Raising the Nautilus - Tales of a VW Type 3 Karmann Ghia Restoration

A reproduction Type 34 tachometer

2012-01-01T11:42:00.031-07:00

This morning I found some pictures I took of the reproduction Type 34 tachometer I acquired for the Nautilus last June while in Southern California for the Volkswagen Classic. I've been told they are not exact replicas of the original units, but they really match up well in appearance with the other gauges and are very functional. If I decide to switch the electrical system on my car from 6V to 12V, all I need to do is change out the gauge illumination bulb because these units switch between source voltages automatically.

I'm finally working on the engine for the Nautilus in earnest and I like the idea I'll have a tach to monitor the RPMs during break-in. I finally sent the other gauges out to North Hollywood Speedometer for rebuild. Since they had something to do with the production of the tachometer pictured here, there should be consistency across the dash once the instrumentation is installed.

This reproduction Type 34 tachometer is based on an original Type 34 clock, so it will fit perfectly with proper clearance in the original clock location. Notice the detail--seriously, these units are really nice. Because my car won't have a radio--at least initially--I plan to also have a clock restored and installed where the radio speaker grille is normally installed, over next to the glove box.

If you have a rebuildable core Type 34 clock housing, North Hollywood Speedometer can convert it to a tachometer. Or, it may be possible to do as I did and contact Bob Walton to see if he has one of these for sale. Bob can be contacted over at the 1500 Club web site. Either way, this is a very useful accessory being offered at what is in my opinion a very reasonable price!

The Nautilus is going back under the knife.

2011-12-10T12:11:00.003-07:00

The posting I do to this blog is pretty much an indication of the progress I am making with the Nautilus. No blog posts, no progress being made. My wife often attempts to prod me into action, but I really haven't had my heart in it. Maybe it's time I discuss my thoughts and frustrations on the matter.

I initially hired Motorworks Restorations to do bodywork and paint on a Type 34 body shell nearly five years ago. That first car was cut up for parts when a better car--the Nautilus--was found about a year later. Despite the false start, one would still think that in all that time and with all that money spent that the results would be both perfect and spectacular. It's true, there's some amazing work in the Nautilus, but I'm also sad to say that despite my input, direction and criticism, there are at least three areas that are sub-standard and cannot be overlooked. The problem areas involve replacement panels. The front hood alignment on the replacement hood, the right rear fender upper wheel well arch shape on the replaced right rear fender and the decklid all have issues. A previous post discussed how the front hood alignment issues might be addressed, but the front angle is a bit off, too. The Motorworks crew gave the right rear fender wheel well opening a bit of a 'fat lip', in that there is no symmetry to the right rear fender lip repair when compared to the wheel well opening on the left hand side. When comparing that fat lip to the lips on the front wheel well openings, it obvious at least to me that something is a bit 'off' with the body lines. I spoke with Jeremy of Motorworks Restorations back in November '10 about these and other problems, but he felt I was making too much of them. We had no communications from them between November and May '10, until I approached them at the Colorado Volkswagens on the Green show about the project. Jeremy seemed receptive to new work, but having heard nothing back until I called them the other day, I'm left with a mixed message. The Nautilus still appears on their web site as a "work in progress"--but they've done nothing recently because the car has been at home in my garage, untouched for over a year.

There are of course other options out there. We had my wife's car painted in 2009 by a local body shop and it turned out nothing short of amazing. It was sort of a spontaneous improvement process that was the result of some very disappointing new car shopping. We took a portion of the money intended as a down payment and made her old one look and run like new. A side effect of that bodyshop experience was the realization that I have some potentially better local options available for overhauling or improving upon the Nautilus. The results on my wife's car were cost effective, delivered on time and have proven to be high quality repairs, often remarked upon by folks who see the car. It was the best and most positive body shop experience I have ever had. They also have a division that works on older or antique autos and are willing to take on the Nautilus. They use Dupont materials, which are compatible with the body and paint materials Motorworks Restorations used on the Nautilus. Overall, it looks like a good fit to moved the project forward, but again their long term interest in taking on the project has waned and I'm having to remind them to keep in touch, which means they've got better things to do. While I have two other restoration shops in mind, but I'm going to have to get the Nautilus loaded up on a trailer to shop it around. More time and money down the drain.

Over the years I've had to hit up a number of sources to get good results for every aspect of the Nautilus' restoration. Chroming was one, as was engine balancing and machine work. Body rubber parts, interior pieces and upholstery materials are still not right. It goes a ways to explain why I've had to accumulate so many parts, as people sometimes have differing opinions on parts grading, the definition of NOS and the 'correctness' of reproduction parts. The same goes for body work. Obviously, Motorworks does show quality work done at a high enough caliber to become magazine features. That's fine, but I'm looking for something that sometimes falls well beyond that, and has that certain quantity and quality that's not just 'good enough' for the masses. I also want the job done right. And when I use the term 'right', what I really mean is 'correctly'.

As mentioned earlier in this post, I called Motorworks a few days ago to open a fresh dialog and get my car in the queue. I'm working on sourcing a good right rear fender and a decklid. I want to give Motorworks one more shot at the bodywork, and we've scheduled something for the third week of January.

Motorworks Restorations makes a house call.

2010-08-28T14:01:00.004-06:00

It's a truly great thing when a company stands behind their work. In this case, Jeremy and Julio of Motorworks Restorations are taking this beyond the figurative sense and are moving it right toward the literal one. The two stopped by last Saturday morning to finish up a few paint details I was afraid to tackle myself due to limited paint polishing skills and equipment. Over two years ago, while Motorworks Restorations was still in their old location, the Nautilus was covered by overspray from another paintjob being done in an adjacent work area. It's taken some time to locate the problem spots on the craft and get it all removed. This overspray issue has always bummed me out, however Motorworks has always considered it a warranty issue that they are dedicated towards working through. And when I report a problem, they quickly resolve it. Regardless, this has stalled my progress on assembly because I have no desire to put freshly chromed or NOS chrome parts on the craft, only to later have to remove them to have paint buffed. Counter productive for all concerned. On this particular Saturday, great progress was made to address this annoying problem.

While working in the front trunk area, Jeremy had a chance to check out my 'spare-change alignment handiwork' on the right hinge. He will fabricate an aluminum shim to shift the hood into better alignment. Also, my search for acceptable front hood seal material continues, as the Type 14 seals are still not quite right. In checking around, ISP West may have some better stuff available now.

The fore and aft compartments gleam again and I have no excuses to get started in there...unless some part is made out of unobtanium...which still happens more often that I would like. Keep thinking I have everything I need, only to find that the parts I thought I had are either less than ideal, ill-fitting, or flat out wrong. I wish I were just making excuses, but it's becoming another source of frustration.

Motorworks has undergone some relatively recent personnel changes. Gone is Gary Turk, and this concerned me because Gary had a lot to do with the character of the work done by Motorworks. My concerns were unwarranted. Julio is the new guy at the shop and jumped right into the weekend work at hand. He had several spots on the main body to polish and showed me what was required to work these areas. You can burn through a clear coat quickly, so masking tape was used to prevent this at every 'sharp corner'. The results of Julio's work are outstanding and I was quite relieved because it really looked like the problems were the result of sand scratching in the bodywork beneath the paint. That the paint had two years to cure made it easier to work with, too. Jeremy threw right in with Julio and together they knocked out this job in just a little over two hours.

I'll be picking up some 3M #1 Polishing Compound and microfiber towels to keep the finish on the Nautilus shining. Knowledge breeds confidence and I feel I can definitely do some of the more minor and less visible cleanup work by hand at this point.

I snapped this shot right after the Motorworks crew shoved off, and right before the Nautilus went back under its car cover. As a finished Motorworks product, I think this is as good as it's gonna get for this one. I want to thank Jeremy and Julio again for stopping by and taking another pass at the car. It's really looking sharp!

Since last weekend, other aspects of the restoration are starting to move along, too. The wiring harness installation is in progress. The engine is starting to come together. More brake work has been done. Starting to wire up the upper steering column. Chroming is in progress and nearly done. Gauges are under restoration. Yes, there's lots going on and hopefully there will be strong progress to show before the weather turns lousy and Winter sets in. Hard to believe that Fall is only three and a half weeks away!

My Two Cents on Hood Alignment.

2010-08-22T14:36:00.005-06:00

It's no joke, a picture is worth a thousands words--but that wouldn't stop me from writing another thousand to go along with this picture. Bottom line, I've never really been all that pleased with the front hood alignment on the Nautilus. It all goes back to having to use a replacement hood on the craft to create something presentable for the painters. The original hood was a bit caved in from what apparently were two sets of butt cheeks, so I hesitantly provided a really nice spare to further the project. I wasn't all that keen on its use because Karmann's own body build process for the Ghias matches up the hood and decklid to the main body shell very early on in each car's construction. This is done because the dimensions vary from car to car, particularly in the trunk openings at the front and rear, mainly due to its hand built nature. The same could be said for the doors, though to a lesser degree. Regardless, swapping out any of these movable body panels results in a host of alignment issues that can be really difficult to contend with, but are nearly impossible to resolve invisibly after paint is on the car. Knowing this well, I badgered all the guys at Motorworks very early on to make sure this particular alignment issue was addressed during the bodywork.

After opening and closing the front hood a bunch of times to test fit the hood seal, the right rear hood height issue made itself known again, along with my acute annoyance. I let Jeremy at Motorworks know about the situation and he assured me that the problem could be resolved, but never really went in to detail on how. I decided to 'logic' my way through the issue and what you see is the hack I came up with. Literally, two pennies were used to model up a hinge shim to lower the right rear of the front hood. To be completely honest, I actually put the two pennies to the back side of the hinge initially, which raised the hood twice as high as it was. Either way, a wedge shaped shim will work well. This change also resulted in the need for a change to the front hood latch hook by using a hammer to reshape it a bit. For our Type 14 Karman Ghia friends, the hinge shimming would work similarly.

Jeremy at Motorworks Restorations has assured me that he will formalize my investment with a far less noticeable and far more presentable shim after I finish assembly and bring the craft back to them for final tweaks. In the meantime, two pennies saved are two pennies earned.

Diving into the Past.

2010-08-15T12:27:00.013-06:00

I found some interesting pictures in a box in the basement late last year and digitized them for preservation purposes. I don't know too much about my family history, but these pictures help shed some light on at least one common interest. All of these people were around during the very formative years of my life and I am certain each of them ultimately contributed to my interest in Volkswagens.

My grandfather and grandmother on my dad's side, 'Tex and Momsie', are both pictured here in front of their home in Milbrae, California, with what I believe to be a Euro spec '55 Oval Window Beetle. They drove and loved this fine automobile for about three years in the mid-fifties. I particularly like Tex's jaunty pose, with the right foot making full contact with the running board. 'The Folks' were definitely proud of this car--and as it turns out, my dad was, too. My mom remembers a time where the two of them sat in this car and he took much time to point out the high build quality of that Volkswagen. In painstaking detail. I smile to think just how bored out of her mind she must have been. Her eyes probably glazed over in much the same way my wife's do when I pontificate over some triviality on the Nautilus. Honestly, I never thought of my dad as a 'car guy', but my grandparents certainly owned some classics over the years. There was an MG TC and Nash Metropolitan, amongst many others, but the Volkswagen experiences were definitely the most remembered and longest lasting. For better or worse, my dad got to drive them all.

Tex was a chef at various San Francisco restraunts and Momsie a nurse at the Shriner's Hospital in San Franciso. I believe these to have been good times for the two empty-nesters, and what a great car to share those times in. This was at the first of three Beetles these two would own, the third of which would not be so fondly remembered. That third car was probably a '60, which I actually have no pictures of. Sadly, my grandmother would die as a result of injuries sustained in the '60, effectively ending all families ties with the marque for nearly 20 years. The story goes that she worked a late night shift at the hospital, and on her way home that night behind the wheel of her beloved Beetle, traveling along a well known winding two lane road, swerved into the oncoming lane to miss hitting a possum and struck another car head on. She passed on three days later and my grandfather, fully devastated by the loss of her, forever swore-off Volkswagens. I heard this tragic tale re-told many times during my childhood, and it left a lasting impact on me on many levels. The word Volkswagen was burned into my brain, Ralph Nader's "Unsafe At Any Speed" documenting their lack of safety, putting the final nail in the coffin for my dad. Many times I remember him climbing on the bandwagon, berating the car. There was obviously a lot of emotion tied to the incident and Momsie being the wonderful person she was had meant quite a lot to the entire family. I was too young to know it then, but in retrospect I suspect that our family lost its 'anchor' that day in '64 when she passed away.

Meanwhile...on my mom's side of the family, my Aunt Irma and her husband Fred were just getting started with their Volkswagen Beetle. The picture to the right and immediately below were taken in '60 in San Bernardino, California, before they moved north to Sonoma. While growing up in Napa during the '60s, this was the Volkswagen I would get to know first hand during our family's numerous visits to their home.

Comparatively speaking, Volkswagens need a bit more maintenance than their contemporaries and my Uncle Fred was definitely a do-it-yourself'er. More often than not, upon arriving to their home in Sonoma we would find Fred out in the garage working over some aspect of the car, typically the engine. My thinking is that he was adjusting valves and setting plug gaps...but he was more likely just trying to stay out of Irma's way by getting out of the house. Out of his many apparent hobbies, driving my Aunt Irma nuts was but one.

Since in my mind's eye it was such a regular occurrance to find Fred working over the car, I pulled forward a visual picture of the engine compartment, containing that intriguing piece of machinery that needed tending to stay running well. Fred was a retired machinist and welder and just kept his hand in by working on his car. He loved to talk, tell jokes--and extoll the virtues of the Volkswagen automobile. Nearly all of it sailed over my head, but what stuck and sunk in became the germ of an idea that I really should own one of these intriguing cars someday. Much too soon and right when things were getting interesting, someone in the house would wonder where I'd gotten to and head out to the garage to rescue me and my impressionable mind, always by taking me quite well away from the fun. I loved the backyard at that house in Sonoma, but exploring the garage and my Uncle Fred's projects are highly treasured memories.

I think what finally formed the foundations of my automotive bond with Volkswagens--and Karmann Ghias in particular--was the car my Elementary School Principal drove in the late '60s, a red Type 14 Karmann Ghia. Walking past that car on my way to class was a ritual that was also a continual source of amazement for me. I suspect the car was a '67, but what I remembered best was its shape and styling, the paint being very shiny and that the one time I dared look inside I found a black interior with a wood grained dash. I have no picures of it, but I do recall the noise the engine made when it pulled up into the school parking lot one morning and recognized the Volkswagen engine sound instantly.

