Aircooled VW South Africa

A 6 month project end up to plenty years,, and seem never to end

So your priorities are as follows?

Upgraded engine.
Upgraded suspension

There are quite a few options availible on the engine front. Upgrading your 1600 with cam, heads and carbs... Or Upgrading to a sweet 1917cc or a monster 2275cc.. It depends on your budget... But I would start with the engine and brakes to get it running so you can enjoy it. If you gonna upgrade to a larger motor then keep the 1600 as a spare and buy a new long block for the upgrade that way if you need to pull the motor you will have a spare to keep you on the road..Then I would look at the suspension, kink & link pins, balljoints, steering box, shocks, and h-beam service, same at the rear. This would give you a good ride as the components get tired after a while and you dont know when last they were serviced.

Having read your Enlightenment, There would be only one way to satisfy your points of need.

That Is.....

Get a Porsche 911 That has accident damage, ( old track car) and fit the KG body over it.

You will have road holding,

good suspension,

positive steering that has been designed for a rear engined car (very important)

Gearbox that can handle the power output.

And an engine that will keep you in front of the pack

With, best of all, a Classic body

This will be a winning combination as you have already justified the cost.

Herman

there's that targa for sale for R65 000 ( i think the price was with no engine). Something to consider when you look at how much everything would cost you to get to that point.

JohanB; I'm slowly realising that these things take time. Ha! I feel the rewards, however, are well worth the effort.

Vader!; your assessment is correct. My checklist has been the same with the coachwork having been the 1st priority.
My concern with going for a big Type I or a Type I that performs over stock is the reliability factor. I'd want a motor that lasts well beyond 100k miles. Which is why I've juggling between the idea of either Type IV or Subaru power.
Upgrading the brakes is a given. I'm contemplating between a front disc brake conversion, retaining the wide 5 set up or converting to disc brakes all round and switching to 4lug hubs. Cost of doing just the front on wide 5s is the same as doing them all round using the 4x130s.
The steering box has been replaced. One of the things I'd done when I first got the car ( http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 23&t=25411 ). Shocks, ball joints etc will happen when the brakes get done (assuming I stay with the current front beam).

Retrovan, your solution sounds intoxicating but would a ghia body fit on a Porsche pan? My 1st reaction, not having looked into it, is that it sounds like a bucket load of work. Further, if I'm not misguided, isn't Porsche maintenance expensive?

My jam jar as it is at the minute. It's just waiting on final polish, various chrome bits and some interior detail. My apologies for the poor picture quality.











Thanks for the feedback guys. The dialogue is really helping with my decision making.

Cool pics...
There have been Ghia's built on Porsche pans and I would hazard a guess that the amount of work required would be similar to front/rear suspention, pan and engine upgrades. If your gonna bomb in a scoobie motor you need to make the chassis much stronger plus a lot of other mods.. Have a look at Tom Bishops Big Toe project and see just how much work and money it takes...
Refresh our mammories what is the ultimate vision/goals for the Ghia? Track car, Weekend Warrior, daily driver, strip car?

vader wrote:Cool pics...
There have been Ghia's built on Porsche pans and I would hazard a guess that the amount of work required would be similar to front/rear suspention, pan and engine upgrades. If your gonna bomb in a scoobie motor you need to make the chassis much stronger plus a lot of other mods.. Have a look at Tom Bishops Big Toe project and see just how much work and money it takes...
Refresh our mammories what is the ultimate vision/goals for the Ghia? Track car, Weekend Warrior, daily driver, strip car?

I'm not sure about 'refreshing mammories' but the vision for the Karmann Ghia is for it to be a daily driver that's a sleeper. Sexy as you like to behold and as reliable as the sunrise. A Ghia that looks good, goes good and feels Gr8....

Where do I find Tom Bishops Big Toe project?

Ta Gov'nor.

I actually googled it, but it's an old thread and all the pictures links are out dated.

Yeah, likewise. Should make for an interesting read nonetheless.

if you want a stock engine with a little more oomph that is really reliable, then try a 1600T1 with a decent exhaust, twin 36IDF carbs and a little bit of head work.
It wont rev to the moon, will make more power than stock (mine made 74hp) and will be super easy to drive.
This will be about as reliable as a completely stock engine

Tony Z wrote:if you want a stock engine with a little more oomph that is really reliable, then try a 1600T1 with a decent exhaust, twin 36IDF carbs and a little bit of head work.
It wont rev to the moon, will make more power than stock (mine made 74hp) and will be super easy to drive.
This will be about as reliable as a completely stock engine

Hi. This is exactly the setup I am looking at for my Ghia. Any recommendations on who could do the necessary head work.

Thanks

alvetro wrote:

Tony Z wrote:if you want a stock engine with a little more oomph that is really reliable, then try a 1600T1 with a decent exhaust, twin 36IDF carbs and a little bit of head work.
It wont rev to the moon, will make more power than stock (mine made 74hp) and will be super easy to drive.
This will be about as reliable as a completely stock engine

Hi. This is exactly the setup I am looking at for my Ghia. Any recommendations on who could do the necessary head work.

Thanks

I can do it