picture of Ghia here
IN THIS ISSUE:
*More, Ghia Lovers Late,Late Show
Movie Review
Your Personal Engraved Invitation
Got an over-whelming desire to "pet" a Ghia rear flank; fondle a fender; touch a taillite lens?We can help! Is "show me!" your response to catalogs with postage stamp-sized pictures accompanied by immensely flattering descriptions in 9 point type? Well, come and see. Do you love the smell of recently extruded rubber in the morning? We will indulge you.
If you're near Albany Oregon, motoring on I-5, drop in. We love to have
visitors. There's nothing spectacular about us. In many ways, we're just
a "Boutique Junkyard". But, we welcome guests, and we are one
of the few VW parts suppliers who let walk-in customers beyond the reception
desk. Come by and say, "Hello".
Looking for a way to install your new carpet kit? Buy a
quart of waterproof, indoor/outdoor carpet cement from a local discount
store. It'll be much cheaper than 3 or 4 cans of aerosol carpet cement.
(Besides, the human tendency is to use the spray cans inside the car. Do
you really believe the sprayed glue/goop will only land precisely where
it's wanted?) An applicator can be made from an old, cheap, pocket comb.
Bust out every other tooth. Spread the glue on the carpet back. If the glue
looks like a plowed, furrowed, farmer's field, you done it just right. Now,
don't overdo it! Believe me. Someday, for some reason, you'll want to lift
up the carpet. Every inch of carpet doesn't need to be gooped in order to
hold it in place.
Love Potion #9 is one of those rare, modern romance movies in
which no one is shot, knifed, impaled or barbecued in the name of love.
Arnold and Sly would yawn all thru this flick. And, one won't need a calculator
to record the body count or "F" word references. In a bar scene,
the pick-up line is a variation of the classic, "What car are you driving?"
The word, Volkswagen, brings an instant put-down along the lines of "Oh!
You can't afford a Porsche!" But, the movie quickly redeems itself
because the Volksie in question is a lovely '69 Ghia 'vert. It shows up
often during the latter part of the film.
Thanks, Sasha Jones (the Moses Lake Ghia Guru)
Shampoo, is Warren Beatty's attempt to give male hair dressers a studdly image. This Oscar winner, contains a brief glimpse of a Ghia driven on the streets; and numerous glimpses of the leggy Julie Christy, Goldie Hawn and Lee Grant as they cavort on the sheets. A beautiful red "bath tub" Porsche cabriolet becomes almost as big a plot device as Warren's hair dryer.
Move Over, Darling is a 1963, Doris Day, James Garner farce. The
House of Ghia dictionary defines farce as a comedy with a premise so unbelievable,
describing the plot would cause fatal convulsions to anyone who had recently
taken truth serum. One screwball instance has 4, count them, 4 Ghias IN
THE SAME (continuously panning) SCENE! This is undoubtedly a Hollywood flick
record for Ghia sightings that will stand for eternity.
Q #25 - (T-lite Bulbholder Finish): After taking the lens off my '69
Ghia's taillite bulbholder, I saw the chrome reflector was dusty. So, I
removed the bulbs and gave the bulbholder a wash job along with the exterior
of the car. Suddenly, a reflector surface that was shiny and chrome-like,
turned out to be the sickly yellow/green of an almost healed bruise. I thought
maybe soap had dried on the reflectors and so, I washed the chrome face
of the bulbholder a second time. Even more of the taillite turned bruise
yellow. What did I do wrong?
Joe O, Vancouver WA
A #25 - To VW, it must have seemed a high tech, even elegant solution to the cost and hassle of chrome. Develop a reflective, chrome-like spray or coating. In effect, paint this reflective surface onto low wear areas like the face of metal bulbholders. Want a "warm" chrome? Use a yellowish undercoat to partially tint the chrome. That, Joe, is the bruise yellow color you ended up with, an undercoat.
