It's been six weeks since I last shared an update on my Karmann Ghia project, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working on it; in fact, the car's had one end or the other on jackstands for most of that time.
I drove the car to work one day following my last update, and when I got home I realized that the front-left wheel was radiating a lot of heat, while the front-right was only slightly above the ambient temperature. I removed the wheel and discovered that the caliper was seized and dragging the outside pad, which was about half as thick as the inside pad. I found a caliper rebuild kit for about $40, but I'd still need new pads (even assuming that I could successfully rebuild the bum caliper) - or I could spend $200 for a pair of new calipers with fresh pads included. I also ordered a new pair of brake hoses since the ones that were on the car were a bit worse for wear, and threw in a bunch of other small parts I'd been meaning to order as well.
When the parts arrived, I set to work replacing the hoses and calipers. That was going well until I stripped the fitting securing the hard line to the flexible hose. I realized I would have to instead remove the other end of the hard line where it connects to the brake cylinder, so I ordered a new hard line as well.
While I waited, I installed some of the other parts to correct some minor deficiencies:
- Replaced broken window crank handles to make it much easier to roll the windows up and down.
- Installed (missing) carburetor pre-heat hose to feed the carb warmer air from underneath the engine until the engine bay is warmed up.
- Replaced cracked carburetor intake hose.
- Installed (missing) heater hoses to connect the cabin vents to the heater box under the engine.
- Replaced broken heater cable to control the flaps closing the heater box off from the hoses leading to the cabin vents. Of course, I also found that the car was missing the levers to actually connect the flap controls to the cable so I had to order a pair of those as well.
- Replaced (broken/missing) engine lid release cable. Also discovered that I needed some sort of guide tubing to feed the cable through so I raided a hardware store for some semirigid plastic tube of the sort used for connecting an ice maker's water supply. I got it connected to the engine lid release mechanism... and then found that the lid doesn't quite line up the way it's supposed to. Ah well, I'll fight with that another day.
Once the new brake line and heater box control levers arrived I was finally able to install those, bleed the brakes, and crank the engine for the first time in over a month (it started up fine!) and go for a test drive.
It stops much better with the new brakes! Rolling up the windows so I can lock the car once I get to where I'm going is much easier now. Hopefully the reconnected heater components will help keep me comfortable when it's chilly outside, and hooking up the carburetor preheat should help the Ghia deal with the cooler weather as well. I'm so glad to have this car back on the road, and can't wait to drive it again!