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So after the Air Museum event in Virginia Beach this past October, Royal and I were sitting around and I was complaining about how uncomfortable driving my 2332cc 200 hp BCW was, with its very heavy clutch, stump-pulling cam, loud merged header exhaust, no heater boxes, bad gas milage — not to mention my proclivity to get speeding tickets in it. Roy finally got tired of hearing it ad nausium and offered to help me build a more sedate engine after I sold the 2332 engine.
I placed the ad on Craig’s list figuring it would take a few months to find a buyer and I’d be able to still drive the car in the fall. Naturally, a week later, the engine was sold and I had an underivable car.So I took my profits from the engine sale, purchased a really rough complete dual port 1600 cc engine from the local VW scrap yard/garage/restoration shop to go along with the spare single port engine block that came with the car. (unknown condition)
Royal checking out the fit of the cam in one of the split casesWe split both cases, took the best from each engine, added new 1641cc pistons, cylinders, rings, main and rod bearings, a mild SCAT cam, cam followers, valves, valve springs, oil pump, and oil cooler.
We ended up with a 1641, dual port engine with just about everything new except the case, crank, connecting rods, and flywheel. We wound up using the dual port heads, which we ported, polished, and lapped in new valves.
Here I’m getting ready to crank over the engine to make sure everything at least turns…
Up and into the car is the next step…We had lots of cussing, smashed fingers, cuts, sore muscles (me)…and ingenious solutions to problems along the way (Roy) and finally got a working engine fitted to the car.
Now all we had to do was get the carburetor sorted out, adjust the jetting, and see how I liked the now-close-to-normal Emma (well even though she shed about 700cc, she still has a performance cam, merged header exhaust, heater boxes and heat, and a more-drivable 1700 pound clutch)The car ran ok but seemed like it wanted to stumble in low gears and lost its ability to throw me back in the seat in 3rd gear. —Roy said, “get rid of that 30/31 PICT stock carburetor and try a Holley Bug Spray instead.”
I’ll save that saga for the next post……I’ll even share the merits of Maxwell House coffee cans vs: Folger’s…stay tuned— Even “Happier” Jack now that Emma is toting a 1641cc engine with mild cam and single, center-mounted Bug Spray carburetor mounted on a custom-made dual-port intake manifold….and she is still a blast to drive…even in her new trimmer, less powerful form…See Jack, this is why I want to move back to New Bern. Great project, buddy, looking forward to seeing her soon.
Vicenç - (bee sense)
Pembroke Pines, FL
1986 Aston - BCW Model 52 - "Montse II"(1983 FiberFab MiGi II - "Montse")
Well that’s a first…doing a new build for less power.
But it contains a great lesson. In these little cars, balance is far more important than all out horsepower.
Enjoy the new ride Jack!
PS: I love the picture of zen-master Roy, meditating over the cam shaft!
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)
This was going to be a “winter project”, but winter just started and we’re (except for some minor tweaking) done.
We built his engine better than mine……. Damn it! (I should have pocketed one of the cam followers.)
NOW WHAT?
….I forgot to mention that we had some help in the form of a “Bug Me Video Vol 3 How To” DVD that Roy had purchased when he reworked his engine a few years ago.
I highly recommend it to anyone thinking about a rebuild — very well done video showing step-by-step tear down and build up ~$30.00 and available from Mid America Motors and other sites,
…It’s SO EASY!! even I was able to do it — with help of courseHappy JackYay! Love hearing success stories! Building a stock/mild VW engine requires more patience and attention to detail than outright technical skill! (A stroker that requires shimming jugs, cutting pushrods, and setting valve geometry is far more complicated.)
I think you’ll end up enjoying Emma more with a more tractable engine! Great job!
Envious of your rear engine tin, BTW! Hope you used the same attention to detail on the rest of your cooling system.KentT2016-01-03 14:57:07
Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...Hey Kentt,
I can’t take credit for the rear tin design — it came with the car and the 2332cc engine — sold the engine — kept the tin.But all that said, we did pay good attention to installing all the tin, including the thermostat and the flappers in the fan shroud as well as the Hoover Bit around the oil cooler tin. Hope it makes a difference in keeping the engine at the proper temp both this winter and during our Eastern North Carolina summers.Great story, Jack. My only regret is that we never got to drag race. Pretty sure you’d have beat me, but one never knows!
Guessing you kept the transmission. Any idea what’s in that? To stand up to the 2332, it’s probably well-beefed up. What RPM were you running at 60 mph in 4th?Hi Ed — I did keep the transmission. According to the build sheet from the PO, it is a “TRANSWEST VW TYPE 1” which tells me absolutely nothing about the transmission —
So I’m not sure about the transmission. But the engine (and transmission I think) were built for and installed in a Mud Rail prior to the owner getting sick of riding in the mud and transferring the parts to the BCW.I’ll do a test run tomorrow and validate my RPM at 60 mph…standbyGood going.
It’s great to have help as capable as Roy on a project like that.
Looking forward to seeing it at CarlisleBill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Hey Ed,
Just got the car running well again (messed with jetting, had water in the gas, had plugged fuel filters, had bad distributor and fouled spark plugs — I think that’s about all you can have wrong at one time when you are trying to figure out what was wrong with the #$%&^* engine………:?The final answer is 3100 RPM — at 60 mph……….so this is not one of those fancy commuter transmissions made for cruising with the crowd at 85 mph on I95……….More fine postings about the carburetor situation and EMPI 009 distributor woes soon–Really really Happy Jack now that most (???) of the conflicting, confounding and confusing conditions that caused quite a conundrum for a couple of car crazies seem to have finally been conquered —Well we are still playing with fuel pumps, fuel level-in-the-carb-bowl, and mixture screw settings on the Bug Spray…we will get’er right soon — I hope — or I’ll do as Shu suggests and find a nice set of Kadrons and manifolds for Emma (Found a rebuilt set online already set up for Vac Advance distributor….).
