KG Treffen & Italian Visit

A week after the Swiss visit we had the KG Treffen in Oxnard. The two Italian's (Antonio Pellegrino & Luigi Segre) came over especially for this event and we had a week's worth of fun with them. I drove my Ruby 1962 up on Friday along Highway 1 into Santa Monica, Malibu, and into Oxnard and it was a beautiful day. We met Tom Reay, Chemo Ordaz, & the Italian's at KG Parts & Restoration's shop for some VW-talk, free food, and some relaxation.Chemo took us to his shop where we inspected the progress of Tom's 1968 Automatic M345, which has come a LONG way in a short time. We followed the vintage VW owners to Chullito's for some local Mexican food (fresh Campechana de Marisco's was awesome!), cold cervezas, and more T34-talk.Chemo picked me up early the next morning in his 1964 M343 and we drove the T34s to the Harbor View Park show site. After 10am there were about 35 KGs & 4 T34s. Tom Reay's outstanding Sea Blue 1965 M345 from Los Osos, Chemo Ordaz' driver Blue & Black 1965 M343, my 1962 M341 replica, and Scott McWilliams drove his Ruby Red & Black 1965 M345 with Scott Taylor in the passenger seat. After an intense judging experience (thanks to Antonio) we chose the top KG awards and then selected the top KG in each model to vie for the Sartorelli-Segre Elegance Cup. The winner was a very nicely restored Cardinal Red 1958 T14 Cabriolet. After a beautiful day in the sun at the marina Antonio & Luigi in KGP&R's shop T14 followed me down to San Diego in a 5-hour excursion, arriving just after dark.On Sunday we had a fun BBQ with Scott Taylor & Cathy. They got the full T34 immersion with inspecting the M346, parts, literature collection, toy collection, and everything else. I got a chance to really sit down with Antonio and understand that we both have the same ideology on life, T34s, and people. He's a great friend and someone I'm sure we will know for many years to come. Luigi (19) is new to KGs and our T34 obsession but was very mature and accepting of how much his grandfather (Luigi Segre from Carrozzeria Ghia 1954-63) has affected our hobby.On Monday we cruised up north to Costa Mesa to visit Paul Kramer's 45K-mile Castillian Yellow 1967 M343. What an outstanding job Paul has done with maintaining this fine original T34! And he gave us the full tour as well of over 25 vintage & race cars.On Tuesday we drove the T34 & T14 on a San Diego Tour beginning in Oceanside and going south along Pacific Coast Highway into Carlsbad, Encinitas, Del Mar, Torrey Pines, & La Jolla. After breakfast we visited Jon House's 30K-mile restored Sea Blue & White 1965 M344 hiding in the garage for the past couple years. Then we stopped in old St. Malo for a scenic photo and cruised along the coast to the Torrey Pines glider port and spent a half-hour watching in amazement at the paragliders. Then we dropped down into La Jolla Shores where Luigi found some new girlfriends, then we stopped at La Jolla Cove to see the seals & tidepools. Last stop was at Su Casa for homemade guacamole, ceviche, & fresh shrimp and the cold strawberry margaritas were there to wash it all down. Antonio jumped down into the sand and dipped his feet in the Pacific Ocean, something he's done in different parts of the world.

Suisse Visit

Two new T34 friends from Switzerland came by during their vacation in Southern California and we took the 1962 out for a drive. Philip Egger (1969 M343) & Roland Gentner (1964 M343) brought their families to California and stopped by for the full-dose of T34 immersion: cars, parts, toys, literature, & photos from Karmann's archives. It was really nice to take the T34 for a spin after 4 years of inactivity. Special thanks to Jason Weigel for sharing his spare early manifold, as mine was rusted-through & disintegrating.My thoughtful new Swiss friends brought a unique license plate & vintage metal badge for the T34. The plate is from their local county in Thurgau (TG) and has a one-year registration tag (autographed by the 10 family members) and the vintage TCS (Touring Club Schweiz) badge is their equivalent of the AAA (mounted onto a bracket secured to the bumper bolt behind the guard).

