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Hey all, I haven’t posted in a while but have been
steadily, if not sometimes slowly, making progress on my rebuild.After we got the floor pans and frame head on I coated
most of the frame with Rust Encapsulator from Eastwood (great stuff). I will do the rest after I remove the tranny
and finish some final welding on the underside.I rebuilt, painted, and installed the master cylinder
and steering box. Once I get the right grease (ordered) I’ll fill the steering box and close it up.I have a new tie rod assembly that is ready to connect
once the spindles are cleaned and painted. I wasn’t planning on using chrome
parts but when I was buying them they had a sale on the chrome set that saved
me almost $15. Not sure I care for the
look but, hey, $15!I tried to swap my ball joints myself using a press
“rented” from Advance Auto but it did not fit the 69 torsion
arms. So I took them to a local
mechanic…that was a mistake. They
pressed one in backwards and then tried to tell me it couldn’t be done the
other way. I told him to just press out
the old one and I would pick it up. He
called back 10 minutes later saying he finally got it turned around and almost
sounded mad that I was right and he was wrong.The other issue I had with him was that he tore two of
the boots. I’ll chalk it up to experience
and not use that guy again. I thought
about trying to make them pay for a replacement but thought it best to just
walk away and do it myself. I don’t need
the hassle.EXPRESSED OPINION: If you are replacing all 4 ball
joints and do not have the correct tools or resources to swap them out I would
simply order new arms with joints already pressed in from these guys. http://www.wolfgangint.com/Parts/Reconditioned+Ball+Joint+Ar ms/Type+2/I am a risk taking, do it myself kinda guy…however,
if I was doing it again…and I may…I’ll go the full replacement route and
spend my time and mental energy on other things.I also sandblasted the pedal assembly and repainted it
and it’s ready for install.Feel free to look at my photo gallery to see what we started with.
Now I’ve started on the brake drums.
I have to replace the star adjuster
assemblies and the cylinders. I have a
place that will sandblast the drums, back plate and spindle base. Once I get them back I’ll paint them up and
wrap up the front suspension rebuild.
Then on to the rear!Nice! it’s all looking so good.
Thanks too for that link to the a-arms with ball joints. I don’t understand why he has three overlapping packages for either $160 or half that, but at least they’re available. Good find.
Chrome on black is very understated. It will drive people nuts at shows. “Chrome where you can’t see it? That’s hard core. I can respect that.”
I know it’s “just the chassis”, but you are doing beautiful work!
It’s almost a shame the chassis will be covered up!
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)
Keep up the good work Rocky. The chassis typically never gets the attention that the body gets so a great chassis will help the car last for a long time. A little extra time now is going to pay a ton of benifits later.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackRocky,
Great job – I know how hard it is as I am doing it for the second time right
now – looks great and will be worth it all when you drive off for the first time
– looking forward to those pictures as well. Don’t forget to take pictures of
your kids and yourself working together – I wish I would have taken more w/
mine during the process.
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