new member northern CA

[T. J. Marrone]

New here, name is T. J., live in Sebastopol, CA  Architectural metal fabricator, hobbyist furniture maker, very complete shops for both wood and metal.  Also spent a fair amount of time repairing carbon fiber rowing shells, familiar with glass.

All and all I think I have the skill set to put together one of these, and a kit shows up on craig’s list not too far from me.  After some negotiating I make the 6 hour drive and pick it up.  Kit was purchased new in Oct 1987 and the assembly was never started.  Looking over the pieces I am only missing one expensive part, the wiring harness, plus a few minor items, also wish it had the heater defroster kit, Oh well.

The kit also came with motor, tranny, rear end, steering column, and misc from a 1976 Mustang II. Noticed the rear spring length is wrong on the MII rear and after reading here think a three link with panhard rod makes more sense.  So now I am am looking at coil overs, any suggestions?  Spring rates? Love any advice you all might have.  Coil overs in the front as well?  200 lbs rear, 450 lbs front?  Spax? 

Started looking at the 6.75″ rear end and it’s 3.00 gears I started to think there might be better options, Billnparts suggested an 8″ ford from a Mustang II Cobra, if anyone has a line on one I’m all ears?

So far I’ve inventoried the parts, set up a work area specific to this project, and I am sanding off the rust and oxidized paint on the chassis, after which i will grind out and re-weld all the contaminated welds, and there are plenty.

I will add pics if someone can help with hoe to?

Hope to hear from you all soon,

T. J.

[edward ericson]

Welcome to the club, TJ!

I can tell by your post that you are equipped to build this car. And in a minute, Bill Ascheman (Billinparts), who built and races a Ford-powered TD, will likely chime in with some specific pointers regarding spring rates and suspension noodles.

Keep your eyes peeled for an 8-inch Mustang II rear. They come up.

[newkitman]

Welcome aboard TJ. You’ve come to the right place.

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

[john barry]

welcome!

[billnparts]

I’m running Alden Eagles. California based company. They have bolt in replacement coilovers to replace the stock front MustangII units. I’m running 500# springs on all four corners. The Ford 8″ was in use for decades. I used the Mustang unit due to the 4 lug pattern and I already had 4 lug wire wheels. A 5 lug 8″ was used from early Falcons to Mavericks. 5 lug front brake rotors to fit the stock spindles are available from several places. Pick up a copy of StreetRodder magazine for ads.

Welcome, and good luck.

Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"

[T. J. Marrone]

Thanks all, already have 4 lug fronts and wheels, will keep looking for the illusive rear end from the mustang II

[Paul Mossberg]

Welcome aboard!

Looking forward to seeing your build pictures (hint hint)!

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)

[secretagentcat]

Welcome TJ Im here in So-Cal. Welcome to the club.

[T. J. Marrone]

http://s989.photobucket.com/user/tjmarrone/library/TD%20kit

PICs of the pile of parts

PMOSSBERG2015-10-22 12:40:36

[Paul Mossberg]

TJ,

No worries! It is exactly like building one of these, just bigger and with more parts!

We’ll be with you all the way!

PMOSSBERG2015-10-22 12:48:59

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)

[T. J. Marrone]

Bill,

I notice you have 2″ drop spindles, is that to get the right ride height while maintaining the stock suspension geometry?  Makes more sense than a cut coil to me.  Have you tried lighter springs in the rear, 500 sounds pretty stiff to me, but I am guessing at the weight, have you put your car on scales?

[billnparts]

I did scale it at a local race car shop. Fully loaded (spare tire, full fuel, tools, and my fat ass) she came in at apx. 2400#. Balance ratio of 51% ft. 49% rr. With the shocks set at their lowest setting and 28# in the tires, the ride is pretty pleasant. Add some air and crank up the shock valving and she becomes the beast. I put in the dropped spindles because I thought the front rode too high. Personal preference. I like its current stance.

Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"

[T. J. Marrone]

Bill,

More than I thought and balanced closer than I imagined, reason for my guesses.  

Got a line on a rear end, by the time I get it to me from Florida will be close to $500 and then I will need to change the gears, it is a posi though.

If I were to set up fake coil overs to establish ride height would I use the stock shock mounts, and at what length, stock?  If your front is dropped 2″ did you drop the rear some as well?  Hard to know from the kit instructions what the intended ride height is for these cars.  

Thanks,  T. J.

[billnparts]

I had to add a crossmember to allow an upper shock mount. I kept it simple. I’ll try to get you some pictures. That’ll be much easier than trying to explain what I did.

Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"

[T. J. Marrone]

Can anyone tell me what the design chassis height is, like from the ground to the bottom of the chassis?  That way I can build the rear suspension for the 8″ rear end and get the right length of coil overs.

Thanks,  T. J.

[secretagentcat]

Welcome TJ!
Sounds like youve got some work to do. Just my two cents, you might consider making your own wire harness using marine wire fuse box and fittings. It will give you the chance to put heavier guage wires and all the parts are made for exposure to the elements. I did mine for my VW based kit and for a novice like me it turned out pretty good. Also I was able to put in a custom grounding system that doesnt depend on connecting to a rusted frame and usually hard to get at. I found all of my wireing parts at West Marine.
Good luck…
Rick.

[T. J. Marrone]

OK one more try on the ride height.  Can anyone tell me the distance from the ground to the bottom of the chassis on a stock ford base kit when completed?  This would really be helpful to me.

Thanks,  T. J.

[billnparts]

The bottom of my front crossmember is 4-1/2″ off the ground. As always, results will vary.

Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"

[T. J. Marrone]

Just an update, stripped all the old bushings and ball joints out of the front suspension parts and off they went to the powder coater, all new parts are here, bought urethane bushings.  Did buy the rear end from Florida, found a set of good used 4.11 gears and all is apart waiting for cleaning.  After I get the front end back together I will start on the mounting of the rear end housing.  Found some good used 65 series tires to get started on the roller.  My plan is to put the whole thing together and get it on wheels, making sure I am done welding on the chassis, then pull it back apart and send the chassis and rear end housing and any other suspension bits off to the powder coater.

Have a line on a 5sp from an SVO mustang, has the .79 OD fifth gear of the normal 2.3 engined cars but shorter 1 through 4, should work well with the extra oomphhh I am planning for the motor and the 4.11 gears.

All for now, will post pictures as the roller gets built.

T. J.

[edward ericson]

Nice score on the transmission.

[T. J. Marrone]

Almost done with the front end, just need to make new strut rod brackets, Mustang II strut rods are a little different than pinto ones. Next up, rear end.

http://s989.photobucket.com/user/tjmarrone/library/TD%20kit

[T. J. Marrone]

Looking for some help,

So I have a pinto based kit, but a mustang II donor, right off I noticed the transmission mount cross member is completely different, so I go out and buy a used pinto one.  Along the way I decide to change over to a 5 speed.  Now I have to figure out where the transmission rear mount is supposed to set the rear height of the transmission.  I would just go ahead and mount the 4sp transmission from the mustang II but it had a different mount than the pinto.  I can fabricate whatever I need, just need to get a sense of the distance of the center line of the transmission output to the bottom of the chassis?

Thanks,  T. J.

[wingsman]

Take off your air cleaner and set a level across the top of your carburetor pointing from back to front.
The top surface of the carb should be level. That will give your engine the
proper amount of tilt rearward to make sure the oil drains properly out of the
heads and back into the pan.

[T. J. Marrone]

Thanks,  I’ll give that a shot.

[Author]

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