VW+VW1500

VW+VW1500 has moved!

2011-05-30T07:40:00.000-07:00

I've decided to move the blog over to the Type 34 Registry site, which now offers an integrated version of the powerful WordPress blogging platform. The new URL is www.type34.com/blogs/scotttaylor. All posts from the last five years (!) are archived at the new location. This version of the blog will also remain live, but new posts will only appear at the new location. See you there!

Getting reacquainted with the front brakes

2011-05-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

It's been many years since I've done a front brake job on an old VW. The last time the front brakes were done on this car was about 12 years ago, when NOS wheel cylinders were installed by a local mechanic. Initially I thought I'd be able to get away with a brake fluid flush and adjustment, but the right front brakes were locking up. Stuck wheel cylinder(s)? Collapsed brake hose? The car has probably only seen 1000 miles since the brakes were done so how bad could things be?

I was stopped in my tracks soon after starting by an odd thing: Both lock nuts turned together when I tried to loosen the outer one on the right side. That shouldn't happen. I didn't have a thin 24mm wrench so had to source one. Luckily Lanner Kahn at VDUBEngineering in Canada offers a nice purpose-made 24/27mm spindle wrench, so I ordered one up. Once I got things apart the problem was obvious. Someone had used a larger diameter lock plate from another VW. This is the kind of hackery that can cause you to lose a wheel on the road. Not only that, all the expendable parts were shot—bearings, seals, the whole lot. Luckily, with a little help from Bill and Steve's, I was able to find everything I needed to put things right. Here are the old and new parts for comparison—it's as if the last bearing repack was done using only a crow bar and a sledge hammer. Nothing like seeing someone else's shoddy work to remind you that you're better off doing it yourself!

Turned out it was the wheel cylinders that were the braking problem -- gummed up from lack of use. I cleaned and honed them and I think they'll be all right for awhile, though I'm going to start searching for another complete set of NOS front cylinders just in case.

Early VW 1500 wheels: new and improved

2011-04-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I found five NOS VW 1500 wheels. They're the early 4-slot version meant only for 1961–63 models. Unfortunately while NOS means "new old stock," it doesn't necessarily mean cosmetically perfect. While these wheels have never been mounted on a car they had picked up some surface rust and shelf wear in the many years they were warehoused. Off to the powder coater.

After some online research I decided to use Andrews Powder Coating in Chatsworth, California. They focus on powder coating for cars and motorcycles, and they are a supplier to ICON. That's good enough for me.

The wheels came back looking like new. I had Andrews match the OEM semi-gloss black. They masked the lug bolt and brake drum bearing surfaces at no additional charge, which saved me the trouble of scraping the paint off later. Wheels can come loose if these areas are powder coated, so it's best to keep them unpainted.

One interesting thing about these wheels is that they're all factory replacements made after 1964. The newest one has a September 1970 date stamp. Three of them are safety rims with additional bumps that keep tubeless tires from breaking the bead on very hard cornering. I really like the idea that VW was still making parts specifically for the earliest VW 1500s into the 1970s, and incorporating safety improvements into them too. I still have all five of my Ghia's original April 1962 stamped wheels, but I'll keep them in storage and use these newer ones on the road.

I found a very nice used Pirelli Cinturato CN 36 tire recently, and I had it mounted on one of the newly powder coated wheels as a test. Pirelli has reissued the early '70s vintage CN 36, and I'm thinking about buying a set of them for the Ghia, but since they're slightly wider than the original size (175-15 rather than 165-15) I wanted to see if there were any fit issues. There aren't. A bit more expensive than the comparable Michelin XZX, but with an extra helping of awesomeness. My car now has a very cool spare.

We don't need no stinkin' badges...

2011-03-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

...but we buy them anyway. Some time ago I found an ADAC enamel badge commemorating the 40th Internationale Automobil Austellung (IAA), the 1961 auto show where the VW 1500s were first shown to the public.

It's an enamel interpretation of the 1961 IAA poster. The poster looks great—I'd really like to find an original one someday—but the design was clearly hard to translate into enamel. Let's just say that it's the kind of thing that could only have been created in 1961, so in that way it's perfect.

The question now is: If I were to install it, where would it go? Normally a badge like this might be mounted on a car's radiator grille, but that obviously doesn't apply here. On other rear-engined cars like Porsches badges sometimes get mounted to the rear air intake, but the 1500 Ghia's flat rear deck doesn't really lend itself to that solution. What to do? Luckily great minds tend to think alike, so there are a few other 1500 Ghia owners who have already taken up this very same challenge.

Lee Hedges opted for the classic vintage VW badge location: low on the right side front fender between the wheel opening and the door. Looks good, and it's historically appropriate, but the downside is that it requires drilling into the fender, making the installation a fairly permanent decision.

Andy Holmes chose to mount his badge above one of the front overriders on a custom-fabbed bracket. This looks great and has the advantage of being close to the traditional location on a front grille or badge bar. But there's already a lot going on visually on the front of a 1500 Ghia, so I'm just not sure.

I'm currently leaning toward mounting it on the glove box door. I found a good strong magnet that will keep it in place. It's not permanent, it will keep the badge out of the weather, and I'll get to look at it (occasionally) while I'm driving and remind myself of where and when the 1500 Ghia had its debut.

[Photos by Lee and Andy of their cars "borrowed" from other sources.]

The Loved One

2011-03-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

Ivan Pang sent me these great 1976 photos of his anthracite '62 1500 notchback at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Forest Lawn (a.k.a. "Whispering Glades" to fans of The Loved One) does a pretty good job of standing in for the old country.

Ivan has been a part of the vintage VW scene in Southern California since the early days, and he has also made it his practice to photograph interesting cars he has seen in Los Angeles' east side neighborhoods over the years. He has owned this particular low-mileage notchback since the mid-1970s. Other than the vintage Porsche 356 wheels and hubcaps (shod with what appear to be Michelin ZX radials) the car is unmodified from original. Ivan still has the original VW wheels and hubcaps in storage. He says the seats have been protected by factory accessory seat covers since the car was new, so the upholstery is in perfect condition. I asked about the clear taillight lenses and he says they were that way when he bought the car.

Here's Ivan at the wheel on a road trip to San Francisco back in the day. The notchback has been in long-term storage for many years and has seen very few miles since these photos were shot 35 years ago. I hope it sees daylight again this year for the 50th anniversary of the VW 1500!

Karmann-Post No. 25, October-December 1962

2011-02-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

In this issue of Karmann-Post an article on the VW 1500 Karmann-Ghia reprinted from Auto Motor und Sport is illustrated with images of both Karmann-Ghia models along with photos of production in the Karmann factory. There are some rarely seen promotional images of the 1500 Ghia here, including an early '63 sunroof model (Type 345), alongside the usual press photos.

The Motor-Tourist review of the 1500 Ghia is also reprinted in this issue.

You can take it with you: the Blaupunkt Derby 660

2011-01-23T15:03:00.000-08:00

In the 1950s and '60s Blaupunkt and other European auto radio manufacturers offered portable "picnic" radios that had the option of being installed in a car as a dash-mounted pullout. Unlike more recent pullout systems that were intended for theft prevention, the idea behind these older pullouts was versatility.

The Blaupunkt Derby 660 was introduced in 1965 so it's a period-appropriate accessory for a VW 1500. It's larger and more modern-looking than the previous Derbys and offers shortwave, longwave, and FM bands. I bought this one many years ago and found the under-dash mount more recently.

Nice typography on the dial still has echoes of the 1940s.

The car mount was meant to be installed under the dash. It carries the Ideal brand. Ideal was the original name of the company, and the blue dot that was used as a quality control symbol eventually evolved into the company's trademark. The name was formally changed to Blaupunkt in 1938, but apparently the Ideal brand was still used for some components.

A plastic ridge on the top of the radio case guides the radio and secures it as it slides into the mount. The following sequence shows how a protective flap on the mount automatically opens to accept the radio as it slides in. When it's pushed fully home the power, antenna, and speaker are automatically switched over to the car's components.

The radio is then locked in place. A push tab above the radio unlocks it and allows it to be removed again.

The radio also has jacks for an alternate external power source and external picnic speakers or headphones for use away from the car. They thought of just about every possible need.

In the last few months I was able to find instructions for mounting a Derby 660 in a VW 1500 or 1500S:

I originally bought this Derby with the intention of mounting it in our '65 Squareback, but I didn't locate the mount until after I sold the car. I'm not sure if it will find a home in my 1500 Ghia or not. We shall see.

Karmann-Post No. 20, July-September 1961

2011-01-15T21:48:00.000-08:00

The cover of issue number 20 of Karmann's promotional magazine featured a 1500 Ghia cabriolet prototype on display at the 1961 Frankfurt auto show (IAA). Other photos of the new 1500s were featured inside.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilhelm Karmann and Ghia's Luigi Segre with the cabriolet at the IAA.

Also at the IAA, the 1500 Ghia cabriolet is shown to German President Heinrich Lübke.

The issue also includes a spread featuring press photos of the new Karmann 1500s. The 1500 Cabriolet is referred to as the "four-seater" and the 1500 Ghia as the "two-seater." That's refreshingly honest — apparently Karmann didn't consider the 1500 Ghia's back seat a realistic place for anyone to sit.

It's an unusually wet winter for Southern California

2011-01-02T16:12:00.000-08:00

You swingaxle drivers take it easy out there.

[1500S pushing the limit at Oulton Park, Cheshire, England in the 1960s. Source unknown.]

VW 1500 factory maintenance training slides

2010-12-05T21:56:00.000-08:00

Last year Eric Colla was lucky enough to find a set of original factory training slides that cover basic maintenance of the VW 1500, and we put together a digital version of the slide show to share with the Type 3 community. The slides and caption text have been scanned and Everett Barnes created a page on The Samba where they can be viewed as individual images or downloaded as low-res or high-res pdfs. Here are a few of the slides:

From the photos and the information provided it appears that it was produced in late 1962 at the beginning of the 1963 model year. It's a great reference for how the early engines were originally set up, though since many parts have been painted gray for clarity it's not definitive. Even though I've read through all the early VW service literature many times I still learned a couple of new things from going through these slides and captions.

View or download the slide show here.

Many thanks to Eric and Everett for making this happen.

VW 1500 letterpress cut

2010-11-13T10:38:00.000-08:00

I got a package in the mail from my friend Steve and opened it to find this old letterpress photo cut of an early VW 1500. Steve knows me pretty well.

Letterpress printing was on its way out in the 1960s, replaced by offset printing for most commercial jobs by the end of the decade, so it's a little unusual to find a cut of a '60s car. This one was probably used in a newspaper advertisement. It's an early '62 or '63 model and "VW 1500 1964" is handwritten on the back of the block.

I know of someone who has a letterpress so I might have to print up some cards. For the time being it can keep company with a old cut of a Bernd Reuters split window that I found years ago.

Thanks Steve!

"What bugeyedom has lost in the Sprite it has made back on the Karmann"

2010-10-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

The 1500 Karmann-Ghia has the honor of being the punchline of one of Henry Manney III's jokes in his coverage of the Frankfurt auto show for Road & Track magazine's January 1962 issue. He isn't too keen on the Ghia's front-end styling and reports that it reminded another reporter of the Schwimmwagen. He likes the rest of the styling, though, and calls the 1500 Ghia "an improvement on the old one."

