Michael Pullen

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  • #236829
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Mr. Big

    On all VW TD kits the pedals have been relocated.  One methoid is to connect the existing pedal cluster to new pedals with steel flatstock bars which pass through the floorboard behind the new pedals and connect to the old pedals which are under the gas tank.  The other common method was to remove the existing pedal cluster from the donor car, cut a new hole in the side of the tunnel and re-install the pedal cluster in the original manner to the side of the tunnel by shortening the cables inside the tunnel to match the new location.

    Both methods could certainly be re-done to a different location.  If your car was done by the first method, it is fairly simple to cut some longer bars and move your pedals further back. I’d get help from someone “mechanical” if you are confronted with the second method…actually moving the pedal cluster on the tunnel requires some skill and familiarity with the unusual manner in which VW clutch assemblys work at the pedal end. Good luck…hope your wife enjoys the car!

    No, old friends, MY car still isn’t finished!  I got side tracked into a very involved artistic project (an outgrowth of all the fiberglass work on the car) and in the middle of that lost our very closest  family friend to fighting in Iraq which set us all back quite a bit. Haven’t given up on Merlin, just put him away for awhile.

    Michael the Merlin guy

     

     

    #236826
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    There is a beautiful and I believe very high quality Miata based MGTF replica which is currently manufactured in New Zealand. I also belive the company has a few reps in US.  Sorry I don’t remember contact info, but a Google search should locate them pretty easily.  There was some discussion on this forum about the kit last year, but it would probably be easier to find them directly rather than searching our old postings. It’s not a “slavish” reproduction, but rather a slightly modern interpretation. For what it5’s worth, I don’t think you could do better, based on my reading. I would expect it to be quite expensive in it’s own right, not to mention the exchange rate which (I believe) is working against you going that way.  Good luck, let us know what you find out.

    Michael, the Merlin guy.

    #236779
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Daytona guy,

    Check the old posts for MG Magic and call them about manuals etc. They carry a lot of parts such as wiring harness. Maybe somebody else has their number handy and will post it for the 100th time.

    Your first order of business is to find a VW only parts supplier and mechanic (often the same place).  You will find that VW’s are their own special little niche in the old car world.  As far as the year of the motor, can be determinede by the serial# which is located on the case right below the carburater. Two things to remember: the year of the engine may not be the same as the chasis, and the engine may have been modified which might be an issue with smog depending on where you live. Chasis serial number is located on the “yoke” of the pan, center of the “tunnel” which runs between the seats and right behind them.  Generally covered by carpet on these kits. There’s an access cover right behind where the number is stamped.  DMV will probably want to see that.  If you get chummy with your VW guy, he can show you the artful ways in which those numbers can be changed if necessary…”for informational purposes only” as they say on those websites devoted to manufacturing drugs, bombs etc,

    I hope you enjoy your car.  If you enjoy mechanical things, VW’s are a lot of fun.  Because of the dune buggy and custom market you can get just about any part you can imagine. Don’t “re-invent the wheel” before you check out what’s available “off the shelf.”  Just about any problem you have has been had by a million guys ahead of you and already solved.  VW Beetles changed little over their long life, hence the  ecconomics of the after market are a little different than for other old cars with a smaller customer base. It’s all still available and generally for very little money.

    Michael

     

     

     

     

     

     

    #236752
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Hey Batman!

    I love it!  Looks like another victim of ‘glass fumes is in our midst. Looks like a lot of work lies ahead for you. As everyone here knows I’m a plastics fanatic, so keep us (me) posted.  Do a search of past posts for “merlin” to follow my (years long) “learning experience” with that awful itchy stuff.  see too many photo’s (including my own stab at a “batmobile” dashboard at:  http://photos.yahoo.com/pullmi

    Good luck with your project.  Say hi to Robin and Green Lantern for me.

    Michael aka Merlin.  Merlin’s the car, I’m the guy with the resin on huis shoes.

