McGEE’S GREEN GHIA

by Dan Leadbetter

“My love affair with VWs started by reading VW Trends at lunchtime when I was 14 years old,” Wade McGee of Powder Springs, Georgia, told us. But the Bug really didn’t bite until a little later. At the tender age of 15, Wade was illegally driving a ’78 Corolla he bought from his preacher for $40. It needed a clutch. Wade fixed it and drove the car for six months before a friend offered him $800 for it. Walking home with 800 clams in his pocket, Wade saw a ’65 Ghia for sale. The guy wanted $800, but Wade got him down to $790 (he needed gas money). The deal was done, and Wade was officially hooked on VWs.

It seemed like a simple start, but

Wade went down the rabbit hole pretty deep. Since that time, besides the aforementioned ’65 Ghia, Wade has owned a ’74 Ghia convertible, a ’67 Beetle, multiple water-cooled VWs (including several Sciroccos and GTIs), and the ’71 Ghia convertible you see before you.

This KG was formerly a high school shop car. It was then sold to a guy in Alabama who had it on jackstands for a little more than 15 years before losing interest in it. Wade snagged it for a mere $3,000.

Once the VW was in his posses- sion, Wade began taking care of the exterior. Fortunately, the body was rust-free, something you don’t find too often these days. Donning his welding helmet, Wade and his friend Will Jackson went over every square inch of the body to make sure it was all set for prep and paint. This included shaving the rear lowers and front turn signals, since Wade likes to keep things simple.

Next was the paint. Danny Sawyer from Keith Sawyer Performance in Kennesaw, Georgia, oversaw spraying the PPG LR6 Green — a VW Polo color — on the body, interior and convertible frame.

You may be asking, “Why would he paint the convertible frame? It’s just going to get covered up with the headliner!” You’d be right — if there was going to be a headliner. Wade’s not a fan of headliners and decided to go without. He ordered a new Black cloth convertible top from MTM. Since he wasn’t going to use a headliner, Wade had to spitball how much of the cloth top needed to be removed for a clean fit and installation. He told MTM to cut a quarter-inch off all the way around. When the top showed up, it fit like a glove!

With the paint dry and wet sanded, Wade replaced the stock headlights with a set of Summit Racing LED City Lights, which add a modern touch. The stock bumpers were rechromed and reinstalled, as was the rest of the chrome trim. This Ghia was really taking shape!

A VW this cool can’t sit on a stock suspension, so Valley Autoworks was tapped for a 4-inch narrowed beam with narrowed tie-rods, outfitted with Airkewled drop spindles and custom 10-inch shocks. To keep things stable, a 28mm sway bar was added. Out back, adjustable rear plates with Bilstien shocks brought the KG down to a respectable stance. For tires and wheels, Wade chose 15-inch Porsche Fuchs (5.5" in the front, 6" in the rear) mounted on Achilles Economist all-season radials. EMPI discs and lines on all four corners provide the stopping power.

Now it was time for some much-needed go power! Wade reached out to Herrel’s VW Bug Parts in Carollton, Georgia, to build him a rock-solid 1776cc motor worthy of being installed in this clean Ghia. The motor features CB Performance 90.5mm pistons and barrels, Scat counterweighted crank, and balanced and bushed rods with ARP bolts. Other engine mods include an Engle 110 camshaft, MOFOCO port-matched dual-port heads, a set of Weber 44 IDF carbs, Compufire ignition system, MST pulley system, and JayCee alternator stand. The fan shroud is a 36hp style, and spent gases exit through a CB Performance header system with a QP muffler.

The interior looks like it belongs in a fighter plane rather than a street-savvy Karmann Ghia. Inspired by the P-51 Mustang, Wade designed the look of the interior, and the folks from Iron Ace brought Wade’s vision to life. The bomber-style seats feature distressed black leather cushions. The console features two drink holders, an old-school authentic EMPI T-handle shifter, and e-brake. The door, quarter panels, and rear seat lid follow the theme perfectly. The steering wheel is by MOMO, and OEM gauges keep Wade informed of the engine’s internal workings. The carpet is a black, fine loop with wood floormats. No stereo in this ride — all you need to hear is the rumble of the 1776 monster out back.

If you’re ever in Georgia and a PoloGreen Ghia passes you on the freeway, stick your hand out and wave! Wade deserves multiple thumbs up for his super slick ’71!

To many, growing up in Florida seems like a dream. Greg Butcher lived that dream. Back in the 1980s, when Greg wasn’t in school, he spent most of his days surfing. His first job was delivering pizza, and even though his surfer lifestyle didn’t cost much, he had a passion for cars, particularly VWs. To supplement his income, Greg and his best friend Charlie would raid the local junkyards, find old VWs, bring them back to life, then sell them for extra cash. But as the years passed, Greg found that delivering pizzas and flipping VWs wasn’t really cutting it anymore. He faced reality and got a “real” job as a car audio technician.

