A lot has been happening to the 1966 Karmann Ghia since our last update.

The remaining areas of the bodyshell were coated in finish primer then the Ghia was masked and sprayed with rubberised gravel protector on the sills, nose lower section, inner wings, under the rear floor above the gearbox and engine bay surround panels, the front bulkhead area and inside the rear quarter panels.

Once this was completed the bodyshell was wet flatted and prepared for finish paint. The Ghia was then cleaned up and loaded into the spray booth where Simon painted it in Porsche splittgrau (see photo below). Many of the component parts of the Ghia have also been sprayed ready for assembly; the pedal assemblies, fuel tank, handbrake lever, steering column shroud, indicator units etc. have all been prepped and painted.

The 1776 engine rebuilt in-house by Phil has been fitted into the Ghia and the nearside front hub and brake assembly have been reassembled and fitted to the spindle. The short steering rod has also been modified and the steering box has been fitted to the front beam.

The freshly painted bodyshell was then fitted back onto the floorpan and polished and now assembly is underway. The oil breather box has been mounted to the engine firewall, gearbox axle boots have been fitted and the oil cooler has also been fitted in place. This week Alan has been making the wiring loom (see photo below) and getting the switches and gauges fitted to the dash and wired up to the fuse box.

Over the coming weeks the Ghia will continue to be reassembled, which (as many of you know) often feels like the slowest part of a restoration project because the finished vehicle is almost in sight!