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It occurred to me that it might be useful and interesting to register our TDs with the tdreplica forum. Now, it is more of a registry of owners with no tie to any particular TD. If we registered our TDs then each would accrue a history which could be traced. (Kinda like a genealogy with a family tree.) I sent up this trial balloon this morning with Paul, so here is the idea for you all to kick around. It would take, as I said, a lot of fine tuning. I would be willing to try and coordinate the assembly of information depending on the thoughts of the forum members. I personally would like to see all TDs on the forum registered. See below for thoughts on my suggestion. You won’t hurt my feelings with negative comments. Fire away. The questions at this point are really: is this a good idea, is it a big waste of time, would anyone use it, or should we all just have another beer and concentrate on something more important??RoyPaul,What would you think of assigning a unique “TDr registered” number to each vehicle? That way, we (all TDr owners) would be able to track a particular car’s history. My thinking is that the assigned # would stay with the vehicle. This could be valuable to owners in that they could track maintenance and upgrades on a particular car. New car dealers do this and can put a car’s VIN in their computer and print out all prior work/upgrades/inspections, regardless of who owned it. It would be especially useful for hidden changes: for example, my TD is now a 1600cc not a 1500 as the motor serial might indicate. Also, for my MiGi, all the small leaves in the suspension have been removed. Ed, doesn’t know the displacement of his engine and i expect that many others have doubts. What cam is in that engine in your TD?? Perhaps some may think that this would “invade privacy”, but it would be voluntary. A searchable listing on the website of TDr by registry number would be helpful.Or, maybe there would be no interest or it would just be too much work to administer?? This is just an idea and fine tuning would be necessary, of course. My MiGi’s number might be #TDr122D to indicate the 122nd TD registered with the club. (The TDr that was initially owned by the clubs founder would be TDr1, regardless of who owns it now.) The “D” in my example would indicate that it is a Daytona. The club could issue a sticker to be attached to the car, maybe on the door jamb, with the unique number like DMV does here in NC for kit cars.RoyHi Roy,I think it’s a really interesting idea…but…as you pointed out, it sounds like a lot of work to administer. You volunteering?Participation would also be critical to the usefulness. I’m not sure where the critical mass is. How many owners would we need to participate before the data becomes really useful? I haven’t counted lately, but what do we have, about 110 cars in the “registry”? That’s a nice number, but the bottom line is most of the activity here comes from a core of ten to twenty owners. Even if they all participate, does 20 cars make the database useful? I don’t know the answer to that.I’m also not sure about the changes necessary to the site in order to manage the searchable database. We don’t have access to make those kinds of changes ourselves.The door jamb sticker is a cool idea too. But each sticker would have to be produced invividually, and be made of some permanent, weather proof material. The forum has no money, other than what I raise to pay the hosting fees. So we really couldn’t “provide” the stickers.Even with all that, if you want to, float the idea to the group and see what the response is like.Paul
Don’t quite understand who the end result would benefit. We, who have built/rebuilt our cars know what we have.
It might be beneficial to a future owner years after we move on. Not quite sure the work involved in building a data base
would be worth the effort.
Just an observation , not a criticism.Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Well, as of right now, this “idea” of mine has had 43 views and the reception is less than tepid with only 3 people even responding. It won’t work. Bad idea. (Or at best a great idea that should remain an idea only.) Since it was my idea, I guess I can pull the plug on it. Whoooooosh! All gone.
Boy that was quick. I just now viewed the post and was thinking it’s a good idea. I’m sure many of us don’t get a chance to log on every day or if we do have the time to post an imediate reply.
It would certainly be helpful to be able to view the details of other like cars while doing a build or upgrading an one that’s been around awhile. It might even add value to be able to show that the car is registered. It works with horses and dogs! I would certainly pay a few bucks to get a sticker or plate.Don Loveless
Ford Pinto Fiberfab
Rochester, MIYou could have gotten this done by simply adding one new optional field to the existing registry. The lowest four digits of the VIN would have been enough to provide all the traceability you were seeking. I don”t think your alternate approach would have gotten much participation.
Again ..it was mentioned earier to make this MG TDr site more visible/recognizeable when googled is to have the front page up to date. Yes.. when I first looked at this site and saw the last update 2008 I immediately moved on ..somehow I stumbled back to the forum .
