Ed, I think the shortened shift rod is still too long to pull it through the inspection plate. The center tunnel is not high enough to get you the clearance you need to tilt the shift rod.I’m relying on memory, so it’s worth a shot. But I don’t think it will work.

Hi chuckles,
What manufacturer TD do you have?
On my Duchess, the grill attaches to the front of the bodywork and comes no where near touching the axle.
Also…when you get a chance, please click the link inmy signature to go to the registry thread and post your owner and car info! Thanks
 

Like Dale, I made dinner reservations with the speedster club.
Now I gotta get the brakes done on my Duchess. I started having trouble at the end of last summer. But put ‘er away for the winter without tending to the problems. Spring is around the corner…back to work!

Wow. Scary story Larry. Glad it ended well!

Hey Al,
OK, major “duh” on my part. I see it now (after your comments!).
Those latches have nothing to do with whether or not the main latch holds. But if it does pop, them form a block to keep the door from flying open.

ED,
I’m not sure I see the value in Mr. Harthof’s product.
If you door is going to pop open, it will not be because the spring loaded latch moved. The male portion of the latch will simply pop out of the femail portion beucase of vibration.
The only thing the extra latch might do is keep you from acidently pulling back on the lever. Although from…[Read more]

Hmmm…
Chuckles, tell your fiancee to try again!
Way back in 1989, my wife and I used my Duchess as our “Wedding Car”.
Nov 24 1989, the Friday after Thanksgiving. It snowed a half a foot on Thanksgiving day in New Jersey, first Thanksgiving snow in 50 years. My wife’s gown had a low cut back…meaning her back against the cold vinyl.
We had a blast!
 

That TC based race car is Sweet witha capital “S”! Thanks Ed.
I have one of those brass Abingdon ID plates. Bought it years ago at Carlisle Import/Kit Car show. Never got it engraved with my VIN. I should dig it out!

Ed,
My most “VW-expert” friend says to just remove the old switch and quickly screw in the replacement. No air will get in.PMOSSBERG40247.371099537

Don,
The wiring from the battery is the same, regardless of where the battery is located.
The cable from the negative battery terminal is usually grounded to the chassis, not to the engine block.
 

Yes. And it’s not a dumb question. If you haven’t seen a proper assembly, it’s reasonable to ask.The spring loaded dowel on the latch is supposed to be seated in the hole when the door is fully closed. The “notch” is just a secondary safety stop, in case the door pops.

Hi guys,The adjustable beam is used to RAISE the ride height.When you do this right, you remove leaves from the torsion tubes, softening the front suspension for a better ride.The softer suspension, with the same weight on it, will result in the front end settling down a bit. The adjustable beam is used to bring the ride height back to where it should be.

Good luck Greg. It’ll be intersting to see your results.That said, I’ve been driving my Duchess since 1983, with the original style TD latches and have NEVER had a door pop open.

Hi Don,From a good friend in PA who has built or restored literally dozens of kit cars:You need to go through a MV 426B vehicle inspection process at a PennDot Enhanced Inspection location. i.e. a private garage. This involves having receipts and a donor title in hand ….. best to have just bill of sale stating that the vehicle was purchased by…[Read more]

Heck, anyone that could buy a $60,000 TD Replica should just pony up and buy an entire replica company!Yes that’s right folks. For just a few bucks more, well $95,000 total to be exact, you can own TG Sports, the New Zealand based manufacturer of an MG TF replica. I have seen these cars and they are beautiful.
The kit builds up on Mazda MX5 Miata…[Read more]

Hey Rs….
I told you you’d find some help here!
Pleae take a moment and send us your car and owner info for our registry. Just click thelink in my signature line.

Yeah, I know I shouldn’t complain about the snow we’ll get in northern NJ.Everybody from southern NJ down to Virginia are really going to get hammered today and tonight.Good luck!

When I built my TD, not only were the heater cables broken, the ends of the tubes were basically frozen shut with crud.
I had to cut off an inch or so, then used a drill bit to get part way through the remaining blockage.
I finally had to resort to a round hack-saw blade (sort of like a 1/8th inch rasp). I cut the hack-saw ends off the blade,…[Read more]

Ed, One quick way to find out. Whether your heated air runs through the tunnel or under the seats, it has to start at the heater boxes. There will be 2.5″ to 3″ tubes coming off the front of the heater boxes. They will either enter the passenger compartment somewhere under your seats or they will be connected into holes cut into the center…[Read more]

Ed,
I’m still curious how the heated air is getting to the footwells.
In a stock VW, the heater channels run up the outside base of the Beetle body, along the rocker panels & door sills. When you remove the Beetle body, you are also removing the heat channels.
Can you tell us what was done to Bridget to replace the heat channels and get warm air…[Read more]