Ed is a genius. I have seen his dash. And he also had the common sense to keep things wired up while doing his woodworking. Do what Ed says.

To do veneer work, you have to have a very flat, smooth, well-prepared surface, then you have to be able to glue it and clamp it down flat across the entire surface or else you either end up with unsightly bumps or it just comes unpeeled.  Theoretically you could just temporarily remove your instrument panel, gauges, and screws, and work the…[Read more]

You are also sitting in an open car with your ears only a few inches away from the engine compartment (remember, your driver’s seat is where the back seat used to be).. That alone makes it noisier than a standard Beetle.I have been thinking along the same lines, however. I’m thinking to put a snorkel on my carb to put the intake as far away as…[Read more]

I worked in West Palm Beach from 2000-2007, had Hurricanes Frances, Jean, and Wilma all hit my house, and in spite of the hurricanes, we absolutely looooved it.  My son went to high school there and returned to Florida to live there permanently. So nice to never see snow … to grow things year-round … to go to the beach or go scuba diving…[Read more]

This from a web site touting Lake Weir Living:  “HOAs take the fun out of homeownership.??? LWL offers Toy-owners (i.e. RVs, campers, boats, jet skis, motorcycles, haulers and more), new custom-homes with no HOA and toy-fitted garages at prices starting from the $90s!”

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SoCal is beautiful and it would be great if not for the traffic, pollution, taxes, earthquakes, wildfires, mudslides and illegal aliens. It’s a great place to visit if someone else drives in their car, but after my SUV was caught, and nearly burned up, in the wildfire near San Bernardino along I-15 last year … I’ll stick with Vegas. Two months…[Read more]

First of all, your post is confusing.  You are asking about the price “if we were to sell it,” and you referred twice to “what we have.”  Are you thinking about buying this, or do you already own it and you want to sell it?  If you already have it, why don’t you know anything about your own car?  Did you inherit?  Because otherwise it makes no s…[Read more]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I should get the car back from the upholsterer by Monday and will do some checking into these things. The most likely culprit seems likely the throttle cable housing at the fan shroud. Air leaks seem unlikely since the carb is new. Brakes? Dunno. May try to find the CRC stuff mentioned in the PM article.…[Read more]

I rode bikes in FL and MO for many years, and IMHO anyone who would ride a motorcycle without a helmet should have his head examined. I can’t think of any motorcycle accident in which I would prefer my head to be unprotected. If you’re in a motorcycle accident, by definition you are down, and if you are down, at some point your head will strike…[Read more]

I am installing no retractable shoulder belts in my car. I am bolting them to the tunnel behind the seat, the tunnel at the side of the seat, and the frame at the side — the shoulder portions are in the center and the buckles will be at the sides of the car. The sides are held in place with plastic sleeves. This keeps the belts out of the…[Read more]

My FiberFab had a solid mahogany dash.

From what I’ve observed, ALL the British cars seem to put the steering wheel too close to the driver.  I sat in a real TD, a Jag 120 and XKE, and a Midget, and in each case the steering wheel fit was too close for comfort, just like my replica before I started modifying it.  Yet each of the real British cars had plenty of legroom.  It seems li…[Read more]

Ed, the worst fitting part of my FiberFab hood is the top. It simply has different curves from the grill, which is OEM TD. I’m spending hours trying to cut, grind, and add moldings to hide the poor fit. If there was one part of the original hood that I would want, it would be the top … but no way would I do that, either. The last thing I…[Read more]

If it was a standard bug pan, it would have drums all around unless (a) the LR factory included discs with your car, or (b) you or someone else installed aftermarket discs, such as those from EMPI. I put discs on the front of my VW-based FiberFab, but they really aren’t necessary.

I personally don’t see how that could be comfortable, at least in my own car.  There is a vertical drop below the package shelf and a second, smaller shelf below that that sticks out about 3″.  With nothing between the package shelf and the lower shelf but some padding, that sounds very uncomfortable for my lower back for more than a few m…[Read more]

That hand sticking out of the side curtains is incredibly realistic.  It almost looks like someone is in the car!  Do you also have one of those fake legs you can hang out the back of the trunk?  LOL

I wonder how hard it would be to weld a motorcycle fill neck onto your gas tank?

Prices for original TDs appear to be all over the map, according to what I see on Hemmings. The Volvo engine may make it a better car but undoubtedly decreases its value significantly. So much depends on the condition of the car, but there are a bunch on Hemmings right now listed as “Excellent” that are between $15K and $30K, and those have…[Read more]

Dual exhausts don’t indicate VW here, not with that transmission or with that floorboard.  What strikes me is the incredibly good body panel fitment, the folding windshield, the wipers at the top of the windshield, the original-style top, and original style headlamp mounts.  Never seen wire wheels like that on a replica, either.  If all I saw wa…[Read more]

I’m no mechanic, although sometimes I pretend to be one in my garage until I really mess things up.  Regardless, I got interested in your problem and according to my own inexpert research, the most likely culprit is a bad U-joint in the steering box.  See http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=493919

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