Want a deep "cool" chrome? Use the blue undercoat, found on most '58-'66 taillite bulbholders. It seemed like such a great idea. But, '58-'69 Ghia buffs have found the "chrome coating" doesn't stay. It can be wiped off with a wash mitt. Soapy steel wool pads, the choice of generations of restorers interested in bringing back the luster of true chrome, removes this "chrome" in nano-seconds.
In fact, the more a restorer cares about the reflective surface, the more he/she fusses, fidgets, dabbles, and dinks around in an effort to improve it, the less brilliant the surface becomes. Trust me! If you want taillite bulbholders looking like they came down the assemblyline, don't do anything to your stock units. Anything!
Now, I'm fully aware of human nature. I've just issued the "wet
paint, don't touch" challenge. No practicing Homo sapien can pass by
such a sign or challenge without, well, touching. So, it's only fair I give
you the make-do solution for bruise marks on your bulbholder. Unfortunately,
the solution is truly make-do. Buy a bottle of chrome airplane model paint
and a cheap disposable brush. The cost? Much less than a Big Mac. The result?
An acceptably reflective surface to help the light shine.
Q #62 - (Spotting '60-'69 T-lite B-holders): I have a '68 Ghia. My
taillite lenses look the same. When I remove the lens, the thing the bulbs
plug into looks the same (are identical). But, when I look at the back of
my bulbholder, it's as if I'm looking at night and day, frick and frack.
What goes on? And, what's right for my Ghia?
Alan, Irving TX
A #62 - Alan, your Ghia has been diddled with! Now, before you get deeply upset and divorce one, or the other, of the taillite bulbholders, ask yourself a few questions. Do my lites work? Do they look the same from the outside? Should I care if they are visably different, but, function absolutely identically? The answers should be: yes, yes and no, unless. Unless means,unless you're assembling a 1000 point show car. Of course, if you have a museum quality Ghia, with all of the cardboard liners in place, no one would see the back of your taillite bulbholders in any case.
Back side of
typical '60-'69
taillite bulbholder
'60 shown)
Here's what happened. Look at the cross-sectional diagram of the various styles of '60-'69 taillite bulb sockets. The diagram looks at the backside of a bulbholder. Just one of the three bulb locations is illustrated. At some time in the past, one of your bulbholders was traded for a used '61 thru '66 style bulbholder. The back side of bulbholders on 6V cars were much different-looking than their 12 volt brothers. But, they function and fit exactly the same.
Lots of people assume that the six in 6 volts is half the number of twelve in 12 volts. So, wires and parts in a 6 volt system are half as capable as 12 volt stuff. WRONG! Six volt wires/bulbholders can actually carry more electrical current than 12 volt designed parts. You can easily swap "earlier" bulbholders into late Ghias without losing one iota of usefulness.
Many "early" cars carry "late" bulbholders because nearly all parts counter replacement, for the last decades were of the "late" design.
'60 set screw
wire terminal
'61-'66, 6 volt style
Single metal contact strip
riveted to bakelite board.
'67-'69, 12 volt style bulbholder
Plastic block holds two
contact metal strips.
A few other taillite bulbholder facts:
Listen up! It's quiz time. What's the most common cause for 1958 thru
1969 Ghia taillite problems? Sure, grounding problems! When the bulbholder
is neatly tucked into the taillite seal, it is totally isolated from metal
to metal contact EXCEPT at the mounting studs. For electricity to flow,
there must be some metal to metal contact. The solution? Wire brush rust
from mounting stud threads, wing nuts, and the wing nut contact point with
the mounting brace. Consider using brass mounting wing nuts for an improved
ground.
Q #63 - (Headlite Ring): I bought a headlite ring for my '65 Ghia
from...
A.C. Munoz
And it doesn't look like my original!
Rudy W, Greenport SC
Damned thing is made in Brazil!
George H , Santa Cruz CA
Nice enough chrome part, but it isn't right. To my eye, it stands
out as if you'd put Mr Spock's ear on Captain Kirk!
Jim C, Huston TX
A #63 - I couldn't have said it better, Jim! You, George, Rudy, A.C. and lots of others have spotlighted a problem in the Ghia biz. There is another headlite ring out there, other than the ring with original styling. It is of suprisingly good quality, does sort of work, comes from Brazil; AND, it is much cheaper. But, it doesn't quite LOOK like the original. Plus, in many ways, it is far less forgiving than the assemblyline piece.