There's prominent coverage of the VW 1500 introduction in the article, including a feature photo of the dramatic 1500 display ("driverless Volkswagens, neatly executing 4-wheel drifts..."). But Manney is more interested in the NSU Prinz, BMW's 700 convertible and 1500 Neue Klasse sedan, the Porsche 2-liter, and the Fiat 2300 Coupe by 1500 Ghia designer Sergio Sartorelli. He seems a little underwhelmed by the VW 1500s in comparison. He predicts, correctly, that the Variant will be the biggest seller.

I have always enjoyed reading Manney's pieces for Road & Track. His humor and satire made other contemporary automotive reporting seem pretty dull in comparison. He was doing his automotive version of the New Journalism years before his fellow automotive writers got on board.

No tourist delivery notchback for you

2010-10-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

I found this VW dealer postcard while browsing an online Porsche forum. Postmarked December 10, 1964, it's a Spokane, Washington dealer's response to someone who inquired about arranging European tourist delivery of a VW 1500 notchback. The dealer regretfully advises the customer that the only 1500 that dealers could arrange tourist delivery for was the "Station wagen" and that delivery of a notchback would likely be very expensive if they were to try to arrange it on their own.

This is interesting. On one hand it's an example of the lengths someone in the U.S. would have to go to in order to buy a new notchback. Why would VW promote tourist delivery of the Squareback but not the notch? Was it some kind of "viral" strategy to stimulate public interest in the Squareback in the year before its official U.S. introduction? At the same time, American dealers who were unwilling to risk damaging their relationship with Volkswagen of America had to turn away business, while they were undoubtedly aware of other less scrupulous dealers who were dabbling in the gray market and making a nice profit. All they could hope for was the possibility of a service relationship on the tourist's return. It was a lose/lose proposition for dealers and customers until the following year, when suddenly they could have as many Type 3s as they wanted. Yet still no notchbacks.

The Gelb Aktion in action

2010-09-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

Last year I wrote a short post about a rare 1961 brochure published for VW dealers that explained the many components of the Volkswagen + VW 1500 advertising campaign, titled Wir werben für den VW 1500 (We advertise the VW 1500). It's a fascinating look from a dealer's point of view at the many tools that were available for publicizing the new 1500: posters in many sizes and formats, banners, freestanding signs, projection slides, print advertising, postal advertising, sales brochures, and window stickers. Here are some photos showing how these campaign components were actually put into use by individual dealers, as seen in VW Informationen, VW's internal publication for dealers and distributors.

On the right side of the photo above you can see a poster for the 1961 Frankfurt international auto show, where the VW 1500 made its public debut. This dates the photo to September 1961.

This dealer raised the bar by combining campaign components with additional graphics in a futuristic space frame advertising structure.

And here the dealer's name has been spelled out on the side of the building using campaign posters. Too bad the photo isn't in color!

All in all, an effective demonstration of what today we would call "branding." The bright yellow color, sans-serif typography, and high-contrast imagery made a very bold visual statement. The complex simplicity and flexibility of the system conveyed a unified and consistent message no matter what location or medium. Modern publicity for a modern automobile.

[thanks to Johannes for sending some of the dealership photos above]

Do you know where you are traveling on vacation?

2010-08-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

This 1963 ad for VW service features a 1500 Ghia in an exotic Mediterranean locale to underscore the idea that service for every VW is available anywhere. A very nice oversized reprint of the ad was produced by P.A.R.C. with the permission of Volkswagenwerk AG, so you can get your very own copy.

[h/t to JL]

VW 1500 introduction, Sports Illustrated magazine, September 1961

2010-08-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

An article in the September 4, 1961 issue of Sports Illustrated about the new VW 1500. It's hard to imagine a time when a subject like this would have made sense for Sports Illustrated's readership.

The writer, Kenneth Rudeen, likes the new bigger VW quite a lot, going so far as to describe it as "an extremely desirable car." He sees the 1500's appearance as being very Italian in spirit and compares it to the contemporary designs of Pininfarina. Rudeen speculates that the 1500 may not make its way to America until perhaps 1963, by which time demand in its newly prosperous home market might be satisfied.

The Type 3s, Ghias, and Type 3 Ghias of Treffen 12

2010-08-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

I caught a ride up to Treffen 12 in Oxnard, CA, today with Scott McWilliams in his '64 1500 Ghia. The last Treffen I went to was over ten years ago, back when it was for Karmann-Ghias only. It's now open to all aircooled VWs, but the focus is still on the Ghias. Here are some highlights of the show:

Mark Merrill brought his unrestored 55,000 mile lowlight Ghia. A real time capsule. The original owner lived on Catalina Island and only used the car on visits to the mainland.

Another unrestored time capsule, this one a '61 originally purchased at Van Wyk in Santa Barbara. The pacific blue/blue white color combination and the blue interior are the same as my own 1500 Ghia originally came with, right down to the turquoise wool carpet.

Lisa Meier's '58 and '64 convertibles looked great.

A very nice '64 notchback.

The Type 34 lineup, from left: Chemo Ordaz, Scott McWilliams, Lee Hedges, and Tom Reay.

Scott's '64 sunroof.

Antonio Pellegrino and Luigi Segre, grandson of the Luigi Segre of Ghia, were in attendance to present the Sartorelli Segre Elegance Cup to the finest Ghia of the show. Lee, Antonio, and David Ruby of the Karmann Ghia Club of North America were the international panel of concours judges, and the three finalists were Lisa Meier's '58 convertible, Mark Merrill's unrestored '59, and Tom Reay's '65 Type 34. Lisa's convertible took top honors.

As the Treffen was ending a very red Corvair convertible pulled up, and Lee couldn't resist parking his Ghia next to it for a photo op. Separated at birth? You be the judge.

Best of all, Scott generously allowed me to drive his Ghia on the way back to LA. A very nice car on the road, and the sunroof is a definite plus. Thanks Scott! And thanks to Scott Dempster of KGPR/Airhead Parts for hosting the show.

Los Angeles has always been Type 3 friendly

2010-07-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

While I'm waiting for my new Optima battery to arrive here's a photo Ivan Pang sent to me of a faded gulf blue '63 VW 1500 notchback parked in a garage a few houses away from where I live...in 1976.

It's good reference for the kinds of features a daily-driven VW 1500 would have had in Los Angeles back in the day: solid red rear lenses, bias-ply thin whitewalls, curb feelers, AAA sticker on the bumper, etc. The license plate's number sequence points to an original registration date of around 1965, so it may have been a gray-market car. It looks worn but all original, which is no surprise because it was only 13 years old! No telling whatever became of the car; it was long gone by the time we moved to the neighborhood 20 years later.

Ivan has lived in the area for many years and he has always tried to photograph old VWs when he sees them. He has been a part of the California vintage VW scene from its beginnings in the early 1970s and has owned lots of interesting old VWs over the years, among them a Rometsch Beeskow cabriolet. He still has a number of them, including a low-mileage '62 notchback.

Engine is back in

2010-07-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

I got the engine back in yesterday. The reinstall was fast, smooth, and uneventful. A motorcycle jack under the engine takes most of the drama out of the process.

I finally got to install the '63 heater mufflers. I had to improvise a substitution for the insulating ring (311 255 379 B) that the VW Workshop Manual advises be installed. I found some self-adhesive silica insulating tape at McMaster that should do the job. Supposed to be good for 1800° F.

According to the Workshop Manual, without insulation here the muffler can get too hot and burn.

Close to having it back on the road. I have a few loose ends to take care of and I have to see if my 6V battery will hold a charge (unlikely) or locate a new one.

Gray e-brake boot

2010-07-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

My best find from the VW Classic weekend was an original gray e-brake boot. It's a surprisingly hard to find item, and I've been trying to locate one for years. It's really clean and there are no holes or rips. I picked it up from a seller at OCTO for a very reasonable price. Couldn't believe my luck.

Several years ago the restorer of a '58 beetle had a short run of gray repro boots made in Belgium, and I bought one when they were available. Here it is next to the OEM original.

It's not perfect—the shape and texture are a little off and the gray color is too blue—but it's well made. It's also the style without the adjustment access slots/flaps on the sides. Some original boots have these access slots and some don't, and I don't know what applications got which boots, or when. The supply of these repro boots now seems to have dried up as well. I'll sell this one and put the proceeds back into the Ghia's restoration.

Gray e-brake boots are very much in demand and it's surprising to me that a good quality reproduction isn't currently available. Respraying black boots gray is always an option, I suppose, but I doubt the result would ever look exactly right.

In other brake news, the rear brakes are finally completely assembled, adjusted and bled. If all goes as planned the engine will go back in next weekend.

1500 Ghia visor clips

2010-07-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

Speaking of 1500 Ghia visor clips, I'm very happy to finally have a pair of originals thanks to Larry Edson. They're not 100% perfect—both have minor cracks from use—but they're very presentable and far better than most others I've seen. It's rare for any of these clips to have survived due to an overly complicated and under-engineered design. This has lead to a cottage industry in 1500 Ghia visor clip replacements, some more successful than others. A few examples I've accumulated over the years:

I've seen a number of Ghias with these bent steel hooks. They work surprisingly well, taking advantage of the spring tension in the visor mounts to hold the visors in place, and they're simple enough to not call attention to themselves.

John Copello made these machined aluminum and powder coated clips, and it's possible that he might still make them to order. They follow the original design fairly closely but are blockier and have fewer rounded edges. They lack the flexibility that the originals have, of course, but they work. They're presentable but are clearly hand made.

Someone painstakingly cast these clips in resin and then drilled, carved and sanded them into a more rounded version of the originals' shape. They rely on a tension fit to hold the visors up, but the resin is brittle and I think they would probably break if used regularly.

These crudely fabricated aluminum clips were in my '62 when I bought it. They're not much to look at but they do the job.

A number of years ago someone in the Type 34 Registry had a quality reproduction made, but to get a set of them you had to be in the right place at the right time, and I wasn't. It's too bad a larger production run wasn't done. There are rumors of some investigation into a new high-quality repro. Hope it really happens.

Type 34 Ghia hood latch deflector

2010-07-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

There are a few parts that every Type 34 Ghia owner needs. Who couldn't use a pair of those visor clips that seem to have been designed to break the first time they were used? Or how about the plastic deflector that keeps the front hood safety catch from damaging the rubber seal? When's the last time you saw an original one? In my case that would be never.

Greg Skinner has taken it upon himself to reproduce the elusive deflector and he very generously brought a few to Bob Walton's pre-Classic BBQ for the Type 34 owners in attendance. Here is one of his repros, a faithful copy of the original part (341 823 491). I decided to test fit it to my Ghia.

One of the good things about having owned a number of old VWs over the past 30 years is that I've amassed a lot of hardware. I was able to find screws and washers that match the originals.

Here you can see how the deflector would protect the seal—if there was a seal there to protect.

Many thanks to Greg for addressing this very real need. We all owe you one.