    #236696
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Slogram,

    You’re right about the pictures; especially ones taken by people selling cars.  I’m sure the usual proceedure is to take a bunch and sort through them to see which ones show the car to at it’s best, ie do not show dents or cracks, show more gloss than is really on the finish etc. There’s so much stuff that doesn’t show up on a picture!  I have seen a few of these kits that were produced in limited runs for various promotions, such as the yellow ones for Schweeps Tonic. 

    Have you tried the dealors who specialize in kit cars and advertise on the Internet? There are two or three you can find with a Google search for kit cars fior sale or something similar.  I would stick to the manufacturers that were recomended by our members. You still run the risk of a poorly assembled kit, but at least you are assured that most of the parts are of good quality.  The problems with a lot of these kit cars are in the details; little things you don’t notice at first because you’re bowled over by the swwopy fenders and shiny grill but after a few weeks they drive you absolutely nuts.  Things like funky door latches and clunky VW tail lights to name a few. If this kind of thing bothers you, you will spend more in the long run replacing all those annoying little parts at current prices.

     

    Michael

     

    #236691
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Slogram

    Plowing old ground here, but Fiberfab has their logo embossed into the “firewall” on the passenger side, and it includes a serial number which is embossed as well.  If you run into (if?) registration problems, and have purchased a Fiberfab product during a lapse in judgement, you can obtain an ID plate to your specs from their website.

    I’ve got to ease up a little on Fiberfab; the company was huge in the kit car business.  If it wasn’t that dog head idea, I’d have my Fiberfab emblem radiator cap rechromed and painted and use it just because the company has such a colorful history. If you’re interested a guy named Ponce who posts here was affiliated with Fiberfab and has put up some very interesting information about that history.

     

    Michael

    #236687
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Slogram,

     

    Brian is right on the money.  I have a Fiberfab kit myself and I have been throwing away and replacing junk parts ever since I started (re)building it.  A BCW kit, if quality is a concern, will save you a lot of money in the long run because you won’t be paying current Moss Motors prices for all the parts you will wish to replace.  My kit didn’t even have external door latches, and the ones inside looked like they came off a screen door. I paid hundreds of dollars for new ones from Moss and that is only one little detail of countless details.

     

    Michael

    #236659
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    If you want to check out paint colors, I think it’s a good idea to go to a new car dealorship and look at colors on cars instead of paint chips.  When you see something you like you can obtain the paint code from the dealor and take it to your paint store.  I’ve been fooling around with the two stage paints for awhile and love them. They are much easier to work with than the enamels and laquers most of us old guys are more familiar with.  The new HVLP guns are much neater and easier to use.

     

    Michael

    #236508
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Bill,

    I’ll send a deposit to the street address. $10.00? Cashiers check or money order ok?  I happen to like the new design best anyway.  Don’t worry about any criticisms; there’s no way you”re ever going to get 100% agreement on something as subjective as this no matter what you do.  In the end, most of us who want a badge will buy whatever is available and be happy to have it. And those who don’t can always fall back on the that oft quoted line from the film biography of  Ponco Villa; “Badges? Badges! I don’t have to show YOU no stinking BADGES!”

    Michael

    #236499
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Hey, what’s wrong with “mutant” cars.  I’ve been toiling for years to mutate mine, and I’m stioll not done!

    Michael, Merlin’s Frankenstein.

    By the way, dash is ancient history, clay mock-up for mold for raked back grill/front end is complete, ready to make the mold and start laying up fiberglass. Thinking seriously about “going pro” with this stuff.

    #236495
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Count me in for one, whatever the design ends up.

    Michael the merlin guy.

    #236474
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Pink MG,

    The weather here is absolutely perfect this week; mid 70’s, clear and sunny.  The only thing is that in the central valley of California, we strart fretting about the coming heat as soon as it stops raining. Within six weeks it will be hitting the upper 80’s.  By June we’ll be in the 90’s and by July we’ll settle into day after day of 100 plus.  I hate snow with a passion, but in general I’ll take a little cold (say 40 degrees) over a little hot (100) any day. Working outdoors, you can stay warm a lot easier than you can cool off.

