Nein 11 - kein elfer :)

Thanks everyone!
It’s quite freeing having something that I can mostly afford to buy the parts for.

The car itself is about as rust free as you can hope for, for a sixty year old car. I keep expecting to find that area of rust that makes my heart sink and me go back into the house, but so far, so good. But I’m sure it’s there just waiting…

While it is mostly rust free, everything is either worn out, has been messed with poorly or need some form of maintenance.

Talking about things that have been messed with, this is the interior.






Though for the outside colour (one repaint) it seems that the white was paired with the ‘brick house red’ interior originally. This seems to agree with the VW catalogues of the time. 
There are small indications of it around the car. Like here next to the B post. 




The first thing I need to do is fix the Bowden tube. The Bowden tube adds flex between the engine/trans and the body, allowing them to twist slightly and change length, without the clutch cable (which runs inside it) jerking and the car taking off like a clown car full of jelly.
It’s supposed to have a bend in it, but mine is as straight as an arrow. So will either need adjusting or replacing. 

Once that’s sorted, the gear stick is the next in line, as the bushing between the shift rod and the bracket have parted company. 

That will make driving it a lot more, well, plausible.

Then there is the small matter of the awful 5 spoke Empis. They look fantastic on a classic Cal look bug, but not my taste on a Ghia, so some original solid steels like the spare will be going back on.

There are some beautiful Ghias out there to inspire me…












The idea is to get this up and running for the next couple of summers, so I have something fun to drive while I get the Non-elfer running and nicely done. Once the non elfer is done, do a deep dive on the Ghia.