Modifying a '63 rear brake drum for a '62

2010-07-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

It's only fitting, really, that one of the slowest Type 34 restorations ever should get one of the slowest brake jobs ever. That's what I get for trying to keep things correct for an early '62. Over the last few months I've been trying to locate the early parts I need without much luck. The unique early '62 brake parts are really hard to find, so you have to buy them when you see them even if you don't need them yet, because you eventually will. I've already found it's possible to modify a Type 1 oil slinger to work with a Type 3 drum. The drum itself was the next hurdle.

Over the VW Classic weekend I tried to track down an NOS or good used '62 rear drum without any luck. For a moment I thought I'd hit paydirt when I saw an early pinwheel drum in a box of NOS oval drums, but alas it turned out to be an NOS early front. I promptly scooped it up for future use.

Mmmmmm...Cosmoline.

A few other potential leads failed to pan out, so I decided it was time to drill a hole in the existing '63 drum on my Ghia to accommodate the oil slinger.

In this photo of my car's original beyond-tolerance doorstop you can see said hole at just after 12 o'clock. If you look closely you'll see there's a slight depression in the casting below the hole to allow clearance for the oil slinger tube.

Fortunately the '63 drum's casting also includes this depression, helpfully indicating the drilling location and saving me some time with a Dremel tool. After measuring carefully I drilled a pilot hole and then the final 8mm (5/16 in.) hole.

Testing the fit with an original Type 3 slinger. It's good to go. After a little cleaning and painting today the left rear brakes will be ready for reassembly.

Rarest of the rarest of the rare?

2010-06-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

It was good meeting Aaron Britcher over the VW Classic weekend after years of long distance correspondence. He made his way over from Oz along with a contingent of mad VW freaks who all seemed to be having a great time visiting the Southern California VW scene. Aaron is the owner of the world's fastest VW 1500 panel van, among other VWs, and he has a great collection of Type 3 rarities with an emphasis on performance parts. With his eye always open for the rare and the unusual, it's no wonder he came across something at ISP West so obscure that no one would have even imagined its existence, let alone known to look for it.

A 1962 1500 badge that had escaped the final die stamping that would have released it from the sheet, seen here with a finished badge for comparison. I guess it goes without saying that it's NOS. Somewhat analogous to a mis-struck coin, this is definitely one for the collector who has everything.

2010 VW Classic Weekend

2010-06-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

As usual I got my first proper sunburn of the summer at last weekend's VW Classic. I hit as many events as possible this year, starting with Gizmo Bob Walton's BBQ on Thursday, followed on Saturday by OCTO, Ed Economy's Toy and Literature Show, ISP West's open house, the Type 34 Registry dinner, and the VW Classic itself on Sunday. Kind of a marathon, but well worth it. It was good catching up with the everyone and to get to meet Adam Barrett, Aaron Britcher, Eric Farnsworth, and a bunch of Samba regulars.

Bob was kind enough to let me drive his Hot VWs-featured '62 notch to the events on Saturday, and the first stop was OCTO. It was my first OCTO and it didn't disappoint. Here are Gerson's freshly stamped Type 3 pans at the swap:

After a swing through the toy and literature show it was off to ISP for their open house, always one of the best Type 3 events of the year. Here's Eric Colla's low-mile '62, which he drove down from the Bay Area for the weekend:

Everything's as it should be for an early '62, including the plastic carb linkage and the rubber boot for the accelerator cable. Awesome. You just never see these parts on an engine anymore, let alone one that's driven 1000 miles in a weekend.

Eric Farnsworth drove his nice 1500S down from the central coast:

Then it was on to the Type 34 dinner in Irvine, which had a record-setting attendance of 26 if I'm not mistaken.

On Sunday I headed down to the Classic a little later than I had hoped and got stuck in the long entrance lineup for over an hour. I got through the gates at a little after 8 and tracked down the 1500 Club, and then headed over to the swap where Larry Edson was selling a Vanagon load of Type 34 parts from Tim Dapper's 30-year collection. It was a lucky day for any Type 34 owner who stumbled onto Larry's swap space. I scored a few good parts at the swap and picked up a set of pans from Gerson.

1500 Club lineup at the Classic:

Gary Stell's first-place Nutria 1500S — nicely overrestored and impossibly clean:

Pedro Sainz's 1500S took third in the notchback class.

Deena Reese's low-mile '65 Square won first in class and, unbeknownst to most of us until the deed was done, she sold it to collector extraordinaire Mike Malamut. Nice to know it went to a good home.

Tom Reay and Roger Marcks won first and second place for their Type 34s, respectively — or did they tie for first?

A clean '67 Type 34:

Oscar Guevara's '62 notch with fresh new salt & pepper interior, apparently finished only hours before the Classic:

Oscar's is the first interior finished with the new repro salt & pepper cloth.

The nicest coachbuilt at the Classic had to be Mark Merrill's beautiful '57 Rometsch:

And in the bizarro department there was Randy Carlson's ratrod Tatra T600...

...and a Renault R8 Gordini clone with a racing history and (now) with all-VW running gear. Crazy.

It was a great weekend. Good to see everyone again and meet some old friends for the first time. Many thanks to the 1500 Club — especially Jack and Bob for all the great food — and to Bob and ISP for hosting their pre-Classic BBQs. And Bob, thanks again for letting me drive your notch on Saturday! I just wish I had taken more and better pictures.

It's a good time to be restoring a VW 1500

2010-05-16T15:26:00.000-07:00

The past few years have seen a marked increase in the availablity of reproduction parts for VW 1500s and 1600s. ISP West has lead the way, reproducing a number of obsolete Type 3 parts over the last ten+ years, and they've been joined by the now-defunct PoP of Thailand (Simon Kelley has begun to pick up where PoP left off), Rudiger Huber, BerT3 and others, including my own self. But in the last year things have really picked up.

The latest news is that the original "salt & pepper" wool cloth used from 1961–63 is now available for purchase from Gizmo Bob Walton. The possibility of reproducing this cloth has been talked about for many years, and it's amazing that it's finally here. I dropped in on Bob yesterday and saw one of several giant rolls. It looks fantastic.

Equally exciting news: new right and left side floorpan halves for Type 3s are now available from KlassicFab. Almost all Type 3s need to have some part of the floor pan patched, most commonly the area under the battery, but many are in need of full pan replacement. The availability of quality pan stampings will make it possible to save many cars that would probably have otherwise been parted out or gone to the crusher. Gerson of KlassicFab says he'll be at the VW Classic next month with ten pairs, and I plan to buy a set there.

A long-requested accessory now available from Neil Mast is a high-quality VDO Type 3 tachometer reproduction. Repro Type 3 tachs have been available from Bill & Steve's and Tacho Thomas in the past (and Tim Dapper made a Type 34 version), but they have followed the Gossen tach style in which the needle is positioned under the center escutcheon. Neil's new tach is faithful to the original VDO design and matches the other Type gauges perfectly. ISP West is also finishing up their Type 3 tach repro, which follows the Gossen style and also looks great.

And with any luck, BerT3's repro wraparound dash pads will be available soon too.

Quality control, part 2

2010-05-09T21:11:00.000-07:00

Over the past two months I've been testing my water slide decals in harsh conditions to see how they hold up and if wax or a clear coat will provide added durability. I applied three decals to an old glovebox lid, giving one a clear coat of enamel, another several coats of wax, and the third left untreated as a control. I subjected them to weeks of full sun—at times over 80°F—and to damp 45°F nights. I dipped them in water regularly to simulate the effects of normal washing. I simulated daily wear and tear by rubbing the surface. The decals showed no ill effects after a few weeks of this treatment, so I decided it was time to pull off the gloves and give them the Extreme Humidity Test. I sealed them in an airtight bag with a few ounces of water and left them in the hot sun for a week. Here's the result:

None of the three test decals fared very well, but then neither did the original paint on the glovebox lid or the original 40-year-old decals on the other side. The glovebox itself started rusting very quickly and the paint began to bubble. Needless to say, if your car was stored in similar steambath conditions flaking decals would be the least of your worries. It's worth noting that the wax didn't provide any protection at all, but the clear coat did help a bit.

Clear coat (left) and wax:

The original Karmann decals began to bubble and loosen too. There was no rust on the glovebox prior to the humidity test.

In the end, I think these tests show that the decals themselves are as durable as Karmann's originals, which is to say that they're vulnerable to damage from unusual dampness and abrasion but should be fine in normal conditions. A clear coat does seem to provide an extra measure of durability and protection from normal humidity, but if you happen to live in a rainforest all bets are off.

If you purchased decals from me and have experienced any unusual problems please let me know and I will be happy to provide replacements.

Modifying a Type 1 oil slinger for an early Type 3

2010-05-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in a previous post, 1962 Type 3 rear brakes are different than those on later models. One of the most obvious differences is the presence of an oil slinger on each drum, which uses centrifugal force to direct any gear oil that gets past the axle seal away from the brake shoes and to the outside of the drum. The Type 3 slinger (part number 311 501 631) is a unique one-year-only part only used up to chassis number 0 076 299. Many have been discarded over the years during service, so if you're in need of one, as I am, you're in for a search.

After looking for awhile and following a few leads to dead ends I decided to try another approach. Jason Weigel suggested I try modifying a Type 1 or Type 2 part to fit. Yes, 1950s beetles and buses also had oil slingers, and they're easy to find due to much higher production numbers, so I was able to buy a pair of Type 1 oil slingers advertised on The Samba for a reasonable price. Here is one of them (left) next to a Type 3 slinger from my car (right):

As you can see, the Type 1 slinger is considerably flatter. The Type 3 tube is also slightly longer. I stuffed the inside of the tube with a few pieces of wire to keep it from getting crimped closed and then carefully re-bent it to match the Type 3 part using a vice and a pair of metalworking pliers. The steel was more malleable than I expected.

The idea was to get the tube to correspond as closely as possible to the inside surface of the brake drum, as did the original Type 3 part, allowing clearance for the brake shoes and wheel cylinder. The slightly shorter tube length turned out not to be a problem.

Couldn't hear any rubbing with the drum back in place, so I think it will work. I'll still try to find another real Type 3 slinger but this will get me by for now. Next step: pulling everything apart again to redo the brakes themselves.

New again

2010-04-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

I picked up the restored speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, and radio grille from North Hollywood Speedometer today. Nice job Patrick, thanks! My Ghia is not worthy.

NOS SWF wiper blades

2010-04-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

To go along with these.

Best $60 I've ever spent

2010-03-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

I have always dreaded brake work on older aircooled VWs because of the hassle of dealing with the rear axle nuts. Getting the nuts loose involved a breaker bar, a good length of cheater pipe and some colorful language. Getting them tight again was something I was never able to master with hand tools, so I would do the best I could and then limp over to a local shop to have them torque the nuts to spec. I can't believe it's taken me this long to finally buy a torque multiplying tool to do the job. This tool, popularly known as the Torque Meister or Torque Dude, multiplies the torque nine times, allowing the high-torque axle nuts and flywheel gland nut to be removed and installed with simple hand tools and minimal effort.

Once I got the left rear drum off I found a hardened sludgy film on everything. I knew there was a brake fluid leak, but a lot of gear oil has been leaking over time too. The previous owner had the original rear drum replaced with a later style drum without an oil slinger (311 501 615 D), but the bearing housing and all the other internal parts are still the original '62 Type 1 parts, so the gear oil that would have been directed to the outside of the drum had the slinger been installed was instead just spun around onto the brakes. Nice. At least rust has been kept to a minimum.

