I sure hope Sovasarce isn’t your boss.

Wow, Paul, that is one complicated dashboard! 

Very nice idea. I also like those toggle switches. Would you mind telling where you found them (or were they on the car when you got it)? 

Is that a real TF, or an Avallone or some other replica? And while we’re at it, is that the real Santa, or a replica? 

Well, they got back to me. Not in full production yet, and when they are the version that would accommodate our TD replicas would run $1,200 — plus shipping.
Scratch that.

I have a feeling that this will look like a great idea until they tell me what it costs.

Sorry, guys. I’ve edited my earlier post with a different Batelli link. I should point out that they’re probably 14-inchers, too. Mine are, anyway.TexAg7140885.738275463

Thanks, Paul. I’m on the Moss Motors mailing list, and believe me I’ve pored over their catalogs. Can’t determine if the Lafer’s windshield dimensions are the same as the TD’s though. Ricardo (Calafer) came through with confirmation that the source I have in Brazil is the go-to guy down there, so maybe help is on the way from the Southern Hemisphere.

Apparently, the original Lafer wheels are still available:
http://batellimplafer.fotoblog.uol.com.br/lastPeriod.html
TexAg7140884.6678935185

Actually, Ray, the spare is up front, stored in a vertical well under the left side of what would be the bonnet in a real MG-TD. The gas tank (or fuel cell in my case) is on the right side, I suppose for better weight distribution. The “spare” in back let Lafer accommodate and ventilate the VW engine while approximating the original TD’s body pro…[Read more]

Wow, that’s exactly what I was looking for. Thanks, Ricardo.
Eduardo is the guy I had already contacted. He replied, and I told him (in English, translated to Portuguese by Google) what I need, but I haven’t heard back. Maybe he’ll send his current parts pages.
I really appreciate the help.

Thanks, Paul. I’ve found a few sites online, and one shop here in Houston, that handle the gaskets for the cargo compartment up front and a few other parts.
The Lafer’s windshield folds, like the original TD’s, and the brackets look like them, but I’m not sure they’re the exact same size and I doubt the windshield itself — or any of the rubber…[Read more]

Not leather — and no cartoon beagle — but these faux fur “bomber” hats on eBay look pretty warm for $10:

Ricardo: I’ll have to try that, although before I put them back on for real I need to find a source for some replacement rubber. Almost every piece on or around the windshield and the windows is pretty much a historical artifact at this point — no flexibility or water seal at all.

Why are the 100w bulbs not recommended for fog lamps? (Just curious; I’ve never even switched my foggers on.)

Where are you, Bill?

No windwings on the Lafer, Mark, so I have the same problem with my specs — and flat cap — at anything over 45 or so. I have driven it to work a few afternoons, but traveling 60-65 and being the smallest thing on the freeway isn’t really fun for me. For the most part, I stick to back roads, side streets and two-lane county blacktops. 

British automotive historian and author Mike Lawrence, in his encylopedic A to Z of Sports Cars, 1945-1990, refers to the Lafer as “the first, and most successful, of a genre of cars which have mated a fibreglass body in the style of the MG TD to a VW Beetle floorpan.” He dates production from 1972 to 1989.
There’s also a Brazilian website that sa…[Read more]

I can see the road OK on a clear night. What I can’t see are my gauges. Still need to pull them and follow the excellent step-by-step instructions — posted by Ricardo (Calafer) in a thread on the Lafer section — on disassembling, cleaning and refurbishing them. I am a citizen of the procrastination.

We do get some fog here in Houston, but if it’s heavy enough for special lighting it’s too dense to risk taking my little black treasure out. Way too many giant pickups on the road here.