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Picking up my MG TD replica ’86 London Roadster near Roanoke Va and driving it back to to Oak Island (near Wilmington NC ). Dec12th . It has has 17k miles and appears sound and runs well.I will be taking 220 south to Rockingham NC then 74..It has a ’69 VW beetle mill and chassis .
I will give it a tune up and a few othe rminor items.
Any suggestions or comments are welcome.
Thanks so much
John
Oak Island eh?? Welcome aboard tdreplica.com. After you get her shaken down and Christmas is a memory, send me a PM and we could get together and compare notes.
Roy (in New Bern)
She looks beautiful. If you can tune it up before your trip, you will have a better ride and your engine will thank you.
I drove my London Roadster most of the way from Seattle, Washington to Phoenix, Arizona. That was a trip that I’ll not soon forget.
Have fun.
Sweet looking ride! Whoa–where’s the lower tins?
I expect you should do fine without them this time of year. I’d be on the lookout for them soon though. VW ppl say running them without tins is not good.
The sheet metalwork around the engine is critical to cooling. The shrouded fan on top of the engine pushes air down through the cylinders. Pressure will take the easiest route. Without the tins that’s the space between the cylinders and not the cooling fins around the cylinders.
Change your oil before you go. Oil is part of the cooling system.
Thank you I appreciate the comments and heads
up ..Especially the lower tins.(I had no idea about them or where to get them ..-JC Whitney? ) .The temps in Roanoke will be lows..30’s- and highs on the road back to OKI mid 50’s.Whats else?
thx,
John
Regarding the sheet metal, there is a guy here in New Bern that has more than 100 old unrestored Beetles on his lot. He restores them and sells. Simmons Volkswagen Restoration ph 252 675 1200. You will most likely talk to Dalton Simmons. Would be worth the trip. I live about a mile away.
Roy,
Thx so much ..I am picking up the MG TD ..London roadster this weekend .. so hope fullly with the cold temps the drive back will be uneventful..
I will definetly give Dalton a call.
Anything else??
Look forward to seeing your MIGI
John
I have a tow bar that you could borrow if you want to pass through NB on the way up. It is what I would (did) do. Hooks up so fast that you won’t work up a sweat and you need no tools. 1 7/8″ ball receiver. These TDs are so light you can pull it with anything and you wouldn’t even know it was back there. It would take all the uncertainty and worry out of driving a car that you are not familiar with on a long trip.
You may have a tough time understanding Dalton on the phone, I do. Send me a PM & I will give you my phone # and address.
Roy
Nice looking car!
Congratulations!
And welcome aboard!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)
John, The tow bar is a good idea BUT and it’s a big one,,Your pictures look to me like you have one of the London Roadsters that is built on a custom chassis. If it is the custom chassis model,the regular VW tow bar will not hook up without modifications. MGLondonRoadster ran into this problem with his custom chassis LR. If your car has coilover shocks on the front,you will need to make changes to the tow bar to use it. I don’t want you to be upthere ready to tow and then find out it will not fit. Look at LRMS’s photo gallery to see pics of his suspension and you will notice that it ‘s deffinitely not the typical VW torision bar type.
Yes, I purchased a standard VW tow bar and it did not fit my London Roadster custom square axle front end. The shocks were not the issue, the size and shape of the receiving parts. It took me two trips to the hitch/weld shop to get it right, but now I have a custom tow bar for my London Roadster. Pulling it behind my Honda Odyssey, it is hardly noticeable.
I haven’t thought about trying it with the Fiberfab with the chevette front end (sorry, it’s hard for me to capitalize chevette).
MGLR, You are right , the coilover shocks do not interfere with the tow bar.However,if the car has the coilover shocks mounted at an angle,that would be a clear indicator that it did not have VW suspension and that the tow bar would need to be modified to fit.
nice looking car, looks like newer than a 69,(dual port heads)anyway, i live near your route and in floyd county va and would normally be availble to assist you if needed. however i will be in san diego that week getting a tan. a spare fanbelt some tools. maybe a jack……lady luck.whatever you can carry with you for emergencies. hope you love driving you little car as much as i do
Thx Larry, I am going to drive it back on its own wheels unless
something crazy happens…ie like my two dogs don’t fit…J/K. You are
on the way…I am taking 220 back so watch out.I am working now and
have more questions .since I am buying from a auto sales lot…there
isn’t a lot of info until I talk with the previous owner who apparently
lives in Lynchberg…
Thx
John
If your “new” TD runs as well as it looks, you should have no problem in your 6+/- hour trip. Many of us have done what you are planning but we did it before cell phones existed (with a lot of derring-do). The only surprises that I have had on such an excursion were fuel gauge and tire related except for the time that my gas pedal cable parted. Fortunately there was some fishing line in the trunk so I drove home with a hand throttle. So, in addition to all the normal breakdown stuff, I like to take a can of fix-o-flat and a small 1 gallon full gas can and some fishing line. I once had a flat with a perfectly good spare and a good jack, – only to find out that the lugs were tightened to 7,000 ft lbs. Had to walk a few miles to get a wrecker for a flat tire – very emabarassing. Now I check the lugs before I depart. Most everything else can be fixed with duct tape and bailing wire, a spare spark plug wire, points, and normal hand tools. And perhaps most important of all: your camera. We, on the forum, will want to see visual evidence.
Good luck and have fun. Roy….thanks….great suggestions ….especially the fishing ine
which I have. And will bring along my camera for fun and
proper documentation. At the moment its raining in roanoke
,then snow Thursday, then clearing and cold which is fine. By
the time I get there. It should be sunny and cold and my buddy
will have down the basics in tune etc. Again thx for the
suggestions very good items to add to my road trip punch list!
Thx so much,
John
Mike Thanks so much .. have fun in San Diego..I hear ya .. i am looking forward to having some time to check everyone out here and there locations..at the moment i am scrambling to get everything together fo rthe trip ..and of course i will always take Lady Luck anyday to Brillance.
Maybe someone knows the previous owner .He has had the car since 1994 lives in Lynchburg, va , Arthur Smith.
What weight engine oil ? also what tranny weight oil
and Everyone thanks for the Help and Tips..!
t
A good multi grade 10W 30 is fine for the engine if you’d rather not use straight 30W. For the transaxle, you’ll need 90W oil. NAPA, Auto Zone O’Reilleys etc will all have it. Good driving on your trip and have yourself a ball.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackAllen, thanks so much .I did a trip from Eastern NC to Louisville Kentucky in a ’59 Austin healey Sprite bug eye-the sprite in ’66 the bug eye was worn out then and still made it fine. I am totally psyched for this trip!
best
John
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w
I have a post or two about my journey home with my first MG TD London Roadster. I used up my remaining AAA service and tow calls on my way home, but it’s a trip I wouldn’t trade for anytime soon.
I hope you have good luck on your trip and look forward to reading about and seeing some photos of the voyage.
Mark, well I do have AAA. I will have a few days for a quick tune up
and anything else…
.definetly post some pix and I will shoot usome questions about this london roadster. One of the members here
said he looked like a custom chassis . It only has 17k miles. The
previous owner bought it ’94. Thx
John
Mark, well I do have AAA. I will have a few days for a quick tune up
and anything else…
.I will definetly post some pix and I will shootu some questions about this london roadster. One of the members
here said the car looked like a custom chassis . It only has 17k miles.
The previous owner bought it ’94. Thx
John
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