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Wanted;VW; whole car or just the frame.Must have IRS rear,no swing axle.Also torque tube front end.1970 and up bug,beetle and ghia should give me what I need.Need this for a fiberfab MG TD kit car.I will travel a reasonable distance.Let me know what you have.
Hi Scott,
I don’t have a chassis for you…but I’m writing to alert you that a Ghia will not give you what you need to build your Fiberfab MG TD Kit.
The Ghia is on a widened Beetle chassis. You would have to make a lot of modifications to refit it as a Beetle Type 1 chassis. See below for more detail on the Ghia chassis.
Meanwhile, any old Beetle will also not work. You want a standard Type 1 Beetle.
VW based MG TD kits were all designed for the Type 1 (Beetle) chassis. And more specifically, standard Type 1 chassis. Super Beetles have MacPherson Strut front suspensions which bolt to the steel body. They will not work unless you remove the MacPherson front suspension and retrofit a torsion tube suspension. Standard Type 1 Beetles were also produced in 1971 and beyond, side-by-side with Super Beetles. So make sure you know what you are buying before you write a check.
With thanks to the folks at planetghia on aol, here’s a brief summary of the modifications made to the Type 1 chassis:
Initial construction analysis by Karmann?s engineers
determined that the Beetle floor pan was not wide enough to accept the Coupe body built by
Ghia, and therefore would have to be widened 118mm. Newly designed structural
reinforcements and door sills were also necessary to make the new Coupe last as long as
the Beetle. It was clear from the beginning that the new Coupe would retain all of the
Beetle?s standard running gear, with modifications only allowed due to different body
shaping. Modifications to the chassis to accept the Coupe body included widening the floor
pan side panels, angling the steering column, lowering the springs, and other minor
changes.
PMOSSBERG39733.9604166667Paul 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)
Scott,
One other thing…you are looking for a 1969 and later Beetle. The independent rear suspension was introduced in 1969.
OK two things…one thing you might want off a Karmann Ghia is the front disk brake assemblies. There are also after-market conversion kits for front and rear. Either way, disk brakes are one of the best improvements you can make to your VW donor chassis, either front only or at all four corners.
OK, OK…three things…for those interested, here is a great VW history site:
http://www.thegoldenbug.com/history
What, you think I have all this stuff memorized?
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)
Paul thanks for the input.I know about the strut fronts on the super beetles,had a 73 for a trike donor.I did not know about the ghias being wider.Most likley the floor pans would be shot? could these be replaced with bug floor pans to narrow the ghia pan?Also,I just came across a 68 bug pan.Has new floors been blasted and painted.with a motor,guy wants 250,price seems fair if its all quality work.Downfall is there is no front axle for it.Are these hard to put on?And it is a swing axle rear,is there any downfall to this.I also am about 80 miles from MOFOCO aaftermarket vw place they sell an adjustable front axle for around 249-379 depends on the type you want.
The IRS is far superior to the swing axle. I would keep looking.
The torsion tube front end is not hard to install. In fact, many owners have replaced their stock torsion tubes with the adjustable front end, so that they can remove some of the bars to soften the ride and then readjust the ride height.
Pinkmg (in real life known as Mark) posted an excellent description of the entire process. Search for “front suspension”, you should be able to zero in on Mark’s post.
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)
I bought a 1776cc longblock from MOFOCO…Althought I can’t complain about the motor, MOFOCO customer service sucked. The motor ran fine, even though I was warned that MOFOCO cast heads were junk, poreous and subject to warping by several well know local VW builders.
I bought and paid for the engine and some other accessories in early April 1999. To save on shipping to NJ, I arranged to meet them at the Maple Grove Drag Strip (PA) Bugfest in late May, a huge, weekend long VW swap meet, vendor midway and drag meet.
I had two heart surgeries in early May, but drove the 125 miles one way trip to Maple Grove 2 weeks later. It was over 100 degrees and humid too.
I walked the grounds twice looking for the MOFOCO 18 wheeler rig. After 2 hours, I went to the admin tent and was told that they never registered for show that year. The Bugfest admin contacted them in March and they said they were not coming!
I called MOFOCO the next day (Monday). They claimed they had no record of my purchase! Without a bunch of text, the short story is that I finaly got my motor in August after almost daily calls to MOFOCO and getting VISA involved.
Also, MOFOCO advertised this motor had a “trick” specially ground hydraulic cam. Later, the MOFOCO engine builder told me it was an OEM VW cam, not a trick grind. Even the magazine articles (Hot VW’s and VW Trends) stated it was a “secret” MOFOCO grind as did the MOFOCO ads in those rags. So they were liars too.
That engine is now in fellow forum member Bill Collins “Angelica” who bought my completed VW based TD replica.
Get an adustable front beam and install only the 4 main leaves in each beam. Adjust the ride height after the beam is installed. Use a level on the floor pan to set the chassis parallel to the ground. There are several forum members that did this job. It’s way easier on a bare pan too.
I’m with Paul, stay away from swing axle chassis. Look for an IRS.
The GHIA pan rails are different and too difficult to swap over to Beetle. It’s not just swap in new pans. The heater tubes, jack point, etc. are totally different.
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