That ghia specialties site is cool. That dudes "got skills" :laugh: . Have you thought about doing something like he did on the rear, but cut your fender on the side of the ridge closer to the body. Then you could maybe add a 1" strip or so to your fender to give you more room under there, and still keep the stock arch. Could save you some extra work. Just an idea of course.

Yeah, John Kelly has some mad skills.

Tim's nephew had the same idea. I think bettween cutting it off, and welding it on. It would end up being more work. I doubt I'd be able to make the welds look like anything either. And when I weld it, the metal is going to pull.

If I go with 7"s I will do to the rear what I'm doing to the front, after I cut the inner fender out. If I go with 9"s I'll make a new fender opening out of 3/8" square stock, then lay a new peice of sheetmetal on that and just make a whole new fender. I'll still have to shape it, but it'll be close and I can make the new fender almost any width. I'll need to at least gain about an inch from the middle of the fender forward, then a little more past that since the rear fenders turn in towards the rear of the car.

I won't be beating myself to death now. I have a palm nailer, I'm going to stick a 3/8" stainless steel carriage bold in it and use it like an automatic hammer. :cool:

I also bought a new rear apron, the peice of metal above the stock exaust tips, so I'll be messing with that soon. I'm going to have to either reshape it, or fill in the exaust tip cut outs. I won't be needing those at all. That's the only one they sell though.

Show pic's of apron when finished, and fenders of course. Keep on hammer'n away at it:laugh:

Hi

A friend of mine had a Ghia in the 70s, it had the edges of Beetle fenders welded on to form flares, looked good then, but that was the 70s, when lots of things that look daggy now, looked great.

Steve

I did some work on my rear apron today. I took a break from the front fender. I need to buy a few more tools I thought I could work without, but it didn't work. :laugh:

I welded the apron together, along with the plates to bolt it to the rear of the car. Since I'm making it removeable. I snapped a picture right before I left the shop. The pictures seem to show up better at night. I just checked my camera. It's not there. :( Looks like I'll have to get one tomarrow.

This is just a little eye candy of what the apron looked like before I started cutting away for the Suby to fit, and how bad the old apron looks. I'm replacing the lower peice. The one with the BIG wave in it. ;)

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...8.jpg~original

I was out in the shop again today. 3 and a half hours I believe. I got a lot of little things done. I just noticed I jump around a lot from one thing to the next. Oh well, today I jumped from place to place on the car tieing up loose ends. Sorta speak.
This is the picture I thought I had last night.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...1.jpg~original
Another top view.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...2.jpg~original

I also did a little work on my front fender. Since the weld was in the way, I decided to cut the seam in half. This basicly just shows the fact that I cut it. My shot bag kinda fell apart. So I couldn't continue. I think this is going to be the way to go. I'll just keep stretching and see where it goes from here.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...4.jpg~original
Oh yeah, I'm not pulling on the fender that much for the picture. I did a little stretching before the bag gave up, and it moved away from the other peice.

All my pictures wouldn't fit, sooo... another post. :cool:

I decided a few weeks ago to shorten my oil pan. That's about the time I started on it. I didn't know exactly what I wanted, I just knew I wanted it shorter. So I started cutting, I ended up getting myself in a bind. I started cutting before I had a real plan. Big mistake! I managed to weld it back together and add a bottom to it. It doesn't leak but it's not very pretty. The weld in the middle going all around it, shouldn't be there. and wouldn't if I had planned it out. Also, it doesn't leak. I tested it.

Pictures!
This is the bottom of the block. I got it all nice and clean before I realized I need a new O-ring for the pick up. You can also see in this picture the shortened oil pick up tube will mount in the stock location. I also need to change the flywheel. I didn't have the touque specs when I put the plate on, so I'll change it later.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...1.jpg~original
This is the beautiful oil pan on the engine.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...2.jpg~original
Another picture of my beautiful oil pan, along side is the oil pick up. I had to shorten it too.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...3.jpg~original

I'll be out in the shop again tomarrow. Not sure if they'll be much pictures worthy things going on.

In the last picture you can see Tim's old race car. It made the paper after it was rolled a few times at the track. Next to it, a picture of Army Armstrong's old drag bug. Makin' Bacon' Just a few tid bits of info.

Comments and/or suggestions are always welcome.

