1969 US Ghia Restoration - "The Hottie"

Tomarse · Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:30 am Post subject:

This is what I'm tackling at the moment:

andythepaint · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 391 Location: essex

jesus Tomarse, , i thought i had it bad on Darrens lowlight
my hat is off to you.. most people would have thrown the towel in already... Cool

so pleased you are givin it a real go...... im gad theres another long term thread to keep me interested.........

59lowlight · Joined: 21 Apr 2009 Posts: 97 Location: ipswich

Spike, get back to work my lowlight is only a 6 week job Laughing

cheers darren

andythepaint · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 391 Location: essex

hey Tomarse....
this is the part.......

sorry didnt manage to get to the post office today Sad

ill do it monday..
anymore pics of yours?

Tomarse · Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:37 am Post subject:

Oh perfect! Very Happy

Thanks again Andy, I really appreciate it. Very Happy

Not taken any more pics but I have spent a few evenings down there each week. Slow progress unfortunately. Got a door off after having to weld nuts to almost all of the screws. Confused

Chopped the near side channel and sill out. Been offering up the new bits for trial fitting.

Also cleaned up the channel section I got from 21windows. It's currently sitting in a bath of Deox getting it's rust fizzed off. Cool

Will hopefully have the new channel, sill and A pillar tacked into place next week. Cool

Then it'll be onto the other side which should be a bit easier.

andythepaint · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 391 Location: essex

you have pm

Tomarse · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 12:57 pm Post subject:

I'm seriously thinking about whether or not it's worth proceeding with this Ghia. Sad

Realistically, it's shafted and will cost thousands and thousands of £ even if I do all the labour myself.

With masses of rust and severe crash damage to the front and one A pillar, there's just so little left. Even if I got it solid, then it'd need a respray, new screen, all seals, an engine, carpets, seat covers etc etc. That alone would cost more than the finished product would be worth, not to mention the amount of man hours I'd need to put in and the storage costs.

Realistically, I can't see it been finished for many years even if I actually pulled my finger out and got on with it.

The main thing stopping me taking a grinder to it is that I bought it from a couple that were very attached to it and I swore I'd restore it rather than break it. I don't think either of us realised just how bad it is. Also, the number plate is worth a bit so the car was bought on the condition that I would transfer it to them. Tricky situation.

I'm at the stage where I need to make a decision one way or another as I have a mountain of parts that would be wasted if I started using them now and then changed my mind.

What do you think folks? Question

northern soul · Joined: 10 Nov 2007 Posts: 383

Hi Tomarse,

I don't blame you for being realistic , personally, i'd abandon it and move on.. life's too short.
considering our ghia is totally rust free and cost 5 grand , i can't see the point in spending many 1000's of pounds and sacrificing 1000's of your hours restoring this one .... Shocked

cheers,
mick

Robbo149 · Joined: 14 Nov 2009 Posts: 162 Location: West Yorkshire

Well, I have to say I agree with Northern. There comes a point when you just have to face the fact that it may not be a viable resto job. I'm all for saving poorly Ghia's & there's been some epic threads on some top notch restos. But as Northern said, you could probably spend half what it would cost to restore a basket case on a nice solid, rust-free Ghia & just roll it & enjoy Very Happy

There's been a few nice looking Ghias for sale recently for sensible money.

Tough decision, I know, but those are my thoughts. Any possibility you could sell the Ghia on for someone else to restore?

Cheers,
Robbo
_________________
'67 Coupe in Atlas Grey

bernie · Joined: 30 Mar 2007 Posts: 229 Location: whitley bay

Tough one to call, tomarse, I agreed with northern, the only way I could see you completing a resto would be to restore the floorpan and running ghia then source a new shell(putting your bodywork right as you've stated will cost a small fortune).

I know RCC imports had a solid rust free shell for sale last year for a £1K - how much is salvagable on yours?

TC · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 111

That does look like a very poorly Ghia Sad

I hope if you call it a day , then someone would take it on and get it back on the road but on the other hand there are a lot of parts there that could keep many other Ghia's on the road

Theres no point having your dream car if it's locked away in a garage

TC

Tomarse · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 10:34 pm Post subject:

Thanks all. I really appreciate your honesty, especially as people that obviously wouldn't want to see another Ghia broken for parts.

The body on mine is totally shafted. I'll try to get a few more photos as it's even worse than the current photos suggest. The only salvagable metal is the doors, the bonnet, the roof (who ever needs that?) and maybe the decklid if it was repaired.

My Beetle was dubbed as never going to see the road again by a garage and numerous people yet that survived. So I can handle a hefty project but this is something else.

If I did restore it, it would be a Frankenstein of various cars and repair panels. It would only be a shadow of the original vw. In the mean time I'm fairly sure there are better examples being chopped up. Plus my chassis's not exactly great needing new pans and framehead bottom plate etc. Urgh.

I did see that imported body which looks pretty rot free but a bit bashed up. Moving it to my place would be a challenge too (or expensive).

andythepaint · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 391 Location: essex

hey Tomarse.... u know what id do dont ya... Wink

Tomarse · Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 11:18 am Post subject:

What would that be then Mr Paint?

PaulRevere · Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 363 Location: South Wales