Hood Seal and Other Questions

[newkitman]

Needing to purchase the sponge strip that goes between the hood and grille and the body tub. One didn’t come with the kit so I don’t know the thickness (height) of it. Also I need to get a battery cable to run from the battery to the starter. I’m thinking 18 ft. long cable will do it. Yea/nay? Lastly the door hinges. Just for my own knowledge…which hinge does the most weight support……top or bottom? Last question is the running boards. Does anyone add a support beneath the running board and body for extra strength? Thanks folks.
newkitman2015-01-31 18:26:59

Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack

[Paul Mossberg]

I think I just used 3/8″ closed cell foam for the front/rear edges of my hood. An easy way to check you clearance, loosely crumple some aluminum foil and close the hood on it. Silly putty works pretty well for this too.

Can’t help ya with the battery cable. Classic Roadsters Ltd Duchess leaves the battery in the stock VW location.

Re: the door hinges….what weight support? You’re holding up two hollow fiberglass doors.

I have no extra support under my running boards. They are bolted to the front and rear fenders, and are riveted to the body. They can support my 220 pounds, although I don’t make a habit of standing on them.

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If 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)

[edward ericson]

18-feet of battery cable should allow you to put the battery in the car ahead of you if you want to. Half that should be adequate, but to be sure I’d mock everything up first with a bit of string or clothesline. 

The doors are light, as Paul said, but I think my car has metal molded in at the hinge points–both on the door and the tub. 

Under the running board has some molded-in stuff too. Could be wood ribs or metal. Not sure. And I have a piece of angle iron that bolts to the floor pan running all the away across and under the runners where they meet the front fenders. Had to modify it for cooling lines last year, so pics of that and the car with the crossmember installed can be seen here. That’s BCW for ye.

I think it’s probably less important what material is used to give the structure the needed strength than making sure that there is something giving it strength–be it wood, metal or just extra heavy fiberglass.

[davearoy]

I only have the tan welting on the front and rear of the hood on my Classic Roadsters MGTDr. I relocated the battery to the front of Herbie, so I would have some additional weight up front, under the trunk area. As far as the battery cable goes, I used a string and followed the same path as the battery cable would. I also got a great deal on 10 ft of # 2 battery cable from Advance Auto, for two dollars a foot. I had hard starting problems due to the resistance in the orginal spec battery cable do to the length, so I errored on the side of over kill. I also added an old style Ford starter solenoid in line on the # 10 Guage wire to help boost the power to the VW starter solenoid. Good luck with it……….

Dave
Lakeland, Fl (the place where we drive top less all year)

Dave
Lakeland, Florida, where we drive Topless every day

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