It wouldn't be until '83 that I would finally own my first Volkswagen, a '73 Type 14 Karmann Ghia. Since then, I've duplicated my Uncle Fred's hunkered pose in garages and roadsides across America more times than I can count while maintaining the various Volkswagens I've owned. Good maintenance practices aside, I also like to think of it as a ritual that carries on a sort of family tradition.

Now...where was I?

2010-03-14T12:51:00.001-06:00

Yeah...now I remember...I am now a delighted Motorworks Restorations customer!

In case there's still any doubt, I'm picky, always insisting on my money's worth. Just like everyone else. Primary reason I took my car to Motorworks in the first place. Some of you have seen their work take home the 1st Place Awards at The VW Classic in Southern California, or possibly other shows in Colorado. Maybe elsewhere. So my expectations were high going in, and perhaps made me difficult to deal with during the bodywork and paint process. No apologies, there. I now want to assure all that the finished results exceeded all expectations. All I'm waiting for now is a bottle of touch-up paint...because I will end up damaging paint during the assembly process.

So, the craft is once again out in the garage, this time resting on wheel casters to make it easier to move about. The finish is polished to the severest depths, proudly wearing a fresh sheet of Meguire's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 Paste. I didn't specify this wax be used, but if I had it would have been at the top of the list. Techwax is really awesome stuff and I used it last summer to freshen up the original 45 year old paint on the wife's Type 14 Ghia. I also used it just last night on her '93 Nissan Sentra SE-R, so it helps any finish. Again--highly recommended.

The Nautilus' absence did not stop other restoration related activities, however. An opportunity to acquire improved brightwork for the craft occurred about 4 weeks ago when a bona-fide-NOS-in-the-box Type 34 foglight popped up on der Samba. Flash traffic from tipster Rob Kingbury set pursuit into full-on take-down and acquisition. Despite my best intentions, I still would have not brought home the chrome without the kind and timely assistance of fellow 1500 Club Alumist, Charles Harlock. With the part located in England and a seller with no Paypal account, this transaction could have quickly degenerated, sounding a death-knell for a smooth and secure global transaction. Fortunately, Mr. Harlock deftly brokered the purchase and I received the part last week, sans further drama.

Never before had I seen a NOS in the box Type 34 foglight. Breathtaking. Even with my apparent enthusiasm, my wife appeared far more excited about its arrival than I. Some time ago, I received a pair of NOS Type 34 foglight lenses from Germany that were genuine Hella--but were plastic, rather than the expected glass. Imagine my dismay. Having remembered this, my wife immediately took this new and unshrouded NOS assembly and knocked the lens gently against her upper front teeth, and promptly informed me the lens was made of glass. Have I mentioned before what a jewel of a wife I have??? Probably not often enough, because despite all, her support for the Nautilus has remained constant, throughout. And she cares almost as much as I about getting the details just right.

Anyway, foglights are just one in a long line of NOS Type 34 parts that I'd categorize as really scarce. Over the past 7 years I've located NOS headlight rings, headlight adjuster assemblies, front and rear signal housings, and nose badges. With sincere regret, I've passed on horrifically priced rocker trim, sill plates, roof drip rail trim and bumper parts, opting to restore what I have, rather than take out a 2nd Mortgage. While I have been able to locate two NOS foglight rings and a pair of those less-than-cool plastic foglight lenses, I have only this once had the opportunity to acquire a complete NOS foglight assembly. While I'd really like to find another, I seriously think I've run my luck by managing to secure the one I did. I have to say that it could be worse...I could be trying to find the badging for an early '62 Type 34.

With the rarity of these things, I guess I could add a few words about it. First of all, it's a late unit, indicated by the plastic bulb holder and the flat profile of the bulb holder keeper spring. The label on the back of the reflector is a paper label, rather than a blue stamp. It was good to get confirmation on there being five springs holding the lens to the main housing to the chrome foglight ring, which corresponds to number indicated in the parts book. On this example, three clips are used at the top of the chrome ring, two clips are used towards the bottom. The finish on these spring clips are black oxide, which explains why they don't always hold up well over time. The spares I have were all really rusty originally, but are now very nice and all plated in zinc. This may allow them to last longer when used in rebuilt foglight assemblies.

To those just becoming acquainted with the Type 34, get ready for some very Porsche 356'esque pricing on the extremely desirable rare stuff. Some of the parts are shared with the other early Type 3 cars, adding to their rarity. All things considered, I could probably have done a nice 356 sunroof car for the price I've paid so far to get my car as far as I have. Was it a good decision...? I love the car. It's been fun chasing parts. The Type 34 is starting to come into its own. Time will tell about the resale/collector value of the car. Regardless, it'll be a hell of a lot of fun to drive this very unique car, once it's back on the road. I can't wait for the onslaught of "Nice Covair!" comments.

I'd like to raise a nice dram of 10 year old Ardbeg to those just getting started and offer my sincerest best wishes in your restoration efforts. Slainte!

Karmann Ghia, v1.0

2010-01-23T12:15:00.001-07:00

I felt a little low energy last weekend, so put in a classic flick and put up my feet. The choice was a favored Hitchcock classic, "Vertigo". My wife eventually joined me and we watched as though seeing it for the first time. At one point, I felt like I was back in movie appreciation class in college, where we dissected the Hitchcock thriller, "North by Northwest". While I like both movies, I've always preferred Jimmy Stewart's ragged edge everyman to Carey Grant's smooth commedic gentleman in Hitch's films. Stewart's psychosis laden role in Vertigo gets the nod with me, and the movie visuals are further enhanced by the San Franciscan street scenes with all the classic cars, which definitely helps puts me in the movie's 'moment'. As for the segments that feature the Karmann Ghia...well....this time I actually stopped the film, grabbed a camera and snapped this shot of Barbara Bel Geddes in her role as 'Midge'. Midge is shown here behind the wheel of her '57 L-330 Trout Blue Karmann Ghia Coupe. In the scene, she's wryly muttering over love lost...but if I was there, I'd tell her she doesn't need that. As long as she has her Ghia, everything's going to be ok. Because EARLY Ghia Girls ROCK!!! Need further proof? Molly Ringwald in 'Pretty in Pink'.

Midge's car is an early Karmann Ghia with a body style commonly referred to as a 'low light Ghia'. Volkswagen's own description of the car includes the word 'pontoon', which has always amused me because the car is anything but watertight or sea-worthy. A good rain storm exibits a leaky design at every corner and unintended fresh air ventilation through any available dash gap. Yeah, as if the Nautilus will fare any better, LOL! Anyway, what I think they were really getting at is the way the front fender bodywork is shaped so that the headlights are actually in a lower position than those on the front fenders of later Ghias. This makes for a more dramatic arc atop the front fenders and a more abrupt treatment of the trailing edge of the front wheel openings. I quite prefer the looks of the older cars--but then I can hardly fault the changes introduced on the 1960 Ghias. I once again spent a few minutes describing the Ghia body changes to my wife, but her rapt attention rapidly waned into glazed expression and thinned patience at my umpteenth repetition of the details. I referred to Michael Gregory of the House of Ghia's car, pictured at left. Then, sensing my point was quite 'over-made', restarted the movie.

Midge's car is definitely way high up on my list of all time favorite Ghias. While the pretentious and purist might furrow brows, I still mentally refer to the early cars as the 'droop snout' Ghias.

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-22T12:30:00.005-07:00

Don't let my lack of blogging send a message of inactivity and procrastination. Progress on the Nautilus does indeed march doggedly, if haltingly forward.

The mildly aquatic backstory surrounding the Nautilus was recently validated by the State of Colorado during the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) inspection process. A VIN inspection is a mandatory requirement for any car being 'newly' brought into the State of Colorado. For cars that can not be physically brought to a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office--which is still the case for the Nautilus--the local police department can be called upon to do a 'field inspection' of the VIN. So far, so good, and a police officer was dispatched last week to do the deed. During his visit, VIN/Make/Model information was collected and a achingly long trip back to the squad car ensued. Turns out that an abbreviated VIN search for the car revealed that the VIN number was already registered in the State as a watercraft! The police office informed me in a most serious tone that my car is a boat! He quickly ammended the comment with an, "Obviously it isn't", which did nothing to reassure me. All things considered, what an unpleasant coincidence. It left me in turns both amused and annoyed because the last thing I need at this point is a title transfer hassle. After all the care taken to restore the original chassis and car body. Turns out my fears were generally unwarranted. The police officer sorted the issue quickly and validation was completed. Or, so I thought, because when I presented the paperwork just 10 minutes later to the kind folks at the Department of Motor Vehicles--with just minutes left before closing time--they informed me that title transfer processing could not continue because there were a number of incomplete fields on the VIN verification form. Queue raised hackles, righteous posturing and finger pointing. Hackles or no, I was flatly denied that day. I did immediately rush over to the police department to reconnect with the very apologetic police officer who did the inspection to get the final details on the form ironed out. The return trip to the DMV the next morning was blessedly uneventful and I now hold official paper on the car. The car buying experience is now out of the way, but don't get me started on the late fees for Registration! My only remaining thought there is to be extremely thankful that they cap this value.

But now, back to the fun stuff that is car restoration.

I had Gabriel Garcia re-key the NOS door locks to the NOS rear pushbutton lock code. I also located a decent used glovebox door lock and Gabriel re-keyed that, as well. So you know, the Type 3/34 family of cars was issued with two different key types from the factory: one for the ignition, and another completely different key for everything else. As the years fly by, these very Type 3 specific kyes are getting quite a lot harder to find in their original Kolb and Huff steel forms. Along with the re-keying of the locks, I also decided to have four more steel door keys cut by Gabriel. All around, he did a phenominal job, as usual.

The craft currently has a set of five early stype wide-5 Type 3 slotted wheels mounted, which are certainly NOT correct for the car. Nevermind that you will never actually see the center disks on these wheels, the point is that I KNOW they are on there and not correct. Which galls me worse than a tight #3 rod bearing. So, very early this year I purchased a set of five proper non-slotted wide-5 Type 3 wheels from Texas and recently had then powercoated. Will get them mounted up once the car comes home. Attention was paid to not powercoating the wheel-to-brake drum mating surfaces and lug bolt holes to prevent wheel losening under loads and stress. Great information was shared on der Samba that a factory alert was issued back in the '60s detailing a problem with the paint being too thick on the backsides of the wheels and brake drums right from the factory. The remediation was to remove the paint and reassemble. Those of us now restoring cars are having to painfully re-learn this lesson. When it comes to wheels coming loose and leaving their cars, I'm a quick study in the mitigation for such things.

And beyond all doubt, I do have to say that Jeremy with Motorworks did an outstanding job on the front beam installation. And speaking of front beams, irony pounced upon the project here again, as no sooner was the ISP West rebuilt front beam installed in the Nautilus, than did a source for all of the beam bushings, seals and bearings in NOS condition appear. It's now entirely feasible to have a stock front Type 3 beam rebuilt. Funny how that always seems to be the case, what with Murphy and all his confounded laws lurking about and underfoot. Unfortunately, I still don't have a numbers matching front beam for rebuilding, but when I eventually do find the right one, we're all set. BerT3 was very helpful in getting these parts together for me, along with a rather early set of balljoints that have the provisions for grease nipples. In case you don't know it, having a whole set of this early front beam stuff in one place is exceedingly rare. I'm still happy that I had the ISP West rebuilt beam installed because it really compliments the rest of the undercarriage. Who knows? That beautiful front beam may just end up living in there permanently.

Something that's becoming increasingly clear with the pressage of years is that more than a few 'make-do' parts will have to be used on a modern day Type 34 restoration. The term 'New Old Stock' (NOS) is rapidly being superceeded by it's evil twin 'No Longer Available' (NLA). Improper storage of the NOS rubber and plastic widgetry is impacting availability by lending both time and entrophy a helping hand with an expedited demise. A lot of these delicate parts quickly fall apart in the best of conditions, but it's really sad that these parts will never actually be installed because they are literally rotting on the shelves of Type 3 parts hoarders. Even when these parts are made available, you're gambling when purchasing them. One must be careful even with the reproduction parts. For example, I've never actually seen an original and unused NOS Type 34 hood and/or trunk rubber seal, so chose to use the generic stuff ISP West is selling to cover this mandatory requirement. Remember--I actually plan to actually drive this car. In inclement conditions. Wet and/or snowy ones. Unlike everything else I've gotten from ISP West, this generic seal material is a major disappointment. Motorworks temporarily fashioned up and taped a makeshift seal into place using this material when doing the final hood and decklid alignment. Jeremy sent me some cringe-worthy pictures of where the front and rear lids refuse to sit flush with the rest of the body with the makeshift seals in place. The materials used for these ISP West seals are too firm and improperly shaped, and the two problems result in a seal that doesn't compress well enough without bending metal. Obviously, this is not a good situation, but there is a viable workaround thanks to the Type 34's little brother, the Type 14. It looks like the Type 14 hood rubber will form a great basis for both the Type 34 front hood and rear decklid seals. The major downside is cost, because four of these seals are going to be required. CIP1 is a good source for these seals in case you're in the market for either your Type 14 or 34. Another possible source for seal material is a modified early Type 3 front hood seal, but will have to test this out and note my findings later.

The Nautilus is undergoing some fine tuning at Motorwork Restorations right now and should be done by mid-January. As these pictures show, both the fit and finish of the front hood is still not quite right. Until it's corrected, I'm in absolutely no rush for it to be delivered. The longer it takes to finish, the better the finished product. All the more likely the engine will be done and ready for installation. I am still finding parts that are better than those I already have, so parts acquisition is definitely still in progress. I'm also finding the time to go through my parts stash. I've sorted them now by quality or grade, which is making it easier to decide on which ones will go on the car. Still not sure which ones will be kept as spares (if any), and which ones I can let go of in support of other Type 34 restorations. I've already been severely burned by letting two items go that I should have held on to.

In closing, I wish you all a very safe, healthy and happy Holiday Season. May your own automotive projects be fruitful in the coming year!

Building a power plant for the Nautilus, Part 1.

2009-10-11T11:29:00.007-06:00

Time to start building an engine for the Nautilus. After all, I actually plan to drive it, not trailer it. It's been better than 16 years since my last VW engine build and there are aspects of this that I'm certain will be a challenge. I used to put together some very good engines and we'll have to see if my skills remain intact.

