2/5/2009

Catalog Info

I tell you.....my optimism astounds me....how long have I been promising a hard copy catalog...that's right....a long long time!  The files have been sent to the printer and now its just a matter of waiting for the hard copies to show up. I honestly didn't think it would take years to complete this project....but it did. Very soon I will no longer have to  say "the catalog is almost done"....because it will actually be here.

I'm going to charge $5 for the catalog which will include the postage.  Most folks I've spoken too don't mind the charge.  I will deduct $5 from your first purchase.

Website info

The person developing the new website has estimated the completion of the site to be April of this year. I am hopeful.

New Parts

I've had a couple of new parts made recently. If you own a 58-59 ghia, you might be interested in this part.....its the pin that the door checkspring actuates on.  All of these pins I've seen are worn to the point where they don't work. These pins will be made of stainless....I have yet to receive them, but they are on the way.

I had a couple parts made for rebuilding window regulators...the gear and the spring pin.  These parts also are not in yet, but will be shortly.

Ghias for sale

I'm looking to thin out the project cars I have here.  Call for details on any of the cars listed. They are all solid projects, too good to use for parts cars.  I'll try and post some additional details and pics in the near future.

1956 coupe

59 cabriolet

62 cabriolet

64 coupe

67 coupe x 2

69 coupe

10/9/2008 

Well, it took a little longer than I thought, but I did find a new location for the shop.  Check out the contact page for the new address.  The new shop is great with a bit more elbow room and in a better location.  There is some construction left to do to build the lobby, office, and shipping area, so we wont be completely settled for a couple of months. In the meantime we are getting reorganized and getting back to business.

I'm considering holding an open house (a grand re-opening of HoG) in the late May timeframe...possibly coinciding with the Woodburn Bug-in. I'm thinking a Friday night BBQ and cruise (??).  I will post particulars as I iron them out. 

There is a new phone as well. I could not get a lan line for phone at the old shop so my cell was the point of contact for calls.  And of course we all know how annoying dropped calls can be, not to mention "can you hear me now??" I apologize for the inconvenience it caused.  Now I have an actual phone you can call....yay!  the phone number is on my contact page (503-364-GHIA (4442)).

The Catalog and price sheet are available for viewing. I still have a few loose ends to tie up before printing the catalog. I'm crossing my fingers that I can have a catalog ready by mid Nov.!

New parts:

I'm still working on the felt retaining strips. I've had to look for another source, but may have found one. I'm waiting for a reply as to whether he'd like to give it a go.

I've started making the convertible rear seat retaining pins. These look better than the factory. The person making them has some welding skillz <wink>.  This same person is making window regulator gears. Their a spot on replacement! Along with Johnny's new spring retaining hub, I should be able to turn out some nicely rebuilt regulators soon.

4/24/2008

Suspension of sales is lifted.  Feel free to call or email with questions or parts needs.

There is still more work to do on the catalog.  I have finally received the editable copy of the catalog and all that is left to do is finalize the editing of the content which is just about completed.

Big News!!!....I've hired a web-designer. Jason Hamilton of www.webmedia.type-14.com has been contracted to build the site.  I am very excited about this.  If you've been keeping up with how House of Ghia is coming along, you'll know I've been promising an e-commerce site for a couple of years now. Jason is very excited to be taking on this project. I'm not sure how soon the site will be up, but Jason will be prodding me along to get the site up and running as soon as possible. 

A move is in House of Ghia's future.  We will be moving to a new location as soon as the new shop is built.  We will still be in the Salem, Or area.  I hope to be in the new location mid-summer. 

New parts.....John Copello has made a small run of reproduction AMCO wind deflectors, expected to arrive next week.  They will be $149 per set. They attach to the rain gutter along the windshield post.  These were a period accessory for many cars that did not have integrated vents in the doors.  I'll post a pic when the parts arrive.

In development is the metal felt retaining strip for the 55-59 Karmann Ghias.  The felt mounts to these strips, then the strips mount to the door.  Most often these metal strips are ravaged by rust.  I hope to have a run of these done very soon. 

Also, the retaining strips for the door panel trim....those long slender strips with the sharp, bend-over, tabs to keep the trim on the door panels. I'm working on reproducing those as well....

12/31/2007

We have had a breakthrough in getting Jim Patterson's catalog off of his Mac hard drive. I have someone working on converting the document to a more recent program so we can easily edit it in the future.  I have about halfway finished with the current edits and there is light at the end of the tunnel. As many of you know, I work House of Ghia by myself. In order to accomplish this long overdue catalog, I've decided to suspend any new orders until it is finished.  At the rate we are going, the catalog should be done mid February.

I realize that this will hurt business in the short term, but a catalog is essential to future of this business and I have been delaying it for far too long. Please bear with me as I complete this project.

John Copello has just finished a run of the Dash Escutcheon tools (dash escutcheons are the little aluminum nuts that hold your switches to the dash). These tools are a must have for removing and installing switches.

Have a Very Happy and Safe New Year!

Mike

9/27/2007 Update

It's been a few months between updates and I apologize.  I have been working hard  since my departure from HP in June.  I joke with my old colleagues that I used to make a lot of  money while not working too hard, now I work too hard without making a lot of money...:)  I did have had a great summer getting reacquainted with my family and getting to spend some quality time with them. I really enjoyed that. But now that summer's over, it's time to really get to work.

