February 21, 2002
- Improved the site layout with the new horizontal javascript drop-down menu navigation bar -
December 24, 2001
Okay, it's been over three years since I last updated this portion of my site and don't really know where to begin. Well for starters the good news is that the Ghia is still with me but sad to say it's still in pieces. It's been like this for over two and a half years now. I could pretty much put the car back together in a weekend if I wanted to but I'm a big lazy bum that has a real life to cope with just like everybody else. Gotta pay the bills you know. Other than that, I've just basically been collecting as much vintage VW artifacts to add to my collection. I however recently had a slight change of priorities and have begun selling off most of these rare parts through eBay. Some of the more notable items that I had were a NOS VW supercharger, NOS Hella foglights, W/Bosch/Scintilla magneto, a few NOS Hella mechanical back-up light switches, and some EMPI and Speedwell dash plaques that I had replicated locally. I still have a few more aces up my sleeve which I'll be letting go this coming new year. I'm trying to keep everything hush-hush as of the moment but here are some clues just to keep you enticed...."EMPI GT, Okrasa, Berg". :o)
October 28, 1998
Whoa! It's already October and I haven't updated this section of my website since May! Sorry 'bout that guys. I've been busy cleaning up the other sections on my site and totally forgot about this page. Well anyway, the Ghia's already in it's first stage of primer but I still have some welding to do. We had to shoot the primer because it was going to be some time till I get the parts accumulated and readied for assembly. So far the major body repair work has been finished except for those elusive headlight buckets. The pan needs some final welds at the seams and the body just needs to be tidied up a bit and it'll be ready for the paint booth. I've decided to go with a two tone paint scheme... red body with a black roof. Just like the way it came out of the factory. I've got most of the rubber and the new wiring harness on hand so those will make the assembly much quicker. I also got a new front windshield custom cut from a local glass shop. I'm also sort of starting my own EMPI parts collection and have quite a few "must-have goodies" hidden in my garage. I don't want to talk about that right now though cause there's some locals who might be intersted in taking them away from my hands! Heehee.. just kidding guys... you know who you are! :o) Well, I've got some pics up on the Project section but still haven't added the text. Gotta concentrate on school work you know. Anyway hope you guys enjoy the site for now. Feel free to send me a note if you've got a question or just want to talk VW. Later.... :o)
May 24, 1998
It's been quite some time since I last added anything to my site. If you've been here before you might have noticed the new frames layout that I have for my site. Sorry for those of you who don't like frames, but this eventually had to happen as my site gets bigger and bigger. Anyway, as for my Ghia project she's back here at home after a long 5 month stay at the body shop. However contrary to what you all might be expectiong she's still far from being complete. I had no chice but to take her back home because for the past three months all that she's been doing in the repair shop was collecting dust while I was hunting down a pair of headlight buckets. Sad to say but I still haven't been able to find those elusive parts to complete the car. As is, the car is all finished body work wise except for the headlight buckets. I tried to get my bodyman to modify a regular Beetle bucket and to see if it will work but even though it turned out looking *correct*, they didn't. I've already ordered for a new pair of repro buckets from House Of Ghia but unfortunately even they are having a difficult time tracking down a set for me. At any rate I've got more pics developed and scanned-in and will be adding the next update to my Project section. Thanks again for visiting my site and cross your fingers that I will get this Ghia project completed someday soon.
March 1, 1998
Well, my Ghia's partly through it's reconstructive surgery stage. I've gotten all of the body panels fixed including the decklid. All that's left to do is to get the headlight bucket assemblies and adjusting units shipped here from the U.S. and have them installed for the final body alignment. After that the first coat of primer will be sprayed on. Yahoo!!! After that's done the body wil be lifted off of the chassis again so that the chassis can be taken cared of as well. I'm going to have the pan painted in flat black by the way. The engine parts are slowly coming together. I just bought a really good condition 36hp fan shroud that will go along nicely with the dual Kadron carbs, oil filler-mounted breather box, 009 dizzy and other accessories. I'm planning to strip down the perfectly good engine shortly to have the engine case tapped for full-flow filtering. I also have a roll of film developed and scanned-in but have yet to put them on the site. I'll try to get that done asap so you all can see it in the PROJECT section. That's all for now, and in the meantime "Keep your VW's alive!"