The original plan for this engine was to go bone stock with it, but I discarded that notion as purely sentimental. Stock early Type 3 engines are fraught with inherent design flaws. Why reinvent that same old problematic wheel? How about taking the good parts and ideas from the much loved original power plant and marry them to what was good and wholesome in the later engines? Build the 1500S engine, but this time with a few internal improvements. Nothing Earth shattering mind you--just apply the updates that can be implemented simply to improve the reliability.

The Nautilus did not ship from the previous owner with an engine. In fact, it did not ship with much more than a body shell. The transmission and unoriginal front beam where there, but much of the pan was rotted. It was left to me to find an engine. I've searched for a decent core engine for many years, buying up a number of potential candidates for a '64 power plant. For some reason, I always seemed to stumble on '63 model year cases easily enough, however it was only very recently that fate lent a hand and gave me what I sought: a nearly numbers matching engine case with an original Type 34 provenance. The engine number on the case could have been installed in another Type 34 the very same week the original engine was installed in the Nautilus. What an unbelievable stroke of luck! All for a bargain price of $40.00. FINALLY!

Early Type 3 engine cases, unfortunately, suffer from the same pitfalls and weaknesses of their Type 1 40-Horse brethren. Engine cases from this era of VW production actually suck. While you really wouldn't want to base your 2-liter hot rod engine on such a crank case, a 1500cc or possibly a 1600cc engine is just fine. With a few case modifications, you can also work through some of the low oil pressure issues caused by the anemic output from the early oil pump. Cam bearings, head stud inserts, uprated lifters and cam, blueprinted oil pump, balanced internals, using a cross drilled 8-doweled counterweighted crank are all factors that play in the favor of longevity for an engine based on a 40-Horse engine case.

I did indeed decide to go with a counterweighted 8-doweled 69mm cross-drilled crank, with a tapered flywheel junction to allow the use of an O-ring flywheel seal. The flywheel used is an O-ring 12V 200mm flywheel, with the 12V ring gear machined off, and new 6V ring gear pressed on. The rods are brand new VW high performance, with self-aligning caps, balanced end for end, and for total weight. The pressure plate is a stock 200mm unit. The pistons and cylinders are a complete NOS Kolbenschmidt 1500S dome top piston set, with cylinders that have the narrower and more numerous fins for better, more even cooling while under operation. I am intentionally aiming for a compression ratio of 8.5 to 1, which was stock for this engine. To further increase reliability, I have decided on the the use of later square rocker boss Type 3 heads. Cooling on these heads is far better because of the cooling fin configuration. Equally as important is the square rocker boss design that helps to prevent unfortunate valve train incidents as I motor on down the road. What is particularly interesting about the heads I've chosen is that the combustion chambers were cut into a hemispherical shape, similar to those done by Gene Berg. This should allow for a better fuel mixture burn, particularly when coupled with the 1500S dome top piston. This could possibly help keep things a little cooler and possibly reduce the chance of 'pinging'. The problem is that they will need further flycutting to bring the compression ratio into specs and I'm hoping there's enough meat in them to do this.

I used to build VW and Porsche (356/912) engines that would generally go for 100K miles without a lot of fuss. There is always a heavy reliance on quality machine work to make this happen. I chose to go with RIMCO for the case machining. The flywheel, rod and crank machine work was excellent, however the packaging done for shipping was poor. The crank and pressure plate hit each other in shipping and the pressure plate may have been bent a little. It was definitely dented, so I decided not to use it and will use another brand new one I have in stock, along with a brand new set of VW high performance rods I've had around here for years gathering dust. The fan, crank pulley, bolts, pressure plate, flywheel, crank and other hardware were all recently checked and balanced by Denver Balancing. I also had them balance the NOS 1500S dome-tops pistons, too, so this should be a very smooth running engine when assembled.

Compared to a 356 piston, the 1500 S piston is actually fairly tame. The dome measures approximately 5.1 cc's. Regardless, they are plenty cool and being NOS German Kolbenschmidts makes them fairly rare, too.

There are still a few parts to round up, but I'm getting some help with that. Jay at NuVintage VW Parts in Arvada, CO, had a NOS set of VW lifters in stock and also provided me with a brand new camshaft. The rest of what I need is fairly common and I might even have them already in my parts stash, but I need to have a set of carburettors rebuilt.

My hope is that I have the engine ready to bolt up when the car arrives home. I don't think I'll actually make that deadline, but it will be close.

Part 2 - Putting it all together--restoring the original fasteners.

2009-10-11T08:00:00.005-06:00

As promised, I'm finally posting up the Type 14 'ST - Standard Parts' list from the Type 14 Parts Book. As fascinating as the Type 34 'ST - Standard Parts' list is, this one's even more of a page turner and should put you right to sleep, no problem. It's mandatory reading for the purist, is a full 7 pages long and includes a few additional fasteners that the Type 34 list doesn't have, but does actually use...which somehow gives me pause to wonder..."Why are these parts missing from the Type 34 list?" Could it be that my part book is out of date? What else might I be missing?

As much as mulling over the inconsistencies in ST Parts Lists absorb my waking hours, I still find the time to enjoy a bold tasting beverage now and then. Putting the distractions aside for a moment, I realize that the cold, frothy depths of a great beer does a lot to set the stage for some creative thinking, if not creative action. So, I'd like to break this post up a bit and present some unrelated material for you to dwell on. And it does mostly concern beer. Beer is good. If you drink it AND are over 21 years of age in the US, go get one now. Better yet, go grab a good Scotch. A great Scotch is even better. You'll probably be in good company because it's very possible I'm enjoying one of my favorties on a given evening. Responsibly and in Moderation. Or, maybe I'm even brewing up something nice for later. I've certainly selected something nice from the following list to celebrate my 1 year aniversary for this blog. I never thought I had the attention span and brain cells to keep it going this long!

If you're coming up short on ideas for your adult beverage choice and are looking for huge taste, I now offer up some reasonable suggestions--presented in no particular order:

1) Arrogant Bastard Ale, Stone Mountain Brewery. Rest assured, you ARE worthy, regardless of packaging assertions. Go the 22 oz bomber. While you're at it, go whole hog and make it a Double Bastard. You probably won't regret it. Much. Also available in a magnum size for self obliterative purposes. I presented one of these bad boys to ISP West during the '09 Classic and they cracked it during the 'after party' for their annual BBQ. Definitely got a two thumbs up.

2) Balvenie 21 yo Portwood. When funds are plentiful, this is my 'daily drammer'. It's just that good. Makes a great Christmas or birthday gift...for me.

3) Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, Great Divide Brewing Co. Another big tasting beer, neither overwhelmed nor tamed by oak aging. I liked this one so much that after I sobered up I called the brewery to let them know.

4) Lagavulin 16 yo. A grand old Islay Scotch. Truly recommended and is a rite of passage for any Scotch whisky aficionado. Some say it used to be better, but I can't even imagine how. Sidenote: there's no real point in seeking out the '91 Distiller's edition, but it's a nice one too!

5) Small Batch 471 India Pale Ale, Breckenridge Brewery. It's another enormous taste of a beer with tons of malt and hop flavor, made in small batches. I prefer the 22 oz bomber bottles over the 12 oz bottles because some bottle conditioning definitely occurs after the cap goes on and the larger bottle isn't so fizzy. Batch variations occur, which adds to the adventure. There's also a small batch ESB by this brewery made in the same small batch manner, but it's flavor fell a bit flat with me--though your mileage may vary. I plan to try it again, soon.

6) Glenmorangie 10 yo. Big bang for the buck! Look for the new packaging to take advantage of the new product formulation. This stuff is outstanding! Even the Malt Advocate agrees!

7) Hazed and Infused, Boulder Beer Co. Reminds me of an IPA beer recipe I used to use when homebrewing. I dry-hopped it to expand the finish. This commercial product has a wonderfully floral nose and powerfully hoppy finish. Takes me back...to the front porch at the McMennamins High Street Pub in Eugene...or even Triple Rock, in Berkely. It's a hauntingly familiar experience, that way.

8) Talisker 10 yo. Nice, distinctive peppery finish, somewhat subdued these days over the old batches, but my understanding is that they are trying to get this characteristic back into the product in the current releases. In my opnion, there is little point in seeking out the Distiller's Edition, but the 18 yo might be a worthy dram. However, the 10 yo gets the job done, with change to spare.

9) Fat Tire Amber Ale, New Belgium Brewery. Of everything on this list, this one's a nice, congenial, balanced beer that goes well with just about anything edible, just about any time of year. I had forgotten just how good it was, until recently when I was offered one by my neighbors as a token of appreciation for some yard work I did for them. I actually ended up with two, and now plan to buy a case.

10) Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist, or 'Lair of the beast.' Good Lord, this one is tasty! Recommended over the 10yo on the basis of complexity, alone--and the 10yo was Jim Murray's whisky of the year for 2008. So you know it's good, assuming you can stomach a whisky with the Islay character. And that's a character profile I like.

11) Bruichladdich 3D3, "The Norrie Campbell Tribute Bottling". They might as well subtexted this, "Distilled for Greg Skinner's Private Reserve", I like it that well. My wife gave me my first bottle of this for Christmas last year and I was amazed by both the heavy handed peat and the beautifully complex fundamental character of the whisky. A guy I work with once commented on the Talisker 15yo, "If Duraflame made a whisky, this would be it." Well, Jeff, the 3D3 beats that one by a mile. Highly recommended for any 'peat freak'.

12) Bourbon Barrel Stout, Odell Brewing Company. This last one is a newly discovered favorite. I won't be buying it much because it's rather expensive. It's an extremely potent and well done Russian Imperial Stout that's been aged for 4 months in a Bourbon whiskey barrel. Each bottle I've tried represents my all time personal favorite adult beverage flavor nexus. While I'm actually jealous that I can't make a beer this good, I am in turn quite thankful that somebody can.

Now...back to our regularly scheduled blogging...

Remember that what you have in the ST Parts lists is some substantial knowledge to allow you to put your car back together correctly. Safety comes into play here, as well, because black oxide coated parts are stronger than their bright zinc plated brothers. If the ST Parts list calls for a black oxide plated part, Grade 8, DON'T SKIMP! Even if it looks prettier. There's a reason VW originally plated parts they way they did. I don't know about you, but I can't think of a reason to try to second guess them on this point. Be safe!

More Italian Design.

2009-08-23T07:47:00.028-06:00

I've got to admit that I really like this car. Normally, I consider the Ferrari marque a bit pretentious, but maybe that's just the envy of this car guy's ability to buy and drive one showing through. These cars are hellishly expensive to own, and I consider insurance and maintenance costs prohibitive. And if I dropped the coin that this car costs, I'd be looking for a 4-cam Porsche 356 because that's where my head's at. Still, what we have here is a Pininfarina designed F355 Spider owned and enjoyed by my friends Terri and Kevin, making an uncommon visit to our home to deliver some wonderful cigars. Ah...the good life. While we Volkswagen enthusiasts make a whole lot out of the limited production of the Volkswagen Type 34 family cars, this Ferrari model of course has us beat by a longshot. And it's the most common Ferrari model produced--so far. What you've got is a five year production run of 11,273 units between '95 and '99, which included two limited production runs within that range. While this car isn't one of the last 100 built--one of the exclusive 'Serie Fioranno'--it's still a blast to ride in. One of these days, maybe they'll actually let me drive their F355--and I'll let them drive my freshly completed Type 34. I'm sure that'd be a real treat for them. LOL!!!

The Nautilus hits its second show.

2009-08-15T09:23:00.064-06:00

The Nautilus makes its second car show in an unfinished state with its recent attendance at the NuVintage Bug In at Bandimere Raceway, just outside of Denver. The car was brought in with the Motorworks Restorations crew and was to be delivered again to my home after the show. While the car didn't get delivered, what I saw at the show was the best version of the car, so far...and it's going to get even better!

What might not be commonly known is that on the Type 3 cars the spare tire well is a bolt on item that fits into the front trunk area, just ahead of the front beam. This goes for all Type 3 models. As one may or may not suspect, the spare tire well for the Type 34 is a very Type 34 specific part. Yet another one, and the three of these I have are each hammered in some nearly terminal way. So, we are actually trying to resurrect at least two of these from the three I have. Motorworks Restorations needs the car to fit this panel as many times as it takes to get the shape of the part right. I've also asked Motorworks to buff out some relatively light scratches that made their way onto the car's paint as part of the rear latch carrier install and to clear the paint and bodywork from the script mounting holes on the nose and rear body panels. On a bare metal panel, the script mounting holes are just a hair over 3mm in diameter. Lee Hedges received information from Franck Boutier that an Audi 'barrel nut' will work as a decent replacement part for the original Type 34 script thimbles, with are very NLA. I gave Motorworks a dozen of these nylon barrel nuts to use as a guide. During final assembly, I plan to work these nylon parts over a bit to make them a lot more invisible to the casual observer. The collar is a tad too thick and diameter too large, which shows around the edges of the scripts. This minor flaw is easily fixed with a bit of fine grade sandpaper wrapped around a piece of flat glass, but the availability of the base part is a big hurdle cleared for me for the final assembly process. Ultimately, I want to be able to easily remove my car's scripts during polishing and waxing operations to prevent product buildup behind the scripts, which I consider tacky. I insist that it's all about the details and doing the job right, though some will see it another way. Those folks know me too well.

The color of the car is amazing to me. It's a '63-'64 Karmann Ghia specific color referred to as L514 Emerald Green. I like emeralds and the way there's a blue flash through the green in a real, non-artificially grown stone. The color on the Nautilus does the same thing and I believe the effect is compounded by the use of a base-clear finish, and the shadowing along the sides of the car when under direct sunlight. There was nothing else at the show like it, which caused a lot of comments on its own. Nevermind the car was a Type 34. If I was looking for a color that flies under the radar, I clearly missed the mark. This is a stand-out color for a standout VW, specifically developed and determined by me, and expertly applied by the Motorworks Restorations staff. The paint is actually a year and a half old and is now hard as a rock and aging very well. I am both stunned and pleased with the results and next to some nice shiny new and re-chromed parts, this car should present exceptionally well. Now...as to when those parts will be installed? Well...I really don't know. I want the bodywork done first. The parts will fly onto the car fast and furious once I actually start installing them, starting with the wiring harness. I still need gauges redone and an interior sewn up, though I do have an original one entirely in black. That was a distant 3rd option for interior color for this paint scheme. Expect to see an authentic silver beige/gray heat seamed door panel combination, with silver beige vinyl with authentic cloth inserts in the final product.

