Its dashing

Today we installed the upper dash pad that we rejuvenated this week and the new lower one. The freshly painted defrost vents look really nice against the dash pad.  We also had to black out the area around the vents to give a more finished and cleaner look. The hands free microphone looks right at home beside the gas gauge. We also buttoned up a couple things with the wiring and installed the new throw out bearing. We have a quite a few parts on order that should get us really close to finishing this project up. We can’t install the engine until these parts come in, but I did get notification that they have been shipped and are on the way. Im looking forward to getting the engine back in and bringing this Ghia back to life.

Assembly time

As you can see, we have been able to devote some time to the Ghia this week. All of the sound deadener is in and the steering column was  painted and installed. We also painted and installed the e-brake handle and cleaned up the heater controls. The stock gauges were polished up and installed and awaiting the rest of the harness. We have a ton of parts on order, they should be here next week. Once we have those, this will start shaping up pretty quickly.

Come together

This is the Ghia that had was nailed by the run away golf cart. As you can see the paint and body work came out really nice. We do have this one all back together now and its ready to head home.

Rocking the rocker

Today we worked on the left rocker on the Ghia. The right side is in and it really went well. The left side is putting up a little fight. These rockers have to be installed in stages. We have a main inner part and outer part. The rear has another piece that has to go in before either of the rockers do. Then, there are the two outer parts that go on last. They are the lower  fender and lower quarter finish pieces. All these parts must be fit before welding them in to ensure that by the time the last part goes on, it fits the area its supposed to occupy. So, as you can see getting the first piece in properly is pretty important. We put the door back on today to make sure the lower body line is right and that once the rocker was in, the door would still open and close with out rubbing. We did make some progress but not quite enough to start welding just yet. We will have to spend a little more time fine tuning a couple of things and hopefully this will be welded up this week.

Back on the Ghia

After way too long, we were able to get back on the Ghia this week. No major accomplishments here but we did get some work done. There are several places that have to be cut out and new metal put back in because the metal is thin in some areas and has a few small pinholes. We were also planning on cutting the left rocker off to start fitting in the left heater channel and outer sheet metal but tubing we need to brace everything up didnt come in. We hope to get that in next week so we can start that up. We did get about 10 or so places welded up and a few little patches in and some made to keep things moving. We have been very blessed with lots of collision work over the past few months but unfortunately that takes our time away from these more fun projects. Our many thanks to the owner for her patients. We now have a full crew and you will be seeing more posts on this one in the weeks to come.

Floors are in

Lots of good work on the Ghia today. Chris pulled the right floor pan this morning and welded in the new one. After they were welded in, Chris etched primed the welds and then seam sealed them to ensure no water gets in there. These new pans do not come with the seat rails, so he also cut out one of the rails and welded it in after carefully measuring it to make sure it was in the correct place. While that work was going on, we were also finishing up the rust repairs started yesterday on the lower front. In between the welding and grinding steps on the front, we cleaned up the welds on the quarter and swiped a coat of All Metal on them. This filler is super strong, has excellent hold out from shrinkage and its waterproof. Next we will block the All Metal out and finish it off with regular filler. We will keep moving around the car until we have all of these areas addressed. Its a long process but things are moving along.

Rock on!

Today we kept plugging away on the Ghia. After a good week of progress, we put the finishing touches on the right side. With the adding of the lower quarter and fender skins, the side looks like a Ghia again. We still have a few little things to do before wrapping this side up, but for the most part this side is done like dinner.

Rocking the day away

Another productive day on the Ghia. Today we welded in the inner channel and the outer rocker skin after we made patches for the front inner structure. The door was fit first thing this morning, and fit quite well. We did have some manipulating to do, but all in all it was a good fit. After that I started welding while Chris made a few patch panels for the front. Tomorrow we will fit the outer lower quarter and outer lower fender and get those welded on. That will wrap up this side.

Ghia repair

Lots of welding today on the Ghia. Yesterday we cut out all of the old rusty rockers and heater channels on the right side. Before those can be welded in, we had to be sure what they welded to, was structurally sound. So today thats what we focused on. The rear inner fender had several hole and thin metal that needed replacing. Unfortunately they dont make these patch panels so we had to make them. The first thing we welded in was the lower quarter backing plate. We could then use that as a guide on where all the other metal will meet up to. This is the grey part with the big hole in the center of it. Once that was in, the other bad metal was cut out and patch panels were made to match the old pieces. After the patches were completed in the back, we test fit the heater channel and outer rocker panel. These parts went in nicely. They are screwed in for the time being because tomorrow we will reinstall the door to make sure we have proper fitment. If that goes well, we will go ahead and weld up the new channel and rocker. We will have to make some patch panels for the front fender area like the ones we made in the rear but we will do that after the rockers are installed. Once all welds are done on this side, we will grid them down some to smooth them up. We will then paint these bare metal parts with PPG’s DP epoxy primer. We will then seam seal the welds up to keep all water from getting in there. This is a great preventative measure to keep this car from rusting in the future.

Here we go

The Ghia has officially left its pan. We still have some bracing to do on here to keep the gaps from moving and to make sure its secure on the lift. Once that is done we will start the rust repair process. We also will be degreasing the pan just so everything is clean and neat when it all goes back together.