I have made some good progress here at the shop and have been able to respond to parts requests more rapidly for most. I still have some work to do to get this all sorted out, but we are making progress, which is more than I can say about the last two years.

I will have my first HotVW's ad coming out in the Dec issue (Nov 6th). It will be the start of my Christmas Gift Certificate sale.  Gift Certificates will be on sale for 10% off. And yes.....you may buy them for yourself! 

Reproduction parts:

I've been working John Copello overtime this last couple of months.  Here's a list of Johns current creations that we have in stock. All aluminum repros of the original parts:

Dash knobs

Wiper knobs

turn signal knobs (thin style)

shift knobs, 7mm and 10mm

66 only dash trim!

window cranks/knobs

heater control knobs, early

seat lever knobs, ball type

speaker grill

Escutcheon tool (stainless steel)

Fresh air control knobs, early

Some other stuff John makes:

56-59 door pull straps, drivers side

Battery straps, 66 and earlier

Next on the list, John will be making a copy of the Anco wind deflectors.  Instead of drilling into the door and mounting the support bar for the wing, John has designed a mount that attaches the wing to the drip rail...sweet!  We should have those soon....just in time for Christmas!

John also wants to make his version of the old Empi headrests....a neat accessory.

Call or email if you want prices on any of the above parts.

New Parts From House of Ghia:

I have repro'd the flat lenses found in early 56-57 license lights. These are clear and do not have the Hella logo.  I have sent a few pair out and the report back was that the fit and finish was great....so if you have searched the world over for a pair of NOS or good used flat lenses...this is a good way to hold you over until you find them.....or use these and stop looking!

That's it for this update....please feel free to email me at mike@house-of-ghia.com if you need parts, have questions, or just want to chat!

4/2/2007 Update

Well...it's official.....after 25 years and 10 months, I will be leaving my full time job at Hewlett-Packard.  The company offered an early retirement incentive and I decided to take it.   So as of June 1, 2007 I will be at the shop 5 days a week instead of two. 

Leaving HP will be a BIG change.   I'm already feeling a little anxiety about it.  But I'm also very excited about being at the House of Ghia full time, getting down to business, and accomplishing the things I've been promising for much too long.

I will also be working on some restorations....the first on the block will be a retro custom 69 ghia.  Once finished it will be for sale...so keep an eye peeled for it in my Gallery.

3/5/07 Update

After taking a couple of months off, I'm open for business again!!   Did I get everything accomplished that I wanted to?  Are you kidding me?  Murphy's law was working overtime in the month of February and I did not even spend one day at the shop!  I did make progress on getting the shop organized and setting up the inventory like I wanted...but I had hope to be done by this time.    Some of you may remember Karen, Jim Patterson's wife, Kari and Kirsten, Jims' Daughters.  They have offered to come up to the warehouse and help me complete my inventory.  With their help I should be able to finish up rather quickly.  After inventory, the website is just around the corner!  

AND......as for the catalog....I have completed the file conversions necessary and have only a couple of changes left to make, and the catalog will be ready to put onto the web for download!   As you recall, this catalog was given to me the morning of Jim's passing.  He was so excited that I would have an opportunity to distribute it.  I hope you folks will like it.

11/30/06 Update

Reproduction Parts at the HoG:

When I bought the HoG, there were quite a few parts in need of reproducing again as we were out of stock...a couple of those were the quarter window hinge blocks and the stainless steel intermediate bow.  I'm happy to announce that we are literally days away from making those parts again!  I should have the SS intermediate bow in stock by the first of the year and the hinge blocks will be here in about two weeks.   HoG is the only manufacturer of the hinge blocks so I'm excited to get these and distribute them.

Another HoG repro part that we started making again is the fiberglass dash pad for the 64-67 ghia.  We are the only producer of a fiberglass replacement pad (not a cover) for the pre 68 Karmann Ghia (yes the fiberglass dash pad that KGPR sells is ours). The pad is actually patterned after the 64-67 ghia, but will work on the earlier years with modifications for the speaker grill.  I will be working with the maker of these pads to see if it is possible to make an early pad that will accept the speaker grill.  That seems to make the most sense to me, rather than have the customer modify a new part!  So stay tuned on that. 

A couple of months ago, I bought a business that was owned and operated by John Copello. John had been making excellent reproduction dash and heater knobs,and various other interior parts,  specifically for the early Karmann Ghia's. The knobs are made from billet aluminum and powder coated.  He was also making window crank knobs (the correct bell shaped knobs), turn signal lever knobs, e-brake buttons, as well as battery straps, escutcheon tools, aluminum speaker grills, ...you get the idea...a whole slew of stuff.   John also rebuilt original hinges, which were a big hit as folks weren't very trusting of the repro hinges currently on the market.  John is finishing up what may be the final run on a lot of his products and I will be posting a separate page with the parts and prices for those interested. I will be determining which products to continue and will be looking for a source to manufacture those parts. 

That's it for now......we are still not ready to release the catalog.....but I have a plan to speed things up....more on that later.....