70 ghia

[rx403]

bought it from someone near detroit for 800. brought her home and got the engine to run. took some reading about the auto stick before we figured the diaphragm for the clutch mechanics was rotted out. put a new one in and it ran great! its a project for sure. i have a huge wish list for it but not much time any more.

[dansam]

Looks like a heckova deal for the money.
Good find!

Dan

[teamafx]

Great find and for only $800. Whats on your wish list?

[rx403]

needs electrical redone for most lights. some are more dim then others. need to re-find my ground wire going back for the clutch servo. it decided to quit working last fall. got it working again my running the wire from the shifter back to the servo. last year the G light came on. i thought it was low on gas so i put gas in it. so a new generator or even an alternator would be nice. needs body/paint work. and its getting worse from sitting where it is. need to figure out why the trans fluid comes out of the fill tube when running at high speeds. i tried putting some make your own gasket material around the cap and it worked for a while. lifting it up this summer found that the rear floor pans are starting to rust pretty bad. interior needs a little work. the wood grain (looks like a sticker bubbling up) on muggy spring days i see moisture in some of the dash gauges. its by far from perfect but it does drive good

[drwingtipshoes]

Jul 28, 2010 18:36:56 GMT -5 rx403 said:

needs electrical redone for most lights. some are more dim then others.

I've often wondered, with these old cars, if cleaning all the slip connectors with some kind of brass/copper cleaner (CLR?) wouldn't help with dim dash lights, etc. I've also wondered about a NEW ground strap, etc. Seems like there's a lot of corrosion and dirt on ALL the connectors, etc.

Anyone ever tried this??

[akitsuji]

Nice find. I have a 70 ghia coupe with Auto stick also.

Aki

[drwingtipshoes]

Jul 29, 2010 11:47:47 GMT -5 @drwingtipshoes said:

I've often wondered, with these old cars, if cleaning all the slip connectors with some kind of brass/copper cleaner (CLR?) wouldn't help with dim dash lights, etc.

Anyone ever tried this??

I was down at George's last night and posed this question to him. He told me somebody (sorry, short term memory problems here) in the group actually cleaned their whole fuseblock by soaking it in Coca-cola. Said it looked brand new!!

Anyone ever heard of this? Anyone want to identify themselves? AJ, was that you?

Hope they drank the coke when done - it would be a terrible waste just to pour it down the drain....

[ghiastein]

Jul 28, 2010 18:36:56 GMT -5 rx403 said:

needs electrical redone for most lights. some are more dim then others.

Here is the trick I did to my Ghia's dash bulbs years ago. Six or so years ago AutoZone sold European style Sylvania Bulbs I have no idea if they still do I have not checked. You are looking for bulb number 2723 they are double the wattage of the stock bulbs. Double wattage equals brighter light, but they do use more energy so be careful. It may also be a good time to beef up the wiring to you bulbs if you want at the same time too.

Jul 29, 2010 11:47:47 GMT -5 @drwingtipshoes said:

I've often wondered, with these old cars, if cleaning all the slip connectors with some kind of brass/copper cleaner (CLR?) wouldn't help with dim dash lights, etc. I've also wondered about a NEW ground strap, etc. Seems like there's a lot of corrosion and dirt on ALL the connectors, etc.

Anyone ever tried this??

Corrosion is bad it robs energy plain and simple. I clean everything electrical with either wire brush, wire wheel, or sand paper. I replace every terminal end that looks bad because you can never clean them good enough. Then for weather seeing terminal I coat them with a good dielectric grease. This seals them from weather and keeps them clean.

I have never tried any cleaners just sand or replace.

Aug 5, 2010 8:07:20 GMT -5 @drwingtipshoes said:

I was down at George's last night and posed this question to him. He told me somebody (sorry, short term memory problems here) in the group actually cleaned their whole fuseblock by soaking it in Coca-cola. Said it looked brand new!!

Anyone ever heard of this? Anyone want to identify themselves? AJ, was that you?

Hope they drank the coke when done - it would be a terrible waste just to pour it down the drain....

Ummmm No not me

What a sticky mess. Coca Cola is mostly water. Water is bad. Coca Cola does have this nasty chemical called phosphoric acid ever hear of navel jelly rust remover same stuff. I guess the acid could help clean it. I would rather just clean it all up with a small wire wheel.

[81pumagtc]

I agree with AJ, but I probably pull the trigger on replacing terminals quicker.

I also use steel wool as my primary plan of attack on cleaning corrosion...sometimes sandpaper scratches the surface a bit and actually corrodes faster in the future. If I can get the parts out, I actually use SOS pads. The soap in it has a corrosion inhibitor in it, and it does work better on alloy, etc. than the bargain brands. Actually did a test to prove this to myself.

I can't imagine anyone using Coke to clean anything other than other than bolts, nuts, or sheet metal that can't have anything collect.

Pure water (distilled) conducts almost no electricity, and is often used to clean flux off of circuit boards, etc. Pure water conducts extremely well, however, when you add impurities like salt, sugar, etc. Almost like copper then!

The reason you would never want to use this on a terminal block or fuseblock is simple. Like AJ said, phosphoric acid is an acid, and when you soak things like that in it, you can really never get everything completely clean, especially where it has seeped between plastic and steel. The sugars exacerbate this as well. It's the gift that keeps on giving...it may take months or years before you notice that metal is just being eaten up and have white corrosion because of it. Nasty stuff.

My personal thing is to replace every bulb in my dash about every six or seven years if they need it or not. Tight under the dash of the Pig of Plastic, and I want to do this as little as possible.


Dave

[rx403]

Aug 5, 2010 8:07:20 GMT -5 @drwingtipshoes said:

Jul 29, 2010 11:47:47 GMT -5 @drwingtipshoes said:

I've often wondered, with these old cars, if cleaning all the slip connectors with some kind of brass/copper cleaner (CLR?) wouldn't help with dim dash lights, etc.

Anyone ever tried this??

I was down at George's last night and posed this question to him. He told me somebody (sorry, short term memory problems here) in the group actually cleaned their whole fuseblock by soaking it in Coca-cola. Said it looked brand new!!

Anyone ever heard of this? Anyone want to identify themselves? AJ, was that you?

Hope they drank the coke when done - it would be a terrible waste just to pour it down the drain....

anything acidic is going to work. i would not use coke for anything unless it was an emergency. at my job i use Hot water and baking soda.you can buy stuff to clean electrical connections but find most dont work well. just for a test take some baking soda(the kind you stick in your fridge to take away smell) mix it with hot water and pour it on a corroded battery terminal. let sit for a few minutes and rinse.