A Type 3 Floor Pan Manifesto

2009-08-15T08:00:00.007-06:00

I'm a purist, an idealist and a realist--which often puts me at odds with myself on the topic of what an automobile restoration actually means and how the finished results should be. In short, I'm willing to spend the money required to get a car within that 95% or better nearly correct category for restoration quality. I've hesitated for while now in wading into this topic...but I can no longer resist.

Type 3 floor pans are a serious bummer. They always seem to be rusted through and there's nothing authentic, new and readily available to replace them with. The small battery tray repair panel that is available from sources such as C1P is never large enough to deal with the later stages of pan cancer on a car. Just so it's clearly stated, the original Type 3 floor extended front to rear, side to side, as a single large stamped panel, with the tunnel welded to it. Front beam and rear subframe bolt to it. Lots of metal, with unique angles, bends and curves. In a Type 34, the seat rails must also weld directly to the botton of the floor, so when the Type 1 Ghia pan halves are used for the restoration process, one quickly finds that they aren't shaped correctly, by default. This can be worked though, but at additional cost, and again the authenticity suffers. The purist rages, the idealist rolls eyes heaven-ward and shrugs, while the realist smiles.

The purist is really looking for a huge sheet of stamped steel with correct bends and contours that represents the full pan, tunnel optional. The realist knows that this is improbable and idealist is willing to accept a new pan half. Both the realist and idealist know this pan half can be installed nearly invisibly by a talented body shop without breaking into the retirement fund. The purist remains un-swayed.

Where the idealist and realist part ways is with the use of used floor pan panels. The idealist wants new, but the realist uses whatever comes along, just to further the project, knowing the new panels are not to be had, because T3D either doesn't have them or is not returning emails at that time.

After having bought at reasonable prices and shipped at unreasonable prices 9 pan halves and having ended up with Swiss cheesed results after media blasing on every one--despite notable sellers claims of solidity--I can absolutely say that I wish I had had a new panel option to go with. The realist ended up costing me FAR more money in the long run than the proposed pricing of new Type 3 Klassic Fab floor pan halves, which the idealist in me is more than willing to pay.

Let EVERYONE, et al, keep their used crap. When restoring your Type 3 pan, insist on new pans. Let Gerson at Klassic Fab know you need them and in turn help them keep the faith to make them!

You can email Gerson at Klassic Fab by clicking here.

NuVintage Bug In at Bandimere Raceway

2009-07-25T11:36:00.012-06:00

Just two short weeks away...and this year one of the Presenters will be....

Which is ALL good! Maybe the Nautilus will make an unfinished appearance at the Motorworks booth???

VW obsoletes the Type 34 model line--40 years ago.

2009-07-18T09:27:00.007-06:00

On July 31st, 1969--just 40 short years ago--Volkswagen officially obsoleted the Volkswagen Type 3 Karmann Ghia. I really don't know the exact date...I don't even know the exact last VIN #. I guess I really don't really care enough to do the research, but the numbers are out there for you to discover. The point is that starting on August 1st, 1969, the assembly line at Karmann was turned over to build other cars. Possibly even to support capacity for the 914 Porsche/VW collaboration.

Call me nostalgic. Like many, I never had a hope for buying one new. But I do continue to work to make the Nautilus as close to 'like new' as I can. In the coming weeks, my car is coming home for final assembly. I'm still trying to get parts lined up to support its completion, so I suspect I still have a year or two ahead of me to really get things dialed in. We have so few reproduction parts sources that we have to sometimes use what comes along, then replace them as better parts become available. It will probably be a lifelong pursuit, really. A lot of people are right there with me, which adds to the challenge, but also can foster a spirit of cooperation.

That's just the way it is for those restoring a low production numbers car, obsoleted 40 years ago.

Pictures from last Motorworks Restrorations visit.

2009-07-05T10:01:00.042-06:00

I've decided to post a few quick of the Nautilus from my last visit to the Motorworks Restorations shop. These pictures were taken with my car in their new location, which is now across the street from their old location, still in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

To the right, I'm starting to get used to the lines on this car--but it sits too high for my tastes. I think it will naturally lower itself as the new and reconditioned parts pile on.

Below, this is an inviting shot...but not too comfortable, yet. The shift knob and e-brake handle are temporary items to help shuttle the car around the shop.

My camera can't capture the color of this car. I'm tempted to bring my wife's camera with me next time.

Really turned out nice. I can't wait to put stuff back on it. Why haven't I? I want it clean and correct. There are still a few adjustments to make. Oh--and a sunroof clip to install!

Hard to believe I want to hack this roof off. It's perfect as is, really. There's still a chance I won't do the conversion, but if it's ever going to happen, now is really the time for it. Hashing it out thoroughly now saves me from later regret, I guess.

To the right is probably my favorite picture of the batch. The amount of effort to do things correctly in this area, and to have a shop willing to do it the way I want it, results in what you see, here. Not glamorous, but you know it when you see it. And even if I'm the only one to appreciate it...that's enough for me.

The road to restoration nirvana is paved with inconsistencies.

2009-06-27T07:48:00.059-06:00

I don't know why this bugs me, but it does. The problem is that the two Type 34 specific NOS headlight buckets pictured to the left and below is...well...they don't match. One of these things is not like the other. Both came right out of a VW 'blue box'. Both were obviously made at different times, possibly by different part suppliers. Both do have the Hella logo on them. Maybe one was intended to be used on the assembly line, and the other was provided as an OEM part through dealership parts supply channels. I really don't know what the deal is, but I feel a certain compulsion to ensure that parts used on the Nautilus match from side to side. There must be symetry. Even for parts you can't see when the car is put together. Regardless of function. Maybe this way of thinking is symptomatic of the entire restoration process being used for the Nautilus. Maybe this explains why my car is still in pieces. I have heard that perfectionism breeds procrastination. When I get some time to really completely think that concept through and come to a full understanding of it, maybe I'll reconsider my restoration process.

In going back through my parts stash, I found six rusty headlight bucket assemblies, four of which were largely complete and undamaged. Only two of these had no paint overspray on them, which makes me think that these were original to the Nautilus because it had not been repainted on the nose prior to my having it restored. (By the way--some of the other headlight adjusters will eventually go up for sale, because headlight adjuster assemblies generally don't go bad all of a sudden.) One thing that was consistent for all of the Type 34 assemblies is that the backside rounded bucket section of the adjuster was painted black, not gray. This more or less jibes with info I have on the Type 14 Ghia assembly line headlight adjuster parts I've pulled from the early cars over the years. On the Type 14 adjusters, there is an outer chrome ring which when removed, exposes a black inner ring. Generally speaking, US destination Type 14 cars only had the early style headlight adjuster assemblies up through the first half of the '64 model year cars. Since the Nautilus is a '64, I decided on the fashionable black backside for my own second bucket restoration, rather than the gray that would probably be 'more correct' for the later '60s Type 34. Enough of the rationalizations to cover for my anal retentivity. It also turns out that the metal stampings that make up the inner bucket adjuster section for the Type 34 adjusters are slightly different on the later gray units, as well, but the outer chrome ring and all screws were the same.

I broke down one of the best of the used adjuster assemblies and sent the zinc coated inner ring, screws and spring to Denver Plating for replating, and the black back section down to Colorado Springs along with a bunch of other stuff I needed 'Turkified'. A slight digression is probably required here to explain what that means. Gary Turk works for Jeremy Vreeman at Motorworks Restorations. Gary restores parts for the cars Motorworks restores and has done some fine work in this regard. If a dirty rusty part needs an authentic degree of restoration and Gary 'knocks it out of the park', we can then say that the part has been 'Turkified'. Some Turkified parts will make their way onto the Nautilus, definitely, particularly this headlight adjuster part. He even managed to save the white paint stamped VW/Hella parts information and put a nice, proper gloss coat on the part! WELL DONE!!! Turkification at its finest. The net result is that I now have a pair of headlight adjuster assemblies that for all intents and purposes match up perfectly.

One final note on Type 34 headlight adjuster assemblies--and then I'll shut up about them. For now, anyway. In the picture to the left, note that the VW 'blue box' originally held three pieces (3 Stuck). What an odd number of pieces to have in a single box. Last I checked, each Type 34 only used 2 pieces. As a spare part, maybe one would only need one of these. Why three??? I've never seen pictures of a Type 34 with three headlights...unless VW and Karmann had some top secret prototype in development where the fog lights were dropped in favor of a third headlamp, much as the Tucker's did in the '40s. I know this was not the case, but it amuses me when I consider this unusual spare parts package configuration. The good news is that there was one remaining assembly available in the box for purchase on ebay years ago, and I bought it. This probably means that there are more of them floating around out there in their original, battered VW blue boxes, hoping to finally find a home on your nicely restored Type 34.

Let the...Moon...shine in, Part 4.

2009-06-21T12:28:00.030-06:00

The Nautilus is back at Motorworks Restorations for a little TLC. The paint picked up a light haze from the paint prep being done on another car at Motorworks back in January. Now--to be fair, that happened at the OLD Motorworks location because such a thing would never happen in the NEW Motorworks shop. Yep--they've moved to a much larger location and have sectioned off the paint prep work area from the final assembly area. I finally got a chance to tour the new digs yesterday and was very impressed by what I saw. They are taking care of my minor paint issue and are also installing the rebuilt front end. I was going to do this work myself, but I rather like the idea of any paint scratches caused by that work being their problem, and not mine.

One final possible modification of the car would be the installation of a sunroof clip. I've gone back and forth on this one, but after driving Scott McWilliams real sunroof Type 345 to the Type 34 Registry Dinner I know I must have one. The remaining stumbling block for me is one of sunroof mechanism reliability. And time & money--but that's always a given for automotive restoration projects. The reliability issue is one we'll have to deal with in an ongoing manner, but right now I'd just be happy to have a sunroof that works at all. Double checking the parts quality and functionality is job one. Having access to a shop with a solvent sink to clean up the greasy and grime encrusted parts was also key and Jeremy generously let me borrow both to get my sunroof clip ready for a test run.

Cleaning up stuff took a fair bit longer than I expected, but once clean it all went together real fast. I used the 12V Porsche 912/911 sunroof motor, but I could have just as easily used one of my 6V sunroof motors. I used WD40 rather than white lithium grease as a 'lubricant' to remove the need to go back and dig that grease out of everything during that final assembly. Jeremy has quite a lot of experiece with VW sunroofs, so after I did the rough cut on assembly I asked him to take a quick look at things and perform some fine tuning. We operated the mechanism nice and slow, and it opened and closed very nicely, popping up and into place as it closed, just as it should. No loud noises, no binding, no breakage. We have a definite winner, and a 12V one at that! So, I'm all set for whichever voltage I later decide on.

So what was the final verdict on sunroof cable compatibility? That remains an unanswered question, actually. The 356 sunroof cables are the best choice for sure, but new ones haven't been available for over five years. Used ones are in short supply. I'm really having trouble finding them, so it you find some, please let everyone know. In the meantime, the closest cable I can find that is even remotely close to what we need for the Type 34 might be the '68 to '79 bay window VW bus sunroof cables. Near as I can tell, to make these work, at least two modifications are needed. The first modification would be the same as that which needs to be done with the 356 cables, in that the cable needs to be removed from the main sunroof connector cable end, shortened, and then swaged into place in the reverse direction. Since these cables are for a bus, there's quite a lot of extra cable. The 2nd modification is not so simple. It appears that the angle of the cable guide relative to the sliding steel roof connection is more extreme in the bus than the Type 34, so this would have to be corrected. In addition, the spring for the roof section needs to hook around a post that is simply not there on the bus cables. A machinist is needed to drill out the existing spring pin, machine a new one with the extended post, then thread it and the cast cable guide at a less severe angle. I know it can be done, but the question remains is who would be willing to do it?

2009 Volkswagen Classic Weekend

2009-06-21T07:27:00.067-06:00

If you missed this year's Classic, please do try to make it next year, ok? Particularly if you own a Type 3 VW. Though car counts vary, I think we totalled fewer than 50 Type 3s. Which is kind of sad, but understandable. Folks line up to bring the Busses, Ghias and Bugs back to life, while the Type 3s can be very hard to show the love for, let alone restore. And if you own a Type 3 Ghia...well...it's getting to the point where you really need to get a very complete car to start with. Or, go custom. We saw both paths followed at this year's Classic.

Pictured here is Bill T. trying to leave WCCR with his entire family...and someone isn't cooperating. Bill's car is a classic example of a Type 34 that has gone a custom route. It's not been done so far out that it can't be returned to stock and I really like that. Nevermind that it's a '65 and Anthracite is no longer a color option for that year. This car is little about authenticity. It's really all about speed and safety. Stops nearly and fast as is ramps up. 2.6 liter EFI Type 4 power. Berg 5 speed. BIG meats in the rear, line lock and a water system to help things hook up on launch. Bill took me for a ride in this car and we were up and over 100Mph in quite a damn hurry. I had a big, stupid smile on my face because I know that Type 34s can kick some serious ass when set up correctly, as this car is. Oh...yeah...I guess they can also haul a small family around, too.

As nice as Bill's car is, there were some minor issues that one would expect to find on a car built by a shop with no previous Type 34 body working experience. Beneath those beautiful curves...no--make that breathtaking curves...digressing for a moment, I have to say that the bodywork on this car is REALLY nice. Maybe even sets a new standard for Type 34s. In fact, I went back to my car yesterday and gave it a serious and critical look. In comparison with Bill's car, I found it lacking. And while my car turned out very nice, Bill's car is clearly superior. However, his Type 34 does hide one critical but resolveable flaw: the rear decklid pushbutton doesn't work reliably. And that's just one little detail that MUST work right on our cars. It might take a little re-work of the pushbutton carrier to re-align it, which is really annoying now that the car is in final paint. But it's easier to fix than trying to get the kid into the car when you're attempting to make a swift and graceful exit from WCCR to get a decent spot at Nick's Burgers...come to think of it, did he ever actually make it to Nick's? Oh, yeah. There's plenty of videographic evidence that more than suggests he made it to Nick's. And perhaps that he also left quite a wake it his departure!!! Dude! Get a fully chromed Pedro Type 34 roof rack on that thing, will ya?!? Makes me smile to think about the whistling that rack would do at 100mph. Assuming one could even hear the whistling over the roar of that engine!

Ok, so Bill's car is fun, but's it's not really where I'm at with the hobby...and I have to add the standard disclaimer at this time. I joined the 1500 Club recently and think I've found a group of like-minded folks to hang with. This club's goal is to preserve as much as possible the early original examples of the 1500 Type 3. If restoration is required, as was the case with my car, their focus is to guide the would-be restorer towards the light. The focus is on period correct authenticity, whenever possible. I like this way of thinking, but also recognize that the world is a big enough place for land rockets like Bill's.

