Rising from the ashes FF 52 MGTD

[James McGahee]

Finally got the 52 FF MGTD cleaned up and back on the road. This car was built by my brother Robert (Bob) McGahee at Scott AFB in 1985. The running gear is from a 1984 Chevette that had 9 miles on it. This was from a salvage yard that purchased a train wreck load of new GM cars. The frame was custom made and the entire care was assembled in 10 days. It was trailerd to NJ where it resided until 1993. Originally titled as a 52 MGTD, Texas retitled it a 84 Chev when it was trailered to San Antonio, Texas. The car was parked in Bob’s back yard until April 28, 2013. We spent 10 days removing and replacing tires, brakes, muffler, and all the rusted nuts and bolts. At the end of 10 days, I drove the car to Jenison, Michigan. The top had only been out of the boot twice in its life. Unfortunately, the side curtains were baked to death and had to be duct taped down for the 1,300 mile trip. Once back to Jenison, the real cleaning began to remove the ravages of 20 years exposure to sun and moss. Once the jell-coat was cleaned using a lot of rubbing compound and elbow grease, it was given a coat of clear VIVILON EVERNU. This is an awesome product for bringing back the color on fiber glass. Fun to drive and a real attention getter. James McGahee

[edward ericson]

Wow. Congrats to you, James. Nice job on the revival. 

So, was this car ever part of the famous New Jersey Replicar Club?

[Paul Mossberg]

Great job!

I do not recognize the name McGahee. Pretty sure Bob and the car were never part of the NJRC.

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)

[billnparts]

Looks great…nice job.

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

[James McGahee]

Thanks to my daughter who did a lot of rubbing compund and polishing compound, the fiberglass finish came back real smooth. I found a product called Vivilon Forevernu Clear Coating that is applied by hand that is as you can see, beautiful. The car was covered with moss after spending 20 years under the oak trees. I just received a new 32/36 Weber 2BBL that I plan to install this weekend. Time to get rid of the computer controlled Holly. I am sure this will improve the engine response. The 84 Chevette engine has 3,200 miles since new, but the 8 years in New Jersey really ate up the bright work. I have to win a coin toss with my daughter to get the drivers seat every time we hit the road. She is a convert and now wants one of her own.

[Bill Gould]

I never taught either of my girls how to drive a stick shift, James, so I don’t have that particular problem. 😉

1981 Lafer TI
1600 cc Type 1 engine

[James McGahee]

It is good to have her interested in all things mechanical. I finished gutting the emission control vaccum lines today. What a nightmare! The engine is 100% better. No hesitation at start up and shooth through the shifting. This is really a fun car to drive

James

[edward ericson]

It was my experience that ’70s and ’80s-era emissions equipment was mostly counterproductive. Catalytic converters turned out to work. 

A.I.R. pumps, EGR valves and the myriad other Rube Goldbergian, vacuum-accentuated contraptions that strangled engine bays like Kudzu–not so much.

[James McGahee]

All thing emmision have been removed from the engine. The Weber carb really makes a lot of difference. I had to search around to find a hot lead for the electric choke. I removed the extra coils from the front springs and I can now see over the hood. Speaking of hoods, mine opens from the passenger side but I don’t have a hood support mechanism. I use a long bent metal rod to hold it open. Any suggestions for holding up the hood? I am getting ready to order a new top and side curtains. My top isn’t so bad for being 28 years old, but the side curtains have shrunk and are useless. Of course getting in with the top up and squeezing behind the steering wheel is interesting. I am thinking about getting a removable steering wheel to get more room to enter and exit. But boy is this a fun car to drive!

[Gabor Kesseru]

I made my hood support from a fiberglass driveway marker, a Bimini top deck hinge and a short piece of pipe with the end hammered flat and drilled for the Bimini screw. I glued the FB rod into the short pipe using JB Weld.

Bimini hinge looks like this.
http://www.marinepartdepot.com/ststdehiwire.html

PMOSSBERG2013-10-01 23:38:39

[Gabor Kesseru]

Here’s some removable steering wheel hardware. Note that most of these weld to a 3/4 inch center shaft.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Shop/Oval-Track-Steering-Wheel-Quick-Releases/15.html

PMOSSBERG2013-10-01 23:39:23

[Rob Baker]

Instead of a solid rod to prop up the hood I’m using a correctly sized (length) wire.

[Author]

Posts