Jan. 3, 1998 Dec. 17, 1997 Nov. 22, 1997 Sept. 1, 1997 Nov 8, 1996
VIN No: 3 024 074
Happy New Year everybody! As a new year's present to you all, I've added more pictures on Pictures section. I'm also working on the next page in the Restoration section as well but haven't uploaded it to the site yet. I'll probably get that done by next weekend. The Ghia's now got both floor pans installed and both rocker sectoins replaced and repaired. The lower door sections have already been cut and repaired, as well as the door hinge plates. My body man said that by next week he'll have the body lifted-off inorder to begin stripping the old bond job done by the PO's. Well, that's it for now. Hope you like the new pics.
My Ghia's finally in the shop! It's now been a week and a half since I brought here there. So far the floor pans have been removed and new ones have been fabricated from 18 gauge steel sheets and are on their way to be welded back in. The bodyman has also finished fabricating replacement rocker sections as well. The body has already been lifted about 5" above the chassis but were going to separate the two completely by next week hopefully. After the floorings have been finished, the main body stripping and body work will begin. I've already gotten some snapshots of the car the other day but I'll post the pics when that roll of film is finished. That's it for now, I'll try to keep you all updated with my restoration progress. In the mean time let me greet you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Okay, I've been doing some parts hunting lately and found some really good stuff. I'm following a lead on a set of four original Empi 5-lug SprintStars that I think will be perfect for my KG. Hopefully I reach the seller before he sells it to someone else. I've also got a hold of a 36hp fan shroud for my 1600DP engine. My House of Ghia catalog just came in the mail recently and now I'm busy preparing my list of parts to buy. The VW shop that's going to do my KG is still busy with some other restorations so I'm still waiting for them to have space for my KG. As for my website I've added some more pictures in the Pictures section along with a few additions to the GloveBox section. Also take a peek at my friend Alex Aguila's Empi parts collection.
It's been quite some time since I last gave an update on my Ghia's status. Over the past few months I've been looking for parts and accessories for her through my FLAPS and also through the VW club. I've already got a majority of the much larger parts such as dual Kadron carbs and other engine goodies. All that's really left now is to get all of my rubber parts from West Coast Metric and get the project rolling. I've finally chosen a color scheme for the Ghia. I'm going to paint the body a very solid red color (Anzhal #888) and I'll have the interior coverd in a tan leatherette material. Since I'm going for the resto-custom look I'm going to keep the stock 4 inch rims with chrome mooncaps but hopefully later on I plan on getting a set of BRM's. My next step now in my parts hunt is to order a few things from Gene Berg and maybe a couple of stuff from Scat. Right now I've got so many things that I want but with such a limited fund I'll have to take this project a little slowly. With regards to my website, I'm hoping to make some changes here in the next couple of weeks. I'm going to clean up my Pictures and Links sections. Anyway in the mean time if you've already seen pictures of my "tear-down" process why not take look at some of the other neat stuff in my GloveBox section. This is where I'll be leaving some of the more interesting stuff that I find on and off the Net. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I just recently got a hold of a free domain name service and have found it to be very useful. From now on instead of memorizing my address as being in http://www.oocities.org/MotorCity/1995 you all can just type out http://gilbertsghia.home.ml.org . This makes it much easier to remember where my site is at and lets others find it easily. Anyway 'till next time, hope you enjoy browsing through my pages and hope to have you all back soon!
I got the reply from VW Wolfsburg, Germany today
about the history of my KG! I have been waiting for this mail to come
for a few months already and I thought it would never get here at all.
I'm still preparing to start my KG restoration but don't worry, I'll
get the pictures and other stuff from my process on-line by then.
Anyway, here's the info I recieved from VW AG:
Model: VW Karmann-Ghia Coupe
Engine No: 728745
Color: Paprika
Production Date: April 29, 1960
Delivery Date: May 18, 1960
Delivered to: Philippines