Here's the source of the brake fluid leak. One of the nice things about 1962 model VW 1500s is that the rear wheel cylinders are the same as Type 1 front cylinders from the same time period (113 611 057 B), so they're easy to find. I was able to buy new OEM German cylinders from ISP West at a reasonable price. ISP also had the oil slinger I needed, used, but when it arrived I was disappointed to find that it was damaged—the drain tube is crimped flat. ISP noted the damage on the invoice and offered the take it back if I can't get it straightened, and that's a possibility. It'll be hard to get the tube straightened without causing collateral damage elsewhere. I'm going to see if I can find a better one first.

I still have the Ghia's original '62 left rear drum, part number 311 501 615, but the friction surface was heavily scored and very rusty. I had a local shop turn it to clean up the braking surface but the inner diameter is now about .5mm beyond the wear limit. This drum is toast. I'm going to have to locate a good used one somewhere, or have the later one that's on the car drilled for the oil slinger.

Quality control

2010-03-13T17:54:00.000-08:00

I've ordered a lot of parts and some tools I need to get the Ghia on the road again. While I'm waiting for them to arrive, I thought I would do some durability tests on the water slide decals I had printed a few years ago.

Andy Holmes reported recently that the edges of his Ghia's decals began to flake, so I sent him a set of replacements. I don't know what the cause was—humidity? rapid temperature changes of the metal surfaces they were applied to? offgassing from recently applied paint? or some combination thereof?—but water decals are fragile in the best of circumstances, and I want to test a few ways of making them more durable.

Using a glovebox lid with original paint as a test board, I have applied three air cleaner decals. The one on the left was masked and coated with clear enamel (two mist coats and a heavier final coat with drying time between), the one in the center was given three coats of pure non-abrasive carnauba wax, and the one on the right was left untreated as a control. I'll be subjecting them to all manner of heat, cold, humidity, and abrasion over the next few weeks. I'll let you know what I learn.

VW 1500 replacement wiper arms

2010-02-24T22:22:00.000-08:00

Not long ago I bought a pair of NOS SWF Type 3 wiper arms. They have the part number 311 955 407A, and they'll fit 1967 and earlier Type 3s. They're not the wipers my Ghia would have come with originally, though, but rather a later part that replaced the earliest design. The original 1961–66 wiper arms, part number 311 955 407, looked like this:

[image pilfered from thesamba.com]

The arms that replaced them have a slightly different appearance:

As far as I can tell, the 311 955 407A arms were introduced in the 1966 model year, superseding the earlier arms as replacement parts. I'm not sure what the functional difference is between these and the earlier arms; they both have the same poor design for clamping the arm to the wiper shaft: a small set screw that fights in vain to hold the wiper arm to the shaft against substantial torque. Working against the laws of physics, they would commonly strip themselves loose, especially if someone tried to run the wipers when they were frozen in place in sub-zero cold. The wiper shafts would get scored and galled to the point that the set screw could no long hold them in place securely.

In 1968 VW enlarged the wiper shafts from 5mm to 8mm, but this didn't solve the fundamental problem. Sometime in 1968–69 VW introduced a redesigned shaft/arm connection in which the arm was clamped around the shaft instead of being held by a set screw—a huge improvement. Wiper arms featuring this new clamp design were offered for earlier cars with 5mm wiper shafts too, as a "factory cure" for problematic early wipers. These clamping replacement arms were what my Ghia was fitted with when I bought it. They're fairly scarce—I guess the majority of early Type 3 owners just muddled through with their original wipers. Here are the two types of replacement arms side-by-side:

In 1970 VW finally solved the problem properly when splined wiper shafts and arms were introduced.

When I restore my Ghia I'll probably end up keeping the clamping arms it had when I bought it. They're fairly rare parts, and even though they aren't what the car was fitted with when new they were made to fit early 1500s and they're a big improvement on the original design. They're correct, if not actually "correct."

[Thanks to Russ Wolfe for his help in sorting out the complicated Type 3 wiper story.]

Rear suspension cleanup, part 2

2010-02-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

I got to the left rear suspension today. There was evidence of a substantial brake fluid leak, so I'll need to do a complete brake once-over before the Ghia sees the road again. The left rear drum is missing its oil thrower, so I should start tracking one of those down while I'm at it. It's a Type 3–specific part that was only used until chassis number 0 076 299, a month or two into the 1963 model year, so I'll have a search on my hands. It's probably time for me to buy one of those Torque Meister tools (a.k.a. Torque Dude), so I can get the axle nuts on and off without breaking a breaker bar.

I cleaned up the wheel and found the April 1962 date code. I have all five of the original wheels, but I also have a set of NOS early Type 3 wheels that I'll probably end up using instead. The NOS wheels are the 1961–63 slotted style but are later replacement parts, so they have the extra safety bump on the rim that allows the safe use of tubeless tires.

Rear suspension cleanup, part 1

2010-01-31T18:07:00.000-08:00

I spent some quality time under the Ghia today, cleaning and painting the right rear suspension area. There was a lot of surface rust that I wanted to address. It was over two years ago that I cleaned off years worth of grease that had built up, and rust began forming very quickly after that.

Early Type 3 swirl brake drums. I kept the wheel mounting surface free of paint—I never want to see one of my wheels passing me by when I'm driving down the freeway.

Here's a good shot of one of the early rear Type 3 axles, which featured stamped steel lower shock mounts welded directly to the axle tubes. Early in the 1963 model year these were replaced by redesigned axle tubes with separate forged shock mounts. Another example of early Type 3 weirdness.

With the wheel removed there was a clear view of the transmission serial number, 35694, which is consistent with a build date of March/April 1962. With this number there's no doubt it's the original trans.

When the car is completely restored the paint will be redone properly, but this will get me by until then. Next weekend the left side gets the same treatment.

Engine reassembled

2010-01-24T18:18:00.000-08:00

Today I finally finished reassembling the engine. It took awhile for me to track down all the parts, which for some reason I had stored in a number of different places. The last time I was at this point was the summer of 2007.

The last time I assembled the engine I had a really hard time getting the flanges to line up where the intake manifold's heat riser connects to the tube from the muffler. This time I put some effort into bending and rotating the muffler tube so that its flange would line up better, and I got the bolts started at this connection first before securing it elsewhere, which made it a lot easier to get the manifold in. Hopefully this will put less strain on the manifold when the engine is running—broken welds between the heat riser and intake tube are common on these manifolds, probably due to bad flange alignment.

Along with the intake manifold there are some other new parts that I didn't have for the last assembly, including NOS heater ducts (above), and the correct air cleaner intake boot and a quick-release clamp. I also used one of these cool looking old stock carb-to-manifold gaskets that I got from BerT3 (below). No one will be able to see it, but I like knowing it's in there.

Once I've cleaned and painted the rear suspension the engine can go back in.

Gauges sent out for restoration

2010-01-18T16:01:00.000-08:00

I took the gauges to North Hollywood Speedometer today. They tested the tach and it's in good working order, so it only needs cosmetics. They're going to make a new glass for it to replace the cracked original—either CNC etched or silkscreened scale and VDO logo—and will replace the late silver-finish escutcheons with early brass parts from donor gauges. The speedometer needs calibration but otherwise tested o.k., and it will get a cosmetic restoration along with the fuel gauge and speaker grille. I'm going to hold off on having the clock restored for now because North Hollywood Speedometer doesn't repair old Kienzle clock works, they replace them with modern quartz movements instead. I'd rather see if I can get the original clock working again myself. I'm not planning on installing it anyway since I have the tach, but I would eventually like to have it restored and ready to go.

When I was there one of the guys showed me a work in progress, a beautiful reproduction VDO Type 3 tach built from a clock housing. It didn't have any graphics on it yet but the needle and other details looked perfect. I told them it was probably being built for someone I know—so who is it?

The fabrication work on the tach will take longer than their usual turnaround, but they say I should have everything back in a month or two.

New year's resolution

2010-01-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

I've decided to try something slightly different with the blog this year, something that I hope will help motivate me to make more progress on my own 1500 Ghia's restoration. I'm only going to post when I've actually accomplished something on the car. This means there might be more variation in activity depending on how much progress I'm making—more frequent posts if all is going well, and less frequent if nothing's happening.

This weekend's nice weather gave me a good opportunity to dig the Ghia out from all the junk that has collected in the garage and get the area cleaned up so I can get back to work. I cleared out all the spiderwebs and dust and whatnot from under the car, and wiped everything down. I was disappointed to see more surface rust on some of the hardware than I would have expected from a year or two of sitting, but it's nothing that can't easily be dealt with. Just a good reminder that a car that doesn't get driven is still subject to the forces of entropy. The rear axles and suspension in particular are in need of some attention. I had cleaned off years of grease and road dirt in 2007, but of course that's what had been keeping the rust to a minimum, so I gotta get some new paint on there.

I uncovered the engine too and gave it a once over. The NOS intake manifold got a final sanding and several more coats of matte gray hi-temp paint, and now it's ready to be installed. I just have to find the gaskets. They're around here somewhere.

Finally, I removed all the gauges so I can take them to North Hollywood Speedometer for a restoration quote. I'm bracing myself for the shock.

1500 Ghia featured in Gute Fahrt magazine, January 1962

2010-01-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

The VW 1500 Karmann-Ghia made the cover of Gute Fahrt magazine in January 1962. Note the funky retouching on the cover photo—the steering wheel is hilarious. I think the driver of the car must have been removed from the image.

A one-page feature article inside offers a lot of praise for the Ghia, its unusual luggage accommodations in particular, and attributes the car's sporty handling to its low center of gravity. In yet another take on the clock/tach/speaker conundrum, the article says there's a place in the dash for a tach just to the left of the glove box, but it would be better to put it in the clock's position for visibility. I guess this tells us that the test car didn't have a radio and the purpose of the speaker grille wasn't clear. The one criticism is that the fog lights are too high to really be effective. It says the convertible version would probably be available to the public in the spring. If only!

1961 VW 1500 Cabriolet factory photo

2009-12-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Have a great holiday and new year!

2009-12-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

[from the February 1968 issue of Gute Fahrt magazine]

VW+VW1500 gift guide

2009-12-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

Though it's not very widely known, the small appliance manufacturer Braun offered a few auto accessories in the 1960s. Their T 510/580 portable radios, introduced in 1962, were available with an under-dash slide-in mount that allowed you to use your radio in the car and also take it with you, like the Blaupunkt Derby and similar radios from other manufacturers. What Braun offered that the others didn't was the international-style aesthetic of industrial designer Dieter Rams. Rams has a cult following among design fans and his work for Braun in the '60s is thought to be the inspiration for much of Apple's award-winning product design of the last few years. He's currently the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Design Museum in London. These radios come up for sale occasionally but the under-dash mounts would have to be among the rarest of the rare of auto accessories.

Braun also offered an automotive version of the famous Reinhold Weiss desk fan. The design was also licensed to VDO, so there are both Braun and VDO branded versions out there. One of these would be right at home in an early VW 1500.

VW+VW1500 gift guide

2009-12-18T22:41:00.001-08:00

In addition to VDO and Gossen, Weigand also made 85mm tachs that fit in the VW 1500 dash. The 7000 rpm Weigand tach pictured in this 1969 ad is similar to one that's advertised for sale on The Samba right now.