I stuck the engine back in today. I wanted to get a good look at it in with the rear apron on. It looks good. I don't really like the way removeable aprons fit. They never seem to fit right. :( I guess that's the price I have to pay to have it removeable.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...3.jpg~original

Today, I also finished my oil pan. I got 2 O-rings and sealed the pan with some silicone (sp?). Tomarrow I'm going to either work on the front fender or spend some more time in the engine compartment. I keep forgetting to install my Kafer Cup brace before I install the engine. To get an idea of where the exhust will have to go, and the water lines. Maybe throw an axle in that side just to see where everthing is going. It's not going to have a lot of space on the driver's side next to the tranny.

Yeah, comments, suggestions, and questions are always welcome. :D

Keep the pics coming Mikey :)

Did you do a test to see if the silicone will withstand hot oil and not peel off? Any idea how much you cut the sump by and do you have some pics of it installed in the car to see relative ground clearances? Did you shorten the pick-up by the same amount or reduce it a bit so it stays as deep as possible?

Rich

Thanks.

I didn't test the silicone. It's a gasket type of silicone. I figured it would work. I believe I cut the sump down an inch and a half maybe two. I'll snap a picture or two today of it mounted. The exhaust and oil filter are the lowest points now. Yeah I shortened the pick up the same amount. I didn't want to throw it off a bunch from stock. If you try to make it as deep as possible. There is a slight possiblity that it won't pick up enough oil because it's too close to the bottom of the oil pan.

Another update. Oh yeah! It's starting to get to be a daily report. :laugh:

I spent about 4 hours again today. I started on the right front fender. I'm happy to say, even though I cut a chunk out of it. It looks a lot better than the driver's side. I'm going to probably do the same to it. I think I tried to stretch the driver's side too much too fast. It got out of hand. I only took 1 picture. After being a Tim's shop for about 8 hours. I was ready to go home.

I started out like I did the driver's, I cut the seam. I found some rust and some brase. I hate both. Brasing just blows up when you try to weld it. So I had to cut a strip out of the fender. I cut it out and replaced it with new metal. I left it attached at the opening so it wouldn't change on me. It looks messed up. But it worked great. I know the seam will have some filler in it, but it's a lot closer than the driver's side.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...t.jpg~original

Ricola, I snapped a few pictures and took a few measurements today. I hope they answer your question.

The ground to the left side of the exhaust- 5.75"
The ground to the oil filter - 6.125"
The ground to the front part of the exhust- 6.5
The ground to the oil pan - 6.75"
This first picture is from the driver's side, about the torsion cover pointing back.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...1.jpg~original
The second is from the rear. I tried to get the camera level with the bottom of the engine to give an accurate perspective on the height.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...2.jpg~original

I'm really excited about the passenger side fender. I'm also ready to get started on the rear fenders. That will be a while, but I have my motivation back now. I nearly beat myself to death with the hammer and dolly today. That's a lot of work. I'm gonna be back after it tomarrow.

I'm sure I'll have more pictures again.

Lookin' good!

Thanks Ricola!

If persistance is half the battle. I'm winning that half. :D I'm at the shop right now. I love wireless internet. I thought about having a live webcam kinda thing like KCW. Although I have a $20 wal-mart special webcam. The picture isn't the greatest. I'm on webcam right now over msn though. It's working okay.

I almost find it hard to believe. My passenger side fender looks beautiful. I love it, and best of all.... It's 1-3/16" wider!!! I'm going to push it to see how far I can get, but I left it for now to see if I can get the driver's side to go my way. I'm going for at least an 1-1/2" If I can get more I'll try it. Best I can figure, about two rounds of streching with the palm nailer and smoothing with a hammer and dolly will give me 1/8". I'm sooo excited about my fenders. I have to get my brakes machined soon. If I didn't loan friends money they'd be finished. :( Oh well.

I'll post some pictures later tonight. I don't feel like doing it now since I'm in the middle of this fender.

If someone oh here wants to watch my webcam for whatever reason.
I'm on msn- tellevery1thissn @hotmail.com (no space) No sound but that's good, it's loud sometimes and I talk to myself. :rolleyes:

great looking project! Looking at it sitting there in a garage that I've stood in many times is cool... My brother and I both used to live back there. We used to get parts through Tim, bought a car from him once. It's really cool to see a Subie swap going down in his garage. Especially so since my brother and I both are building subie swapped cars right now. I'm looking forward to checking back for your updates. :agree:

That's cool. When did you move out there? I've been hanging around for about 2-1/2 years. I bought my Ghia from Tim. He was a little unsure about it at first, but I think he's come to like it. How are the projects coming? and pictures?