So in the interests of balance, I now present a car from the other end of the spectrum. Bob 'Gizmo' Walton's '64 Pacific Blue Type 343 is an important find for the Type 34 community because it represents a very original and unrestored car. If you are looking for details on how things were originally done, Bob's car is a great place to visit because in large part, it's a time capsule. der Samba contains a whole discussion thread on this car, so I won't dwell overlong on its humble garage-find origins. Unquestionably, one of the best things Bob did was enlist the talents of Jack Fisher to rebuild the 1500S engine and drum brakes, and he even managed to bring back a decent luster to the car's painted surfaces.

Most of the external chrome was redone on this car just in time for the its debut at the Classic. Rare Type 3 trim rings and Coker narrow white walls really play on the car's original and best features. Top it off with one of Pedro's Type 34 roof racks, and you end up with a winning example of the breed. Hey--even Scott Taylor liked this car, and who would have guessed he'd enjoy driving a Pacific Blue car so much?

I rode shotgun in this car from the ISP West BBQ back to the Crowne Plaza host hotel. All I could do was look around and take in all the originality, and hope that my own car takes on even a fraction of the authenticity contained within this car. Cool ride!

Let the...Moon...shine in, Part 3.

2009-05-24T08:36:00.029-06:00

With all the sliding steel roof parts chasing I've been doing here lately, I've pretty well decided on my next project...I mean--AFTER I get the Nautilus done. I'm committing myself to buying a Porsche 356 and am now working on lining up a suitable future candidate.

In the meantime, it turns out that my original suspicions about the sources for Type 345 and 346 sunroof mechanical parts matches up to the reality of situation. These parts are essentially late 356/early 912 & 911 parts, in some cases either mildly or heavily modified. With regards to sunroof cables, this has basically been confirmed by folks who've had an interest in the Type 3 Karmann Ghia for far longer than I have owned any kind of Volkwagen. The knowledge base is huge, and I once again want to thank them for the invaluable information they've provided over the years. Now armed with this information, I am moving confidently full steam ahead with the sliding steel roof option for the Nautilus.

The Type 34 sunroof cables are essentially the same as the late 356 sunroof cables, with one important deviation. The modification required to make them work is relatively simple--if you have access to the tools or services. Until I actually have a cable in my hands, I can't say for certain if the length needs to be adjusted, but the word is that they need to be shortened a bit and as part of this operation that the cable needs to be inserted and swaged back into place in the the reverse direction from original. The original Type 34 cable connector ends are labeled with Golde part numbers and an 'L' or 'R', indicating the obvious. Since we are only modifying the Left cable or Right cable (click links for visual info only, as these parts are NO LONGER AVAILABLE), the correctly labeled and modified part is still being used on the indicated side of the car, which is nice. When I get my replacement 356 cables this coming week, I'll be able to compare.

The next question I have is about rails. The rails look like regular Type 3 rails, only perhaps shorter. Again, these are likely 356 items, particularly the front opening rounded corner pieces, which have a Golde part number of their own. I should know more very soon.

Ultimately, it would be nice to have a complete parts interchange and repair resource for sliding steel roof pieces. I don't think the best place for that is on this blog. It would be better for that information to be published to the Type 34 Registry web site.

Dannenhauer & Strauss

2009-05-11T22:20:00.063-06:00

Of all the various air cooled coachbuilts cranked out from every European nook and cranny over the years, the Dannenhauer & Strauss is my absolute and unequivocal favorite. The Karmann Ghia Type 34 is a great car, and is still my preference in the Karmann family of coachbuilt cars, but if I were ever given an opportunity to stray, the Dannenhauer & Straus would be the car. The example to the left was done by Lenny Copp and crew at WCCR in Southern California.

I showed several pictures of a D&S to my wife this evening. Her immediate response was, "That's an odd looking Porsche. Were they all convertibles? That car is very feminine." Ok...I was taken aback. So I guess I like 'chick cars'. Big deal. The curvaceous Type 14 Karmann Ghia, Dannenhauer & Strauss and Porsche 356 are all beautiful cars. There are certain rounded areas that remind me of certain rounded areas. I'd throw the early Rometsch and Hebmuellers into that mix, too. Some of the greatest cars, ever. I can understand my wife's comments and really appreciate them for a lot of reasons. She's just starting to realize for herself the passion and commitment it takes to own and maintain an older car. She's developing a particular and sincere appreciation for all older German metal. She pronounces the name 'Porsche' correctly. I believe I'm finally succeeding in my attempts to corrupt her. Job well done.

The Dannenhauer & Strauss is really my dream Volkswagen. I have no idea who the white and brown cars belong to, but it's a fair bet that they still reside somewhere in Germany. This car is another damnably rare VW based coachbuilt, with fewer than 140 constructed, with maybe 30 cars still in existence. I don't expect to see one cruising down my street any time soon. It's very possible that production numbers were kept low and the model killed off due to the introduction of the Type 14 Karmann Ghia. I've seen only one of these up close, and then that was a great many years ago before I was able to appreciate what I was seeing. Even though I will probably never have one, I think they are a joy to behold. While I'm not a massive Volkswagen Beetle fanatic, the melding of the Porsche and Beetle body styles leaves me with the feeling of balance in the overall effect. They really got it right with this one.

I don't have any D&S pictures of my own for this blog post, so I've had to rob these pictures from various sources. If anything offends or is copyrighted, let me know and I'll take them down.

The car to the right was shown at the Carmel Concourse de Elegance in California in 2007. I've seen a more recent picture of this car and believe it to be located somewhere in Phoenix, Arizona. Perfect climate for preservation, but I also hope that it's allowed to get out and see the open road under its own power from time to time. Truly an immaculate automobile and a great color combination.

I know so little about these cars, other than the suspension and drive train is pure contemporary Beetle. Wish I knew more.

Let the...Moon...shine in, Part 2.

2009-05-10T15:42:00.069-06:00

Springtime in the back yard at my house causes some interesting things to pop up on the lawn. With dandelions under control, sunroofs clips inevitably follow. Pictured to the right is a clip I've been debating on installing into the Nautilus. It's time to make a decision, so I decided to fully break it down to really see what I've got.

What a treasure trove of info in this little gem. With most of the headliner intact, I was able to carefully peel it off to retain for future use. My intents are to have a very accurate replacement made from the remnants of this one. To get the headliner completely loose, I had to remove all of the guide rail screws and remove the center front and corner rail pieces, as well as remove the coat hooks. I also had to break loose the side guide rails. Check out the picture below to see how the headliner was cut in around the corners. Under the headliner is a bead of rubber that protects the front edge and side edges of the headliner from the sharp body edges of the sunroof opening.

The sliding steel roof section also has a headliner frame that slides along in its own track, right along with the main panel. It is held to the underside of the sunroof panel by a combination of clamp strip and two corner screws. Remove the corner screws, slide the headliner frame to the front of the roof by 5 inches, pull it down slightly, then push it fully to the rear of the sunroof opening to completely reveal the underside of the sunroof panel. With everything out of the way, it starts looking a lot like the underside of a Volkswagen Bug sliding steel sunroof.

To remove the sliding steel sunroof panel fully, I decided to remove the sunroof mechanism transmission and motor pieces. This gave me the opportunity to compare these original 6 Volt parts to some Porsche pieces I recently acquired on ebay. Thankfully, Golde seems to have designed the operational sunroof assemblies for most of the European automobile manufacturers, which is greatly improves the sunroof enabled Type 34 owner's chance for finding spare parts! It also mades me wonder a little about Golde's ability to keep up with production back in the '60s, given that so may companies used their product. It might be that Golde licensed production of certain parts to other companies to keep up with the demand. Or, it might be that other companies had a better product. Either way, the original sunroof motor and transmission on this Type 34 sunroof clip were both made by Bosch. And, as it turns out, the 912 Porsche sunroof motor and transmission I bought through ebay are likewise Bosch--and 12 Volt! Which will make my own 12V conversion a bit more trivial, should I choose to do it. The mounting bracket attached to the Porsche sunroof motor is exactly the same as the one attached to the original 6V Bosch motor that came from this sunroof clip, too, which now makes me wonder about other parts such as the sunroof rails and cables. Check out those sunroof motor rubber mounts. They are part of an imprisoned assembly that appear to be tacked to the roof during assembly at the factory. Another interesting find was the body number for the sunroof assembly stampled into the transmission mount area.

Next time I post about Type 34 sunroofs, it will definitely include what I know about sunroof cables and parts interchangeability. In the meantime, it is interesting to note that this clip was from a late '65 through '66 model year car. I know this for a couple of reasons. The length of the sunroof motor to transmission drive shaft on this clip was the short one, which according to the parts books, started appearing on cars very late in '65. The second reason is a bit more obvious. The paint color is Bermuda, a '65 and '66 color, which someone at the factory conveniently penciled on the underside of the sliding steel roof section. I knew that the intended body color was grease penciled (usually red, black or white) into the right front headlight bucket, but this additional location came as a bit of a surprise.

March, April...and now May!

2009-05-08T16:50:00.002-06:00

Time flies and I find that it's been over two months since I've added anything new to the blog. I'd like to say that I've been trying to get the Nautilus ready for the '09 show season, but that would be a lousy lie. In truth, the past couple of months have been a bit of a blur. I've been focusing heavily on my day job. I've been acquiring a lot of nice parts and spares. I've been gathering a bunch more Volkswagen knowledge and lining up resources to help finish my car. And, I've been hitting the shows. Yes indeed, the season is well upon us, and I'm now forced to admit the sad truth that I'm really not ready for it this year, as my car is still a very long ways from being done.

Still, I have been very busy with Volkswagen related activities. Next weekend is the Volkswagens on the Green show here in Colorado, and it's 'a given' that I'd be in attendance for that. But this year I also set a dangerous precedent and actually planned ahead and attended the Kelley Park show in San Jose, California, which was held a few weekends ago. It was a time spent visiting with old acquaintances and friends, but I also did meet up with others with whom I have only exchanged emails. I also got a chance to meet new faces that I previously have known vicariously through others, thanks to that gadabout, Kingsbury.

One of the latter folks is Jacin Ferrera, who runs the Type 3 Registry. You can bet I was all apologies over not having had my car in the Registry. I SWEAR I will get around to it, soon. His car is pictured here, both above and to the left, and is a worn but well cared for and maintained example of the breed. It's still way too nice a car to seriously consider a full pan-off restoration, though. And much like my old '66 Type 343, this car has history. Sometimes I wish I had kept that old '66 because in addition to history, it really needed nothing to be a great and functional car. Unfortunately, having a '66 just wouldn't do, because I really needed a '64 model year car to have the features I wanted, such as push-button dash with small diameter speedometer, 1500S engine, flat hub caps and Emerald green paint, which is only correct up through the '64 model year. I don't know--maybe I'm just a sucker for those perky early style bumper overriders.

While the early cars have a whole lot going for them, Rich Chrisensen's '66 hit me just right, pictured here at Kelley Park. With its Pedro roof rack equiped, Arcona white exterior, and a seriously clean interior. Sure, the details can be improved upon, but I really like this car, as is. I'll bet it's a hell of a driver, too.

Rich and his son, Alex, were both present at this show, so I got a chance to BS with two of them. They are both Type 34 owners, and it also turns out they owned for a brief time my first Type 34, which was a real basket case. I know they had it up for sale, and I kept meaning to ask them what happened to it, but got distracted. Anyway, they also got the sunroof section that I originally bought from Frank Fox out of South Carolina, so the mystery of where that sunroof piece eventually went is now solved. I believe the plan is to eventually graft it into one of their cars. They'd eventually like to add sunroofs to both cars. Hey--great minds think alike! We'll see those guys at the Classic, maybe with some newly acquired Type 34 sunroof parts in tow.

As much as I did enjoy my Sunday in Kelley Park, it was the evening before that was of greater significance. I took the time to travel up from San Jose to Oakland to hang out and enjoy some grilled eats and adult beverages at Richard Troy's industrial dwelling. We were in good company, as Michael Gregory (owner, House of Ghia), his daughter (name escapes me) and John Copello (machinist, original thinker and rejuvinator of sad Ghia hinges) also took time out of the weekend to make the trek to Richard's. If you've never been to Richard Troy's and are a vintage Porsche and VW enthusiast, do yourself a favor and go. I'll leave it at that!

As the drinks flowed and food consumed, debated raged on a number of subjects, varying from rants on authenticity, reproduction parts, parts quality, shortage of NOS components, cross-hybridization between the VW and early Porsches, parts interchangeability, to electrically powered VWs. All this was done while pawing through Ghias and associated parts no newer than model year '59, and I can certainly say the event filled my head with knowledge and motivation to keep pushing forward with my own automotive pursuits. I needed that long evening of fanatical debate, if for no other reason that to give me impetus to keep the faith! Fallout from that meeting will make its way into the final results that are the Nautilus, no doubt.

For me, the best VW weekend, ever.

Guest Spotlight: "The Kingsbury Notchback".

2009-03-01T20:15:00.002-07:00

Fellow Coloradoan Rob Kingsbury owns an outstanding 1964 Volkswagen Type 3 Notchback sedan. Those of you who have seen this car up close and personal will recognize this for the obvious understatement it is. Aside from the aberration at the '08 Volkswagen Classic, Rob's car has taken home the Gold in every show he's entered--and it's certainly been very well deserved. Not only was Rob's project based on a nice original car, but he's also shown amazing restraint and good taste in outfitting the finished vehicle in what I consider an incredibly well rounded selection of accessories, which range from official and unofficial VW NOS to aftermarket and unique custom components.

Rob's Notchback is also very well documented. Between the online pictorial information on the car's build-out on the Motorworks Restorations web site, and the details available through the 1500 Club website, along with the ongoing info shared on the Samba Type 3 Forum, countless mentions on blogs worldwide, and the not one--but TWO magazine articles devoted to the car in Hot VWs and Volksworld--with a possible THIRD in the works, what more could I possibly add on the subject? Not all that much, I'm afraid. What follows is a bit of a tribute to a wonderful car and
a nod to a great guy, who with the help of his family and friends realized his visions of a dream car in a relatively short period of time.

I no longer remember whose car first arrived at Motorworks Restorations, but the picture to the right shows both our cars in a pre-restoration state. My original Type 34 restoration candidate is pictured here and never actually made it into restoration. My wife nicknamed that Type 34 'Fausto', after it ran over her left leg (a whole other story). After that unfortunate event, I figure the car was aptly named because it was lucky she didn't take the Sawzall or sledgehammer to it right on the spot. My wife did have her way in the end, though, as Fausto was later cut up to provide much needed body panels for the project I did eventually go with, the Nautilus.