VW+VW1500 gift guide

2009-12-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

Kamei offered lots of practical and functional kitsch for the VW 1500 including accelerator pedal covers and parcel trays.

According to the ad, the pedal cover keeps the accelerator mechanism clean, protects the floor mat and tunnel from wear, relaxes the foot muscles and promotes good circulation. It also makes your accelerator pedal look like it's melting!

VW+VW1500 gift guide

2009-12-12T10:26:00.001-08:00

The Petri/VDM model 355 steering wheel, aka the "coach" or "carriage" wheel, was available for the VW 1500 beginning in 1965 and was a popular upgrade. Here's an early ad:

This ad from 1969 lists a different version for Karmann-Ghias after 1967:

VW+VW1500 gift guide

2009-12-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

A Hirschmann auto antenna to go along with your new radio.

VW+VW1500 gift guide

2009-12-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

Jokon accessory reverse lights, including the VW 1500 version.

Sergio Sartorelli, 1928–2009

2009-11-29T22:18:00.000-08:00

Sad news came in today from Italy: Sergio Sartorelli, the man responsible for the design of the VW 1500 Karmann-Ghia, died yesterday at the age of 81.

Sartorelli joined Carrozzeria Ghia in 1956 and within a year he became the head of styling for the prototyping department, a position he held until 1963. In that time he designed and supervised the design of dozens of automotive projects. His work on the 1500 Ghia began in early 1959 and continued through 1960. Though the 1500 Ghia was designed with collaborative assistance from young American stylist Tom Tjaarda, there's no question that it was almost entirely Sartorelli's design.

Sartorelli's original 1500 Ghia prototype [photo: Larry Edson]

After Ghia he went on to work with Centro Stile OSI (a styling, prototyping, and production facility originally affiliated with Ghia) and later with Fiat. In addition to the 1500 Ghia his most celebrated designs include the Fiat 2300S Coupe, the Ghia 1500 GT Coupe, and the Ford/OSI Taunus 12M TS.

Sartorelli (second from right) with the OSI design team in the mid-1960s

Just over a year ago the Karmann Ghia Club Italia honored Sartorelli at a club meeting in Turin. At the event Sartorelli reminisced about his career and the development of the 1500 Ghia, and he was able to connect directly with a group of people who are highly appreciative his life's work. I hope he knew that group was also representative of a larger worldwide community that thanks him for his unique creative vision every day.

Sartorelli with a 1500 Ghia at the Karmann Ghia Club Italia event in October 2008. [Images from the Karmann Ghia Club Italia]

More information on Sartorelli's work can be found here:
Karmann Ghia Club Italia
conceptcars.it
Karmann Komment, the magazine of the Karmann Ghia Owner's Club of Great Britain (pdf)
The Type 34 Registry

I seek the grail

2009-11-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to find an original VDO 6-volt tachometer for the Type 34 Ghia. I've been trying to track one down for years. It's a very rare original accessory part—I've only seen three of them in person in 22 years of looking, and I only know of a handful of others that exist. VDO Type 3 tachs are pretty common in comparison. It needs restoration but seems to be relatively sound. It doesn't appear to have been opened for repair in the past. Cosmetically, the biggest restoration challenge will be the cracked "glass."

It has a white needle and silver knob and escutcheon. That and the fact that it's 6-volt means it was intended for a late '65 or '66 Type 34. All Type 34 VDO tachs were 6000 RPM to my knowledge. I had never noticed before when looking at others that the scale is progressive—it expands at the higher RPMs.

The bevel in the back of the housing was to allow clearance for the windshield wiper armature.

It has a May 1967 date of manufacture on the back. The terminals are marked (from left to right): +12 (blank terminal), +6, 1, and -, where +6 goes to the fuse block, 1 goes to the corresponding terminal on the coil, and - goes to ground.

A VW technical bulletin with installation instructions for the Type 3 VDO tach is available here. Conventional Type 34 wisdom says that when a tach is installed in the clock's location the clock is then supposed to replace the in-dash speaker, but these instructions offer a slightly different take on this idea:

The installation and wiring of the rev. counter on the 1500 Karmann-Ghia takes place in the same manner. On this vehicle it is also possible to fit the clock in place of the insert for the loud speaker opening if a radio is not included.
[emphasis mine]

So, at least in VW's view, with a tach installed you could have a clock or a radio but not both. In practice of course the solution is simply to relocate the speaker elsewhere.

When I have this tach restored for my car I will substitute an earlier brass center knob and escutcheon to match the other gauges. Red needle too, of course. I'll keep the original silver parts so it will be possible to revert to the '65/'66 style in the future. Interestingly, the center knob is plated plastic, unlike the early knobs which are solid polished brass. (Were all silver colored gauge knobs plastic? A late-model Type 34 owner would know.) It appears that the knob and escutcheon aren't unique to the tach, but seem to be parts that are shared with the other gauges. That will help.

More information on Type 3 and Type 34 tachometers is available here and here and here.

Unwrapping an NOS Blaupunkt Type 34 speaker

2009-11-25T15:35:00.001-08:00

Seeing the light of day for the first time in over 40 years.

Is it just me or does it look like it's smiling? The foam seal that goes between the speaker and the grille has begun to decompose, but everything else looks o.k.

The French Connection

2009-11-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

A nice VW 1500 illustration on a package of Serflex clamps.

[image borrowed from an eBay auction]

We advertise the VW 1500

2009-11-14T13:42:00.000-08:00

Johannes Krasenbrink, owner of a few very early VW 1500s including probably the nicest low-mileage '62 1500 Ghia on earth, sent me these photos of an amazing 1961 dealer information brochure. Titled Wir werben für den VW 1500 (We advertise the VW 1500), it shows all the different components of the Volkswagen + VW 1500 advertising campaign that could be ordered by the dealers.

It includes a few of the campaign pieces I've been able to find, including an advertising stamp (21) and a postage meter ad (23).

If I was able to read the dimensions I could have some facsimile wheat paste posters made at their original size. I'd love to see the rest of this rare brochure!

Wirtschaftswunder

2009-11-07T13:22:00.000-08:00

This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which has me thinking about where and when the VW 1500 Karmann-Ghia got its start and about its historical significance.

The are many different reasons that people are drawn to the 1500 Ghia. Some appreciate it for its relative rarity. Others see in it an opportunity to own an affordable and reliable coachbuilt classic. Some just like the unique lines. For me it's all of the above, but I'm also interested in what the Ghia meant in its historical context. In a symbolic way, its design is an interesting automotive example of the so-called "German economic miracle," or Wirtschaftswunder.

["People's Dream Car," Hobby magazine, December 1961]

Nearly fifty years on it's easy to lose sight of the context in which the 1500 Ghia was developed. Germany was still a recently defeated, divided country that was the front line of the Cold War, and tensions between East and West were very high, the two Germanys representing the geopolitical conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union by proxy. While the new VW 1500s were being unveiled in Frankfurt in late 1961 the Berlin Wall was literally under construction. It was a tense and dangerous time for the world.

[East German workers building the Berlin Wall, November 1961. From Wikipedia Commons.]

Against this backdrop of competing political ideologies, a related competition between economic theories was playing out. The Wirtschaftswunder was the rapid economic recovery that West Germany experienced after the war, the result of both U.S. economic aid under the Marshall Plan and the revaluation of its currency. By the late 1950s, just over ten years after the widespread destruction and defeat of the war, West Germany was experiencing a surprising prosperity. While East Germany, under Soviet influence, attempted to separate itself from the horror and shame of its recent past through the creation of a socialist society, the West chose a kind of amnesia through all-out consumerism. A growing middle class found itself with money to spend and suddenly there were a lot of things to spend it on—fully stocked supermarkets, consumer electronics, modern furniture, and of course a wide selection of automobiles.

[A spotlessly modern VW/Porsche showroom in Karlsruhe with mid-century American furniture and abstract expressionist art, from VW Informationen no. 50, 1960]

It was into this cultural environment that the VW 1500s were introduced. Basic transportation—the immediate postwar need that the Beetle and other small cars addressed so effectively—was no longer sufficient. There was consumer interest in larger, more comfortable, more style-conscious cars, with design that pointed optimistically toward a bright, modern future and away from the horrific past and the potentially apocalyptic present. The original Karmann-Ghia is an early example of this tendency, but the larger, more luxurious 1500 Ghia, with its flamboyant, American-influenced styling, was an even more pointed rejection of both the past and the East. The fact that it was also a Volkswagen, with the attendant connotations of everyday transportation for all, underscores the point with a touch of irony. This was a different kind of "people's car" for a newly confident, wealthier, and more materialistic people.

Type 3 engine lid graphics

2009-11-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

As a followup to a recent discussion among Type 34 Ghia owners about how to reproduce the "auf/zu" graphics that appear on every Type 3 engine lid, I've created high resolution vector pdf artwork based on direct scans of an original 1963 lid that Everett Barnes supplied. This version of the graphics was used from 1963 until sometime after 1966, when the letters O and C were replaced by the words Open and Closed. The pdfs can be downloaded and used in a number of ways to recreate the graphics.

[Everett's engine lid scans]

The easiest way to do it would probably be to have a sign shop use their plotter to cut a graphic in black vinyl (matte black vinyl would probably look best). As a reference for position, the dashed line triangular shapes on the graphics correspond to the recesses for the handles, though placement was probably a little different on every car. The files are actual size. If you're not familiar with how to apply vinyl graphics your sign shop should be able to advise you. I would recommend dry application.

A sign shop could also make the graphic as a stencil that you could apply to the surface if you would rather use paint. Another suggestion was to have wood blocks laser cut and use them to block print the graphics with printing ink. I suppose rubber stamps could also be made and used the same way.

Click the images below to download the pdfs, and if you try using them to make graphics for your car please let me know how it goes.

In order to form a more perfect Notchback

2009-10-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

Jason Weigel (a.k.a. Notchboy) is embarking on a comprehensive detailing project on his low-mileage, all-original and already nearly perfect '63 sunroof Notchback. He started a video blog thread on thesamba.com so we can follow along on his progress.

You can follow the thread here.

VW 1500: der große Personenwagen

2009-10-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

Similar to another scale model that I wrote about a couple of years ago, this bus model carries an ad for the VW 1500. I'd like to think that ads like this were all over the streets in West Germany in the early '60s. Are models like this based on documentary photos of street scenes?

[image swiped from an eBay auction]

Factory-style key tags

2009-10-11T12:50:00.002-07:00

Jeff Grant (a.k.a. "Anchovy" on thesamba.com) has started offering these cool reproduction aluminum key tags stamped to order with your VIN for just $12.

When VWs were originally delivered the keys came with an identifying tag like this. Our '65 Squareback's keys still had their original tag—lucky for us, as most were discarded by the original owners. Though the tags became increasingly thin and more crudely stamped as the years went on, the '58 tag Jeff modeled his reproduction on was cut in a nicely rounded shape from heavy-gauge aluminum.

It's the perfect key fob for your set of original keys. Go here to order yours.

