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Great write up on this build!!! I want to do something similar to my KG.
I am also also wondering if the angled brace under the hood is also like a "non strut" but non body flex brace . Also what are your thoughts on your front suspension setup. |
That angle brace was in there to mount 2 oil coolers to. The front suspension works great once I got the anti sway bar installed.
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Damn -- -- It's been since forever since I've been on here ... Some of you have missed me, Some of you haven't LOL
Well, Here's the short story.... Last October I turned 65 and I had been dragging my feet at retiring .... I had hooked with a good company and really was enjoying the type of jobs they were doing and the work I was getting to do. Well, on February 1st, the wife insisted that we list the house and try selling it again (last time things didn't go very good). I, in my infinite wisdom and thinking, thought that it would be the same stuff all over again. NOT, we had 4 full price offers the first weekend..... Damn, we're gonna have to move and do it in 21 days..... Again didn't think this thing through very much.... We had been living in this house for over 27 years and you can guess all the stuff I had collected during that period of time. So, why worry, I'll go to work and let my wife pack it all up.... Can you guess where this is going LOL. Needless to say I gave my 2 weeks notice and all the while, every waking moment was spent packing and moving stuff into storage.... Did I mention we didn't have any place to go to yet???? Nope, not a clue where we were gonna end up.... So, on the very last weekend we were to own the house, I called hire-a-mover and had 3 guys move most of the big stuff from the house and into 3000 cubic feet of storage and some of the essentials into the motorhome... We moved to the local regional park (about a mile from the house) and then sat there trying to figure out what was next..... can you guys tell I wasn't really happy about moving out of the house??? Anyway, we decided to head towards Missouri where I had about a million relatives and we had been there a ton of times on vacation. Oh Chit, what about the Ghia, There was no more spaces left at the storage, and the wife told me I wasn't gonna spend $250 a month on space rental just to put that dumb car inside somewhere. ... .. ... So it got loaded onto the open car trailer and wrapped with 2 car covers, some blue traps and then bungee'd wrapped and hoping it would survive out in the open at a friends lot.... https://i.imgur.com/GVgU883.jpg So, we put the Flex on a car dolly and packed up the MH and off the MO we went...... Holy Crap was it cold in March in Mo... and it wasn't really that cold by Mo standards 12 degrees (f) a few nights, 22 a lot of nights, and a healthy dose of snow on occassion... LOL ------- Please notice all the Marble size hail on the ground from an overnight storm -- IT WAS LOUD IN THE MOTORHOME!!!! https://i.imgur.com/1YGCj36.jpg Anyway, we started looking for a house and of course what the wife was wanting and what I was wanting were in two different parking lots on opposite coasts of the continent LOL.... But after 2 months of full time looking at stuff in our price range, she decided on this house in Monett MO.... https://i.imgur.com/wNF37Ny.jpg Not a bad little place 1700 sq ft upstairs and 900 sq ft in the finished basement.... really funky designed thing, but the wife wanted it so.. .. you know the story, Happy wife blah blah blah... It did have this detached little 2 car garage where 1/2 of it was set up as a paint booth and a nice covered RV parking thing that was about 15' too short for my Motorhome,,, but.... https://i.imgur.com/TCJmyvO.jpg The house is sitting on 5 (20200 sq meters) acres of land, of which 3.5 acres are of grass which needs mowing -- -- Damn... So I ended up buying a lawnmower that cost more than the first 5 cars I owned combined!!!! Damn nice lawnmower if you ask me, even has a cup holder if your worrying about that... OH yeah it did also have this other little building sitting on the property..... https://i.imgur.com/YGw3pb4.jpg Something about a 40' x 60' (223 sq meter) shop building that just brings tears to a man's eye!!!!!!! Well, the place had some issues, so we bought it in "as-is" condition and took possession the first week in March and 2 days later were flying to Cali to get the Ghia, .. oh, and the rest of the stuff... We hired the same movers to take all the stuff out of storage and put it into a 26' Penske rental truck -- about half way through this it became apparent that one truck was not going to be enough, so I got another one and filled that one up too... I then hooked the car trailer up to the 26 footer and we prepared for the second part of adventure..... https://i.imgur.com/lwecbum.jpg Man, there was a ton of things that happened on the trip back to Mo which would fill another blog. but I won't bore you with here. but we made it right before Memorial Day weekend, put the Ghia in the 40x60 and it sure looked awfull lonely in there with my multi million dollar mower, I need some more stuff don't you think???? https://i.imgur.com/rnbEYgd.jpg Anyway, it's taken me 2 weeks to get around to unpacking all my office stuff and setting up my computer, so I could give you a update... Aren't you glad you had all this extra time to spend reading this LOL Love you guys!!!! |
Sorry about the huge pictures guys..................