This site is so valuable to all TDr owners .. 🙂
Not everyone (me anyway )would think to jump to the forum page.IMHOMerry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Kwanzaajebarry2012-12-21 11:20:01
I’m not really sure if I am wrapping myself around exactly how this database will be developed…
Everyone participating in the database would have to as honest (as possible) about how their car was assembled, what modifications were made to the chassis, what options were added during assembly, etc…Unless you “actually built” the car… you might have no idea of any of the above mentioned …I have an unassembled kit sitting in my workshop, and I would be one of the few that could document when, how, why, how much and with what the car was built. However, we all know that FiberFab and CMC were really negligent in their “body identification” (mine has NONE) so as far as the year of KIT manufacture… I have no clue, save for the original “Shipping Label”Also, since this is an “unsecured” site (forum) We must ask ourselves what privacy level we are willing to risk. Information posted here is visable to all who would look to see. Personal information would have to be somehow hidden. There are only some 400 registered fourm users here. How many Kit cars are “actually” out there? (THOUSANDS… I know were manufactured).Would the effort put into a data base reap the reward of someone buying a kit car knowing everything possible? I think it might if one member here was selling to another member here.However, if I were going to list the car I am currently building, I would list it in multiple markets (Craigs List, Ebay, locally and here as well). Are the chances better I would sell my car here (with 400+ forum members, that already have one of what I’m selling) or parked in my front yard with 6000 cars passing by each day?I’m not saying don’t do it… Would I register… ABSOLUTLY!!! I’m just thinking “out loud” when I say there would be a very limited benifit (reward) for the enourmous amount of time it would take to make a registry for 400+ cars that very seldom change hands.Please do not give up on your idea of a registy after just nine hours of limited response!!!I know that I ramble quite often… but that is my nature… I take the time to really think things thru prior to sticking my foot in my mouth… Don’t get me wrong, I still stick my foot in my mouth, but I think it through first…
Warmest Regards, DougOk guys, here is what I envisioned.
First let me say that I do not think that it would be necessary or even desirable to document all modifications made during assembly or ownership. I was just thinking of those changes which were not readily apparent – eg. engine modifications, suspension modifications.I have had entirely too many cars in my 71+ years and sometimes wonder “what happened to my old MGTF-1500?” If we had a site registry of the automobile it would perhaps satisfy those romantic questions. But I was thinking that it might stimulate some interest in our TDrs. The TD’s information (identification #) that I was hoping to gather could perhaps be added to the current Registry of owners that was assembled by JasCochran. I was thinking of a permanent sticker/decal or plate (under the hood or on the door jamb) that would say something like “This auto is registered as #TDr01D with tdreplica.com”. A person would be able to go to this site and find valuable information about the vehicle that was posted by previous owners. I for one, was not aware of this site before I made an offer on my TDr. The assigned registration number would live forever (or as long as the forum survives).Registration numbers would be assigned by the administrator, but I think that my first idea of assigning numbers according to their first date on the forum would be unworkable and #’s would be better assigned according to the date that the TDr ID# is actually registered.I also thought that it might stimulate some more interest in the forum.But, as Paul says, it would require a massive round up of data on TDrs and if only a few people did it, it would probably be a waste of time.I am willing to put the plug back in the tub and at least entertain the idea of going forward with this depending upon the comments here. As of last night, I just didn’t see the interest – but one of my many character flaws is NO patience (I, unfairly, blame that on my 24 years in the military).Count me in!
I would suggest a modest registration fee to cover the costs associated with the initial start-up and the cost of a “good” quality placard that one would be pleased to display on their TD.I will stay tuned.(Funny… the Marines taught me patience)Regards, DougI like the idea for several reasons. But I do think its value will come only if the database is maintained for many years.
I also think we’ve got something similar already in our membership roster and map, which the proposed registry could augment and link to.
Why do I like it.
1. The practical. As Roy says, having an as complete as possible record of all the build quirks, mods and specifications of a given car can and will be useful. Not only for future owners but also for present owners whose own record-keeping skills are deficient. Particularly as we age.
2. The total goof factor. As some of you may know, in the interest of lulz, I have confected a “Replica Provenance” for Bridget, including an ambitious-yet-tragic “racing history” and a totally believable, heavily footnoted BCW-London back story complete with press clipping from The Motor and other contemporaneous sources. To my great and lasting joy, the effort was good enough to recently irritate at least one owner of at least one totally awesome ’50s-era MG Special whose provenance has been questioned (by its previous owner, no less). Putting an official TDr “registry number” on my site would serve only to amplify my existing conceit, which brings us neatly to
3. TDrs are now rare antiques in their own right and, while not likely to increase in value on the auto collectibles market, will probably benefit from some kind of registry not only because of (1) above but also because of the mystique such a registry would create around the marque(s), tongue-in-cheek or not.
4. If not us, who? If not now, when? As the Forgotten Fiberglass guy has found, keeping track of niche history is hard work–but fun.
5. A registry would also tend to raise the profile and utility of the club.
For all these reasons and others which I’ve not yet thought of, I, for one, totally endorse and applaud Roy’s idea.
I think this is a wonderful idea albeit difficult to implement.
So many things would be easier to work on with my TDr if I knew what the previous owners had done. There are so many oddities and things done wrong or not done that if what WAS done was documented could reduce my checklist a little bit.But seeing this makes me think about keeping my own record of what I do, for my reference, and to include with the car if/when I sell it.In general though I would love to see this happen but as others have voiced, may not be entirely worth it if not everyone is willing to help and participate.
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