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So I bought a new car today.
Had my cousin haul it down from Connecticut.
It is a Thunder Ranch 550 Spyder kit, unbuilt, sans engine. Four wheel discs, wide-fives, cable shifter. Mostly complete.
I plan to build this over the next year or two. I hope to drive it a year or so to work the bugs out and then sell it. (Not selling Bridget).
I will start a build blog next week to document the project.
Dark side???? Not in my opinion, after seeing the replica Speedsters at Carlisle last year I have been looking/lusting for an early 70s IRS VW chassis and a kit body I could afford. I look forward to your build blog as I found your MG documentation remarkable. Between the library of books I have accumulated and the pics and write up you provided I took on tasks that two years ago I would never have considered. Don’t mean to imply that if Ed could do it then I could but it was certainly worth trying it may just take more than two, three or four attempts before I got it right except when it came to brakes
David B Dixon
Port Perry ON CA
SabineGreat to hear Ed. Karen is an enabler (and most certainly a keeper). Are you planning another Subaru eng?
I’ve been working on my Mini and it’s almost a Cooper now. High flow head with oversized valves ported and polished. Exhaust header with free flowing exhaust system. Intake manifold. Pertronix. New tires. Recaro seats (1,000% improvement over stock). Putting disc brakes on in a week or two. I’m pretty sure that this will be my final project as I turn 76 this fall and now it takes me two days to change spark plugs…..thank God I don’t have any 8 cylinder autos.
…..and from there on out, I’ll surely enjoy reading of your progress on your project. Hope to see you in Virginia Beach this fall. If all goes according to plan, I’ll drive the Mini up.
You have just about perfected your British and are the only one I know who writes with an accent. ….are you going to be working on your German now???
Definitely VA Beach this year in Bridget, Roy. And maybe in the Spyder in 2018. I had a German grandmother but the only word she ever taught me was “hundsbutza,” which she told me was dog poop and apparently that isn’t even true.
And great to hear about the Cooperization. I really want to drive that car at least round the block, if you’ll allow it.
And no Subi in this car, I think. There’s no engine now but I’m planning a Type 1 VW build. Target is 150 hp at 6000 rpm and an engine that will go to 6500, like a Spyder should. I’ll probably just have a pro build it, but depending on the quote I get I’ll be considering buying the CB Performance Box o’ Parts 2110. Anyone have any experience with these?
Obviously this is already quite expensive…. Man I wish Jack still had that 2332 laying around.
David: those are kind words. For the record, I believe it is usually true that “if Ed can do it, you can do it.” I make my living as a newspaper reporter and am in no way a real mechanic, body man, wood worker, mason, electrician, plumber or thoracic surgeon.
I just like trying stuff.
Ed, No problem driving my Mini (known as Bitz). Don’t really know why you didn’t get a chance last year.
Cool Ed!
Glad you have a new project.
I spent the weekend cleaning my garage so I could get back to my Speedster project – now need to get something done.
Looking forward to this Ed!
Enjoy the build!
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
OK, friends, here is the new blog documenting my Spyder build.
As some of you know, I already grabbed a low-mileage, high-pedigree engine for the car: a Jake Raby-built 1915 from a Beck Special Edition. Carey Hines then went through the carbs, put in new floats, gussied it up and delivered it to the back of my pickup truck at Carlisle last Saturday.
I do not know exactly what is in the engine, but Carey says he had Jake make a bunch of these for Beck builds back when Jake was still making Type 1s. Consensus is it’s basically the CB Performance hi-po 1915, making 120 horsepower. Another SOC member says he has the same engine and showed me the dyno sheet for it: 125 horses at 5500 RPM and over 130 ft-lbs torque at 4000, as I recall.
For what I paid for the engine, and the reputation of the builder, I could not be more stoked. Now I don’t have to try to build a motor, or contract a builder and manage the build. Plus I saved about $1500 off my budget, since the engine comes complete, from the thinline sump to the air cleaners, degree pulley, alternator, spendy DTM shroud and even a clutch and pressure plate. All I need now is a starter. Pretty sure I got lucky.
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