1957 VW Karman Ghia EURO lowlight part 1

Metal and bodywork started on Bill’s 57.

[@ronc7743]

I love the white hardtop on the Ghias, Its classy.

[@vayabroder729]

Love that original color. My first car was a ‘69 Ghia; one of my brothers totaled it almost 40 years ago and I still miss it, even dream that I have it back. These are beautiful cars but very sculptured and finely built but by the same token very delicate. They rust from the inside out in predictable areas like the tops of the headlight buckets, the side rockers, the bottom of the nose and of course the rear battery area. For some reason most of them tend to have nose damage. I remember back in the 1980’s you could get an OEM replacement nose for $400.00. I love the original side trim and window trim and feel it takes away from the design when they get deleted. This one fell in great hands with you; you will certainly do it justice.

[@NormT2a]

Bondo bucket. Great to see someone that knows how to do it right.

[@ronc7743]

Love that original color.

[@Mikefngarage]

For stripping I like to use a Woven Bottle brush. it does not take off as much metal and removes bondo like a champ. Seems like your using a fine grit so it wont remove too much metal. That citristrip works good too just to remove some of the paint layers. Then a bottle brush on a polisher really works great less effort and right to metal and no metal loss.

[@Gregsvwgarage]

Good to know. Thanks for the tip. I was using 80 grit then polished it up with 180. Never hurts to get new tips and tricks!

[@Mikefngarage]

@@Gregsvwgarage yea I could tell it was not 36 or 24. 80 is fine but the polisher with brush works even better after a coat of stripper. strip then power wash stripper off then bottle brush and the bondo flies right off of there. to polished metal

[@snake_eyes_garage]

I'm trying to envision this in action... I'll have to scrub through your metal working videos to see if I can catch that.

[@robertlambert5299]

Just an FYI. All of that brass has to be removed. And I mean all of it. Any body filler over it will bubble up later on. I’ve been in the collision industry since the early 80s and have seen many issues involving brass from old repairs. The early ghia is commonly called a low light. Looks like someone did more work half assing it rather than what it would have taken to do it right.

[@vwcoco]

Lowlight so cool , if I owned this one Greg I’d leave in baremetal and repair rust . But it’s in good hands now 👍

[@snake_eyes_garage]

I'm convinced that all early KGs have rotted heater channels and hidden damage/rust. I got in way too deep on a '57 which I eventually had to cut apart. I have a donor '59 to 'splice in' but it's a lot of work to make a driver-quality Ghia. You have to look at it as 'saving a car' otherwise there would be no reason to do it.

[@steve9173]

Wow! that car was literally patched together and then touched by a Bondo magician. Can't wait to see you transform it correctly.

[@lowerclassgarage]

Amazing find! Send some of your finders luck to Nashville!

[@c10etc]

Patches were unbelievable 😱 glad you doing them right!

[@michaelhallas6450]

There’s a European metal fab guy that’s working on one these Karman Ghia and he fabbed up new panels .

[@Mikefngarage]

Yup blast everything with SUPERCLEAN.....It really works to degrease stuff Spinner and a 13hp pressure washer.

[@pg9144]

That's why a car of this age should be dipped.

[@jwhrivnak]

Greg I'm enjoying your videos, I'm in the middle of putting my ghia back together. I know your struggles. Keep up the great work.

[@Gregsvwgarage]

Thank you and thanks for watching. Ghia s definitely aren’t as easy as the bugs. Good luck on yours too.

[@tomzouzoulas3169]

Great find is right! Just sub’d. Looking forward to watching you work through the process as I’m trying to chip away at my 63 Brazilian Ghia!

[@Gregsvwgarage]

Thanks for subscribing and good luck on your 63!

[@eddiegary7817]

Nice find! Bummer that it had so much “sculpture “. I’m learning as I go on my ‘69 kg. Rusty in the same spots as yours. Over the headlights and under the taillights is worst. Weirdly much worse on the drivers side.

[@Gregsvwgarage]

Well hood luck to you as well. Must have been parked on an angle to the moisture was more concentrated to one side. It off to the blaster next week so we’ll see how much worse it gets!

[@chrisbegger8684]

reminds me of all the work I had to do on my 57. I am sure you already know this, but Danny Gabbard, aka GabFab on The Samba makes those panels for the engine compartment

[@Gregsvwgarage]

I do but I appreciate you letting me know. I wish he made the correct apron as well.

[@chrisbegger8684]

@@Gregsvwgarage Another place that fabs unique lowlight parts is Californian Classics in England. I bought new Nostril baskets and 56-57 only License plate light lenses from them, and plan on buying their Engine compartment seal retainer, as mine is mangled from wrecks over the years. There is also a guy in France called Atelier K who can literally make any panel for the Lowlights. I have only found him on facebook, but the lowlight community sure speaks highly of him

[@Gregsvwgarage]

@@chrisbegger8684 Yeah I had found California classics here recently but the other place I hadn’t. That will be a huge help. Thanks for all the info!

[@hobbyautobodyfun9315]

For removing paint i like using my brother and some sand paper I find that is very easy

[@Mikefngarage]

Ghias are always bad. double layer panels always have rust issues, Fenders dont come off. Not like people had mig welders or tig welders back then, so the repairs are usually brazed panels or pop rivet with kitty hair or thick bondo Gas welded stuff warped like hell. Bondo cracks too over brazing FYI. Does not stick so it cracks.

[@bigears4014]

The owners won't like the bill for this job

[@perfeicaodaantiguidade4710]

😃😃😃👍👍👌

[@CHARLIEBlaine]

Okay Son, Time to quit for supper.

[@ronc7743]

What state are you in?

[@craigvwdude]

got your work cut out on that one!

[@ulfhdnr]

Don’t know a lot about Ghias. With what you can see at this point, Is it really worth restoring or would you be upside down on it financially when you finish?

[@Gregsvwgarage]

These early Ghia s are nearly impossible to find. Because of that the value of the car surpasses the cost to build it. If it would have been a later 60’s or 70’s car it wouldn’t be financially smart to fix.

[@luisbarrueta8207]

Why not sand blasting? whats wrong with sand blasting?

[@Gregsvwgarage]

Customers preference. However after I stripped it on the exterior it did get sandblasted everywhere else.

[@tospicy4ya]

Should u brace the body of its that bad?

[@Gregsvwgarage]

It’s actually more structurally sound than it appears. I’ll be bracing it before I cut the channels out of it.

[@KG72]

Hi Greg, how long took you to remove the paint. What disk did you use?

[@Gregsvwgarage]

About 10 hrs . I used my dewalt variable speed buffer with 80 grit sandpaper on it. Then I went back over it with a 6 in da with 180 grit.

[@KG72]

@gregsvwgarage8798 Thanks, do you know is there any '57 KG lowlight with late, larger '60-'74, vent openings?

[@Gregsvwgarage]

@@KG72 no not unless someone replaced them with the later ones at some point.

[@KG72]

@@Gregsvwgarage 👍

[@KG72]

Hi Greg, where can I get the nose vent panels from? Tks

[@manueldoradograciano7331]

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[@danawick9817]

HAHA MY DRIVERS SIDE REAR ON MY 62 WAS CRUSHED I HAVE IT 70% OUT WITH A PORTAPOWER THE OTHER 30 ILL BE USING A STUD GUN. if that doesnt work ill find a used one from someones parts car