    I’ve been working on Merlin quite a lot…until the clutch self destructed on my ’65 Ford this afternoon.  I can’t take time to fix that now so it’s going to suck up a lot of cash.  By the time I get the other problems fixed that it makes sense to fix when the trans is pulled it’ll be over a grand I’m sure. There goes Merlins wiring and instrument budget for this month.

    Michael

     

     

     

    #236450
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Hey you guys,

    My wife works with a woman who is married to a guy who has the molds for a fiberglass teardrop trailor, given to him by a guy who used to manufacture them. I have been asked to give him a hand making one since this guy has never worked with fiberglass before (he’s a professional auto upholsterer).  A trade for Merlin’s upholstery is in the works, pending time on my part and health issues on his part. If we do it, I’ll take some pictures and post them. 

    Merlin update; I’ve been up to my neck in a shop reorganization for the last month which has sucked up all of my spare time. I finally have my shop where I’ve wanted it for the 12 years since I put up the structure.  I am now getting one full week and adjacent weekends off each month (NINE DAYS!) so I hope to have time to work on Merlin again at last.  I’m going to be taking leaves out of the front beam and hopefully (finally) having a gas tank fabricated this week.  Keeping our jobs on track will pretty much keep me working the other 21 days of the month, but at least I’ll have time in blocks big enough to use constructively. 

    Michael

     

     

    #236439
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    what a nice, clean job that is.

    Michael

    #236433
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Frank,

    I relocated the E brake to it’s “proper” position between the seats. It’s a pretty difficult process requiring that you cut about 3 ft. from a donor car tunnel including both the brake and shifter, and transplant the whole thing to it’s correct position with the shifter centered over the end of the (shortened) shaft which changes gears. I ended up having to fabricate a new shaft because I missed the mark by a 1/2″. Hardest part of the whole job is bending the tubing at the rear of the tunnel which directs the wires for the heater/defroster flaps and the E brake cables.  It’s a brutal, frustrating knuckle tearing job. I’m glad I did it, but I really don’t recomend it unless you’re a fairly good welder and have a lot of patience. Keep in mind that if you screw it up you’ll compromise the strength of the whole pan, which relies on that tunnel for its strength. Not to rain on your parade…but you can pick up hydraulic parking brakes pretty cheap. If you still wish to go ahead, you might hook up with a dune buggy shop: they can probably help you find a junker pan, or direct you to a welder/fabricator who could do it for you if that’s how you want to go.

    I replaced my seats with Corbeou Classic Buckets, which slide on tracks and sit on steel platforms I had fabricated for them. The original bench style seat could be moved forward but it would be a little work and might look odd given the shape of the car which sort of wraps around those seat backs. Bucket seats are the obvious solutin, if you aren’t concerned about staying close to the original MG pattern. Look for used ones if you don’t have the bucks for new.

    Good luck with your car.

    Michael, the Merlin guy

     

     

    #236425
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Mike,

    Sorry to take so long to get back.  I’ve been very busy at work (earning the money I need to work on Merlin) and haven’t been watching the postings closely.  We have a mis-communication here; I was referring to OUR companion website, which has the price list for MG Magic in it’s “suppliers” file.  Also lots of information about the company if you look at the old messages.

    http:/groups.yahoo.com/group/mgtdkitcarclub

    I just assume everyone knows our story; how we immigrated across cyber-space to seed this new world when ours became over-crowded ,mostly by endless pictures of cars. MG Magic has a phone number which is (984)680-2010.

    Hope this information is helpful.  Good luck.

    Michael

    #236188
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Mr. Pink MG,

     

    Sorry to bother you again, but I’m hoping you’ll indulge me just one more question.  I’ve been on the phone to Mid America Motorworks concerning their adjustable front beam.  They tell me that it only will adjust downward (lowering being the usual goal).  Since I’m trying to maintain something close to a stock height in front, I’m not seeing any benefit for this particular adjustable beam in my case.  I could drop perhaps  1 1/2″ in front, which my seat of the pants reckoning tells me is about what will happen when I remove the leaves.  That would be o-k. In no case will dropping further be what I’m after. Are you aware of a beam which has a range of adjustment which extendsd UP as well as Down? l would install one to avoid having to mess around with the leaves once the job is done.

