Hi Allen,
Doubtful. The manufacturers are long gone. So getting a serial number plate form them is not an option. And I doubt MG Magic would have anything like that.
Hopefully somebody with a Fiberfab will chime in, but FM-1876 sure sounds like some sort of serial number.
Just a thought, you can get blank serial number plates that replicate those…[Read more]

Your best bet is a style like #6 on the page RobBaker posted.

If I’m right, almost an original!

Jim,
This might be worth a phone call. It’s a lot to write.
If that’s ok with you, send me a private message with your phone number. Maybe we can get together that way.
 

For some reason, my wife, who took these photos, objects to this arrangement.   Does anyone have a step by step list of what I need to do to remove the body from the Duchess?  
 
Thanks!
Jim

Here is a photo demonstrating proper braking techniques with this setup:
 

Thanks, Paul – very interesting stuff…  Apparently I have an early Duchess.   
 

 Allen, I got mine at ORIELLY AUTO PARTS. I’m sure Advance or Auto Zone would have it as well.  I used a flat strip about 3/4 ”wide and 1/8” thick self adhesive that comes on a roll. I attached it to the inside of the door flange. You may need a thicker seal if the door does not fit the body with about the same distance all around it.

Something on this page should do it.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#foam-seals/=8l4wkh
There is a seal on my car.

The Cobra titling incident that Ed is talking about was a company called Titles Unlimited. The guy was in Georgia. I used them to “title” an unbuilt Ford based TD replica…just before he was arrested for the CA sales tax fraud. The first question he asked, “It isn’t a Cobra is it?”
Here’s how the “titling” worked. He sent me a form to complete…[Read more]

300 BUCKS!
Great job Allen. The grill alone is worth more than that.
The kit of $8,000, 20 years ago in 1990 currency. I wonder how that computes to today’s $. WOW, awesome find!

Take your time and hold out for a good solid chassis. The better the chassis you can find, the easier your job will be.
My Duchess kit was delivered in the fall of 1981. But my search for a donor car lasted months longer. During that time I sat in my office with the Duchess steering wheel making vroom vroom noises!
Ultimately I found the perfect…[Read more]

I’m looking forward to getting started. My shop is my backyard. No garage or carport so the work will start when the weather starts to cool off some. Plus I have to get a chassis. I’m looking for a 70 beetle.

Allen, For 300 dollars that is the best investment you ever made, if you like building a car.  If you don’t like building cars I’ll make an offer of 600.  Doubling your investment in a week can’t beat that on Wall Street 🙂
Have fun it will be rewarding to see it come together.

My Duchess serial number is DS-81-1105DS stands for Duchess81 was the year the kit was produced. It delivered to me late in 1981.1105 is likely a sequential serial number. But I have trouble believing they had produced over 1000 kits in 1981. Maybe they started at 1001? I do not know.So your B79, should mean the kit was produced in 1979 and is…[Read more]

So without the wheel covers and the wood rimmed steering wheel my kit would have cost about 8500. Wow that’s way cool especially since I paid less than 300 for it. And no…it’s not for sale. This one’s like my Ghia. It’s staying with me.

 Allen, I found a price list from Classic Motor Carriages, the company that merged with FiberFab . The envelope it came in was postmarked 1990. The MGTD kit for the VW was priced at $7995.00. The wood rimmed steering wheel,wheel covers ,mahogany dash and guages added an additional $800. to $1000.
 To those of us who are really ”in” to these c…[Read more]

I’m with Ed, a zillion to one….probably the only third owner new unopened 1983 kit ever. Allen, there is more than a century of combined knowledge in this group. We’re like the Verizon commercial with all the folks standing behind you, except we don’t lose signal,….. as much . Post pics along the way. That will help document the build and we…[Read more]

All that and for a very low price. Wonder what the kits went for back in the 80s?

I’d say about a zillion to one. It’s almost a case of ‘don’t open i; it’s worth more in the original box’–like with the allegedly collectible toys you see on ebay.I never understood that concept. I mean, if you can’t play with something, what’s the value in it?Anyway, amazing tale, Allen. I like your slogo too–“ordinary man into a…[Read more]