If you grew up in the late ’80s and early ’90s, you may recall the car audio craze: huge stereo systems, equalizers, racks of amps powering massive walls of subwoofers, and so on. Greg was instantly hooked. He now owns Custom Auto & Video in Winter Park, Florida. Greg hasn’t really ever stopped loving VWs, but with his business thriving, he thought it was time to build something extra special. His surfing days are not entirely behind him, but stand-up paddle boards are now more commonplace. While browsing eBay auctions, Greg came across “a wicked cool 1963 patina Single Cab with custom-built racks for paddle boarding!” He placed a bid, not really expecting to win. But when the seller lifted the reserve at the last minute, Greg yelled in excitement to his girlfriend, “We just bought a new VW!”

The Bus was only a few hours away. Greg made a few calls, borrowed a trailer, and in a matter of days after the close of the auction, the truck was in his possession. Greg has owned his fair share of VWs, but this one was different from the start. He cruised it around for about a year until the time came to finally build a VW the way he had dreamed of, from start to finish.

Greg says, “Although the Bus looked wicked cool, it needed some love.” He contacted Jason Stratton at Stratton Motorsports in Winter Park, and that’s when the transformation began. Jason and his crew stripped the body down to bare metal, and surprisingly, it was fairly rust free. After a couple of spots were repaired it was quickly off to paint. The two-tone L380 Green and L87 Off-White Glasurit paint was applied, then wet sanded and buffed to perfection.

With the body ready, it was time to make it a roller. A KCW 4-inch narrowed beam with 2½-inch dropped spindles was installed in front. The back uses a Pro Street transaxle (3.44 ring and pinion and .082 4th gear) provided by Wright Gearbox in Riverside, California, along with adjustable spring plates. After the EMPI disc brakes were added, the Bus got a set of 17inch chrome Radar wheels with Hankook 205/40 fronts and 215/45 rears, and the stance was complete.

When it came time to do the motor, Greg went all in. Wright Gearbox built a brandnew 2332cc loaded with goodies from CB Performance: CB 84mm crank, lifters, ignition, rockers, and 044 heads, just to name a few. With all that from CB, why not add CB fuel injection too? Top that off with a Porsche-style cooling tin, and you’ve got one sweet engine!

But wait, there’s more. You’ll notice the belt on the serpentine system is a bit different. That’s because Greg lives in Florida, where air conditioning is mandatory. The compressor is mounted underneath the engine tin, and if you didn’t notice the belt configuration, you would have no clue that an AC system was installed.

The interior was the last step of the process, and it was now time for Greg himself to shine. He used his own talents, in collaboration with Dickey’s Upholstery in Longwood, Florida, and Stratton Motorsports, to create an amazing interior and sound system. As you can imagine, a guy who installs audio systems and home theaters for a living isn’t going to install a Sparkomatic cassette deck in the dash and call it a day! No sir! This Type II sports an 1800-watt Pioneer/ JL Audio sound system. To quote Floridian Vanilla Ice, this Bus has enough bass “to shake and kick holes in the ground!”

Remember that hidden AC compressor? The stereo system and interior are much the same. The overhead console houses a Pioneer touchscreen control unit (which is also the screen for a backup camera secretly hidden behind the license plate). Inside the treasure chests conceal a custom built, LED-lit subwoofer enclosure that houses four JL Audio 12W3 V2 12-inch subwoofers that can only be seen through an access hole behind the seat. The passenger-side treasure chest hides two concealed Interstate batteries, battery posts, and a cutoff. The driver’s side hides two JL Audio amps: a JL 1000/1 to handle the subwoofers and a JL 600/4 to handle the component speakers in the doors. The only real obvious evidence of the stereo at all is the JL Audio C5-653 3-way component speaker system: 6.5-inch woofers, 4-inch mid-ranges, and 0.75-inch silk-dome tweeters in the door panels. Speaking of the door panels, those and the seats were done in a twotone tan vinyl and tweed. The tweed, also used for the headliner, has a hint of teal in it, and really compliments the exterior.

So what about that air conditioning? Once again, everything is neatly hidden. The air vents and control knobs are mounted just below the front seat. I can’t begin to express how well everything on this Single Cab was executed.

As time passes, we all mature. Car audio installations become home theater installations, and the junkyard flips become a year and a half restoration. Rooted in most everyone, especially us car nuts, is some nostalgia, and car enthusiasts often do what we do as a reminder of our past. Greg now has the VW of his dreams, and he and his longtime girlfriend Laura can cruise the streets of Florida, listening to an earth-shattering sound system, reminiscing about days gone by. Greg started his project with something he described as “wicked cool,” but now, especially with air conditioning, it’s even Wicked Cooler!