'41 Tatra joyride

2009-10-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Jonny Lieberman sent me a text message from the back seat of a Tatra T87. He had gone to a meeting of the local Citroen club and met Paul Greenstein, owner of many interesting and unusual cars including the T87, and he said I needed to drop everything and head over to Echo Park right away to see it. About 10 minutes later I was standing in front of Paul's immaculately restored 1941 Tatra, which recently returned to Los Angeles from the Czech Republic, where it was on display in the Tatra Museum. Incredible car—larger than you might think from photographs, the black teardrop coachwork with its central fin and three headlights suggesting some sort of art deco Batmobile from an alternate future. Paul asked if we wanted to go for a ride, and we were like...yeah!

Here's Jonny's cameraphone shot from the back seat as we made our way around the Silver Lake reservoir. The T87 felt right at home on the neighborhood's twisting 1920s hillside streets, the suspension surprisingly well-sprung and smooth for a nearly 70-year-old car. The rear-mounted aircooled V8 had a deep, throaty burble, not the VW-like clatter that I would have expected. Probably the most remarkable thing about the drive was that nobody on the street seemed to give the car a second look. No double-takes for a Tatra? Are we Angelenos really that jaded? Apparently so.

You can read the full story of Paul's T87 on Mike Bumbeck's great site Clunkbucket.

Thanks Paul and Jonny!

Car and Driver on the VW 1500 gray market

2009-10-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

How did so many VW Type 3s find their way to the United States before the VW 1600s were officially introduced to the American market in the fall of 1965? Conventional wisdom says that the cars were brought over individually from Germany by servicemen and tourists, or brought over the border from Canada, where the 1500s were available from their introduction in 1961. While there's no doubt that many 1500s found their way here through those channels, there was also a more formalized gray market supplying 1500s to the U.S. market in the early '60s. There were companies that acted as semi-official importers, supplying dealers with nearly new "used" Type 3s outfitted with sealed-beam headlights, MPH speedometers, etc. This allowed even authorized VW dealers to sell Type 3s years before they were officially imported (as seen here and here). VWoA tolerated the gray market, though when speaking on the record they were against it.

This great article from the April 1964 issue of Car and Driver on VW's reasons for not bringing the VW 1500 to the American market explains how these gray market importers brought VW 1500s into the U.S., including how they set up special "Americanizing" factories in Germany just to prepare 1500s for export. The article posits that VW didn't interfere with the gray market because it was actually a profitable way to sell more cars here indirectly without upsetting the official balance of trade between Germany and the U.S. If VW had increased its export volume by expanding its range of models in the U.S. it could potentially have lead to trade sanctions—after all, a trade dispute between Germany and the U.S. just a few years earlier resulted in the U.S. government slapping a retaliatory $257 tariff on all German trucks, including VWs. The gray market was actually a win/win/win for VW, the gray market importers, and American consumers.

Walter Henry Nelson's Small Wonder and the February 1964 issue of Mechanix Illustrated magazine are other good sources for information on the VW gray and black markets that were thriving in the early 1960s.

Coachbuilts at the 2009 Treffen

2009-09-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

Better late than never, here are some of the coachbuilts at the 2nd International Southern California Vintage VW Treffen last Sunday at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim, California. Some nice coachbuilt VWs and Porsches turned out, among them Jesse James' newly restored '50 convertible, a nice unrestored '52 Porsche convertible, a pair of '57 Rometsch Beeskows, and a '58 Binz double cab.

One of the highlights of the day was caravaning behind Ivan Pang's nice unrestored '53 sedan. Great to see such a well-preserved piece of history holding its own on the Los Angeles freeways.

New Type 3 floor pans

2009-09-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

After much discussion and debate it looks like Gerson of Klassic Fab is getting started on making dies for reproduction Type 3 floor pans. They should be available for purchase by the beginning of next year—$500 + shipping for a pair of complete pan halves. This is great news for Type 3 restorers. Until now our options have been to track down a donor pan or pan sections that are hopefully less rusty than what we already have, to adapt sections of Type 1 Karmann-Ghia pan sheet metal, or to use pan repair stampings of somewhat questionable quality that are sporadically available. Labor-intensive and/or costly endeavors all.

Gerson's shop hand-fabricated the pan half pictured above for his own notchback project.

Klassic Fab has become famous for producing high-quality sheet metal stampings for VW Buses. The quality and accuracy of their products are regarded as second to none. I'll be buying a set of these pan halves for the Ghia as soon as they're ready. If we're lucky these will be the first of many Type 3 stampings to come from Klassic Fab.

Read the Samba forums discussion of reproduction Type 3 pans here, and Greg Skinner's impassioned Type 3 Floor Pan Manifesto here.

VW 1500s I have known, part 3

2009-09-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

In the early 1990s, after a few years of owning my first 1500 Ghia, I was becoming increasingly aware of that car's shortcomings. At the same time I began developing an interest in the earliest 1500 Ghias — the 1962 models, with their unique badging, cat-eye mirrors and other one-year-only quirks. It was around then that an early Ghia from Santa Barbara, California began showing up at Type 34 Registry events. It was the first '62 that many Registry members had seen up close, and it provided a crash course in early 1500 Ghia for us all.

Here's a photo from a Registry cruise along the Southern California coast in 1990. That's me standing next my '63 looking back at this '62. Little did I know that I was actually looking into the future.

In 1994 the owner of the car decided it was time to sell, so I thought it would be worth taking a closer look. The car was a little rough around the edges and had apparently never been cleaned inside or out in the time she had it, but it had all the hard-to-find early parts. It had been in the U.S. since nearly new and in Santa Barbara since at least the mid-1970s. Sometime in the '70s a previous owner had unfortunately treated the car to the cheapest and ugliest Tijuana upholstery job ever, and had painted the exterior pale yellow but left the interior metal the original pacific blue. Funky, to say the least.

It had some rust in the usual spots and had been hit hard just behind the right door at one point. The repair was presentable but would have to be redone properly. The car looked straight, though, and seemed fundamentally solid and true in a way that my '63 didn't. The front brakes had been replaced with later disks — a common solution to the scarcity of early brake parts — but luckily the owner had kept all the original parts. It had its original engine and transmission and it ran and drove well, and she had kept detailed service records in the 13 years she owned it. I made an offer that was probably a little too high but would be considered a steal today, and she accepted it. A week later I caught a ride up to Santa Barbara with a friend and drove the Ghia home solo without incident. It felt very solid and comfortable at 75 m.p.h. on the freeway.

Amazing the difference some minor repair and detailing can make.

I kept the car in storage in San Diego for a few years and then brought it up to Los Angeles in 1997 after we bought our house. It got occasional use in the late '90s, and it became my daily driver from 1999-2000 while I restored our Squareback, until the engine died. It then sat until 2006, when I decided to get started on the restoration with an engine teardown. The rest is documented in this blog.

Some shots from when it was briefly back on the road in 2007:

In the 15 years that I've owned the Ghia I've collected almost all the parts I'll need to restore it. All it really needs at this point is time and money. My plan is to get it mechanically sound and roadworthy again and then to shop around for body and paint. Plans are for a stock restoration with a few vintage performance-oriented accessories — nothing that couldn't have been installed by the original owner within a few years of when the car was built. The car's original pacific blue color isn't for me, so it will be either black or anthracite (monochrome, not two-tone) with a red cloth interior.

No forecast yet of when the car will be finished. For me it's more about the journey than the destination, so I'm not in any hurry.

Tourist delivery ad, 1965

2009-08-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

This small ad from the travel section of a 1965 issue of Sunset magazine was of one of the ways the tourist delivery program was publicized. The ad was placed by Volkswagen Pacific, the West Coast regional VW distributor at the time. The tourist delivery program allowed buyers to take delivery of U.S.-spec 1500S Squarebacks in advance of the official introduction of the 1600 model by VW of America in late 1965.

Getting back to business

2009-08-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

When I decided to start getting my 1500 Ghia roadworthy again about three years ago – the first step in starting a proper restoration – I had no idea I would still be working on the engine rebuild at this point, but here I am. When I had to tear the engine down again to address a piston clearance problem in the summer of 2007, I decided to take care of a few things that I had neglected the first time around, among them clearing the intake manifold's blocked heat riser. I took the piston clearance problem that thwarted the initial rebuild as a sign, and this time I would do everything right. No shortcuts.

If you want to lose momentum on a restoration project this is the way to do it. Since the manifold is a one-year-only rarity finding a good unblocked one wasn't going to be easy, so I spent many hours that year trying everything I could to clear the blockage, about 12 inches of solid carbon buildup. I was nearly there when the wire rope I was using broke off inside, and there was no way to retrieve it short of cutting the manifold open. I then searched for another good used manifold and found one, also blocked but less severely, and not long after that, in early 2008, BerT3 contacted me offering an NOS manifold for sale. This is the way rare parts searches seem to unfold: just when you find an acceptable compromise something much better comes along, and you have no choice – you have to buy it.

Unfortunately all of my time in 2008 and the beginning of this year was consumed by my job and freelance work projects. I'm only just getting back to the Ghia now, and the first task, other than clearing all the junk out of the garage for work space, was refinishing the NOS manifold, which had too much shelf wear to use as is.

After an extensive wet sanding and many coats of Zynolyte Hi-Temp 0642 Machinery Gray it's ready to install.

VW 1500s in Auto-Universum, 1964

2009-08-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

A 1500N, a 1500S, and a 1500S Variant sunroof from the 1964 edition of Auto-Universum, a.k.a. International Auto Parade.

1500S Ghia in Wheels magazine, February 1965

2009-08-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

A 1500S Ghia made the cover of the February 1965 issue of Australia's Wheels magazine. The article inside claims that the featured car was the first 1500 Ghia to make its way to Oz.

From a blurb on the contents page:
"Unusual cars are two-a-penny in Australia these days, but we thought the Volkswagen 1500S Karmann-Ghia worth more than a passing glance. Ian Elliott's crisp cover catches all the glamour of this desirable personal car, with the Sydney Harbor Bridge as a background."

Thanks to Lee Hedges for the auction tip.

Rometsch sunroof coupe, Mechanix Illustrated magazine, December 1960

2009-07-31T11:33:00.000-07:00

One of only a handful of Rometsch Lawrence sunroof coupes ever built was pictured in the December 1960 issue of Mechanix Illustrated.

It's hard to be sure, but it appears to be a 1958 model.

Patrick Baptist of the Karmann-Ghia Lowlight Registry has recently taken it upon himself to compile a list of all remaining Lawrence coupes. From his research I've already been able to determine that the Lawrence coupe that I once considered buying still exists, probably somewhere in Japan. You can follow his progress here and here. I wonder if this sunroof coupe is still out there anywhere?

VW 1500S cutaway view

2009-07-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

This nice cutaway illustration of a 1500S appeared in the 1964 owner's manual.

1500 Ghia interior lights

2009-07-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

I got this used Hella interior light (343 947 111) from BerT3 recently. It's in nice shape with only the slightest indication of age. This part was used in all Type 34 Ghias except 1969 models, which for some reason got a one-year-only Type 34-specific light. '69 owners have some unique challenges.

Franck Boutier and Lee Hedges have found that Stoddard, a Porsche parts supplier, offers a very nice reproduction of this light for a reasonable price. Apparently it was also used in certain 356s.

