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Hello all, I’m not only a new member to the forum but also a new TD owner. My sign in is bill19968. That equates to yes my name is Bill and the 19968 is my zip code for Milton, Delaware. I built a kit car around 30 years ago and that was one on the best experiences I have ever had. I built a Kelmark GT on a vw frame. Now here I go again. I recently purchased a CMC Fiberfab vw based MGTD unassembled. When I got everything home and started doing an inventory of what I had and what was missing, I realized I probably am the 4th owner. I had boxes showing an address in Fredricksburg, va and boxes addressed to Ellicott City maryland and I bought from a guy in Ashland, Virginia. Missing a lot of parts, but found MG Magic and they sell almost everything I need. Now here is my problem and where I could use some help. I have 2 assembly manuals from fiberfab. The directions refer to cutting along the scribed lines. I know what these are, but I can not find one anywhere. Some of my pieces are indeed already cut out, ie the 2 cowls. However I do not know if they are cut correctly!!!! Also the directions refer to drill on the scribed points. Again, I understand what this is, however I cannot find 1 scribed point. I’m somewhat stopped somewhere between stop and go. My thoughts would be if I could link up with someone here in southern Delaware or Eastern Shore Maryland that I could go take some measurements off their completed car, I would then be able to have a starting point. Right now the critical measurements would be the cowls and if I could get a measurment from where the front fender passes over where the cowl meets the main body and measure back to the end of the fender that would be a good starting point. With help I could hold the long front fender against the car and measure back to the of the fender and take a grease pencil and make a vertical mark on the body. I then could hold the running board with the front edge on that line and make another vertical line at the end of the running board. That would create the connection point of the rear of the running board to the front of the rear fender. Any help or other ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Bill Rooke16537 Sweetwater DriveMilton, De 19968Bill,
Welcome, you will find lots of help here on the forum. Be very careful where you make your holes and cuts. On my Fiberfab kit many of the scribe lines were not accurate, so a lot of sitting and thinking goes into building one of these. Even though my kit is a vw based kit I am building it as a front engine 2.3 Ford
I built the frame from tubing and now am working on the floor and firewall.
Good luck on the build, since you are close to VA beach you may want to pop down there for a visit with the guy at the event.
Mel
tommietd build
Bill, welcome! As you have already built a car from a kit, only a few people here have more experience than you do. I know you’ll be able to get her done; hope to see you on our Carlisle cruise this year or next…. and the now-annual Oct. run to Virginia Beach!*
My car is a BCW so the dimensions are slightly different from yours. I believe there were two separate iterations of the FF cars, one design featuring fenders that met in front of the grill as a split front splash pan, the other with a separate splash pan (?) Which one have you?I think all the VW-based FFs sat about the same way on the pan, but there are certainly differences in how the assembly was supposed to go. As you already know (but might not remember) from your Kelmark, there are a lot of things about a kit that need to be rethought, re-engineered and/or engineered for the first time! You’ll get some coaching and other help here for sure.Good luck, and please start a build thread with photos if you have time.=*Which, alas, I am almost certainly about to miss.Hi Bill I think we are in about the same stage of assembly of an unbuilt FF kit. The scribe line thing seemed a huge problem but a recent posting from STG-inc of a very hi quality assembly and some advice here and in Carlisle PA. puts things in a little perspective. Somehow Edsnova noticed the hood sidepanels were long and STG-inc explained the stretching process. Secondly it seems nothing really fits, you grind, fill, trim and accommodate to a point you can live with. Some of these have been built by NASA engineers some are in a permanent dogleg left. They’re all fun. “After Dinner cars” best description I’ve heard. Mike
Hi Mike, thanks for the reply. I think most of my pieces that did have scribe lines have been cut by one of the previous 3 owners. My big question there is were they cut accurate. That I will deal with down the road. Right now my biggest problem is without any scribe points, I do not know where to drill the holes and start building the sides of the car. I know the holes on the back side of the front and back fenders are not that big of a deal, but I better have a good idea of where exactly the fender goes on the side before I drill those holes. Can you imagine a month from now finding out that you mounted the fenders an inch high and now need to lower them to make everything fit right. It is clear why the previous 3 owners never built this car. If I could just get the one measurement of where the fender passes over the seem of the cowl and main body back to the back of the front fender. My problems would be almost over. I then could hold the fron fender in place and make a mark with a grease pencil where the end of the fender is. Then hold the running board up there lining it up on the line and making another mark at the rear of the running board. I then could make the holes I need.
Bill RookeBill,
I have a CMC/Fiberfab kit I’m building and if you check the Download Manuals tab on the left, in the CMC/Fiberfab section, Part 1 on page 25 (Figure 20) it says to “Align forward notch of fender with edge of cowl and allow rear to rest on body ledge.” It shows the alignment really good in the figure. Anyway, that should help for a starting point. What makes my kit really difficult is part is CMC and part is Fiberfab and they don’t fit all that well. Currently I’m making my wiring harnesses. But she’s coming along slow but sure. Check, measure, check, re-measure, check then re-measure again and then cut/align/install.newkitman2014-09-22 15:20:48
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackThanks Allen
We may need to team up. I too think my kit is a combo kit. My assembly manual is FF , and everything seems to be FF except my main body, it did have a CMC yellow sticker on it. My running boards and also the rear fenders do not fit well, they are going to take some grinding adjustments. I did not get a wiring harness so I will have to build mine. What gauge wire are you using? I know the wiring diagrams show maybe 4 10ga but I did not see anything about the other wires. I have started buying spools of 16ga.Thanks again, Bill RookeBill: You say you have two manuals,check which one has the the latestpublished date. Check any addendums before you follow any instructioins. I have an early and a late fiberfab kit and they are different. Early one does not bolt fenders in center , Early manual does not have any additions or corrections to the manual. Later one has more pages and corrections to instructions.You should be able to get it put togeather with your manual and ones on site here.
When I was assembling my FF kit I followed the instruction manual and nothing in the front end would fit. Nothing would line up. I ended up calling the factory in Florida and was told to disregard the manual. The manual tells you to start from the front and work back. They start at the back and work front. Don’t know why that would make a difference, but it did. By the time I got to the front it all lined up. Go figure.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Thanks George, one of my manuals says copywrite 1982 and the other says copywrite 1983. Both are old and old enough the pages are yellow. I know I will get it done, but I’m so hesitant to drill that first hole in the body without knowing for sure that I’m right or close enough.
Thanks again Bill RookeAllen, My blue manual has the same description on page 25. This would be a good starting point. Have you cut out your two cowls yet? If so could you measure the length across the top of your cowl. This would give an idea of whoever cut mine did an okay job.
Thanks Bill RookeBill: You might measure your panels an compare them to un built panels to see if they were cut. Might also check with an un built kit for measurements. I havw an un built but would take some diging to get to the panels. If you want me ti dig yhem out and measure them I will.
Bill,
In the BCW manual (I think) they mention running a string or measuring cross corner in the front to be sure they are square. Could be another way to check it.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack
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