subject: Restoration Of Your Karmann Ghia [print this page] If you are having trouble deciding between using authentic, older original parts for your Karmann Ghia and newer parts that were still designed for the car, you are not alone. Restorers and restoration experts constantly have to take each part on a case by case basis to decide if they will hunt down original parts or just go for the non original, but easier to find, newer parts There are advantages to both types of restoration and repair parts, so you will have to consider them carefully in order to really decide which ones are right for your budget, your vehicle and your tastes.
Each restorer has to make his own decision when the time comes about which he will use, and more often than not, on each restored vehicle there are combinations of old and new, which isnt all bad. There are some Karmann Ghia parts that are very easy to find and others that seem almost impossible to get a hold of. A die hard restorer with every intention of making his car truly authentic might be in for a disappointing surprise when he is winding down to the last few exciting parts and then finds disappointment when he has searched the world without finding them. It could take months, and maybe even years searching through scrapyards and part companies trying to find particular parts. Sometimes substitutions will work, and sometimes they wont. And with the ones that do work, the restorer is still facing the problem that the car and all of its parts would not be truly 100 percent authentic.
Many people at this point might just order new parts as opposed to old authentic ones for their Karmann Ghia. It saves a lot of time and frustration and sometimes money, too. However, those who want to be able to claim that their car is 100 percent authentic and original would not be able to do so with these new parts. For a lot of people this is very important to them. If they had worked for years to restore a car and had found every single original part and put it into the vehicle and all it came down to were the door latches for example, that might be devastating to them, understandably. Not only that, but cars that can be marketed as 100 percent original are worth much more than those with replacement new VW parts.
As you can see, the decision on whether to use new VW parts or old ones is a personal one, and true restorers understand that there is a lot at stake with that decision, even if those new VW parts are nothing more than little door handles. One option that might suit you and your Karmann Ghia if you find yourself in this position is to purchase new parts initially to help complete your project, then you could continue searching for the original parts while you at least had an alternative.
