The Moto Bureau

/notes

1971 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

  • #1971 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
  • #Karmann Ghia

My first ever project with cars or anything engine-related was on my family's 1971 VW Karmann Ghia. It was originally bought for my grandma (named Carmen), who drove it maybe only a few times before it became my Uncle's daily driver in high school. Since then, the car sat in a garage for many years, rotting away. I was grateful enough to be given the car to fix up my senior year of high school while using all of my Grandpa’s old tools. The project came with a lot of failures but also a lot of learning. Work on it lasted for a couple of years before I just recently sold it back to my Uncle. Along the way, many helped, with my other grandpa assisting me in building and upgrading the flat 4 engine from the ground up and some of my close friends helping along the whole project's lifespan. Some of the modifications and upgrades are as follows:

  1. New Custom fabricated floor pans
  2. All new internal engine paneling
  3. New ball joints and front suspension linkages
  4. New custom Porsche Racing seats
  5. New shift linkages
  6. A rebuilt Type 1 flat-4 engine
    1. Bored to 1776cc
    2. Dual carburetors
    3. High Lift Cam
    4. Lightweight Flywheel
    5. High-pressure pressure plate and performance clutch
    6. Brand new cylinder heads and valves.
    7. Custom Pushrods
    8. New Fuel pressure regulator
    9. Oil Catch can integration
    10. Electronic ignition timing
  7. Rebuilt IRS Transaxle
    1. 2nd gear replaced
    2. All custom fabricated tooling
1971 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia parked outside before restoration work.
This is how we found the car, along with a few rat's nests and lots of rotted-out paneling.
Karmann Ghia engine bay work in progress inside the shop.
After dropping the engine to send to the machine shop, lots of panel work was done in the meantime. VW was known for making razor-thin steel paneling on these cars, which, after 50 years of age, made even the ‘good’ metal extremely easy to melt through when welding.
Karmann Ghia in the shop with the hood open during restoration.
Start of the first summer working on the car. This is in my family's original shop that has a lot of history
Freshly painted black Karmann Ghia engine bay during restoration.
Some of the ripped-out paneling being replaced and finally painted. The fire wall was getting covered by some noisy insulating paneling, so any paint drips were not a worry at the time.
Custom fabricated Karmann Ghia floor pan being welded into place.
Here are the first plug welds of the new floor pan inserts. These were hand beed rolled at my high school's shop class.
Type 1 flat-four engine internals during rebuild.
A snippet from the engine build. This was just before putting the other half on the engine. Lots of new internals here going in.
Rebuilt Volkswagen flat-four engine with dual carburetors assembled on a workbench.
Here is the final engine before entering the car. Missing a few auxiliaries and the oil breather that will be added later. I've always thought the new paneling and dual carb setup give this engine an artistic feel.
Finished Karmann Ghia with rebuilt engine installed in the rear bay.
The final car in its driving form. Was a blast to drive and was super loud (as these cars always were). The engine had a lot more pep and could be revved way higher than stock, which made this car a blast to drive.

Back to home