hello all new guy.

[bruce]

Oh sure tease me!!

I had a friend that left me drive his restored 356 B and 912 years ago. I helped him reinstall the engine back in the 356. He was a collector and his basement was filled with old 356 parts.

Porsche's are way out on my league now, I have an old Fiero sitting here waiting for me to show it some love again! I have a friend that dropped a 3800SC into his and it's a freaking Rocket! I've been toying with the idea of just doing a NA 3800 since they are in every junkyard now.

In the meantime I'll dabble in my tractor project . . .



Edited By bruce on 1236546324

[slracer]

For you VW "enthusiasts", Have you seen / heard about the new one going on sale in Shanghai in 2010? It is going to be a single seater initially, followed by a 2 seat version, and will get 258 MPG! Cost is to be 4000 yuan (about $600 US). To me, it looks like VW modernized the Messerschmitt KR175. See here:



The "door" even opens the same way and judging from the front seat room, it will be fore-aft seating like the KR also. Oh, they claim a CRUISING speed of 100-120 kph (62-75 mph if you are metrically challenged). I have a few more VW pics if you are interested. Now a good engine development program with a proficient flow bench user, triple the horsepower and make it handle and you have a real Porsche killer (and still "in" the family). As for me, I'll keep my MGTD (with a 2300 cc Ford 4 banger)! -- Doug

[86rocco1]

Wow that's a spectacularly UGLY car but the price is right.
That little Scirocco of mine originally came with a 78 hp engine, realistically, I don't think I'm going to be able to triple that but I aim to come close, I'm shooting for 200+ bhp, one of the reasons I need a flow bench should be a lot of fun in a 1900 lb car.

BTW, Doug, I'm involved in some club racing, we have the only VW in the club, the rest are all Fords, we win pretty regularly!

[slracer]

Ed, A 1952 MGTD with custom bodywork making it a true Drop Head Coupe (convertible to you colonials) instead of a more common roadster is a "chick magnet", NOT a club racer! (I used to live near the beach in Los Angeles.) The Ford motor only allows me to drive at night (non-Lucas electrics)! :p

The new VW looks somewhat better from the view you will get when passing! Note the "1L" on the rear body next to the VW emblem. A full 1 liter engine in a very lightweight car (unless it means "One Lughead"). A very good bike motor would put out close to 150 ponies per liter. I have no idea what that is in full size horses, but :p

Doug

[Tony]

Here in oZ, any pre 1948 vehicle can be road registered as a Hot Rod.
That would include an MG TC open sports car which was manufactured between 1945 and 1949.




Unlike most American Ford and Chev based Hot Rods that tend to be rather tall and heavy, the British MG is small, light and very close to the ground, an ideal candidate for a modern light weight high horsepower engine and modern suspension design.

The Hot Rod building rules allow for engines up to 460 cubic inches, forced induction, and wheels up to ten inches wide.

Not suggesting any of that is at all appropriate, or a good idea for this particular car.

Although many years ago, a really crazy guy called Carrol Shelby had similar lunatic ideas, and fitted a Ford V8 engine into a small light weight obscure English AC sports car.
He called it an "AC Cobra", a strange mongrel cross breed car, that shocked absolutely everyone, and went on to make automotive history.

Getting back to reality..............

The Hot Rod building rules rules would allow you to go absolutely nuts on one of these little cars, just because it is pre 1948.
With modern engineering and technology and a bit of imagination, it could still be made perfectly road legal, IF it can be officially road registered as a Hot Rod.

At least in Australia, and the US, it certainly could, and possibly other countries too ?

[slracer]

Tony, The MGTC you show has a beam axle and leaf springs on the front while the later models have double wishbone IFS. That makes the early models more like a Model A. My car is a TD (1950-1953)! Our hot rod rules don't act like yours so mine is just a street legal 1952 MGTD. When I put the Ford engine in (only doubling the HP), I told the "inspector" that I couldn't find the engine number (from the registration) on the vehicle , but the chassis number was right on the front frame. Since all the new cars were registered by frame ID, we changed the registration. I guess I forgot to tell them that the engine wasn't the original which made it really hard to find that ID! :p It also has the automatic trans from the Ford, front suspension from an MGB (which bolted to the existing holes in the frame) with the anti-sway bar, MGB rear axle (matches the HP and provides a 3.90 ratio instead of the stock 5.125), and allowed me to add the 15' wire wheels with 185/70 rubber instead of the perforated discs with 5.50 tires. The 2 inch lowering all the way around also helped the looks! Even in California people would pull up next to me and say "Nice car!". I'll try to get some pics and put hem in the BS section as we are stealing this thread. -- Doug
The attached TD photo is NOT mine.

[Tony]

Yes the TD is certainly a much better car, but unfortunately too recent to be road registered as a Hot Rod. That means any major mechanical modifications away from original become a real drama to get road registration.

A Hot Rod only needs the original frame rails, or modern reproductions of the original frame rails. Modifications are almost unlimited, you can fit independent suspension at both ends, even have four wheel drive if you wished.

A Rod does not have to have beam axles and leaf springs, although traditional Rods all do. But a good modern high tech street runner can be far more radical than that.



I guess the point I am trying to make, is that modifying a late model small car, even slightly can be very difficult to get approved for road registration these days.

If it was originally manufactured before 1948, you can do pretty much whatever you want to do to it. That Hot Rod in the above picture is still officially a 32 Ford, but it looks nothing like any original 32 Ford, and there would not be a single original mechanical part anywhere on that car.

[86rocco1]

I don't think there's any similar rules in North America. I'm sure there's a list of minimum required equipment and if you're working on a later model car, you're going to run into problems with the emissions regulations. In my area, a safety inspection is required only when first license a newly acquired car and on car newer than 1987 a tailpipe emissions test is requires every second year. There are rules about tampering with emission equipment but no one ever checks unless you've done something stupid to attract the ire of the powers that be.

[slracer]

Tony, That is a SWEET ride! Love the 4 wheel drive (or is it front wheel drive only?)! Do you know who owns it? If I ever get a chance to visit OZ, I want to see it! -- Doug

[Tony]

Doug, that 4WD '32 is an American invention called the Quadradeuce.

[slracer]

OK, Add this one to the weird file! Today, I received my latest Automobile Quarterly, Vol. 48, Number 4. One of their featured articles is on a Microcar Museum in GA. The first picture I see on the website is a MESSERSCHMITT KR 175 (or 200). That is strange as I just mentioned it on here last week! To make things a little more strange, a second article features Italian microcars and it shows the Mi-Val Milvalino which is the KR175 built under license in Italy! Now if this works right, "Did I mention that I bought a Lottery ticket this week?" :p

Doug

PS - Try for the museum.

[Tony]

That is really interesting Doug. If you could find and restore one of those pre 1948 mini cars, there would be no argument about exhaust emissions, or catalytic converters, or any other nonsense.

[MrHijet]

[86rocco1]

Awesome thanks!

[bruce]

Great video!