I would have added pictures but my camera didn't copy them like it should have.

I'm not going to hijack your thread with my pics... but I've got pics of your car i can share. ;)

http://home.comcast.net/~kitchenware...VE5638edit.jpg

I think this was taken back in June... by a friend of mine, Dave, who is also interested in putting a subie lump in his beetle.

Word, you have any more of my car? Email them to me. Also if you want email me some pics of your car. md2284@ yahoo.com :cool:

I was starting to think no one was watching this thread. :laugh:

Not just watching. Getting motivation:D

I've only got a couple but I sent them out anyway. Dave could have more, I'll ask him.

Thanks for the pictures. I forgot he said something about sending them to me. I havn't contacted him at all since he took them. I completely forgot. My bad. :(

Thanks Danny, I was almost thinking it was kinda just flying under the radar. I think it's cool someone else is getting motivated off my work. What really gets me going is seeing the picture of the dash full of gauges. :cool:
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...3.jpg~original
Of course I had to post it. :D

To get the full effect off the gauges you need to hold a steering wheel and sit on a milk crate while making vroom vroom sounds :laugh:

Autometer Loves you Mikey. Nice setup. :agree:

:laugh: Danny, I already did that. The picture is easier to look at though.

Thanks Dave. They did get a fat chunk of change from me on this project.

Update... sorta, I still can't copy the pictures. And a friend barrowed the camera for a wedding he went to. I didn't go. Long story... :rolleyes: I also havn't worked on the car cause it's been 105*+ every day.

I'll be kickin' it good once the weather cools down a bit. Like 40*. :cool:

Wow Mikey!
That is a great looking project!

Mikey, I have been catching up on your progress. You are doing some cool stuff keep it up!!!!!

Thanks Nigel, I haven't been working much on it recently. A new gf, a full shop, and the heat have kept me away. :laugh: I also started school again last week. I was hoping to go for my Level 2 Welding Certificate, but there are not enough teachers for the classes. He did say that I can get more Lab time by enrolling in a class to help the teacher with the first year students. On the bright side, I'll be out this Christmas with a certificate and a degree. :D

I just read your whole build in one sitting, I hadn't seen it before. I think you might be in it a bit deeper than me :D I don't know if I could be patient enough to stretch the fenders like you're doing. What car is your subie motor from, I saw it was a single turbo and mine was originally a twin turbo. I saw your ground clearance measurements, is that at stock ride height? How much did you end up trimming off the bottom of the oil pan? It's awesome to see someone else doing big updates too :)

My bad Humble, I guess I was busy for a few days back in August and I missed your post. :rolleyes:
It's a lot to read in one sitting. That just means I have a lot of work in it. I want to keep a stock beam in the front and I want to keep stock rear suspension. I tried a 2" narrow beam and I hated the turning radius. It just takes time with the fenders. I forgot how many hours I have in the front. It's quite a few I'm sure.

Your questions... Not sure what car my engine is from, I only know it's a JDM. The ground clearance measurements are at stock height in a striped car, no weight other than the engine and tranny. I think I trimmed about 2 inches off the oil pan.

I actually got on this thread to make an update. :cool:

Long over due update!
 

After a few shows, along with the weather cooling off. I have a fire again. :D

I started with the rear fenders. I used our plasma cutter to cut the Passenger side inner fender out yesterday. I also started widening the fender some. I moved it a little less than 1/2" yesterday. I'm back after it again today. I'm at the shop right now. I stopped working because of the storm, Tim wanted our freshly built '75 super inside. There might be hail in the storm. My car is outside. :( After the rain stops I'll push it in and take a few pictures.

I already have enough room for the wheel to tuck! Just to re-itterate my set up.
I have Cup 2's 7"s 55et along with 944 rear hubs about +1" from drums. The wheels TUCK! I just have to make some room for clearance, and make a nice shape out of the fender. I could probably get away with another 1/2" but my goal is about 1" away. Either way, I'm pleased so far.

Before anyone sees the pictures, I've never done this before, and I had no idea where to start or what kind of shape I want in the end. I'm just trying my best to get the width I want, while I try to keep some kind of shape to it.

Here are the pictures I've been slacking off about. I hope they were worth the wait, if not. Oh well. :laugh:
Here are a few of the left fender first, just to get an idea of where I started.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...1.jpg~original
A lot of tire showing here.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...2.jpg~original
The fender is sitting on the tire.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...3.jpg~original
The fender obviously donesn't cover the tire in this shot.

