08.21.00
A BEGhIaNING
Aug 21 Mon (12 AM)
This weekend I began taking the first few steps towards cleaning up and refurbishing Viva, my ’73 Ghia. I’ve begun to find various resources around town that have parts and I’m beginning to figure out where those parts go.
Two examples so far: Door panels and ashtrays.
The driver’s side door panel had been coming loose. The back end of the door (furthest from the hinge) was getting stuck on the interior vinyl trim piping on the inside of the wall just behind the door. This was causing the panel to be pulled off of the door each time I opened the door. The situation was obviously only going to get worse. I think it was the most serious problem with the car, because of how quickly the situation was becoming worse.
So a trip to Thrifty Auto Supply was in order. I went down there and as I walked in the door, the guy asked me what year my Ghia was. Turns out he and his dad build VW Bugs and liked Ghias too. I knew I was in a good place.
I coaxed him outside to look at the door and he knew just want I needed and just where to get it. Halsey Import Parts Distributing is at about 77th and Halsey <http://www.teleport.com/~halsey/,> a ways out east but not too bad. Again I had the counter guy come out and he knew what I needed and even told me how they would go in. He also told me that I ought to stop by another place, Always V Dub, On 50th between Hawthorne and Division.
So I quickly got a hold of the necessary clips and boots, took off for home and got ’em installed. Now the panel is nice and tight and I’ve even made it better by installing the clips and boots on the bottom edge of the panel where they were missing.
Then I took on the ashtray. It may not seem all that impressive but the thing was rusted tight. The lip that covered the tray and flipped up when the tray was pulled out was simply stuck. The spring that lifted the lip was no use against the layer of rust on the whole unit. I finally got the tray pryed out and dusted it off. It’s still pretty grimy and rusted, but at least it works properly. (Not that it will get much use as there’s a drink/food/smoke ban in the car.) I’ll figure out what to use on the rust soon.
The next two issues to tackle are the cover on the back of the dash and the dent in the rear fender. I think I might be able to pop out the dent myself. I’m going to give it a shot then I’ll look into a body shop. The cover on the back of the dash is more difficult. in the trunk there’s supposed to be a cover that divides the wiring behind the dash from the trunk. The original cardboard cover has utterly deteriorated and it’s time for it to be replaced. It’s a hazard really.
On my ’67, one night I had tried to hook up the overhead map light. While driving the main drag in Grants Pass, a thick, acrid smoke began pouring out of the dash. The wire that hooked up the map light was too small of gauge or something and the wire was glowing bright red when I looked at it. I want to get the wiring solid and replaced with good strong wires behind the dash of the ’73.
There are other issues, but these are the most pressing. By next year I’d love to be able to put her into a show as a daily driver…