freindly VW guy

[midengine]

alright, its been a while since i sold my Karmann Ghia Vert. But the story is still one worth hearing. and it shows what kind of guy is a VW guy.

At the time i owned my Ghia for about a week. it was my first VW and I was still learning VW 101. (still am) It was our first nice spring day and i couldnt help but to take the Ghia out for a cruse. It was a great running car but had a few issues that had to be addressed. I just got done changing out the battery, Generator, battery terminals and all conections.

so by this time i was sure i had the charging issue addressed. right? well i was confident so i took it for a longer drive to ft madison iowa. crused along the whindy Missisippi river road along the Illinois side then cut across at the ft madison Iowa bridge. then proceeded south again towards keokuk. It was fun the whole way and the car was behaving great. but by that time i needed some gas so i desided to stop at a gas station in keokuk be for i crossed the bridge into Hamilton Il again. well i filled her up and got in and turned the key anxoius to drive somemore and then she wouldnt even turn over! just a single click! i tried to pop start it numorus times. and still nothing! she was drained! so i was about to start walking home... But then in this small town out of no where pulled in a orange 72' Ghia! It was the one i heard about! I thought people were just getting me worked up becuase ive never seen this car! and a week into owning mine we ran into eachother. we had a little conversation and with out me asking he volenteered to give me a jump start. thankfully i had cables in the front still from before i changed the parts. so he backed his car up to mine and we let it charge a little. with his quiet exaust purring for a few minuites.. by this time we had alot of attention. we were on the main street in keokuk thats also hwy 61 and it was the busiest gas staition in town! well i climbed in and gave the key a turn. well.............. vroom! she started right up! it was then i noticed how much louder my car was then his. and the exaust leak made it worse. I though they all were that crappy sounding! well we exchanged a few more gestures and commented on each others cars. then we took off. i was still upset becuase my car was still broke. but i had a grin on my face the whole way home! i couldnt help but repeating. That was cool! to myself along the way home. it was! after getting home i inspected the car and found the loose ground and disconnected wire on the generator. i found it to be the ground as the wire was for a dash light that would not go off. then the next morning i went to the local exaust shop to get the exaust welded. i didnt have much money after buying the parts to fix the charging issue so i just had him weld the flanges shut where the heat exchager meets the muffler. they both needed replaced so i didnt mind welding them together. it made a world of difference! it sounded almost just like the sound clip of a 356 that i saved on my computer.
having the encounter at the gas station and then having my car sound like my dream car really made me love these things more. dont tell the ghia but after welding the exaust i couldnt help but to imagine i was driving a 356.


thanks for letting me share that story..

[midengine]

remember that grin i told you about? this is a picture my freind cody took of me driving my ghia.

[der mechaniker]

Look for this story featured on the new Stories and Articles page on VintageVWCars.com.

Thanks midengine!

http://www.vintagevwcars.com/vw-articles.htm

[usedcar129]

Its really a nice story here about VW. I always wants to know more about VW and here is something about it. Thanks for sharing it with us.
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[jeremi08]

VW story.. really nice. thanks

[Cabriolet]

My Cab, had a similar issue with not starting when I wanted it to. I had to park on a hill and pop the clutch upon take off. It had a gasket that was going out, rips in the top, and exhaust problems. I loved that car though, I drove it until it died on the side of the road. it was my first car, my first love, and my first heartbreak. I needed a mechanic every other week.