My 73 Ghia Convertible
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 5:29 am
Just wanted to share some pictures of my 1973 Ghia we have almost finished. The Ghia was a little rough when we started, but we can finally drive it, legally, on the road. It has been a fun journey, most of the time. I am looking forward to attending some of the VW shows like the Texas Classic, the Eureka Springs show in AR, Circle Yer Wagens in TN and of course our show the Monumental Bug Bash near Houston TX.
The front end was replaced with a donor front end. New rocker panel, front and rear quarter panels and the convertible support rails were replaced. The pans were replaced along with fabricating and replacing parts of the deck behind the rear seat. The battery tray was also replaced. For the doors, pieces were cut from donor doors and used to repair the doors now on the Ghia.
After many hours of body work; hammer and dolly, cutting and grinding, and sanding, and sanding and sanding we finally were able to block the car for paint. Mitchell applied PPG Dark Gray Metallic with several layers of clear. We have cut and buffed the paint and will be doing some touch-ups in the future.
We also purchased some olive burl veneer, cut out templates out of the cheap stuff first, then cut out the final olive burl and applied it to the dash. This took some patience. We had to steam and glue and clamp from one side of the dash to the other, but we finally were able to make it fit. Then I applied some chestnut stain and clear gloss to finish. Looks great!
We also fabricated a console for the tunnel with a plate for the gauges and cut-out for the stick shift. We’ve worked on the trunk, fabricating our own panels and covered them with fabric.
The seats are from an Acura Legend. They are 6 way power seats. We had them recovered and my name was stitched into the head rest. Very nice & comfortable. I actually sewed up the door panel pockets on my home sewing machine, designed the door panels myself. They came out like factory-made!!! I surprised myself.
We also installed the carpet, front windshield, and convertible top. We had both bumpers re-chromed.
We installed a new wiring harness & brakes.
I built the 1600 cc motor and it started on the first attempt. I also cleaned all of the parts. We also powder coated the tin for the engine. We intend to replace this engine with a slightly larger one soon. This was my first attempt to build an engine, also my first attempt to re-building a car, & we used parts we had from the engine that came with the Ghia. I did replace all of the bearings and had the heads machined.
Would like to hear some feedback!
Speedy
’73 Ghia
The front end was replaced with a donor front end. New rocker panel, front and rear quarter panels and the convertible support rails were replaced. The pans were replaced along with fabricating and replacing parts of the deck behind the rear seat. The battery tray was also replaced. For the doors, pieces were cut from donor doors and used to repair the doors now on the Ghia.
After many hours of body work; hammer and dolly, cutting and grinding, and sanding, and sanding and sanding we finally were able to block the car for paint. Mitchell applied PPG Dark Gray Metallic with several layers of clear. We have cut and buffed the paint and will be doing some touch-ups in the future.
We also purchased some olive burl veneer, cut out templates out of the cheap stuff first, then cut out the final olive burl and applied it to the dash. This took some patience. We had to steam and glue and clamp from one side of the dash to the other, but we finally were able to make it fit. Then I applied some chestnut stain and clear gloss to finish. Looks great!
We also fabricated a console for the tunnel with a plate for the gauges and cut-out for the stick shift. We’ve worked on the trunk, fabricating our own panels and covered them with fabric.
The seats are from an Acura Legend. They are 6 way power seats. We had them recovered and my name was stitched into the head rest. Very nice & comfortable. I actually sewed up the door panel pockets on my home sewing machine, designed the door panels myself. They came out like factory-made!!! I surprised myself.
We also installed the carpet, front windshield, and convertible top. We had both bumpers re-chromed.
We installed a new wiring harness & brakes.
I built the 1600 cc motor and it started on the first attempt. I also cleaned all of the parts. We also powder coated the tin for the engine. We intend to replace this engine with a slightly larger one soon. This was my first attempt to build an engine, also my first attempt to re-building a car, & we used parts we had from the engine that came with the Ghia. I did replace all of the bearings and had the heads machined.
Would like to hear some feedback!
Speedy
’73 Ghia