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After many years. perhaps 20, my little car coughed,poped smoked and came to life. no unusual noises , running rough and smoking for a while. finally it smoothed out somewhat (vaccum leak?)and did idle down to maybe 5-600. poured carb cleaner in the fuel pump , shook it up and voila it began to pump.had to fiddle with the points, file them and got a spark. found a nos brazil carb on ebay.one known problem is a bad vaccum advance. now that the engine appears solid i can invest in some new wires hoses,plugs etc. has anyone tried electronic ignition yet? samba lists one with vaccum advance for $150 this thing is growing on me and i cant wait to drive the little rascal.
PMOSSBERG 40677.4969212963 Just drop in a Pertronix kit.
I know a bunch of guys real happy with them.
And throw the old points and rotor in your trunk for emergency use in case the Pertronix module fails.
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 news…compression, fuel and spark is all you needed!
As far as that $150 “034” vacuum advance distributor, the module is Chinese, not a Pertronix. I bought one…it lasted about 500 miles. I bought another from aircoooled.net (John Connelly) that has a modified Pertronix Ignitor I installed. It was $100 more than the Chinese POS. This is in my ’74 Bug “driver”
If I were you, I’d post the distributor model # on the Samba and ask what year/years it is. Then order and install the correct # Pertronix Ignitor I and their matching blaster coil. It’ll start before you can turn the key back to “on”.
I was lucky enough to have Glenn Ring (the Samba) sell me a rebuilt “010” distributor and I installed the correct # Pertronix Ignitor I in it. I also will use the matching Blaster Coil. It’s on the motor going into a Volksrod I am building.
thanks , glad i didnt buy the chinese distributer, my thinking was i needed an advance canister anyway…….. according to samba , i have a 7/71 ghia pan, thought they had disc brakes, mine has drums. i will sort it all out eventually.i will have many more questions……you guys have been there.
nice day here and i just had to drive lil red.jumper wire and remote starter switch ran inside.took her to the mail box and back and around the hay fields. no brakes yet and using two seat bottoms. still have a big smile . me and ted (dog)got the first ride under our belts. drives ok, little bumpy on my gravel road, all the gears and handbrake work , thought i heard a front tire rubbing in a turn. ill add it to the list….
PMOSSBERG40648.9903472222
IS Ted old enough to drive?
He sure looks ready in this pic. Looks like he’s saying “Let’s go. Let’s go!” What kind of wiper motor is that? It looks huge.Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackMike,
You mentioned that your TD is on a Gjia pan. Did you have to do a lot of work on the chassis or just cut the floor pans to fit? I”ve always thought the Ghia pan doesn’t fit?
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shackits a defroster fan, mounted in front of the wiper motor. i wasnt aware a ghia pan was different. the vin# starts with 1422. according to samba it is a karman ghia vin#. dont know any history on the car, was told it was a fiberfab but havent found any numbers or plates to back it up. companys bought others and i believe mixed and matched parts to assemble cars.
As far as I know the Ghia pan is too big and wide to be used as a MGTD pan.
yes engine and other parts can be used ..
have the dash back together(difficult)and changed some interior to red(easy) and drove on some back roads(smile).
PMOSSBERG40677.4977083333
Always a good day when you can take the TD out for a drive!
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)
my speedometer is jumpimg all over and reads about twice what it should.other guages are ok. can some of you guys with vw irs tell me what speed you are at ,say 2500 or3000 rpm ? my tach is ok so i may be able to judge my speed by the rpm. theres a trooper around here that will give his mama a ticket. thanks in advance.
btw, got caught in the rain yesterday,top up,no side curtains, not bad at all untill i stopped .Mike
Most likely your speedo cable is giving up or it came loose on the back of the
speedo or the clip came off at the wheel. Sometimes you can squirt lube on
the cable ( between the cable and housing ) and get it to work if the two
ends are OK.
If replacing – you will need a longer then regular cable from a bug because
you are sitting where the rear seat used to be. Try a bus type cable as I think
they are longer. MG Magic also carries them
Mike,
The cable could be catching inside it’s housing. That could happen for a couple reasons.
I think the most likely reason is the housing is making bends on its way to your dash that are too sharp. Within the housing, the cable drags within the bend, which appears as a drop in speed on the speedometer. At the wheel end. the cable has continued to turn at the correct speed. When enough force builds to overcome the drag in the bend, the dash end of the cable jumps ahead to catch up, and the needle jumps up with it.
Take a look at the routing of the cable and see if you can route it to make more gentle bends on the way to the dash.
Meanwhile, your actual speed is somewhere in the middle of the arc the needle is jumping through. Really! I won the amateur class in a Time/Speed/Distance road rally with a speedometer acting just like yours! And I zeroed one of the timed segments, which means I hit it to the exact hundredth of a second!
Schu noted the cable could be giving up. I agree that is a possibility. if the cable is frayed somewhere, it would be catching inside the housing. And you would see the same needle bounce.
I don’t think the cable is loose at either the wheel or the dash. The fittings at the end of the cable are squared off, they are either set in place or not. But that is the easiest to check, so you should start there.
PMOSSBERG40677.4985069444
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)
A real rough guess of speed. On both of my cars the speed is almost twice the RPM, ie: 2000rpm=40mph, 2500-50mph etc. Allow a little to keep the gendarmes happy and motor on! I had my wife follow me in another car to verify this. Don’t know if all kits would work this way, but it is, after all, a Volkswagen in a pretty suit. Except for my Pinto in a pretty suit.
i fooled with the cable some. couldnt get it out . i moved it aboua 1/2 inch in and out . helped with the needle jumping but still is about double the actual speed. its electric with a short cable running to the pickup just behind the steering damper and wires to the back of the speedometer. there is no extra terminal like on a tach so the only possiblity is the two wires are switched.i have found several wires wrong so far. the amp meter is reading discharge when i know by my multimeter on the battery that it is charging,so it is probably wired backwards.
Ah, that changes all of our answers Mike.
I have no experience with electric speedos. But having no knowledge never stopped me before!
The jumping needle sounds like loose wires or a bad ground. Like you said, check the wiring.
The speedometer reading twice your speed sounds like you have a mismatch between the sending unit and the speedometer’s receiver.
My final random thought is truly amateurish. Is your VW a 6 volt or 12 volt?
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)
well now i feel like the biggest dummy in the world . after looking at the speedometer , it is in kph not mph.the mph is in little bitty numbers hidden by the steering wheel.its still jumping around some. and it just quits like my horn every so often. one brake light works but both turn signals work. ill be chasing electron gremlins for a while.
I agree. Definitely sounds like bad grounds.
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)
as a precaution i ran 3 12 ga grounds from the frame to the dash and firewall. i suppose i missed some under the dash. you cant have too many on a fiberglass car.
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