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Hi everyone, several years ago my sons wanted to rebuild a car and having
been very involved in aircooled VW’s when I was young I started searching for
a old VW. During that search I came across an “MP LAFER” on eBay. I had
never heard of it but in looking at the pictures I could tell it was some sort of
MG-TD type replica, it had a VW engine, a fiberglass body (i.e. no rust
problems at least with the body) and above all it looked really neat!! Turned
out the seller was 30 miles away and I ended up buying the car a few days
later. My kids loved the car but quickly lost interest in the project. I on the
other hand was very impressed with the quality of the car and after thinking
about it for a few weeks decided to rebuild the entire car from the ground up.
It took me about 1 year to rebuild everything and it was during this year that
I discovered this website and the wealth of information available here.
The car as purchased had been sitting in a garage for about 8 years..
separating the body from the pan..
pan had very little rust and original floorpans..
rebuilt pan including rebuilt transmission, and new disk brakes..
body after coming back from paint shop sitting next to finished pan..
…and finally finished car…
Wow! What a terrific car!
Really nice work!
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)
GREAT JOB and thanks for the pictures and story.
Do you have any pics of the windows an could you describe how they are raised and lowered ,or are they designed to be removed as on the original MG?
The Lafer has three side windows. The front cowl window is attached to a chrome rail
that fits into the door. This chrome rail (along with its attached front cowl window) can
be pulled out of the door completely. The door window slides in the chrome rail and
can move up and down (down to a certain degree only) via a window pull connected to a
friction pressure plate. This window can also be removed completely and if you remove
the chrome rail from the door you also have to remove this window. The third window
is a small semicircular rear window that fits behind the door and is held in place by a
handscrew on the inside of the rear panel. To remove this window you loosen the
handscrew and pull it straight out.
On the photo below you can see the side window as far down as it will go and also how
the top wraps around the side windows…
That is a righteous-looking ride. Three-bow top, nice and tight. Love the dash too–Porsche gauges, right?
Your seats look a lot plusher than mine as well.
Thanks for the pics and info.
Wow! Wow! Wow!
What an awesome car!
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)
That is a GOOD LOOKING car. What is the main diffrence in the MP Lafer and other td kit cars? What I mean is, is it just a diffrent brand of kit or is a diffrent car?
As I should have done befor asking . I just did a search on them and found the answer to my question.
The gauges are actually VDO gauges made in Brazil specifically for the MP
Lafers. The ones in my car were fairly beat up so I bought new front
glasses (originals were plastic except the speedo and tach) and bezels. I
disassembled, cleaned and reassembled the gauges with the new
components.
Original gauges…
After rebuilding them……
The speedo gauge has a trip odometer but it turns out that on the Lafers
there was no way to reset it. While rebuilding the speedo I fabricated a
small bracket to attach a mechanical reset cable from a Triumph Spitfire
so now the trip odometer also works.
If this is the same car I saw awhile back on the Motortopia website, I have to say it’s looking better than ever.
Would you mind telling where you got the new glass and bezels for your gauges? And can you offer any tips, tricks or advice for disassembling and cleaning them? The gauges on my ’81 Lafer TI are quite faded, and the bezels are black; I’d prefer chrome.
TexAg7140849.9422222222
1981 Lafer TI
1600 cc Type 1 engineVery nice work the car looks spectacular. I am interested in the gauge rebuild process also. What type of front beam is that picture looks like it only has one tube? What type of rims or those?
My original Lafer gauges had clear plastic covers that were scratched and dull and the chrome was
pitted and rusty. I purchased replacement glass and bezels from a company called North
Hollywood Speedometer (www.nhspeedometer.com). I was only able to find replacement glass and
bezels for the 5 smaller gauges so I ended up using the old bezels and glass on the speedo and
tach. I purchased 5 ea. of 52mm glass ($3 ea.) and VDO “Cockpit Royal” chrome bezels ($11 ea.). Be
aware that this was a few years ago so the prices may have changed.
As far as the complete process in general terms I removed the old bezels by prying them off with a
jewelers screwdriver and once you remove the bezel the clear glass or plastic will fall out. I tried to
pry off the needles of the gauges but they seemed well pressed into place so I decided to leave
them on. I cleaned the needle and face plate using “409 kitchen cleaner” and “Q-tips”. I then gave
it another light cleaning with alcohol (again using Q-tips). After they were clean I carefully put a
small strip of masking tape over the needle covered the exterior of the gauge and spray painted
the face plate using a matte finish clear coat and let it dry completely. I didn’t spray the needle
because of the possibility of the added weight of the paint affecting the accuracy of the gauge. You
will need to slightly rotate the needle during spraying in order to get paint under the needle area.
The biggest challenge was installing the new bezels as the edges have to be “rolled” or “bent
around the outer rim of the gauge housing. I placed the gauge face down on a flat surface and then
used the edge of a small spanner wrench to slowly bend the edge of the bezel a little bit at a time
while rotating the gauge. It probably took me 10-15 complete revolutions of the gauge to fully seat
each bezel completely.
This picture shows the tachometer after cleaning and clear coating the face. Note the rough edge of
the bezel due to prying off with jewelers screwdriver.. This rough edge was eventually bent back
around the outer gauge casing.
Hey Calafer….
Apparently you caught a photographer’s eye when you attended a car show in San Diego recently….
http://www.sandiegoimages.net/Cars/San-Diego-Cars/9279445_ga LJ5/41/1155879317_rnb6n#619966766_BX9KD
PMOSSBERG40751.3920833333
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)
What great looking car and a fantastic job. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an orange colored MG or replica before. It really looks sharp!
Can’t even tell you how I foudn it. I think I had googled MG TD images, trying to find good photos of original MG TD wheels.
Let’s just say the orange TD sort of stood out on the image search results page!
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)
Thanks for the information and photos, Ricardo, and for showing the more timid among us that it really is possible to do this stuff ourselves.
Two questions: Is there a gasket under that gauge glass? And if so, where did you obtain a replacement?
Again — great job!
1981 Lafer TI
1600 cc Type 1 engine
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