Saturday, 14 September 2024

28. Karmann Ghia Restoration - Fuel Tank & Door Seals

 

The car is progressing steadily and it's now time to look at fitting the fuel tank. When I bought the car there was a strong smell of petrol and, after inspection, it was found that the fuel tank was perforated on the underside. I took the tank to a local firm for it to be repaired and since then it has sat in the workshop loft. So now it was time to fit it and the first job is to look at the filler neck. 

Well it needed a good clean and repainting and the body seal needed thoroughly cleaning but both were serviceable and fitting it was not too difficult 






However this then presented new problems. The original VW fuel system had a recirculating system with unused fuel from the carburettor returning down a pipe back to an expansion tank in the boot and then back into the fuel tank. As the car now has twin carburettors with no return fuel facility, the pipe from front to rear had to be removed and a new breather system devised. This was done by connecting the two breather pipes up to the existing metal tubes, in the filler neck. A third, small drain tube, then needed to be connected to the drip tray in the fuel filler compartment.






Finally the refurbished fuel tank could be fitted and the fuel gauge connected. I fitted new sealing strip around the underside of the tank edge before clamping it into place. 

With the tank empty, it was not possible to check whether the gauge and sender were working correctly. However by shorting the wire from the sender to earth, it did send the gauge full scale. so the gauge works, I'll have to wait and see if the sender works when I fill it with petrol.






Now with the fuel system in place I needed to devise a way of running the engine without filling the workshop with fumes. So I set about making an exhaust extraction system. This is a box with two heat resistant rubber hoses, to fit over the exhausts and another hose taking the fumes outside via a hole in the wall. This was successful and the engine now runs on fuel directly from it's tank and no leaks.


Well I now decided to fit the new door seals. Now these are only held in place by adhesive and so have to be fitted with great care. Also they cannot be fitted with the door on. So the doors have to be removed from the car. I then had to purchase some PU18 silicone adhesive and a lot of masking tape. I now applied a generous amount of adhesive around the edge of the door. On one end of the rubber is a small knob. This pushes through a hole at the top of the door, above the catch. This is the only physical fixing point for this rubber. The rubber could then be pressed into the adhesive and held in place with lots of masking tape and then left for 48 hours for the adhesive to set. The tape could then be removed and the doors refitted.


The next job is to fit the two remaining seals down the door pillars. (Not my photo) As you can see from the picture. these seals have no physical fix and have to be simply held in place with adhesive. So it's the same method. A bead of PU18 silicone adhesive is ran down the path of the seal on the pillar and the seal is then pressed onto the adhesive and held in place with more masking tape and left for 48 hours before removing the tape.












Two friends have very kindly donated two badges for the car. One is an RAC badge and the other is an AA badge. Both badges just needed cleaning and polishing and then I needed to make two stainless steel fixing brackets to wrap around the over-rider. They both fit beautifully and give the car a really good "period" look.












At last, after nine years of restoration, it's finally time to try the car up and down the car park under it's own power. What a thrill to actually drive it!  The short trial did throw up a couple of things that needed attention, but that was to be expected. The gear change was very vague, the steering wheel was too close to the indicator arm and needs spacing off and the headlights were permanently on. But these are minor and should be straightforward to rectify. 
 

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