So, watch out! Or, at least be knowledgeable. Many parts suppliers don't
take the time or effort to advertise their parts, correctly. If the part
ad merely says: Ghia Headlite Ring, 63-74 be careful. The price seems
too good to be true. You've stumbled on the Brazilian make-do. New, a part
styled after the original would sell for at least 2 times as much as the
south of the equator item. (Genuine German new rings may not be available
at any price.)
How can you know for sure what you've got? Look closely at the following cross-sectional diagrams. A cross-section? Imagine you took a hacksaw to one loop of the ring. A cross-sectional view looks at the newly exposed edge of metal. Instantly, the rings look like night and day, oil and water. The rings are nearly the reverse of each other. Even the least mechanical minded reader would have to say, "Unless the mold maker was a career drunk, the repro ring wasn't even patterned after the Ghia headlite ring!" And, you'd be right! The Brazilian ring was made for some other Brazilian VW, a vehicle that isn't sold anywhere else. But, it works! And, for many Ghia owners it works very well!
Cross section of headlite ring
Seal
s
OEM - (Outer edge "rolled")
Bulb
Brazil - (Outer edge "sharp")
Bulb
Who are the candidates for the Brazilian ring?
And, surprise, surprise!
Why will the Brazilian ring work best with these cars?
Again, look at the diagrams. Imagine you were going to cut out a huge 7 inch diameter chocolate chip cookie from zillion calorie cookie dough. Which headlite ring would make the best cookie cutter? Right! The Brazilian ring. Its outer(or rear- most facing) edge is "knife-edged", at least in comparison to the rolled outer edge of the original ring.
Look at the "X" drawing below. 
It is a cross-section
of a headlite ring seal.
5/16th inch
or 8mm
1/4th inch
or 6mm
correct seal/ring contact
The sloping face is the part of the seal that is to come into contact
with the back edge of the chrome ring. In a precise, perfectly geometrical
world, where dimensions can be kept to human hair tolerances, the Brazilian,
"cookie cutter" ring would mate perfectly with the seal. In the
real world, a round opening, like a previously worked on fender, can be
off of circular by an 1/8 inch, a 1/4 inch, even 1/2 inch. In which case,
some part of the edge of the truly circular metal ring, and the face of
a rubber seal forced into a less than round fender, will not meet. The rolled
edge of the original style ring is visually much more forgiving about not
meeting the seal.
OEM
Brazil
Headlite opening been damaged? Fender tip for bucket, oval shaped? Less than truly circular? Only OEM style rings rear edge is forgiving enough to make seal contact.
So, if your fender tips deserve a grade of "B" or better, the headlite ring for you is definitely the "forgiving" OEM ring. Scads of Ghias have had tip of the headlite damage AND it was never correctly repaired. These Ghia fenders rate a "C" or worse; and can't properly fit the headlite seal. They don't need a "forgiving" headlite ring; they need a ring that by its crisp edge doesn't draw attention to itself. That's almost by definition, the Brazilian ring. Besides, a poorly repaired fender isn't going to look any better with the more costly OEM style ring. Might as well save some money. (Ironically, a perfect "A-plus" fender tip can use the Brazilian ring precisely because of the fender's perfection.)
Want to draw stares? Play frisbee with a two-headed dog; or drive a Ghia with one Brazilian and one OEM headlite ring. Unless they are used in pairs, these distinctly different rings become the visual equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard. Think pairs!
One further problem! Many suppliers send the Brazilian ring without a headlite screw. Look closely again at the diagrams. The Brazilian ring is deeper, fatter. In other words, it extends further forward from the fender. Even if you still had it, the original headlite ring screw wouldn't fit, it's not long enough. Temptation says, "Use a long, skinny American-sized self-tapping screw." Don't give into temptation! It will quickly mess up the threads in your headlite bucket. House of Ghia has the correct sized screws (K9-X430).