My early VW 1500 parts book says that this same light, 343 947 111, was used in the trunk of the 1500 Ghia, but my later parts book calls for a Type 1 part, 151 947 111 A. My Ghia's apparently original trunk light doesn't have a switch, so they must have started using the Type 1 light earlier than the parts book indicates.

Ghia on the street, San Francisco, July 1967

2009-07-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of an early '60s Karmann-Ghia (polar blue?) parked on a Haight-Ashbury street in the summer of 1967, found in a box of old vacation slides from a thrift store. It was common practice at the time for tourists in San Francisco to go to the Haight and take pictures of this new and exotic tribe known as the hippies.

One of the subjects registers his disapproval with a one-finger salute.

NOS right side 1963 heater muffler

2009-07-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to BerT3 I now have the right side heater muffler I'd been searching for. This completes an NOS pair of these one-year-only mufflers. Looks like I have no excuses anymore, I need to get the engine completed and back into the Ghia.

Left and right are definitely not interchangeable!

VW 1500 at the Pacific National Exposition, Vancouver, c. 1964

2009-07-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

A VW 1500 S opens wide and says "aaaaahhh" at the Pacific National Exposition in Vancouver.

NOS Bosch accessory reverse light

2009-07-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

I found this Bosch reverse light at the VW Classic swap meet a few years ago.

It's not specific to the VW 1500 or even to VW, but it does have an interesting connection to the Type 34 Ghia: it's the same reverse light that's mounted on the VW 1600 Karmann-Ghia TC fastback prototype, which is on display at the Karmann Museum.

[photo borrowed from type34.org]

559 cerulean fabric is sold out

2009-07-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

My entire stock of 559 cerulean 1500 Ghia upholstery fabric has sold.

Innsbruck, Austria, June 1967

2009-07-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

A VW 1500 makes its way down an Innsbruck street in the summer of 1967.

Type 345 update

2009-06-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Rick Christensen and his son Alex, the new owners of the '68 Type 345 that I spotted in the neighborhood. Rick and Alex have already started in on getting it ready for next year's VW Classic. Rick's beautiful '66 Type 34 took first in its class at this year's VW Classic, and he might just have a lock on it again next year with this car. I'm glad it's going to a good home.

It turns out it is the same car I had remembered seeing about 15 years ago. The previous owner, Dean Naleway, is a super nice guy who bought the car in 1981 from the original owner and only put about 2,000 miles on it each year over the 28 years he owned it! Now that's the kind of previous owner you want your car to have had.

1500 Ghia tool rolls

2009-06-14T22:47:00.001-07:00

I decided to try making an original-style tool roll with the reproduction Type 34 fabric.

Highlights of VW Classic Weekend 09

2009-06-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

...from a Type 3 point of view of course.

Thanks to the 1500 Club, the Type 34 Registry, West Coast Classics, DKP and Nick's Burgers, ISP West, the VW Classic, and old and new friends for another great one.

Men without hats

2009-06-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

VW used the same sales brochure to promote the 1500 Karmann-Ghia from 1961–64, updating its written content and changing and/or retouching some images to keep things up to date. It's interesting to see what they thought needed to be updated (obvious improvements like the 1500S engine, of course, but some minor details too) and what they left alone. And it wasn't just the car that got updated: sometime in 1963 the owner lost his hat. Why would VW go to the trouble and expense of removing his hat of all things?

The first few years of 1500 Ghia production coincided with the time when custom no longer required men to wear hats. An old urban legend blamed/credited President John F. Kennedy for the decline in hat wearing, but it's more likely that he just helped to popularize a trend that had already started years before.

But if you're VW and you have cars to sell, you have a decision to make. At what point are the advantages of a hat (demonstrating headroom, implying sophistication and upward mobility) outweighed by the disadvantages (possibly appearing stodgy, old fashioned, and conservative)? Maybe Kennedy did have something to do with VW's decision after all -- he gave his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in June 1963.

1961–63 VW 1500 upholstery fabric

2009-05-31T18:01:00.000-07:00

Due to popular demand Bob Walton and I are getting started on a reproduction of the 1961–63 "salt and pepper" upholstery fabric. Like the 1500 Karmann-Ghia fabric, this will be a high-quality woven reproduction of the original cloth used in VW 1500 sedans and Variants in the first few years of production. It will take about 4 yards to reupholster the complete interior of a notchback with a rear seat armrest, or 3.5 yards for a notch without an armrest or a Variant.

[images borrowed from the 1500 Club website]

At this point we're trying to gauge interest. I've started a forum thread about the project on the samba, so if you're interested in buying some of this fabric please post in that thread.

To see original VW literature showing salt and pepper fabric go here.

Many thanks to Jason Weigel and Bob Walton for their advice and encouragement and to everyone who has already expressed interest.

There's a 345 in the neighborhood

2009-05-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles has a relatively high number of Type 3s and Type 34s, but it's still quite a surprise for me to see an unfamiliar one, especially within walking distance from home. This rare Type 345 sunroof 1600 Ghia is in the lot of a local repair shop. I'm not exactly sure what year it is -- the taillights say '67 but the steering column says '68. I remember meeting a local guy many years ago who had a white late model 345 with a red interior, and it's possible this is that car. It shows signs of neglect but looks straight, solid, and relatively complete. It's currently registered. The shop was closed, so I did my best to get some shots through the fence.

I'll see if I can speak to someone at the shop to see if I can find out who the owner is and if it might be for sale.

Thanks to Jonny Lieberman for the tip.

Whoever named the color "Pacific" had clearly never seen the Pacific

2009-05-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

Cathy and I took advantage of the nice weather and spent the weekend in San Diego, and since we were there we decided to make a pilgrimage to Jack Fisher's backyard, which has suddenly become Type 34 central. Jack is busy getting Gizmo Bob Walton's recently purchased Pacific blue '64 1500 Ghia back on the road, and he has also rescued a '64 of his own. Not long after I arrived with a Type 34 Blaupunkt radio faceplate for Bob's car Bob himself showed up with lots of parts straight from the chrome shop.

Bob's chrome guy does some nice work! The early "pointy" alloy bumper guards came out great, and a rearview mirror arm that was heavily oxidized now looks as good as new. He's good at holding fine detail too — check out the sharp stamping on that Hella headlight ring.

Bob's car is starting to come together and it's cleaning up nicely. Jack even found mint original squareweave carpet and rubber floor mats under a previous owner's improvised carpet installation. Along with all the brightwork and a lot of other restoration parts, Bob also brought the rebuilt longblock. When Pedro Sainz arrived with a freshly powdercoated air cleaner it was practically a meeting of the Southern California chapter of the 1500 Club.

Pedro and Bob demonstrate the proper use of a hammer:

Lots more work will go into Bob's Ghia in the next few weeks in preparation for the VW Classic on June 14th. Looking forward to seeing it finished and back on the road!

Ferrari 250 GT

2009-05-14T22:09:00.001-07:00

I think it's safe to say that the designers of the VW 1500 were familiar with the Ferrari 250 GT.

Most obviously seen in the taillight design, but in lots of other details too. John von Neumann of Competition Motors Hollywood fame had a hand in the development of the 250 GT California in the late '50s. Coincidence?

And the Abarth exhaust on Freddy's 1500S takes the similarity one step further.

[images borrowed from qv500.com and Freddy's VW1500s blog]

Blaupunkt speaker jacks

2009-05-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

A number of people have asked where they can find Blaupunkt speaker connectors recently. While Blaupunkt's own dual plugs are hard to find, the good news is that the individual connectors themselves are a standard item that is available from any electronics supply source. Known as the "banana plug" or "banana connector" (in German, bananenstecker), this standard audio jack system was designed by Richard Hirschmann in 1924. He was the founder of the Hirschmann company that has for many years been a primary producer of audio antennas for VWs and other cars.

Blaupunkt's version of the the banana connector was a closely spaced dual plug (12mm or 15/32 in. on center), as seen here on an old Blaupunkt speaker I salvaged from a junkyard Squareback.

Modern dual banana plugs are available, but they all seem to be more widely spaced than the Blaupunkt plugs. The 12mm spacing may have been Blaupunkt's proprietary version of the connector. Single banana plugs work just as well as long as their insulators are small enough in diameter to fit within the Blaupunkt jacks' 12mm spacing.

Banana plugs: you can't enjoy Suprakustik® sound without them.

564 silver fabric is sold out

2009-05-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

All 35 yards of the reproduction 564 silver 1500 Ghia upholstery fabric have sold! I still have a few yards of 554 (red) and 559 (cerulean) in stock.

VW 1500 Convertible brochure, 1961

2009-04-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting to post until something blogworthy presented itself. Fortunately this brochure just arrived in the mail.

Sadly the VW 1500 Convertible — aka Cabriolet, aka Type 351 — never made it into production, but lucky for us the brochure did.

Hollywood Freeway, 1962

2009-04-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

A postcard showing the Hollywood Freeway looking north toward Hollywood from the Rosemont Avenue overpass, just north of downtown Los Angeles, on a nice day in 1962. The location is very close to where I live and it looks almost the same today except for the cars. There are a few European imports mixed in with all the American cars — a Volvo P444, an Alfa Giulietta Spider, a Mercedes Ponton and a VW 1200 – and a couple of Detroit compacts – the Big Three's attempt to reckon with the success of the foreign newcomers – but not a Japanese car to be seen. That would begin to change a few years later. As with the Sunset Boulevard photo I posted recently, the goal of my Ghia's restoration will be for it to look like it could be dropped right into this scene.

Andy Holmes shows us how it's done

2009-04-03T00:16:00.000-07:00

Andy's stunning late 1961 1500 Ghia makes its debut at Volksworld:

[images by turnhill, nabbed from The Samba]

More photos and the complete restoration story on Andy's restoration blog. Congrats Andy!

A VW on the Sunset Strip, March 1962

2009-03-29T22:38:00.000-07:00

A panorama of the Sunset Strip from the corner of Sunset Plaza in early 1962 (click the image for a version you can actually see) with a mix of Detroit iron and European imports that was typical for Southern California at the time. The VW near the center, a black 1958-61 model, sports the yellow and black California license plates that would be discontinued that year, as do all the other cars that surround it. The Playboy Building is about to join the lineup of legendary jazz clubs on the south side of the street at the right, and billboards advertise Andy Williams at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas and a high-desert real estate swindle closer to home. Below the Andy Williams billboard is Ben Frank's, a Googie-style coffee shop that Frank Zappa used to frequent in the mid-'60s because they didn't turn away long-haired countercultural types. It's still there, but it has now become "Mel's Drive-In" in the peculiar way that authentic landmarks sometimes get replaced by the film industry's idealized version of themselves in Los Angeles. The Union 76 and Standard stations look like something straight out of Ed Ruscha's Twentysix Gasoline Stations.

The goal in the restoration of my Ghia is to make it look like it could be dropped right into this image.

Flying saucer!

2009-03-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

I just spent too much on this NOS 1961-62 Ghia heater knob from Alex in Malta. This flying saucer-shaped heater knob was used for a short period of time in the early '60s on 1200 and 1500 Karmann-Ghias and VW 1500s.

The rotary knob heater controls were discontinued in August 1963 at the beginning of the 1964 model year. Later parts books list the replacement knob as 113 711 623 A, probably because that knob was used for many years on other VW models and it would have simplified the parts inventory. The flying saucer knobs are pretty rare in any condition, so when Alex's stash of NOS ones turned up I didn't hesitate.