Now, lets take a look at what I did.

Not exactly sure about the measurements, but it's moved out a bunch. Still some to go, but it's there.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...1.jpg~original
That's what I'm talking about. :cool: The shape isn't there 100% but I'm not finished.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...2.jpg~original
My fingers fit between the tire and fender.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...3.jpg~original
No tire here.
2 more pictures and I'm finished... For now.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...4.jpg~original
No inner fender. That's what you get with a plasma cutter and a cut off wheel. :laugh:
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...5.jpg~original
This is the inner part of the lower rear quarter. The top peice is the ouside, the bottom is the bumper bracket. I drilled out the spot welds and pulled it out about 1-1/4"

As always, I appreciate all comments, suggestions, and/or questions. :laugh: I'm sure there will be plenty.

Mikey,

Do you have any more closer detailed pics of your nose/nostril section of your ghia? I have a 74 Ghia with a 2.2 Suby and I am at the point to start cutting the front end to let the air in to the compartment. I also reversed the intake manifold around and modified the stock headers to work. I ended up shortening the headers by approx. 2 1/2" in total height.

Good Luck on you project.

Richard

I wonder if this is what you mean?
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...l.jpg~original
This is from the inside, I'm not finished yet. I still have to make a way to seal the radiator compartment off from the rest of the trunk. It will seal against the hood.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...1.jpg~original
You'll notice in the picture above I didn't have a place for the gas tank to sit, I've already replaced that along with the parts that mount to the front beam. There was almost no way to cut enough holes in the original stuff with out totaly weakening it beyond use. The trunk will be sealed off from there to the hood.
Here is another without the radiator.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...8.jpg~original
And yet here is another with out the radiator, but with the fan. Odds are I'm going to move it to the back. Unless I'm mistaken, it's better to pull the air though then try to push it through. Small desigen error.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...3.jpg~original

Thanks, good luck on your project. I'm not sure if I'm going to shorten the header, I shortened the oil pan already.

Looks like your gettin' it done Mikey. What is that big thing in the front for??:D Looks like you will have some wicked A/C in that car. Or is that a huge intercooler.:laugh:

What big thing? Oh that. :laugh: It's a... cooler for the engine, like an 'oil cooler'.
I'm going to work hard to get it done for next show season. :cool: With enough money and hard work, it can happen.

Keep going Mikey,
We are enjoying your progress. Thanks for the updates I can't wait to see the finshed car!!

Thanks Nigel for the motivating words. They do help. :D

If I can get a break from working at my job every weekend, I'll put some time in on it. This is my kind of weather. :cool:

I'm back, with FIRE!!
 

I've been lazy for a while, but I'm back after it hot and heavy. It's going to be finished. I worked 4 hours both monday and tuesday, 6 hours wednesday and today, and about 8 thursday. Along with working at the shop about 3-4 hours right after I finish with my car. 10am til 9pm makes for some very long days.

I have my fenders Finished. :D well, as close as I can get them, they match too. Side to side. I also have the rear inner fenders peiced back in place. That has been a chore, a few days have been spent just on that, and I'm still at least 1 day away from moving up top. I have a few more places to fix in the body for I start preping it for paint. I can't wait, I want to start thinking about the 2007 show season, but I don't want to put the buggy before the horse, I have to finish the car first. :p

I wanted to avoid it as much as possible but the fenders will have filler in them. I'm sure Dave and Yeti will help. From bare metal, where do I go? Epoxy primer? Filler? High build?? I'm totaly lost. I can ask Tim, but I want to get a second opinion first. Where I can, I'm going to take it down to bare metal.

I have a goal, for it to be painted or VERY close by the end of january. I know it's crazy, but if I work every chance I have, I know I can make it. Tim said by the end of March. I kinda want to prove him wrong too.

Thanks,

Regular body filler works best on bare metal. Shape the filler as close to smooth and level as you can, then shoot two coats of primer just on the filler work. Then shoot the rest with three coats (so thats five coats just on body filler sections) of primer. Your going to be sanding those filler area's more than the rest of the car. So, the two extra coats on the filler will help to "block" the area out with less recoats. If you've never done auto body before... I suggest getting a book on the subject (cheaper and less time consuming then redoing everything :rolleyes: ) I use Evercoat, and House of Kolor products (sometimes PPG). Check out www.hok.com for some good info on lots of products. There are links in a nav bar that takes you to sister sites with book's, tool's, and color codes. Hope this helps.