Page 17 - Karmann Komment Vol42 Issue 2

Karmann Komment Volume 42 | Issue 2
KEVIN HOPCROFT BLOG
Kevin Hopcroft’s 1971 VW Karmann Ghia Convertible Restoration
Part 29: Big Trouble
Well sorting out the minor faults after the car's short run didn't take much doing. The problem with the gear change turned out to be that I had fitted the striker plate back to front and upside down. Once turned over and reoriented the gear change worked perfectly. I also took the opportunity to fit a "Quick Shift" under the gear lever which shortens the lever travel and makes it more positive. The Headlights too were an easy fix. The reason that they were on all the time was because
a small 6mm nut had fallen across the
back of the fuse box giving the headlights a permanent feed. The spacing on the steering wheel required the making of an aluminium spacer, bringing the steering wheel 20mm further forward and that sorted out all of the test drive problems.
I then thought that I would try the carpet set, that I had bought second hand, in the car and the result was very disappointing. As you can see from the photo, they didn't fit very well and left a
gap between the end of the carpet and the rear seat support. The other pieces I tried weren't much better and I made the decision to sell them on Ebay and have some carpets made.
Now I had never been very happy with the condition of the original aluminium
sill protectors and so decided to have some stainless steel ones made with the Karmann Ghia logo laser engraved into them. So I had the blank metal plates made and polished them to mirror finish in my workshop. I then drew the artwork on computer and and took the plates to a laser engraver in Leicester. Two weeks later I had these beautiful sill protectors fitted on the car.
You know what it's like, just when you think things are going well, something always goes wrong. I was running the engine and tuning the carburettors when I looked under the car and
there was a huge pool of oil on the floor. "BIG TROUBLE". It meant removing the engine again and investigating.
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