    Thanks again for your help.

    Michael

    #236187
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Pink MG,

    Thanks…it’s a step back, but I’m getting ready to take the fenders and nose apart for painting anyway, so it’s not THAT MUCH EXTRA WORK (God, how many times have I said that!) to change out the beam.  I think I could do it in a weekend. I have been thinking of going through the frond end anyway, since I built it so long ago and I’ve learned quite a lot since then (not to mention purchased a torque wrench). I’m still thinking about disc brakes for the rear and a better master cylinder.

    Michael

     

    #236185
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    I haven’t driven my car yet since it’s still in the building phase, as you all know, but I imagine this suspension stuff will come into play as soon as I do.  I’m getting ready to do a brake job on my wife’s car, and I might take the new parts off Merlin’s back axle and put them on her car, making room for rear disc brakes (have ’em on the front) Here’s my question—

    I don’t want to substantially lower the front end of my car for two reasons; I like how it looks and I have a sump in the rear and air scoops built into the rear fenders and want to maintain adequate ground clearance. I’ve added some weight to the front (about 75 lbs.) and it sits about level.  If I start taking out leaves, at what point might I expect to start dropping the front end?  Would it make sense to get an adjustable beam and establish the front height through adjustment rather than by the stiffness of the suspension, which I could then lighten without dropping the front end. Could I solve the weight transfer problem by just adding more weight and leave the beam alone? If so, anybody out there have a figure in mind? Of course, if the car is as heavy as a VW, it’ll probably accelerate like a VW, which would take some of the fun out of it.

    Thanks for your help.  I’m sure I will benefit from the experience of those who’ve faced the same problems, and maybe for once I won’t re-invent the wheel.

    Michael, the Merlin guy

    #236423
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Mike,

    The last time I looked, MG Magic carried the trim stip and end caps for same, to be used on the hood of your kit. As I recall, the price struck me as very high (much of their stuff is pretty reasonable) but that’s for you to decide.  If you get it, don’t forget the fasteners. You can find all the info on MG Magic on our companion website, if it isn’t on this one yet. Good luck.

     

    Michael aka merlin

     

    #236162
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    I have never joined a VW club, but my wife drives a beautiful ’69 Beetle, and I’ve been to my share of swap meets and spent a lot of time around VW’s and VW people.  Many of THEM seem to feel that many of US are not REAL VW people because we chose to “hide” our car’s “true identity” under a kit body.  If you express an interest in air-cooled performence most of them will warm up to you.  Personally, I have chosen to use VW emblems on my MGTD, and will have a personalized license plate which reflects my car’s Germanic heritage. When I tell air-heads this, they seem to get it; a TD kit is no different than a Manx which is to say a VW re-body. I love air-cooled VW’s myself, and maybe that shows.

    Michael

     

    #236376
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Car names; I worked on my badly deteriorated (previously abandoned and left for dead) Fiberfab for well over a year before it was worthy of any name at all besides “that damned piece of —- out back” but eventually my wife said “you have to give that poor guy a name”. She has always named her cars, including a few VW’s to which she is quite partial. Back when I was a hippie, I had this dog named Merlin, who lived 16 years and went through most of the major transitions of my life with me and is buried in my backyard. Merlin is also a figure from the lore of the  British Isles and the name of a powerfull British motor, so it seemed the natural choice. Back in the sixties, when I worked on my first (and only other) auto restoration, a 1950 Chevy pickup, Merlin was with me for every knuckle bruising agonizing moment.  I had neither tools, knowledge nor money, just a lot of time on my hands, determination and my dog to keep me company. I find myself thinking about him a lot when I work on this car, because the smells  (did that truck mostly on the gravel in front of a friends shop who did fiberglass.) and the work remind me of that time. Now I have plenty of money for parts, a comfortable dry place to work, and a ton of tools, but I don’t have the dog. When Merlin is complete, I’ll remember my dog every time I drive his namesake.

     

    Michael

     

    #236427
    Michael Pullen
    Participant

    @merlin

    Here is an image of the scoop from beneath:

     

     

     

Viewing 23 posts - 1 through 23 (of 23 total)