Nevertheless, at the time this picture was taken, I was still dedicated to bringing that poor car back to life. I remember feeling that Rob's car was too nice an original car to be heading off for media blasting, but it did come back needing some rust repair in the front sunroof drain and hinge pillar areas, so his decision was definitely a good one for the car. I didn't yet know Rob, but somewhere in there I remember thinking that this guy was fundamentally approaching his restoration right, guns blazing, wallet wide open, screaming at the sun. And this sort of insanity served as the catalyst for my finding a better Type 34 to restore, and the spending frenzy that followed. While Rob's car was in progress, and as my many visits to Motorworks mounted up, I also remember committing to taking my own project in a similar direction. Without realizing it, Rob set the bar high and I'm still not sure my car will ever truly measure up.

Any visit to Motorworks Restorations usually affords me the opportunity to heckle Jeremy about some point of authenticity surrounding whatever project he's currently in the midst of. Most of the time it's just good natured harassment or over-dramatized BS, however when I saw Rob's chassis restoration I felt compelled to point out the things I liked and occasionally the problems I saw, and with all sincerity. Even with parts spread across the shop, it was quite evident that this was a special car. I had no problem with donating rear brake parts--taken from Fausto--to keep Rob's project rolling during a critical point in the build process. Jeremy was definitely heading in the right direction with the restoration, putting in some very high quality detail oriented work, once again confirming my decision to go with Motorworks Restorations for my own car's restoration.

Now that the car's been completed, it's the details in the passenger cabin that matter. In looking over the picture at left, it's evident that some very well considered creature comforts are in place. I've ridden as passenger in this car and feel that the ride quality is the best I've ever experienced in an air cooled Volkswagen.

The tachometer, oil pressure and temperature gauges give you the data you need to ensure the car's running within parameters. The parcel tray is the perfect place to stash maps, paperwork and other stuff. Though Rob didn't yet have it, ISPWest later sold him a tunnel mounted drink holder. This sort of storage arrangement is comparable to the storage available on most modern vehicles. The radio and horn button clock both look great and work great.

The picture to the right was taken last summer through the Notch's open sunroof while cruising through the 'Garden of the Gods' park just outside of Colorado Springs. Rob had Pedro Sainz build a special roof rack that only runs about two-thirds the length of the roof to allow full view out the sunroof, which is a really nice touch. We had a nearly unobstructed view, all the way around....and yeah--the roof rack's fully chromed, too.

And how about those roof rack locks? Very cool, and I think they're still available through ISPWest.

Our trip through the Garden of the Gods was a cruise that served as the precursor to the 'Buses at the Brewery' event, which was held later that day at the Bristol Brewery in Colorado Springs. Rob's Notchback fit right in with the Buses and smattering of other VW vehicle types and drew a ton of comments throughout the day. I've never enjoyed talking about someone else's car with complete strangers so much.

The event was 'Buses centric', however we were welcome to join along for the cruise. These pictures were taken along the way, with me riding shotgun in the Notch. Being in the company of Buses at both this event and the VWs on the Green show earlier in the season gave me a new appreciation for the Volkswagen Type 2. Who knows? I now like them so well that there might even be a Bus in my future. Two of my favorites from the cruise are pictured, below. The blue one pulled so well over the hills that it inspired me to consider a 6 cylinder conversion for my own Bus, when the time comes.

I'm really looking forward to this next show season. While I probably won't have my car done in '09, it's events like 'Buses at the Brewery' that help keep me motivated--and are just a heck of a lot of fun. Hanging out with like minded VW people and checking out the cars is really where it's at for me.

My closing thoughts on Rob's car...are really not closing thoughts, at all. I don't think the restoration process is ever really complete for any car. There's always the possibility of improving upon some component or body part by keeping a watchful eye on ebay or der Samba. Cars are meant to be driven and that wear and tear takes its toll, no matter how many NOS parts are used during the restoration process. Entropy intervenes to break down even the most stalwart trailer queen--which, by the way, Rob's car is not.

What I feel that Rob and his car truly represent are some of the best aspects of our hobby. At the shows, he's there to talk about the car and share the knowledge. That knowledge is clearly evident in the final results. I've been to enough shows with this car to note with no small amount of interest that this particular car has a certain something that causes people to react more openly. People definitely pause longer, relate to it on some visceral level, and then often tell stories of cars they've known in times past. I've seen this phenomenon with my Ghias, but not to the same degree I saw with Rob's car. Some cars strike a chord more, and this is one of them. But it's definitely no accident that Rob's Type 3 legacy has received so much positive attention.

A good story is worth repeating.

2009-03-01T13:30:00.001-07:00

Some of you may know about Scott Taylor's Type 3 based Blog. It's actually one of the many small highlights of my week to head out to see what Scott's been up to. Even on the rare occasion where there's nothing new, there's still always something useful. Take for example his post about Oetiker crimp clamps.

I've had the honest pleasure of working on original Bugs, Buses and Ghias and have seen pinch clamps like these used everywhere on aircooled cars, regardless of vintage. In addition to securing fuel lines, they were also used on the later cars up in the trunk for fastening down the winshield washer lines and emissions charcoal canister vacuum lines. These clamps are very similar to the originals, however if you look closely you will see that they do in fact deviate from the originals in that they are joined/welded together on the opposite side of the crimp side of the clamp. The overal effect is still authentic and these clamps will definitely find their way onto the Nautilus.

McMaster-Carr sells what you need to equip your car with these clamps. They are one-use items, but if you are looking for a bit of extra authenticity, these clamps are definitely the way to go. One bag will give you enough to do the fuel lines on 2 to 3 cars, easily. They come in different sizes, too, so if you want them for the vacuum lines McMaster-Carr should be able to set you up.

D-Day - The Nautilus has landed!

2009-02-14T13:00:00.026-07:00

The Motorworks Restorations shop truck and enclosed trailer showed up at our home this morning, as planned. Jeremy and his wife, Erin, delivered the Nautilus into a vacant stall within our garage. It's taken nearly two years, but just like that, the Nautilus is home.

Since Motorworks Restorations is operating at full capacity right now with limited floor space, the Nautilus was no longer an efficiently sized door stop. So I've got the car back for awhile to get some things done, both fore and aft. I'd like to get the wiring harness installed, rig up the lighting and bumpers, and install the the exterior brightwork. A steering wheel/column would also be nice, and I can also envision a proper 1500 S engine built and installed.

Having the car home makes it easy to set aside time each day to work on it. Unfortunately, it's cold out in the garage, so I'm going to have to work around that inconvenience particularly where the wiring is concerned. I'm hoping to get a few good days where the temperatures are at least in the 50's because the outer wiring sheath and wire insulation hardens in the cold, making it extremely difficult to work with.

There's still some zinc and black oxide plating to have done. There's another NOS fog light ring coming in from Germany, and I'd like to send another batch of parts out for chroming. The gauges still need to be redone. The interior also needs to be sewn up and it looks like the reproduction fabric will soon be available.

In the meantime, I've bought a cheap car cover and the Nautilus is now cocooned within. We've had some fairly severe winds in the Denver area this year and even in an enclosed garage the dust has built up on everything. Nothing the California Duster can't bust through, but I'd like to keep the dirt build-up in the inside of the car to a minimum.

We'll return the Nautilus to Motorworks Restorations in April for a good polishing and touch up-- and it might even get that sunroof installed. Because of all of this, I'm not sure the car will be ready for the coming show season. We'll just have to see.

Do Not Bend, Fold, Spindle or Mutilate, Part 028.

2009-02-03T18:54:00.010-07:00

My US Navy paychecks used to carry the strident warning, "Do Not Bend, Fold, Spindle or Mutilate". With or without the warning, I would still have treated these paychecks like boxes of fragile crystal. I really didn't need a warning label to ensure the checks got safely to the bank. But that warning always made me chuckle a bit--as do the pay amounts that were on those checks amuse me now. And as much as the words of warning entertained me then, I was also in turn perplexed by the cautionary verbiage surrounding the concept of 'spindling'. I never really did understand the 'Spindle' bit...I mean, what the heck did they mean by that? I guess I could have wrapped the checks around my forearm to simulate spindling, but I otherwise didn't carry the machinery or the knowledge necessary to do a proper job of spindling anything...unless it accidentally got inside my sea bag on laundry day. Then it was more likely to be horrifically abused in ways far more terrible than spindling. I mean--over the years I've had cell phones that have experienced worse catastrophies and more 'high-seas adventure' than I have, then or now. But...I think we can all agree here that I've seriously digressed.

Right along with my decisions against bending, folding or mutilating the Nautilus, I've also decided NOT to spindle it. BerT3 spindle it, that is. In fact, I've gone to the extreme measure of selling the spindles so as not to accidentally install them. They're already bought and paid for by their new owner, and are on their way to sunny California, following in the wake of a lot of other purist despised parts I've owned and sold, and fads I've followed and subsequently abandoned. I now have to say it...I miss them already and am making plans to go visit them this summer.

So..."So Long, BerT3 Lowered Spindles!" The torch is passed, the deed is done. I hope that spindle set #028 treats its new owner well, and once again extend my sincerest thanks to their new owner for removing that temptation from my VW world of options.

Let the...Moon...shine in, Part 1.

2009-01-31T19:00:00.061-07:00

Unless you are lucky enough to own one of the five or so remaining prototype/production convertible Type 34s that were built, or have the temerity to hack the roof off your M343 or M344 in an attempt to replicate same, your official options for open air Type 34 motoring are limited to the 'sliding steel roof' available on the M345 and M346 cars.

The sliding steel roof has always fascinated me, starting with my ownership of a '65 Volkswagen Beetle that was equipped with a defective hand cranked version of this roof. The available numbers seem to indicate that less than 5% of total Type 34 production received this roof option, so it's not only a curiousity, but it's also a definite rarity. Fast forward 40+ years and you now find a group of Type 34 fanatics who wish more people had chosen this option for their cars back in the day. All of the modern cars I've purchased since '93 have either been convertible or sunroof cars, so it tends to follow that I'd be interested in this feature on my vintage cars, as well. The problem has always been in finding a decent and cost effective sliding steel roofed car to base a restoration on. Of even greater concern is that little 'replacement parts shortage' thing that keeps cropping up. It's probably not surprising to some that it's taken me over 5 years to accumulate enough parts to feel comfortable in installing and maintaining a Type 34 with a sliding steel roof.

Excluding the elusive M341 model, the Type 34 family of cars comes in 4 main flavors. The base car is the M343, a left hand drive coupe. The right hand drive version was introduced later on and carries the M344 designation. When the sliding steel roof option was introduced for the left hand drive cars, the M345 model was born. The final family member to come along is the M346, the right hand drive sliding steel roof equipped car. The rarity of each car tends to follow this pattern, as well, with the M343 model being the most common, and the M346 model being damnably rare. Fortunately, the sliding steel roof parts are common to both the M345 and M346--'common' being a relative term, here.

I've used the description 'sliding steel roof' to refer to the sunroof on the Type 34 because that is what it is. Most shop literature and parts books refer to it this way. Also, the description 'sunroof' does not apply to me, as I wouldn't tend to use such a feature to its fullest advantage in sunny weather, preferring instead to use it at night. I don't do well in direct sunlight.

The point of all of this is that I finally found a decent sunroof clip, along with all of its relevant components. I'm currently in negotiations with Motorworks Restorations to have it installed into my car. While we've come to no final decisions, prospects are looking good for this to happen soon.

While it looks like a big mess, it is in fact functional. I had some free time yesterday afternoon to play around with it. With no adjustments or lubrication, I ran a set of jumper cables from the roof motor over to the 6V battery in the wife's Type 14. I found that the roof opens cleanly, however, does need a bit of help to fully close. No grinding or complaining. Both cables appear good. The clutch works as it should. At $600.00, I consider this a very good score.

As things progress here, there will be much more to follow.

Nearly ready for delivery.

2009-01-03T09:21:00.041-07:00

When I first started this project I envisioned throwing a lot more of myself into the chassis build. It didn't work out that way. It's been far more convenient and potentially safer for both me and the car's bodywork to have Motorworks Restorations put the lion's share of the work into the restoration. I almost feel guilty about it...until I open my wallet...and then I realize that I'm stuck trading time for money. For someone like me who enjoys turning wrenches, it's a frustrating concession to know that in order to make progress on this project it's going to require that I turn the reins over to someone else.

Fortunately, I have chosen well for my car's restoration. If you have an older air cooled Volkswagen that you want restored, give Motorworks Restorations a call and let them bid the job. They'll certainly work with you to get the results you are looking for.

Above and below at right is my car, the Nautilus. These pictures were taken yesterday. What you don't see represented is the bazillion hours of research time it took to find a reasonably priced restoration candidate, nail down the color, restore the Type 3 based pan, get the front end and transmission rebuilt, and locate all the tough to find parts that will eventually go on this car. Not a lot of parts came with this car and pan and I've had to source parts from at least 5 other cars to get this one done. That's the nature of these cars. At least a portion of another car will be sacrificed in order to restore one. They rust easily and in horrible places. People drove them in times past and accidents occured. Certain critical body panels are not reproduced. Donor cars are in short supply. The decision to restore one is typically a costly endeavor and a labor of love.

In the picture at right, the passenger door, right rear quarter panel, and 3/4 of the back of the car were all replaced using body panels from a donor car. That donor car--Fausto, also a '64--was also owned by me and was the first car I brought to Motorworks for restoration. I've detailed that story before, but suffice to say that once the car was media blasted it was determined that it was not an ideal restoration candidate. But it did have a lot of choice parts to contribute to another restoration project, so all of the replaced panels on the Nautilus were taken from Fausto. I ended up with a lot of other critical parts from Fausto that I have been restoring and that will eventually be installed onto the Nautilus. Some body panels will make their way onto other cars. I have a perfect dash that I used for the wiring project, but somebody may need it. I have a great roof section whose 'A' and 'C' pillars will be used on another car. The roof skin may be useful to someone, someday. Fausto was sacrificed-- a decision not lightly made--and it took me 4 years to finally come to the conclusion that it was my best move.

The paint was applied to the Nautilus back in April '08. At the time of this writing, it's had over 8 months to cure and harden. This finish was polished for a second time about two weeks ago in preparation for the annual Motorworks Restorations Holiday Party, which I missed due to a bad cold. Word on the street is that I missed a great VW based get-together and that my car in its unfinished form was well received. This is encouraging and helps keep me motivated.