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LOVE the shops! You are a lucky man, your wife knows how to pick a good place!
Oh, house ain't bad I suppose ;) -Dave |
Took the Ghia to a car show in Joplin MO Thursday night -- --
https://i.imgur.com/rB7kL4T.jpg First car show I ever went to that a relative stock 2013 Camaro won best car ….. So I guess I shouldn't of been surprised when I won this …. But I was amused, very amused …... LOL https://i.imgur.com/wULMkqA.jpg |
the judges have good taste
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Thank you
I never win anything at car shows just because of it being an old race car and me not wanting to hide that with shiny.... A woman told me at that show that at least I could clean it up some and I replied "Why? That doesn't make it faster.." |
Thanks for the update
:-( to see you leave SoCal.. but that new garage is pretty nice and you get to shock and awe at local car shows :-) hahaha |
Very nice house and even better garage! Thats a 'garage goal' right there haha!
Love the Ghia on those rims, excellent choice imo! I just moved myself, so I know what a pain that is. Still, the rewards are worth it if you move by your own choice of course ;-) |
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That's awesome. Love your build!
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Thought I'd give you a warning that the end of the world is coming soon!!!!!!!
This Died in the wool Ford Dude bought a Chevy Truck today...…………………………………….. Thought I'd let that sink in a few moments..... It must be the end of time LOL.. I've been looking for a good/nice used 4x4 truck for a few months now and today the wife wanted to go to an estate sale down in West Branson.... So I took her, and lo and behold, here was this CHEVY truck for sale as part of the estate... It's a 2011, always garaged Z71 Silverado with,,, get this,,, 27K miles on it... The price was right so I kicked a few moths out of the wallet and bought it.... too many scratches on the bed, but I'll make do..... LOL https://i.imgur.com/DXQtjd0.jpg |
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Went to the Eureka Springs AR VW Show on 8-25-18 -- What a Day!!!!
Yep, First thing Saturday Morning as I was trying to back The Ghia into a spot and a "lady" rolled up on me. The drivers door is creased in 2 spots, so I'm calling it FUBAR'd…. I think most of the show had heard about the accident by 9am and lots of people came by and checked out the damage and told me how it sucked ……. LOL It just wasn't my day at show.. Later in the day, I was sitting in a directors style folding chair on the knoll at the top of the parking lot watching all the cars returning from the parade around town, when the ground started to collapse under the chair (had a lot of rain the day before) and I did a slow motion fall over backwards.... It was so slow I had time to think about reaching over and grabbing the guy's chair next to me.... But he was sitting in a similar chair and was in his 70's, and I thought, Oh Chit, I'll probably drag him over too.... So I just tucked everything in and let gravity take over and splatted onto the ground. But luckily it had rained and the grass and ground were soft(er) and the only injuries I received was some more brain damage and a wounding to my pride...….. I did win a 2nd place trophy for something LOL …. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1816827.jpg https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1816826.jpg https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1816825.jpg The Award: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1816822.jpg The DAMAGE: Chit picture -- doesn't show where the paint is split in 2 places https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1816821.jpg |
Sorry to hear about the damage. Guess it could have been worse, but still not fun to repair. Did the other car get damaged?
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Went out and did some Auto-X at Neosho Mo -- Great group of guys from Ozark Z's and they put on a great event!!!
