Here’s a question on the Duchess – How can you tell how old the old girl is?   My title says it is a 53.  I have seen a number of Duchess’ listed as 52, and even saw one or two that said 54.   Mine was made in 1979.  Were there variations of this model, or what year replica were they supposed to be?  

You’re right about that!  At this point, a sheet of tin foil would be an improvement.   I will miss the cool breeze, though!

Sorry, Pink MG – too late.  I had already ordered from JC Whitney before reading all the horror stories.  
I did read an interesting post on The Samba where someone ordered from Wolfsburg (in 2007) and got the same thin floor pans from Brazil that everyone else was selling.  The post said that only the Danish floor pans were the heavy ones now…[Read more]

Thanks Will – I may take you up on that.   I had already looked at the beautiful job you did with the pan replacement.  In fact, that is what helped give me the confidence to tackle this job.

We are actually looking forward to the “adventure”.  I plan to take photos as we go along, and document our learning experience.   My wife is almost as psyched about this as I am.  

Thanks Larry – sounds like this might take a while.    I sent Paul a PM and will see what he suggests.    I have a lot to learn.   I had a Beetle years ago, but went deer hunting with it.  The deer won.
 

For some reason, my wife, who took these photos, objects to this arrangement.   Does anyone have a step by step list of what I need to do to remove the body from the Duchess?  
 
Thanks!
Jim

Here is a photo demonstrating proper braking techniques with this setup:
 

Thanks, Paul – very interesting stuff…  Apparently I have an early Duchess.   
 

I’m glad I’m not the only one that does stuff like that!  
I just took another look at the Duchess – the body is definitely going to have to come off to do the floor pans.   It looks like it is going to need some other work on the frame as well.  
Does anyone know what the numbers mean on the Duchess serial number plate?    The serial number o…[Read more]

I just ordered the one for floor pan replacement yesterday!  Arghhhhh.
Thanks, anyway, Allen!
Jim

Actually, I just found the post where you told Jon you had them.  I thought if you already had them scanned, you might be willing to send me a copy too.  
Thanks!
Jim

Paul, do you still have a scan of the Duchess wiring diagram?   That will get me started, as the fog lights, horn, wipers, brake lights, and turn signals are presently not working.   I guess it would have been easier to say the headlights work!
Jim
 

Paul, do you still have a scan of the Duchess wiring diagram?   That will get me started, as the fog lights, horn, wipers, brake lights, and turn signals are presently not working.   I guess it would have been easier to say the headlights work!
Jim
 

Thanks, Ed.  Those are some great photos of the floor pan replacement!

Thanks, Larry – we are both excited about this new venture.   Never thought I’d see the day when my wife was excited about working on a car!
Paul, that would be great!   The manual would help a lot, especially since we are completely new to kit cars.
This car had a couple of mods by the young man that owned it – including spark plugs and coils mou…[Read more]

Some additional info:
Yesterday was a very long day, and we were dead on our feet when we got home last night.
However, even that is not a good enough excuse for this:  I went out a few minutes ago, lifted up the hood, and there big as everything was a plate identifying it as a Classic Roadster Duchess.  Serial number and everything.  Duh!
I st…[Read more]

Again, thanks for the replies.   Sadly, we have about decided to let this one pass.   
I appreciate all the comments, and feel confident that we could ride in one of these with no trouble.   Dan, we hardly use the motorcycle any more as it is.   Pink MG and Larry, thanks for the practical info on how the seats are mounted.   The friend that told…[Read more]

Hi Larry, thanks for the quick reply, and for the information about the ability to move the seats.   I don’t think the seating would be an issue, but wanted to get some opinions from owners.   We see a few advantages to the MG replica over a motorcycle.  First, my wife could drive it as well (she has no desire to learn on the motorcy…[Read more]