Finally coming together

[DORIGTT]

My 1970 Ghia project finally is getting some momentum. It's been in the freezer - not even back-burner - for some time now. You know how it is, when you have the time, you don't have the money and vice-versa. I still don't have the time, but I'm making do.

canted shot resized.JPG

I just got my front 944T hubs back from the machine shop and fitted the Boxster wheel front and rear.

They tuck nicely with a stock beam.

top shot resized.JPG

[Ian Godfrey]

looking very good. What size wheels are they?

[DORIGTT]

Hey Ian,

It's got 17x7 et 55 front and 17x8.5 et 50 out back.

I'm using the VW arms with the backing plates and caliper setup from a 944, and I have the 86 944T front hubs and a backup set of '87 hubs as well.

I've got narrowed rear arms which I hope I can pickup this evening!

[DORIGTT]

I picked the arms up this evening.

1.5 inch narrowed arms BCR.jpeg

What do you think?

[Ian Godfrey]

Very nice, the boxing looks like they will be very stiff. the tube for the shock mount is a good, very smart design.
Who made them and can you please put one on the scales before you load it up. Are you going to use polyurathane bushes or something more exotic?
I went for 86 alloy arms but they weigh as much as steel arms (but they are stiffer)

[DORIGTT]

Ask and ye shall receive...

IMG_0467 (Large).JPG

14.6#

Poly bushings or delrin if I'm really stupid.

Mark @ Blind Chicken Racing in the Portland Oregon area.

/www.blindchickenracing.com

[Ian Godfrey]

many thanks

[DORIGTT]

No problem Ian. We're all in the same boat trying to make these dreams reality.

Now comes the installation of the 915 which I'm going to move forward as far as I can ~ 3" hopefully so I can shift this HUGE weight of the 915 and Wasser more toward the vehicle cg.

[DORIGTT]

Here's what it used to look like...

Ghia rt ft qtr copy.jpg

Ghia rt rr qtr copy.jpg

[DORIGTT]

One of the challenges with the Ghia / my Ghia is that I do not want to cut up alot of the body and lose trunk space. A solution had to be found.

While bench racing with a buddy who has an old Mini, I noticed how compact the radiator for that vehicle is. I got out my handy tape measure and ordered a pair of them on eBay for $45.

Here's the area in the front fender where I'll be mounting one of the 2 radiators (one in each fender well, running in parallel).

Inner front fender.jpeg

And one of the Mini radiators in position.

Radiator in position.jpeg

[Ian Godfrey]

So is this going to be subi or wasserboxer or ??????
will you duct the air from the front grills?

[DORIGTT]

You guessed it Ian.

I'm going with a Wasserboxer due to my colleagues giving me such crap about a Scooby conversion (I work for Volkswagen of America)

WBX for the Ghia.jpg

I'm also installing a magnesium cased (I've gotta clean up the crappy 'aluminum' paint job that was on it) 915 from my '79 that met an untimely fate.

915 for the Ghia.jpg

My plan is to open up the nostrils as you know the Ghia only uses a small portion of the actual grill area. I'm going to duct it into the inner fender which will be blocked off to ensure all the will flow through the radiator / fan assy vs. around it.

[DORIGTT]

Sniff..

My Ghia is off to the fab shop to get the coolant lines installed, the 915 gearbox mount and roll bar made.

Off to the fab shop.JPG

Any recommendations for how much tire to fender clearance I should have up front?

[Ian Godfrey]

my car needs 30mm between the outer edge of the tyre and the inner edge of the fender bead. When I had 20 it rubbed if you were turning and the suspension compressed.

[Ian Godfrey]

for interest here is a pic of my half cage. there are also door bars that go the front floor you can't see.