will be calling in this weekend to see if there have been any developments.

Meantime I collected the small couple of pieces back from the chromer and a few bits that had been left for zinc plating. I also collected all the aluminium trim from the windscreens and interior that I left for stripping and polishing.

It turned out very well and I took it across to London Colney anodising and will be collecting it tomorrow, more pics to follow.

Here is a photo of Martin Hoontrakul's latest acquisition out in Kuala Lumpur, a right hand drive coupe which he intends to turn into a convertible. Bodywork needs a lot of work and most trim is missing which makes it an excellent project to customise into a convertible without worrying about creating an exact replica.