Rear Seat/ Storage Area Replacement

I think this car sat outside for a few years before being put into storage, as the rear floor area was in very poor condition. When I bought the convertible, it came with a donor car ( a coupe) that had a good replacement section, so I used it. Here is a before picture:

Here is the piece removed. Note the gas heater that resides under the floor area. I removed it, as I have no plans to ever drive this car in the winter. Heater boxes will suffice:

Here the replacement piece is fitted and ready to weld in. The cleanup of parts took much longer than the fitting/welding process.

The piece has been welded in and the seams covered with seam sealer.

Before welding in all of the other bracing and parephenalia related to the convertible top, I cleaned up the floor, applied rust converter, and painted it with a rust-inhibiting paint. The long term plan is to build up another complete pan with some engine and suspension mods, so I didn't replace the pan halves. They aren't in great shape, but useable for now. Here are the pans wirebrushed, with rust-converter applied (it turns any rusted area black):

Here they are painted with rust-inhibiting paint:

I plan on working on the front lower quarter panel sections before welding in the cross and side bracing for the rear area, as it allows better access to these area.  You can see that I have replaced the rocker panels. This was done before grafting the front end on, as the rear lower area overlaps the front of the rockers. If you ever have to replace the rockers, I suggest buying the best quality ones you can find. The ones I used were from CIP1 and required a lot of "massaging"to get them to fit adequately. I won't make that mistake again.

Getting Started - Front Wrap

A project this big has to be divided up into stages, or it will become overwhelming. Because of the major front end damage, I decided that I would complete all body repairs first, before removing it from the pan and detailing it, so that I know everything is aligned properly. I also plan to have the car in primer, and drive it for a while, before painting it so that I can iron out any bugs during this time. My plan is to have it roadworthy by next summer, and have it inspected so that I can insure it ( bought the car with no registration - only a bill of sale)  - we'll see!

Here is a picture with the damaged area removed from the front clip. Luckily, there was no damage to the pan or front beam.

Because complete replacement panels aren't available for these cars, I searched for a donor vehicle, and located a useable coupe. It had rust in all of the usual places, so before grafting it on, I repaired these areas. As you can see, the clip is from a newer style (70-74), so I had to fill in the areas where the signal lights go. Here are a few pictures showing some of the work completed before installing it.

Once all the metalwork was complete, I fitted it to the cowl area, and welded it it. Many thanks to Marlon for all of his assistance with this part

You may notice that I have also replaced the rockers, which was necessary before welding everything in place. More on that later. At this point the nose is welded in place, and a coat of bondo has been applied.

At this point, the bodywork is completed, and a coat of epoxy primer has been applied.

And now for some filling primer. You'll notice that I have applied black undercoating to the inner areas.

 

This, I think, will have been the most challenging, and time consuming part of the project. Although I have done many complete rebuilds, this one was a real challenge, both in the time taken to remove both front wraps and  repair all of the rust on the replacement front end, but especially in the finicky nature of fitting and aligning the new clip before welding it on. As all ghia enthusiasts know, the bodies on these cars were hand-made, and no two are exactly alike. I'm sure I put in well over a hundred hours getting to this point. Not for the faint of heart.

Welcome to my Blog! September 4, 2010

Hi There,

I've decided to start a blog that documents the progress on my 69 ghia convertible project. I'm doing it for a couple of reasons: 1) to help me keep track of the pictures I'm taking, and organize the progress so far into an organized fashion;  2) to share what I'm doing with other ghia enthusiasts and perhaps widen my connections through contacts made through this site. Feel free to contact me with any comments/questions at dkall56@hotmail.com

I have owned my  69 convertible for about five years. When I bought it, it had been in storage for many years, after likely rear-ending another vehicle. Since I bought it, it has sat neglected for most of that time. I did a short blitz on it a couple of years ago during the summer, and then it sat again until several weeks ago when I started on it again. Below are a couple pictures picture of what it looked like when I bought it:

After looking at these pictures, you're probably wondering why anyone would want to restore a car in this condition. Several reasons why: 1) the car is an original, unmolested car  2) low mileage - 49,000 miles  3) it is, to me, the most desireable year - a 1969 1/2, which means it has the glass rear window  4) The car is an autostick, which will make it easier for my wife to drive - she has a bad knee, and has difficulty using a clutch. 

As an ex bodyman/painter, I have restored many vehicles which the owners initially thought were in pretty good shape, but soon came to see after stripping the paint off of them, that they were either rustbuckets, or had had a myriad of repairs done to them over the years. With this ghia, I knew what I was dealing with from the outset.