In the mean time, I’m finding that I am a fine Southern TDr owner who never, never, never had to put the side curtains on his car…until now — I have to go drive what we adjusted and try again and again and…it’s 25 degrees out there!!Is this what you all up north, out west, in the Northwest have to contend with in January? — or do you park’em for the winter and get’em out again in the spring????
Getting in and out and snapping and latching and zipping makes for a lot of Zen moments — it takes about as long to get in, get closed and get ready to drive as it takes to get where you are going — and then you have to unzip and try to gently, with some finesse, as well as some flair, extricate yourself while still maintaining that British Sports Car Owner suave demeanor….not easy for the older set…..As for me, I’m praying for an early Spring or a final answer on the carb settings….or both!!!!— Happy JackIf you go dual carbs you won’t regret it. They’ll make a noticeable difference from the Bug Spray, and a huge difference from stock. It will idle smoother and slower, and accelerate much quicker.
Hows the new Pertronix working well for you?KentT2016-01-20 17:51:37
Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...That hand sticking out of the side curtains is incredibly realistic. It almost looks like someone is in the car! Do you also have one of those fake legs you can hang out the back of the trunk? LOL
Jack, is that a Reial Automobil Club de Catalunya badge on the front of that fine looking car????
I put Montse away in December and she doesn’t come out until after the first rain in Spring. Life is tough in this frozen hell.Vicenç - (bee sense)
Pembroke Pines, FL
1986 Aston - BCW Model 52 - "Montse II"(1983 FiberFab MiGi II - "Montse")
Jack, you should be glad that you are as compact as you are. It makes that chore much easier.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Hey Vicenç
You are going to have to translate the name of the badge and tell me a little bit about yours — I got mine from a friend who is now in his 80’s — he got it years ago when he was working as a chauffeur in New York City. His boss, who wound up going to Spain on an extended trip, had my friend travel ahead, arrange a car and drive him while he was in Europe. The car stayed in Spain — the badge came back in my friend’s luggage…and now I have a nice badge on Emma and a story to go with it.Hey Kentt,The Pertronix version that I wound up buying is the least expensive, original , Type I. Ot is one of those wonderful, well-made after-market items that is easy to install, adjust and forget about — it just works and needs no attention after the initial advance setting. It comes in 2 versions: the SVDA (Single Vacuum, Dual Advance) version and the strictly-mechanical-advance Bosch 009-style version which is what I have…well worth the $$. Not to rest on their laurels (or maybe to extend the product line to make more $$) Pertronix has 2 other lines of distributor/points replacement insert The Type II and the type III. These have added features, like rev limiter and computer control which I thought would be overkill for the 1641 engine. I’m quite happy with the entry-level Pertronix.By the way, to complicate the Pertronix product line, they also make several versions of ignition coil to go with the various types of Pertronix flamethrower module/distributor. They all have different ohmage ratings; 3 ohms, 1 ohm, .6 ohm and .32 ohm for different engines/applications. The 3 ohm one is what is designed for the Type 1 on a 4 cylinder engine; the 1 ohm for 8 cylinder ones, and the others for the later types of Pertronix. If you opt for one of their coils, I recommend going to their web site and seeing which ohmage and voltage coil (30,000, 40,000; 45,000, etc) is best for your application.Hey Bill —I may be short but I’m also a bit too round as well. Lucky for you all, Roy took that picture of me in the car waving, and not the one of me diving into the car head-first — it spared you all from having to view a none-too-pretty Southern Exposure shot….I’m getting a bit more agile and adept at getting in and out of the car and am still in awe of the Brits who have been driving these type of weathered-in cars for a lot of years and think nothing of hopping into a fine sports car for a bit of a race in the rain and cold and damp…I’m really sorry that I did not get a picture of Jack trying to get into his BCW with side curtains installed and zipped up. …..and sorry that I suggested unzipping the top a bit to allow easier entry.
But it seems that Jack is under the impression that the Brits had to undergo similar contortions to get in and out. Not so. Original (real) TD series cars had somewhat flimsy steel framed side mica (aka plastic) no snaps or zippered windows that were attached to and opened with the doors. There were also two similar smaller rear quarter windows. While this allowed much improved access, they leaked (air and water) like a sieve. – plus they were noisy. To my knowledge, the only replica that came with true TD like side windows is the Allison. (I believe the Lafer also has them, but Lafers have many other differences.)
Our snap/zip side windows offer far superior protection from the weather but are a bit of a PITA.
Aw come on Jack, you need Vicenç for that?
….Automobile Club of Catalonia – BarcelonaThanks for the Pertronix detail. I’ve heard from other users…either the Pertronix module works forever, or it fails relatively early. Everyone I know that runs a Pertronix keeps a set of points, rotor & condenser in their tool bag. If the module does fail, there is no roadside repair, other than re-installing the original mechanical pars.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)
The TD side curtains and steel frames are a thing of beauty (if not practicality)–the only thing that definitively separates the replica from the original at a glance.
The Allison cars have front window side curtains that look and act similar to the originals, but the rear quarter windows are integral to the soft top.The Lafer, of course, as slide-up windows. (Although, owing to the differences between the height of the door and the required side window height, they don’t appear to slide down more than about half way).I agree with Roy: the snap-and-zip side curtains are a bit of an improvement over the originals, once you understand how to work them.Hey Ed,
I am truly surprised you have not come up with a way to put rigid side curtains on your BCW…Please figure it out and post the instructions for the rest of us…..!!!!…If you can re-engine your German-chassid, British bodied BCW kit car car with a Japanese engine, you can surely come up with some “original looking and working” side curtains………
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