Was airing up my tires and just glanced at the dates on my tires.... They're freaking 8 years old. Damn!!! Spent the whole day short shifting and trying to stay off boost.... The second it would come on boost the back end would just crawl out from under me.... Loads of fun, like being on a slick track, My old butt wasn't up for the challenge LOL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x3w...ature=youtu.be |
I'm sorry rioprelude -- didn't see your reply -- Nope no damage to her car....
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My first winter in Missouri.... Learning experience has started. Winterized the Barn, the Shop, the cars..... Last weekend was the last car show, track day and get together for the year, so I guess it's time to put the Ghia to bed for the winter (especially since it is suppose to be 17 degrees here in the next couple of days and snowing). And start the Mods I've got planned for her... The shop is done and ready for the big move.
https://i.imgur.com/eMYU6tG.jpg |
A couple of days after I posted that I woke up to this
https://i.imgur.com/AC5gvEC.jpg It's been in the teens and 20's F since so the snow hasn't melted yet |
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Just (re)found this over view of the Fiat build -- Forgot it existed
http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewto...789&hilit=fiat |
Hey Fiatdude,
I noticed in one of your photos of the garage that you're using a mini-split system. Would you comment on its effectiveness both in cooling and heating for garage use? I've been thinking of doing one for my garage as well. Kevin |
Hi Kevin,
Sorry, just got back from a mini vacation.... Yes Highly recommend them -- Get the Mr Cool DIY system... Like the name says you can DIY... |
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What are your wheel / tire specs? You look like you've got some fatties up front!
I recall reading that you're running 16x7's all around? |
205's up front with 225's rear
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Welllllll, Six months later and 3 house rehab projects later....
Upon tear down found that there was almost .090" of slop between the barrels and the case... No wonder I had a terrible oil leak, those barrels were just flopping around on the case.... And the main journals on the crank were worn. Sent it out for a little grinding, so it is .010" under now. New parts have arrived, case has been machined, long barrels machined, new cam, new pistons and some total seal rings..... Now I'm looking for all that ambition (OK any ambition) to get started working on this old thing..... New Parts https://i.imgur.com/5BVPA1G.jpg I'm trying to see some new swing arms setting here.... Might have to break out some more ambition. LOL https://i.imgur.com/ddAdfOf.jpg |
So, Let's get caught up....
Finally got through with a bunch house stuff the wife wanted done and some $$$$ broke loose so it was time to do some GHIA STUFF!!!!! Yeah Ordered some new long Barrells from CarCraft in Riverside CA and they did the machining and they were perfect!!! new cam, some new pistons, blah blah, blah and we were ready. https://i.imgur.com/nrvaH23.jpg then https://i.imgur.com/2E4gUmJ.jpg then https://i.imgur.com/VDHErwo.jpg then https://i.imgur.com/z8J1ZX8.jpg TAAAA-DAHHH -- -- The beast is back |
SOOOO, been sweating my butt off when I'm outdoors, so turn on the a/c in the shop and decided to do some stuff on the Ghia...
And of course there has to be some drama.... Opened the box that has held my new TMI carpet kit for a few years... Yep it's Black!! CHECK Opened the box that has held my new door panels for 6-7 years... Yep, they're bla...c.... .. DAMN https://i.imgur.com/rNVptpT.jpg OH Well, on they go .. .. Wait a minute -- Damn no rear panels … Gots to love this stuff... OK, Time to start putting in the carpet kit... Houston we're going to have issues https://i.imgur.com/dBMrH69.jpg So, I start cutting a little here and a little there --- Squeezing my BIG old butt in between the bars, under the bars.... Only got stuck a few times and only took 2 bottles of Ivory soap to get me out LOL.. In the end, I think there was more shards of the carpet on the floor than in the car..... https://i.imgur.com/uAnYkIL.jpg Now I just have in invent some rear panels to put into the car and I need to find some Door sills ….. Anybody know where I can get some??? Thanks for reading.... |
Nice to see you back in the saddle again..
TMI carpets - I think they’re “cut to fit” by design. :-p |
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