At left is a reconditioned Type 3 front beam from ISPWest. I bought it outright. It uses their bushing kit and is powercoated for lasting durability. My only criticism is a minor one: they prefer to paint the hardware, rather than replate it. I don't like that, so have removed a few items that I don't have spares of to have replated. Once this hardware is back from Denver Metal Finishing, I'll get it down to Jeremy at Motorworks and this beam will be installed into my car. I have a set of NOS ATE front wheel cylinders, and the backing plates, idler arms, tie rods have all been either epoxy or powdercoated, including the brake drums and wheels. New steering box and rubber snubbers, too. As parts sitting in a box, they look wonderful. Jeremy does a good careful installation of suspension parts, so my expectations are high that I will end up with a nicely detailed front end to go along with the nicely detailed rear end. Once that's done, the car will be delivered to my garage and it will then be up to me to take it to the next level.

I can hardly wait!

A Day of Thanks.

2008-11-27T14:58:00.030-07:00

It's Thanksgiving. I got underfoot in the kitchen today, so the wife politely suggested that I might want to take her Ghia 'Winston' out for a drive, under the pretense of buying a 2 quart glass dish for the greenbean casserole. I'm useless when it comes to food preparation, but I can sure as heck drive a Ghia and spend money, so agreed. I pointed the car in a northerly direction and just started driving. We have no snow, so road conditions were excellent and the 40 degree ambient temperature was perfect for an engine still in the 'break-in' stage. I brought along an iPod boom box, but never turned it on, instead opting to just listen to the thrum of the engine and whir of the transmission. Many nods from fellow motorists and pedestrians I passed along the way. The sun never had a chance to shine here today, but that was fine by me. The total trip put 46 miles on the car, bringing the total mileage since the engine rebuild up to about 187 miles. Rather shameful, given that the engine was completed and installed nearly a year ago. If the weather continues to hold, we plan to start putting some miles on Winston to ensure the engine is healthy for a planned trip into the mountains sometime this Spring.

This Thanksgiving I found time behind the wheel to reflect on how good things are for my wife and I. I was also allowed time to dwell on past times that were not so good, when I was behind the wheel of another much loved Ghia, now long gone. Perhaps this connection serves as a reminder for me that these current times should not be taken so much for granted.

I am very thankful to be allowed the luxury of time to once again appreciate the simple act of driving a car I really love. I experienced the road. I had to push the car a bit to get it up to speed. And then I had to tend the wheel a bit more than usual to keep it going where I wanted. I once again bonded with a car that entered our lives five years ago, in a time before my interests took me elsewhere and the adventure with the Nautilus got underway in earnest. Winston is not about an obsessive and endless quest for automotive perfection, rather he's a car to enjoy, as is. And I am very thankful that my wife allowed me to take him out for a spin today.

Lowering the Nautilus.

2008-11-22T10:25:00.069-07:00

The issue of Volkswagen ride height is quite a hotly debated one. I think this is due in large part to the ease and cost ($0.00) at which it can be done, coupled with the fact that it will be done by those who see no reason to leave well enough alone. The stock ride height is a good compromise between performance and safety, but it lacks something in the esthetics department, particularly on a Karmann Ghia. Whether we're talking about a Type 14 or Type 34, there's something strongly appealing to me about one that is slightly lowered. Conversely, where the Type 34 is specifically concerned, I feel there is nothing more insipid that a vehicle that emits a shower of sparks every time it hits bottom on the least little road imperfection, or high sides when attempting to navigate a dividing line reflector--or worse, puts out a foglamp lens attempting the climb up and over a driveway curb. If this happens to you...uh, well...dude...perhaps your 'sport tuned suspension' is a tad too dialed.

At the time of this writing, restoration plans for the Nautilus call for taking the craft back to a purely stock configuration. This is in line with my natural tendencies of 'purist'. In a seemingly contradictory stance, I'm also really not afraid to modify an original or stock restored car. Just as long as that modification can easily be reversed. There are a lot of nice bolt-on accessories available these days for Volkswagens and a resto-custom car can easily be built or undone. Or endlessly cogitated over. Obviously I'm quite torn on the subject.

I now have on hand some very interesting suspension components. BerT3 has recently introduced some parts to the Type 3/34 universe that I am having a hard time resisting...one of the greatest temptations ever...something so outstanding that it really deserves it's own darksider approved 'M-code'. Maybe something like:

M 666 Special front suspension equipment package, Chassis 0 000 017 to 313 2500 000, consisting of lowered spindles, a tasteful 2.5" drop, 2 each.

Like them or hate them, these units are indeed lovely. Set #028 is currently in my good but ill-guided hands and I may have to use them. They're beautiful. It's a great Christmas gift idea. And at the time of this writing, there are still a few sets awaiting future owners, available only through BerT3.

Ok. We've establish that I like a slightly lowered stance on my cars. Having on hand both brand new lowered and original height powdercoated spindles seriously focuses in on the hideous appearance of that ugly, undercoating flecked, dirt encrusted, worn out-near death's door Type 3 front beam under that car of mine. Relax--I've got it covered. ISPWest is rebuilding me an early Type 3 front beam right now using one of their bushing kits. It's a custom order item that's gonna cost me big, but will result in a superior ride quality. And it will be powder coated 60% black for a luxurious long lasting finish, just like the rest of the undercarriage parts. I'm hoping it's done and in my grubby mits within the next 2 or 3 weeks.

With the front end more than overkilled, the opportunities for lowering the rear of the craft are manyfold. I could simply decide to re-index the rear torsion bars. Sure, I could do that--and have done that on other cars, but the despicably negative camber'ed results on a deeply and severely dumped swing axle car just doesn't get it done for me. If you didn't pick up on it earlier, then I'll say it again: I think it's quite a nasty hack, and I really mean that in a bad way. Not that there isn't a place for swingaxles, particularly for high horsepower cars. And regardless of my feelings on the matter, negative camber IS a classic stance that a lot of people dig. But I like my wheels and tires to be oriented nearly verticle to keep the tire contact patch with the road as large as possible, minimizing inner tire wear and tear and improving handling and braking. For these reasons, I much prefer IRS rear suspensions and the way this technology lowers down. That's just me and what I want for my cars...for you, whatever's cool.

Now, I've turned on 'Reader Comments' for this topic...not that I expect anyone's actually reading this. But if beyond all expectations you are out there and pawing through this dreck and also have an opinion on the subject, then please do let it fly. Just don't let me know if you have at any time in the past lifted and successfully raced a Baja'ed Type 34...unless you have pictures that you're willing to share and post here.

By way of review, the Type3/34 rear suspension has a subframe that unbolts from the pan. This opens up a ton of really cool bolt-on possibilities for the rear suspension, but in my opinion the best possibility for a street vehicle is to simply bolt in an IRS subframe. Better yet, modify a swingaxle Type3 subframe with the weld-in IRS trailing arm receivers to run the IRS trailing arms. This straight forward modification retains all the stock VW Type 1 IRS stuff, which is relatively cheap and plentiful. It removes the need to weld rear engine mount receivers for the rear engine mount bracket to the back underside of the car's body, which may not have been properly designed to handle the suspended weight of the engine, anyway.

A few years ago I had German Transaxle in Bend, Oregon build me a '73 spec Type 3 IRS transmission and it has the nice final gearing and nosecone to support backup lights. If I were considering a customization to the suspension, with or without an accompanying suspension height adjustment, an IRS rear suspension upgrade using this transmission is quite an intriguing option. What is even more intriguing is a Porsche 901 5-speed transmission upgrade, which I also have readily available.

Rest assured, the darkside has never offered so many temptations.

Really just getting its second wind.

2008-11-01T12:15:00.000-06:00

An old Bosch cast iron distributor is not indestructable, but we want it to be. I think Bosch initially felt the same way and that's why the Bosch distributor rebuild kit PN 1 237 010 007-000 was made available as a spare parts item. Knowing this part number is sort of the secret handshake that really gives you an opportunity to buy a cool little collection of parts to rejuvinate most of the VW distributors Bosch issued over the years, including the lesser aluminum bodied units. Yeah--I said lesser.

The parts in this kit will rebuild more than just a VW distributor. Maybe you have an old Volvo distributor to rebuild? This will be the kit for you, too. And each of these kits can potentially rebuild more than just one distributor, depending on model and condition of shims. Some of the old versions of this kit include a few more parts than those shown, too.

The 'Holy Grail' of Type 3/34 distributors is the much lauded Bosch ZV/JCU4R3. If you have a nice one on your car, you'll know what I mean. I've even considered putting one of these on my wife's Type 14 (see previous post) to replace the Bosch '010'. These distributors were installed only on the '64 1500S dome top pistoned engines. The engine room in the Nautilus will eventually be appropriately equipped and I do plan to detail the build-out of that power plant in future posts.

If you're in the market, Glenn Ring rebuilds and sells these on occaision, along with many other distributor types. Check here for his stock on hand.

I currently have three ZV/JCU4R3 distributors and may one day restore and sell one of them. As much as I try to not horde parts, keeping a selection of readily available spare parts has bailed me out of so many bad situations that I no longer feel overly guilty about it. An extra distributor is not too out of line--but two spares could be stretching things a bit. Keep checking the 'Parts Bin' for the current stuff I have for sale, as I'm starting to come to some conclusions about which parts will actually be used on my own restoration. The rest will have to go, as my long suffering wife wants to use the basement for something other than auto parts storage.

The big cover-up -- carpeting the Nautilus.

2008-10-31T11:30:00.002-06:00

In addition to any role floor coverings are expected to serve in a car, carpeting in a Karmann Ghia also serves the unintended role of sponge, soaking up water that inevitably makes its way past inferior or deteriorated window and door seals. This does nothing to enhance the carpet's longevity. When it comes time for restoration, the carpet has usually decomposed to a point that it resembles a sort of rust, fungus and oil infused mulch that's not recommended for use in the garden. Even if your car's current floor covering is a lime green 2" shag that was installed in the height of the '70s, the sad truth is that the crop of newer cheaper carpet kits available today are not much better, right out of the box.

I've owned my fair share of original Volkswagens over the years. Where Karmann Ghias are concerned, I've recently owned two with nearly original interiors and have taken notes and pictures of these cars to use as guidance with future restorations. I've also torn into the battered remains of other orignal cars in search of interior pieces to help catalog my understanding of how things were originally done. I've also kept my eyes open for original used parts on ebay and der Samba and this has paid off with a recent score of a nearly complete '66 model year Type 34 carpet kit. I'll use this kit as a template to build a reproduction carpet set, once the appropriate carpet material can be sourced. I'll use most of the grommets from this carpet set on the reproduction set to enhance its authenticity, but my needs for carpeting will not include the carpet floor mats and I'll be donating the thimble grommets to someone for their '66 or later carpet restoration.

Take a close look at the layout of the carpet in the picture to the left. With the exception of the 4 floor mat pieces, all other carpet sections have one or more blue lines drawn on their backsides that run left-right in the picture. These lines are used to properly orient the main square weave line, which runs top-bottom in the picture. Refering to the picture below of the two square weave samples, this picture also shows the alignment of the main square weave line in a top-bottom orientation. Refering back to the picture at left, all pieces are actually correctly oriented top-bottom, as well. Also, the mystery carpet fragment missing from this set is the counter part to the carpet piece at the picture's front right. This piece is the one which fits over the left inner wheel housing. This piece invariably takes a real beating from the driver's left foot, much like the driver's floor mat does from the driver's right foot--whether it be the rubber mat (cars up through '65) or the carpet sections shown in this picture (cars '66 and later). If the driver's side carpet in my '98 Toyota 4Runner is any indication, carpet wear is directly proportional to driver's anxiety and is exacerbated by any tendencies towards road rage.

Anyway, it is interesting to note that there is a rubberized backing only on the four floormats, which further increases their durability.

One of the biggest problems in having a custom Type 14 or 34 carpet kit made is finding the correct carpet stock. I know what the original stuff looks like and I know what color carpet should be. Current carpet kits seem manufactured to a price point and invariably skimp on certain details. On particular aspects of my car's restoration, I'm not interested in cutting corners. In choosing the correct German square weave carpet, it must at least have the correct number of squares per inch, the correct binding type, a nearly correct color, the correct square weave orientation and it must fit correctly. Though some manufacturers obviously disagree, I honestly don't think I'm asking for much.

Depending on the year of car, carpet stock originally supplied to Volkswagen appears to have had either 7 or 8 squares per inch. This is easily determined by laying down a ruler and measuring the number of square weave squares running in an inch across the grain on a piece of carpet. After researching this on a number of original carpet sets from both the Type 14 and Type 34 cars, I've made some observations that seem to consistently apply to carpet sets installed by Volkswagen in the '60s on at least the Karmann Ghias. Carpet material used up through the '65 model year had the 7 squares per inch density and was bound with cloth material. Carpet material used from the beginning of the '66 model year and later had the 8 squares per inch density and was bound with vinyl material. The colors available for both the carpet itself and the edge binding are all specified in the Type 14 and Type 34 parts books.

My capable assistant, at right, models at least two of the carpet types used in the Type 34, early at left (up through '65), and late at right ('66 and later). Happy Halloweeeeeeen!!!

About a month ago, BerT3 made a remark on der Samba that got me thinking that he might have stumbled upon a stash of carpet material that would pass my acid test. He even agreed to send me a sample. This sample easily passed my '8 squares per inch density index' test and I am absolutely convinced that this is exactly the right stuff for '66 and later cars. The color is even a correct very dark salt and pepper. Unfortunately my car is a '64, so I ended up passing on the opportunity to buy some of it. For those of you seeking an authentic later '60s Karmann Ghia carpet fabric, this stuff is for you. It's OEM Haargarn, 2 meters in width, and I was able to use an original Type 34 carpet set (see above picture) to lay out a pattern that would have used a rather minimal 3.2 meter length of it. Total cost with shipping to the US would have been $1000.00. But if you want the right stuff, this is in my opinion well worth it.

Though this lead didn't pan out, I'm sure I'll eventually find a reasonable approximation for my car. In the picture at left, the left carpet sample is the Haargarn sample I received from BerT3. The right carpet piece is a scrap of charcoal colored Sewfine squareweave I picked up off the floor at Motorworks Restorations a few months ago when Jeremy was using one of their kits to carpet a Bug. It's got a rather sloppy square weave pattern to it, but it IS German square weave and it IS the right color. While I'd rather have Lenny Copp sew me up a kit, I'm still not sure about the carpet stock he is using in his kits. I hope to get a chance to see it in person in the Spring.

