Not sure if anyone is interested in this stuff, but one way to find out. Story time.

My Dad totally rebuilt this Karmann Ghia circa ‘78/‘79.
It’s a ‘67 body on a ‘69 pan. Myself and several guys from the neighborhood lifted up the body and set it in place.

He had started working on the ‘67 when a ‘69 came up for sale, the 69 looked bad as every panel was a different color.
However, it had a 2180cc stroker engine with Okrasa crank, EMPI cam and oiling system, and dual Weber carbs.
The heads had bigger valves, case had been shuffle pinned and all the tricks of that time. The crowning touch was it was also modified
(Crudely) for a Porsche 5 speed trans.

So he kept the pan and whole chassis that had all the cool stuff he wanted, but swapped on
The entire body from the other one in better condition.

He rebuilt everything and painted it complete, at home in the garage.
The color is late 70s Chevy truck red, i believe good old DuPont Centari enamel.
He wasn’t happy with how it came out at first, because he didn’t have enough air capacity/orange peel city but the car looked really nice once he sanded and polished it.

When the red car shown was driving, he then went and got a new (used) air compressor and spray
Gun, and did the same thing to the ‘69. He also used a late model (at that time) truck color, this time it was
Beige/tan. The job went much better. He then sold off the ‘69 to an elder cousin of mine.
In the end he didn’t have much into that red car and had learned a ton. Nobody seems to have pics of the beige one.

It was a big deal for awhile but by 81 or so the red ghia hardly saw the light of day, as by then he’d picked up a project 1970 911 and was tinkering with that. Eventually he also painted it complete at home in the garage, but something changed: basecoat/clearcoat had come out and he tried the brand new
Materials. It was champagne silver metallic and a tremendous eye catcher on the road. Nobody else
Around us had a Porsche. This is why I know first hand what it’s like to adjust valve lash on
A solid lifter Porsche, and why I never had any delusions of owning one (huge pain in the butt). Unfortunately
This amazing new paint material was lacquer based and when it eventually failed decades later,
It did so spectacularly.

Summer of ‘83 I’d blown the second engine in my Beetle, it was dead and would take
Time to rebuild. I also wanted to volunteer to go to summer school to avoid taking a full load
Of classes the next year/my high school senior year. Dad loaned me the ghia to
Drive to summer school. It was fun.

Dad did all that stuff in a 24x24 attached garage, in a suburb. Nothing special.
Has no heat or water. Doesn’t even have 220 (240). Dad didn’t own welding equipment
Of any kind. Many years later he told me a story of an acquaintance at work who lost
Everything due to a welding related fire. Looking back I believe that was why he avoided it.

I haven’t any pics of the Porsche, or of his ‘57 Fury, or (the brand new car that had the
Biggest impression on me as a 3 year old) his ‘68 road runner.

Dad’s buddy Pete worked with him in GM skilled trades.
Pete built this ragtop. It also had a stroker motor and a 5 speed,
That was the thing back then. My Dad hand painted the lettering.

Pete’s car was Dad’s primary inspiration and influence.
Hot VWs magazine may have been secondary
But he never chased the trick of the week.

I don’t know where Pete’s car went when he finally sold it.

The car deteriorated and the crowing touch happened in the
Late ‘90s when the house was remodeled. The car was brought outside into the
Extra lot and left outdoors from then on. However it was still in good
Condition for what it was, having never seen salt.

I inherited the ghia in 2012. By then I’d picked my poison and couldn’t have my focus
Messed up with too many different vehicle types. I
Thought it ver and decided if I ever had a Ghia
It would have to be a ragtop like Pete’s, since it was the OG.

A good friend met here through the Mopar hobby showed interest.
His wife loved the car and the whole idea.

It’s taken some time to get it to where it is, and now
It’s headed for a rotisserie pretty soon, going to be totally blasted clean
And redone. and a Mercedes gray/silver is the target color.

Gonna be cool. I’m going to be proud of it and have nothing to do with the build 😅

There’s more. There’s always more. But for now I'll get on with my day. Hope you're all doing well.

Mike

I think they're interesting cars - back in the Musclecar 1.0 days, a guy around the corner built a 2180 for his Baja Bug & had me drive it.
The torque compared to the stock ones was impressive.
I could do a lowered Beetle - big motor, discs, more wheel & tire, but otherwise stock-appearing - but I don't need another vehicle !

Now I'm second guessing myself and can't actually remember if it has 2074 or 2180.

It doesn't matter, it's one of the two...there is not much difference in specs between them, and my buddy didn't use that engine anyway as the cylinders were rusted.

Dad's stroker engine sits on a shelf in his shop, maybe my friend will get to that later after the unit is redone and all. For now it has a clean, stock 1600dp.

I cut my teeth on VW's. They are what i learned body work, painting, and upholstery on.
They also helped my build my "car bankroll" to were I could purchase more expensive project and cars.

Great story on your dads projects.

Another good use for a VW.

Thanks for sharing the story, air-cooled VWs were an early interest of mine, I restored the Ghia for my wife. Interesting cars to work on with the factory welded and filled body seams. I was VP of the Central Ohio Vintage VW Club for a few years, no longer involved in the hobby but they are fun and interesting.

Very cool

Many years ago I messed with VW's, probably the toughest engines I've ever ran.

My wife and I were into the early, mid-'80's water cooled I4 engines and still have them. My wife still has her '81 VW Scirocco she bought new and I still drive my '86 Jetta GLI that I also ordered and bought new back in '86. Neighbor has a very nice Karman Ghia convertible in light blue he only takes out on the nicest of days. Great cars IMO.

'72 I got my wife for our 20th annivesary. Finally got a nice paint job last year for our 31st.

I have always liked VW " Bugs " my first car was a 1960 that my parents paid a couple hundred bucks for and gave it to me for xmas back in 1971 , that was over 47 cars ago . A few restored and tricked out Bugs show up at the cruises around here including a VW pick up with the fold down sides and fold out windshield that is really nice and trick. Cool cars and trucks !!

I just remembered something about Beetle tailpipe tips: they had a high-pitched pulsing chirp that used to drive me nuts.
Girlfriend had a '68 and we changed the tips to larger ones that eliminated that.

Haven't driven one in ages, and I'd like to again; they just seemed to be kinda happy/goofy fun, and a unique experience.

I'm with you on that weird "chirp". One of the few modifications on the Ghia was larger exhaust tips that took care of that .

Well, since this thread seems to have some support, I'll share the pics of the '63 Beetle that I built. It was my first major build, body stripped to bare metal, underside painted to match the body. That color is PPG "Deep Rose". 1835 with dual Dell'Orto carbs and a Gene Berg short shifter. Light -to- light it was surprisingly quick and would break the tires loose on the 2-3 upshift. It would lay back so hard under acceleration the bottom of the header collector got worn off from dragging the pavement. Lots of fun when it wasn't broken!

Is that considered a "hood" scoop or a "boot" scoop or neither?

It's called a deck lid standoff, helps with cooling on larger CC motors, plus that California style look.

As much as I liked Bugs, I didn't like driving them in the winter, the heater/defroster wasn't much. Dress warm and wear gloves, oh a scraper or rag to wipe the windshield with too. LOL