Front Hood Drain Tubes

Paul Colbert initiated the research and discovered a new source for the correct size rubber tubing for the front hood drain tube set. The L-shaped short tube (T14 repro) mounts into the hole in the front hood channel. The bottom end of this tube is cut-off so it can slide tightly into the top end of the 49cm (19.3") long rubber tube (1.0cm inner diameter). This metric tubing was discovered in England and I bought 10 tubes worth for USA T34 owners. The long tube is pushed through the hole at the top and then snugged along the inner nose, through the holder clips and down to the horn hole.

On early T34s with dual horns (up to #345 031 XXX) the dual horns are fitted inside the spare tire area with a large boot (T14 repro) to keep the water/dirt out. This boot needs to be cut at the top to allow the drain tube to go 0.25" into the hole so the water can drain onto the street.

On late T34s with dual horn mounted on the front bumper there is a black metal horn cover plate with a round drain hole built-in. A second L-shaped short tube is inserted into the bottom end of the long tube which is then snugly fitted into the metal cover plate hole. The seal for this can be made from a Transporter Kombi rear window seal (inexpensive T2 repro) or cut from the dual horn boot (T14 repro).

As always this couldn't have been done accurately without the generous help from Paul Colbert, Andy Holmes, Franck Boutier, & Everett Barnes for their original restorations & photos.

Ivory Door-Lever Cups!

For as long as I can remember the early ivory inner door pull cups were never available and we'd always scour the swap meets for acceptable original ones. They'd always break when you installed or removed them so we'd always keep a few extras as spares. Now KG Parts & Restorations in Ventura CA has reproduced this much-needed part!

I ordered a pair for my 1965 and was pleasantly surprised that the color was very close to the originals (left is original & right is repro). And for $6.50/pair they are inexpensive as well. Order # is 837-247 64 70 RPGY and you’ll need two as they’re sold individually. Go to www.KarmannGhia.com and search for “door latch cvr”. The black ones for later T34s (or solid black interiors) are listed as well for $5/pair.

Parts Sources List

I'm always helping T34 owners to source parts and advise them on where to buy the most difficult to find bit for our T34s. With our Thailand source dead, new vendors offering repro items, and a few unique cross-over sources, I began to compile the known parts into one document. Here's the PDF: T34 Parts Sources

I will try to keep it updated & current but this list will only work if everyone contributes their sources, prices, & info. If you have a source for a part, please email me to share it. LeeHedges@PureT34.org

Scripts & Emblems Installation

Thanks to Franck Boutier (France) I was able to source the tiny script tubes for the rear scripts. These tubes are 3mm outside & 2mm inside so they were not easy to find but an online supplier in Texas had them and I bought a box of 50. They are shorter than the original clear tubes but they worked beautifully! Pushed firmly into the cleaned holes then the scripts pushed firmly into the tube holes. The front round VW emblem was a bit trickier since the clear spacer under the emblem kept it up too high, but when I clipped-off the tips of the script tubes (apparently keeping the emblem studs from going down far enough) it sat down close to the body and was firmly installed. There's no way these scripts will fall-out now! Thanks Franck!

Back Home Again!

At 1030pm last night Chemo & a buddy showed-up with the M346 after five long years away. We grabbed a wheel well and unloaded the body onto the wood dolly I built. The dolly is designed to store the T34 in one garage space while being able to work on either the body or the chassis separately. The chassis can roll-out from underneath the dolly or the body can roll-out.

The massive amount of rust repairs that Sean Roper performed and Chemo finished are now invisible on the razor-smooth body panels. The fresh air vents are perfect, the spare tire frame is undetectable, and the lower wheel well sections are flawless. I'm very happy with the results and the L554 Cherry Red color is absolutely beautiful! It's sedate and classic on the Black roof.