It's almost like brand new.

2008-10-16T09:29:00.000-06:00

In case I've failed to mention it previously, my car is being restored by Motorworks Restorations in Colorado Springs, Colorado. My shop selection was somewhat random and based on geographical location, as I live about an hour or so north of their shop location. I got lucky and landed a great place for my car's restoration needs. The Nautilus couldn't be in better hands.

Though I've considered modern updates to the chassis and engine, mainly in the form of lowered front spindles from Bert3 and an IRS conversion for the rear subframe, in the end I've decided to keep the car as dead stock as funds, time and shop patience will allow. An example of the attention to detail is evident in the picture to the right, where Gary is using his hammer to replace the replated upholstery tacks used to keep the pan rubber in place during the body fitting process. Normally, Gary wields a spray gun, not a hammer, but either way this is detail work that this owner certainly appreciates. Thanks Gary!

Last year I owned an original, never messed with too much '66 Type 34 that my wife and I dearly loved. It was wonderful climbing into the passenger cabin, smelling that unmistakeable smell of old VW originality and seeing all the original detail still in place after the passage of 41 years of wear and tear. Still, once lifting the floor carpet and sound deadener, I was confronted with a harsh reality that the car had held a pool of water and/or battery acid at some point in its past. This caustic pool had introduced corrosion to the floor pan, and while well hidden and not too well developed, still represented an issue to contend with in the future. So when I saw this very recent picture of my '64, you can imagine my surprise and delight. It's a vision any Volkswagen owner can appreciate, I think. Maybe a little shop dust, but NO overspray! It's really starting to come together.

Part 1 - Putting it all together--restoring the original fasteners.

2008-10-03T14:00:00.000-06:00

In times past, I've found myself going to some extraordinary lengths to collect original Volkswagen fasteners and miscellaneous hardware pieces. I've always avoided the lure of using stainless steel fasteners on my restoration projects, choosing instead to restore the original hardware. I feel that properly restored original fasteners have a lot of good reliable life left in them. The hardware on my Type 34 was originally supplied by KAMAX, Knipping and Verbus. All were originally good old German companies that offered the German automotive industry a quality product for their time. With some careful hardware restoration choices, I believe this same level of quality can be maintained.

Most original and unmolested Volkswagen parts books have a section labeled 'ST - Standard Parts', which is a generic fasteners and miscellaneous parts section that provides a lot of detail regarding hardware referred to throughout the rest of that parts book. For example, a bolt with a part number of N10 023 2 is described as a Bolt, hex, hd M 10 X 45/25 DIN 70 613 galvanized. That's a lot of great information for those of us looking for missing hardware. This tells us exactly how the hardware should be restored when replated to maintain both strength and authenticity. And after the replating process, it's really nice to have an idea where that big bucket of bolts out in the garage could possibly and properly be used, particularly when it comes time to put it all back together.

If you need a bolt for a particular purpose, all you need to do is reach for your Type 3 or Type 34 parts book for the details on the fastener. Don't own a parts book? Finding one can be a hassle, but you can access portions online by going here. Unfortunately, the online references don't contain the 'ST Standard Parts' section. I guess all the gut wrenching gory detail is just too much to wrap a mind around...ok, not really. Perhaps it's better described as the third to last appendix in the parts book and is about 4 pages of stupifying boredom. Regardless, scans of it are now presented here, just for completeness. Because boring detail is never in short supply on this blog.

If you should find yourself in the market for a good parts book, know in advance that you won't be alone. A lot of us enjoy the portability and funkiness of a grease and coffee stained orignal shop and parts manual. I contend there's just is no substitute for the real shop literature. So you know what you're looking for, the Type 14 and Type 34 Ghia books are usually bound together. Though you may not own a Type 1 Karmann Ghia, there's a lot of good value in the Type 14 parts book because it allows you to cross reference between parts shared between the two Ghia types. There is, after all, the slim potential that your investment in the shop and parts manuals could actually pay for themselves.

I recently discovered that the Type 14 parts book has a slighly different version of the 'ST - Standard Parts' listing. I will publish this alternate 7 page version in a future blog post.

40 Horses of Fury.

2008-10-03T13:14:00.000-06:00

Eventually I'll get around to building a nice 1500S engine for the Nautilus. Really. I WILL. However, with all the oil burning going on in the engine room of my wife's '65 Type 14 last year, I guess it was inevitable that I would break out my wrenches and get to the bottom of it. Fortunately, we bought well and most everything was original and intact. All that was needed was a good freshening up of the longblock and a couple of cosmetic improvements. Somewhere along the line I decided to take that to the next level. So for now we will re-live the past glories of this 40 HP engine build which serves as a fine example of how motivated I can get with the details when I want to.

I do enjoy engine building. These days, it's nice to be able to take advantage of some modern paints and finishes to get a result near stock, but potentially longer lasting. It's also the time to lift the lid on the Nice Old Stuff box and be able to feel guilt free in putting those rare shelf worn parts to good use. It's also the time where all that old information gathering really pays off. I can't tell you how many people actually contributed to this engine in part because of a comment made on some forum or blog that sunk its way deep into a subconscious and oft times retentive crevice within my memory. Anyway, the re-issued Bently shop manuals also paid off and the good folks at Bugs For You and Wolfburg West also helped bring it home. But, I would be remiss if I didn't extend the greatest amount of credit and appreciation to Jay Taylor of NuVintage, who tirelessly dealt with my incessant requests for numerous small but critical parts and really helped me maintain the authenticity of this engine.

This engine ended up with 83mm pistons and cylinders. The original Volkwagen units just didn't make the cut. I had 77mm pistons, but no cylinders and for the cost of the cyliners alone, the 83mm kit was cheaper and also offered a bit more horsepower. This '65 engine originally had the square boss heads, which was the first year for them, and I reused most of the sheetmetal. Denver Metal Finishing did the plating and Performance Powercoating in Golden, Colorado did some fine work on the 60% black applied to the sheetmetal. They also applied the 'magnesium' colored ceramic finish to the muffler and heat exchangers. While I was simply going for a clean original effect, this engine definitely draws the positive comments.

As it's broken in, a leak has developed at the flywheel. This annoys me, so I'll probably go in and fix it sometime this winter. For now, we've also replaced the original distributor with an 010 distributor and I must say that the old boy does kick some butt! Almost feels like a 1600, when pulling away from a full stop. Not neck snapping, but definitely peppy. As it continues to break in, we'll try it on the Rockies to see what it's really made of.

So...I'm not just a Type 3/34 person. I really like all Volkswagens. I just like Karmann Ghias more.

The reproduction Type 34 wiring harness kits have all been reserved.

2008-09-19T13:35:00.000-06:00

I don't know why I'm surprised--but I am. I thought I'd be hanging onto these for the rest of my life...or beyond, bequeathing them to nieces or newphews, using them in the meantime in lieu of chain to drop anchor, or perhaps to decorate the walls of my shop...or WORSE--attempt to sell them on 'der Samba' as Notchback harnesses! The wrongness!!

Those of you who have invested in this run of harnesses may have a somewhat valuable item. While there may be another way to have a run of these done in the future, it's looking like the current supplier would want a minimum order of 20. Yes, 20. Uh...I'm not going to foot the bill for THAT project. I wonder how long it would take to move 20 of these? The unit cost may go down a tad, but who wants to wait?

With the final version of the wiring kits complete, I can now start focusing on other things. Like drinking Scotch. Football. And other stuff that bugs my wife. I could even devote time to...Hook Deflectors! What Type 34 aficionado can resist a well proportioned '343 823 491'? I can't, especially when dressed out in black. We'll see how it goes, but these should be a straighforward cast of a decent part I have on hand. Stay tuned.

Type 34 Wiring Harness Kits have been delivered!

2008-09-11T07:09:00.000-06:00

The Wiring Works reproduction Type 343 wiring harness kits have been delivered. There are 9 of them in this box and I will be going through each kit to ensure completeness. They will go on sale on September 18th.

Some of these kits have already been reserved, so if you plan to buy one, let me know right away. First come, first served. The cost is $465.00 USD, plus shipping. I'm accepting payment in the form of bank check, Postal money order or Paypal (you pay the fees). They work best for cars built between '62-'66, but can be made to work in the '67 and later cars with some modification.

So it's a nice box, but what do you actually get in a kit? Well, you get an authentic front harness, rear harness, overhead light harness, the two different styles of horn harnesses, support for the left and right sidemarkers and trunk light, and support for either the pushbutton switch or the conventional headlight and wiper switches. I arranged for the kits to be provisioned with a radio add-on and have added an extra fuse holder for it. It also comes with a bag full of other really useful hardware pieces that includes fuse holders, junction connectors, extra crimp on spade connectors, piggy-back spade connectors, and more. It's very comprehensive and you will end up with parts left over, as Wiring Works only wanted to make only one kit for the Type 34.

I spent some time with the kit in my own car and was really happy with the initial results. I actually ended up installing and removing the front and rear harnesses twice. It installs as the original did, following all the same paths. If you have damage to any wire route areas in your car, be advised that this kit is not for you, as the wires will probably end up being too short.

The prototype needed some changes, so I worked with Wiring Works to adjust things to make the kit even better. I originally wanted to include every single wire on the car, but the cost was way too prohibitive. We decided that the main larger elecrical components should still have their wiring intact. This assumption includes the upper steering column wiring, wiper motor wiring, pushbutton switch wiring, chassis ground straps and battery cables. It's a big assumption for some, because I know that on my own car I will have to rebuild the upper steering column and replace one or two wires on the pushbutton switch. Wiring Works is willing to supply this extra wiring at additional cost. I'm assuming that most folks won't need or want this wiring.

Once these are advertised they should go quickly, so act now. I don't know if Wiring Works will ever want to do these again in such small numbers.

What the...HECK?!

2008-09-06T10:41:00.001-06:00

Ok, so I took the bait and bought the NOS foglight lenses Rudiger had advertised on his web site. I like Neat Old Stuff. These lenses, however, are somewhat lighter than expected...somewhat cheaper or leaner in feel...they are plastic. Hallo?

Well, they still are pretty.

I have several sets of glass lenses, but will probably run the murky depths with these plastic ones. They are marked Hella, and are similar in markings as the latest set of glass lenses I have. Note the seals, and how they fit around the lense. I've never seen these before, but then I've never owned a set of NOS Foglamps, either. Hope to, one day.

The Nautilus in drydock.

2008-09-05T21:13:00.000-06:00

I don't normally name my cars, but at one point I had so many of them that my wife asked that I give them names. When discussing cars, it helps her to have a friendly name to refer to. Even after I've downsized my collection of Volkswagens to only two, the names have stuck.

The '64 Type 343 Karmann Ghia that I am currently restoring is called 'the Nautilus'. Disney did a version of Jules Verne's "20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and their rendition of the Nautilus has a very pronounced razor edge, all around the craft, not to mention a number of other very unusual styling queues, just like my Ghia. My car was orginally Sea Blue, is currently separated from the pan and is resting on what might be mistaken for a boat trailer. Some have commented that the car body looks a little like a boat or submarine. I think that in this nose shot it looks a little like a puffer fish.

I've been through the restoration 'spanking machine' several times before, however this particular restoration adventure has really been the most intense and frustrating of Volkswagen endeavors that I've ever experienced. For those of you considering the restoration of one of these cars, I have a couple of 'lessons learned' to share with you: set your expectations low, and your budget high. With regards to the bodywork--and to hopefully not overstate the obvious--if you know you have rust or damage in a particular area, definitely go into it with as many body panels as you can scrape together, in advance. Then, find the best and most patient body shop you can afford.

These pictures document the work done before the right rear quarter and extreme rear body panels and valence panels were replaced. The car looked like a great start for a restoration, but once media blasted it became apparent that there was a right rear fender replacement and some structural damage to the right rear in times past. I put the feelers out, as we were definitely looking for better panels to use. Came up completely empty. We ended up using the panels from the other '64 I originally rolled into this body shop for restoration. This also required the use of one of Lars' rear wheel well arches and more patience was necessary before this part arrived from Germany.

We've used Lars' Type 34 rocker panel replacments before and in fact we used his front two rocker panel sections on this particular car. And I'd use them again on any Type 34 project. They fit great and work well. However--and in stark contrast--the rear wheel arches are disappointing, as the coutours are not entirely authentic. They do work, and this part is currently the only game in town, so there you have it. With the car now in paint, I still consider this area to be a weakness in its appearance and will probably one day have that section redone using an original piece--or even a Lars' panel, if they improve.

These pictures were taken back in October of 2007 and it was slow ahead through much of last Winter. The good news for me is that patience prevails and that major progress has been made by the body shop since April and the car has since been painted L514 Emerald Green, but 'the Nautilus' is a name that still suits it.

Building it up on a solid foundation.

2008-09-03T20:50:00.001-06:00

A nice original rust free Type 3 floorpan is a great thing. Sadly, mine wasn't so nice. Not the least bit seaworthy, what with ebb and flow of the tide crashing in around my feet.

After buying 7 pan halves, you'd have thought I would have ended up with at least two usable pan pieces. Not so. The basis for this restoration project actually ended up using the original main pan with original driver's side piece, however the passenger side pan half was taken from a much later car. Note the black strip running along the right in the picture, which was exposed after the later style reinforcement rail was permanently removed. Retaining an authentic 'one piece' Type 3 pan look is key, so spot welds have been patched and ground, the butt welded seams smoothed out, and pin holes exposed during sandblasting welded shut. There will be some more bodywork done and filler used to smooth things out, so the pan will be satin black epoxy coated, rather than powercoated.

My first two Type 343s.

2008-09-03T20:50:00.000-06:00

This is what I termed 'the little mess in the side yard', before our big move to Colorado a few years ago. Though not visible in photo, there was also a bare squareback pan leaning against the fence to the extreme right. This was used to restore the Type 34 pan on the left. There was another rolling automatic transmission Squareback pan (with seats) to the left of that, barely visible over the Type 343 in the foreground. A few small odds and ends were scavenged from that pan before it was donated for use with other projects.

The white with black roof '64 Type 343 in the background was sold to an acquaintance for $1.oo. Quite the deal--literally pocket change--considering the dash pads alone were cosmetically perfect. I needed to get rid of the car, and fast. I heard that the car ended up up in Portland, Oregon and I later saw it for sale on the Samba.

The car in the foreground made the trip to Colorado with us and I had it cut it up for body panels about a year ago. A lot of it made its way onto my latest project.