"Karmann Clothes the VW 1500," Car and Driver magazine, January 1962

2009-03-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Along with a road test of the 1200 Karmann-Ghia and a photoessay on the Karmann factory, Car and Driver's January 1962 issue featured a preview of the three new VW 1500 models from Karmann. That's right, three -- in January of '62 the cabriolets were still very real.

The photos are VW publicity shots, and you'll recognize the happy family in the top photo from the early 1500 Ghia sales brochure.

This particular copy of the magazine has an interesting provenance:

Yes, it once belonged to that Floyd Clymer. It was apparently his office copy and is marked up with notes about advertising.

1500 Ghia fabric is here

2009-03-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

75 yards of reproduction 1500 Ghia upholstery fabric arrived today. I'll start shipping orders this week.

Safer Motoring, June 1963

2009-03-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

Even by the standards of Safer Motoring magazine this cover is a little bizarre.

It was Safer Motoring's practice to have a glamour model pose with the latest offering from VW, in this case a 1962 1500 Ghia. More photos from the session appeared inside.

Rowr! Reminds me of one of those "fast driving girls" videos on YouTube.

Silver 1500 Ghia fabric sample

2009-02-28T15:06:00.000-08:00

I just received a swatch of the silver upholstery fabric reproduction, and it's a really good match of the original piece of 564 silver cloth I supplied to the manufacturer.

This photo shows the new cloth sample next to an NOS silver beige sun visor and e-brake button, an anthracite e-brake handle, and a sample of anthracite paint. I think I've decided what color the Ghia will be!

More than you ever wanted to know about early VW 1500 heater tubes

2009-02-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

I recently bought an NOS early left side heater muffler (311 255 355 B). The seller has a number of them available, but only for the left side. I bought one in the hope that a right side one will eventually turn up somewhere. Hey, it worked for the sun visors, so why not roll the dice again?

This insulated duct (referred to by VW as a "muffler") fits between the left heat exchanger on the engine and the left heater junction box on the body under the car. It was introduced in January 1963 (chassis no. 0 141 008) and first appears in the parts book with supplement 11, superseding a simple metal flex tube. It will fit all VW 1500s from 1961 through the first few months of the 1964 model year. Even though it's not a part that my Ghia would have originally had when new, it was introduced just a few months after my car was built as an improvement on the original part, so I think it's an acceptable upgrade. I never did like the metal flex tubes, since they have a tendency to unravel themselves.

I had always assumed that the insulation in these mufflers was asbestos, but it actually appears to be industrial felt much like what was used to insulate the engine lid. Though since it was made in the 1960s it's more than likely the felt includes asbestos fibers. I may try to keep my heater use to a minimum.

I remembered a discussion about these heater mufflers on the Type 34 Registry mailing list a few years ago. The list archives seem not to be available online anymore, but luckily I never throw anything away, including old e-mail, so I was able to find it on my computer. Larry Edson did a pretty good job of documenting the confusing yet strangely compelling history of early 1500 heater tubes and ducts:

My earliest book, which I know to be really early because it still lists the 32 PHN carb instead of the 32 PHN-1) shows that the early cars had metal flex pipes with these part numbers -- left 311 255 357 A, right 311 255 358 A. But then my next oldest book with updates to 13/63 no longer shows the flex pipes and have mufflers in their place and are listed thus: left 311 255 355 B, right 311 255 356 B. The next book with update 1/64 tells the next part of the story: To chassis no. 0 221 974 -- same as previous book. From chassis nos. 0 221 975 to 0 280 370 gets a 60mm flex pipe (the same as the early cars) -- left 311 255 357 A, right 311 255 358 A. Update 1/64 gets this entry: From chassis no. 0 280 371 gets a 65mm flex pipe -- left 311 255 357 D, right 311 255 358 D. The latest parts book seems to have cobbled all of this together and botched it (just like the publisher botched the speedometer part numbers in the Type 34 parts book). This book mistakenly lists the mufflers up to chassis no. 0 280 371. This is the reason I have so many books. You just can't trust the publisher to keep the numbers straight over years of changes.

So true. This note in the VW Workshop Manual helps explain and leads to more confusion at the same time:

So either beginning with the 1964 model year at chassis no. 0 221 975 or at no. 0 238 920 (take your pick) the mufflers were discontinued and the metal flex tubes used in earlier years were reintroduced, but with an additional insulated jacket. This Workshop Manual note hints at why the muffler design might have been dropped (restorers please take note):

That's right: within a few weeks of introducing the muffler they realized the plastic and/or insulation would burn unless an insulating ring was added at the connection with the heat exchanger.

At no. 0 280 371, not long after switching back to the metal flex tubes, the heat exchangers were redesigned requiring a larger diameter tube (65 mm vs. 60 mm). This design change keeps the 311 255 355 B and 356 B mufflers from fitting any cars built after chassis no. 0 280 370 (September 1963). Alles klar? Long story short, if you have an early car with a later engine or newer heat exchangers you might have some trouble finding the right combination of parts to make the heater connections, as some have found out the hard way.

Anyway, if anyone knows of where I can find an NOS or good used right side muffler (311 255 356 B) please let me know!

NOS tailpipe embellishers

2009-02-21T11:16:00.000-08:00

There's a cache of NOS VW 1500 chrome tailpipe tips currently for sale in the Samba classifieds. They're very reasonably priced, so get them while you can.

This part was originally intended for the 1500 Ghia, as suggested by the 343 part number. I was able to confirm this by checking the early parts book. Later it was offered as an accessory for the other VW 1500s, and I think it may have even been standard equipment on the 1500S models.

1961-64 1500 Ghia upholstery fabric reproduction

2009-02-14T12:57:00.000-08:00

I just received swatches of the red and cerulean 1500 Ghia cloth reproduction, and they look great. They were able to match the original colors perfectly. It was worth the wait.

This cloth will be available in the next few weeks in red, silver (gray), and cerulean (blue). It's the closest thing to the original Karmann cloth that you'll ever find.

NOS VW 1500 Karmann-Ghia visors

2009-02-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

I just picked up a left side sun visor from Lars Neuffer, giving me a complete NOS set for the restoration. Expensive but worth it. No one is reproducing 1500 Ghia sun visors, and they would be difficult parts for an upholstery shop to replicate, so NOS or good used visors are the only real options. Before I found these I had neither.

While new old stock means the part was old inventory that was never installed and is essentially "new," in practical terms there can be a lot of variation in the condition of NOS parts depending on the life they have had in storage. Such is the case with the set of visors I have. The one I just got is very nice, nearly perfect. The other one had apparently been stored for years in a damp environment. The visor's packaging was very moldy and the visor was stained yellow-green from the mold, as you can see in the photo above. When I first opened the package the smell was so strong it nearly knocked me over. I've had it in dry outdoor storage to air it out. It also has a little compression damage from storage, but the price was right.

So I found myself with a matched set of new visors that didn't match. The right side one was clearly going to need some serious cleaning. I started with Simple Green, which did nothing. Then I moved to a diluted mild cleanser with bleach agitated with a soft brush. Nothing. Finally I moved on to a 1:1 solution of bleach and water, carefully applied with a soft brush and quenched with clean water after a few minutes of agitation. I didn't want to bleach to do to its job too well. It worked really well and while there's a very slight difference in color the visors look good together.

If you're restoring a car as uncommon as a 1500 Ghia and you come across an expensive part you need to complete a pair, a sequence of thoughts begins to play out in your mind:

"I would buy it if the price were a little lower. I've never seen another NOS one for sale in years of looking for parts, and it's the right color too. But it's too expensive. I wonder if I'll ever find another one for sale? I wonder how much it would cost to find a used one and have it restored? Or have a new one fabricated? Probably more than this one would cost, and it would never match the one I already have. What could I sell to cover the cost of it? How many hours would I have to work to pay for it? Would it be worth it? Will I regret not buying it if I don't? How much is the shipping going to cost? Can I afford not to buy it?"

All that within the few seconds between finding the part and buying it.

VW 1500s I have known, part 2.5

2009-01-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

Another '65 1500S, a sea blue one that I owned for a brief time in the mid-'90s. It served as a kind of rolling parts car for the other Square and the 1500 Ghia. It was a little rough for the time but it would be considered a nice, clean and straight early Type 3 today. Easter egg: an original VW sea blue touch up pen in the map pocket. I sold it to a girl that lived across the street and who knows whatever became of it.

VW 1500s I have known, part 2

2009-01-24T15:34:00.000-08:00

In about 1990 Cathy's '71 Beetle was getting tired, and we started looking for a replacement. Since I'd learned quite a bit about Type 3s in the preceding three years I thought a Squareback would be a practical choice, so we set about looking for one. We thought we'd found one good candidate, a clean red '66, but we were scared off by the fact that the seller was a Gypsy fortune teller on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood — I kid you not. It's just as well, because a few weeks later we found a faded but very original '65 1500S. It was being sold by the buyer of the house of the car's original owner. The car came with the house. It had been parked outdoors for many years and showed the effects of prolonged weather exposure, but it was virtually rust-free and had only 55,000 miles on the odometer. The seller had a local VW shop give it the once over and it seemed to run and drive well. All original, no modifications, original spare, original tool roll, original accessory Bambus parcel tray, original owner's manual folder, black-and-yellow 1965 California plates (which means it had been in California since new) — ours for $1,200. Sold!

The owner's manual folder included tourist delivery paperwork, and this helped explain some unusual details on the car: no side-marker lights, dual-pole front signals, lap seat belt mounts, and a strange plate on the engine that read "M-249 90-Oktan" and letter 'N" stamped in the case — what I came to find out were the markers for the low-octane version of the 1500S engine (option M249). This was a U.S.-spec tourist delivery Squareback sold before the Type 3 was officially introduced to the U.S. market by VW of America the following year.

The first thing we did was replace the rotting bias-ply tires with new Michelin XZXs and suddenly it was like driving a new 1965 car. Which is essentially what it was. It became Cathy's daily driver, and we took it on a number of road trips. It drove too nicely not to drive it, so drive it we did. Here it is parked at a friend's house east of Palm Springs in about 1992:

And here's Cathy at the wheel in about 1996 as the odometer reached 100,000 miles.

In 1999 I took the Squareback off the road for a partial restoration to fulfill a promise I made to the car when we first bought it. I stripped the car down to the bare body shell but left it on the pan (the condition being good enough that there was no reason to separate it), and took the rolling shell to Alex at ISP West for body and paint. The pearl white paint turned out beautifully. Since Alex happened to have a roll of NOS VW red mesh upholstery vinyl — an exact match to what the car had originally — I had ISP handle the seat reupholstery too. Other than the headliner I did the rest of the assembly myself. It took me about two and a half years of my spare time to finish it.

By that time my work situation had changed and I needed a newer daily driver for my long freeway commute. We found ourselves with too many cars and I was itching to get started on another Type 3 restoration project, so in 2003 I reluctantly put the Squareback on the market and eventually sold it to a Japanese collector through Alex at ISP. Here it is on the final drive to ISP:

I miss that car. I learned a lot from it. Hopefully it's resting comfortably in a warm and dry Japanese garage.