1974 Karmann Ghia Extreme Makeover

[Anthony O.]

One of my doctor clients recently purchased this "restored" Ghia. It has a new top and a good running motor and a fairly decent interior. The interior just needs a thorough cleaning and detailing but the exterior is a re-paint and not the greatest either.



I will have to wetsand many areas to just finish out the rough wetsanding the paint shop gave it, plus it had overspray all over it.



I worked on it for a few hours today but was unable to finish the exterior. I have a few pictures of the work I have done so far.



First up is a picture of what I have to work with, this is after being washed and dried.





http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/617/74ghiab47pr.jpg





Also notice the wheels in the above picture..UGH! These are aluminum wheels and they will be a real PIA to get looking good!



Now here is the passenger fender PRE buff. It shows some of the swirls and scratches I need to either level out or sand then level.



http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/7672/giafndrprebuff6kx.jpg







Upon paint inspection I decided to try a wool pad and Optimum Compound as 1700 rpm`s. It is a clear coat also. Here is the fender after the wool pad buffing.





http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2250/woolocc8vv.jpg





Notice how it levels the paint down, giving it an even appearance. This is my goal when leveling paint. I want it to have an even "haze" throughout. My next step was a green pad and Opt Compound again, at 1500 rpm`s, picture below.





http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/6499/occgrnpad6og.jpg





Now we are getting somehwere. Paint looks much nicer, wool pad swirls are pretty much gone and if we had to we could perhaps Cyclo this baby, apply an LSP or glaze and call it done.... but we are of course not done :grinno:



Next up is a Opt blue pad and I am using Opt Polish at 1400 rpm`s. I must be careful to feather the trigger alot around the edges and by the gas tank lid. These edges can burn real quick if one is not aware of them. Here is the fender after the blue pad and Opt Polish.





http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/1768/ocpblupad2vv.jpg







I think after the blue pad I will Cyclo it and apply OCW, at least for the non-sanding sections. The sanding sections may get one or two more steps. Of course this all depends on how it looks in the sun. I am trying to obtain a finish that is optically perfect but of course this being a repaint I am limited with what I have to work with, we`ll see.



That`s all the pics I have at this time. I`ll take more tomorrow and update this thread with more BEFORE, DURINGS and of course AFTER`s.



THanks,

Anthony

[Mitchubishievo]

You`ve fixed it up extremely well, but what a depressing paint! No glow, no reflectiveness, no nothing! Still can`t wait to see full car pics :D.

[Ron Harris]

Man those rims sure UUUUUGLEY

[Anthony O.]

You`ve fixed it up extremely well, but what a depressing paint! No glow, no reflectiveness, no nothing! Still can`t wait to see full car pics :D.



Well there is actually some nice reflectivity to the paint but the 500 watt halogen kinda bleaches out the color. I can`t wait to see how it looks after also :buffing:




Man those rims sure UUUUUGLEY



Dude, preach it brother!!

[Scottwax]

Been waiting on this one since you mentioned it in the other thread. Looks like it is coming along quite nicely. :)



Hurry up, finish the detail and post the pics!

[Anthony O.]

Well here are a few pics of the finished exterior. The wheels are shot but I cleaned them up as best I could without removing them and buffing them out.



The top is new but the bumpers and stuff look like original.



I got the paint as good as I could but it`s not perfect for sure. You can only expect so much when working with a mediocre re-paint.





http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/824/ghiafndr3bz.jpg







http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/996/ghiafrnt8rk.jpg







http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/367/rearghia1nn.jpg







http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/9328/sideocw74ghia4gz.jpg







Now for the sun shot :D





http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/8027/sunghiahood6aa.jpg





Thanks all,

Anthony

[SpoiledMan]

You can only expect so much eh??? WOW!!

[tensors22288]

yea geez man, i don`t think that could look much better than you got it, awesome job

[Craigster]

When you are working it, we expect the best...And as usual you delivered it!

Did you finish up with OCW ?

[Mitchubishievo]

No swirls and it`s actually reflective, deep, and red, not pink! AWESOME WORK! Like in all my other responses, what ballpark does one charge for a revival of this calibur?

[Accumulator]

Heh heh, whether the new owner replaces those wheels or not is, IMO, a test of sorts :chuckle:



Anthony- Compliments go without saying ;) Did you pull the KG badging on the engine compartment lid or work around it?

[Anthony O.]

You can only expect so much eh??? WOW!!




yea geez man, i don`t think that could look much better than you got it, awesome job






When you are working it, we expect the best...And as usual you delivered it!

Did you finish up with OCW ?



Spoiledman, tensors and Craigster - Thank you all for the compliments :) And yes I finished it up with the OCW :up



Thanks again,

Anthony

[Anthony O.]

No swirls and it`s actually reflective, deep, and red, not pink! AWESOME WORK! Like in all my other responses, what ballpark does one charge for a revival of this calibur?





Well I under charged this one alot. I charged him $250 as it was mainly exterior work. The interior is just going to be a wipe down and vacuum.



I had though not intended to wetsand the car and then spend a good amount of time polishing out the paint. I blame myself though cause it was looking decent but I thought..."Ya know....I think I can get this looking really nice if I wet sand it. Let me try a small area!"



Well that small area soon turned into the whole darn car :wall I always do that to myself. Normaly it should of been around $350 to $400 for what I did.






Heh heh, whether the new owner replaces those wheels or not is, IMO, a test of sorts :chuckle:



Anthony- Compliments go without saying ;) Did you pull the KG badging on the engine compartment lid or work around it?



Yea those wheels need to go, IMHO :grinno: I did pull the badge, it was easy for that one but the other one, the Volkswagen emblem, was secured with silicone on the interior.



Thank you to both of you for the compliments :)



Anthony

[Scottwax]

Truly superb job, Anthony! :bow



The paint in that first hood shot looks so liquid!

[DSVWGLI]

That is freaken awesome work. Brought back from the dead I would say.