I was shocked the first time I slid behind the wheel of Bridget. It felt all wrong, the steering wheel was way, way too close to my chest. Nothing like the way I adjust every other car I’ve driven in ever.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and posit that fiberglass body panels are not a significant structural element on any of our cars. 

[Read more]

Measure twice, then measure again. Then begin.

[Read more]

I like that idea. Please post photos.

[Read more]

For a minute on the early 80s every American car came with an 85 mph speedometer.

Hub cap with medallion is $35 at Moss. Maybe buy one and see what you need to do on the spare wheel. 

[Read more]

I can see that your rear fenders are molded to take the correct, early TD tail lights, but something bigger is bolted over them.

[Read more]

Toller: do not allow your turn signal switch to dictate where and how you sit in the car. Get a little butane torch and heat it up and bend it. If it breaks, epoxy it back on. Or do what I did: use an old pen–hollow it out and epoxy THAT on the turn signal nub. 

[Read more]

Original TD wheels are hard to come by. Many are a bit out of true as well, and they are often pitted. These are tube rims, and they lack the “safety lip” that all modern automotive wheels have. That lip keeps the tire from coming off in the event of a high-speed blowout. It’s hardly ever a factor, but in the rare case, you’re glad it’s there.

[Read more]

Yeah, the folding windshield works fine with cowl-mounted wipers. The TF had that setup.

Thanks, Jack. I have ordered from them a couple times. I suspect it’s cheaper if you can pick up stuff locally, and way cheaper to go pick stuff from a scrapper or metal recycling outfit, but you can’t beat the convenience. 

Snowing here and I had the same idea–until I came to my senses. I really do want some Bridget-in-Snow pictures though.

The original top stays are pretty simple and Moss sells them (90a–$6). You just embed the sockets in a piece of hardwood, 2 x 5/4 or so, and wrap that in the canvas. You then just need two thumb screws to hold the front bow to the windshield pins. 

[Read more]

The TD side curtains and steel frames are a thing of beauty (if not practicality)–the only thing that definitively separates the replica from the original at a glance. 

[Read more]

Some previous discussion on the subject, with measurements.

[Read more]

That is the BCW cap, per the original kit. I kind of wish it said “PETROL” instead of “GAS” but you can’t have everything now, can you?

You just cut off the squared-off part and clean behind it, then stick some aluminum tape on the back side and glass over the holes you made from the outside. Peel the tape off after the first layer or two and glass the back (or just leave the tape there and glass out past it an inch or so), then glass the outside again and shape it with 80-grit.…[Read more]

See you guys Thursday, hopefully before dinner. 

I’ll probably do a little propane burning and a little electric heating out there before the winter is through. But I’ll need close to 50,000 btu to get that place warm enough to work when it’s 20 degrees outside–10 of these. It is 1000-1100 square feet with 9-foot ceilings, and only about 20 percent of it is attached to the house. Well…[Read more]

I’d adapt a flip-top cap like this. Or this. More work and money, but in the end you’ll be happy.

[Read more]