Mg kit VW

[Aahz]

Just bought a 1950 MG kit car with a vw motor. Could use all the help I can get. Never owned a VW before...
Any suggestions on learning for a newbie???

[vwracerdave]

Welcome to The Samba.

Think about everything before you do anything. Don't be afraid to ask any questions. When you have questions about specific parts or problems the best way to get help is by posting pictures.
_________________
2017 Street Comp Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble, OK
2010 Sportsman ET Champion - Mid-America Dragway - Arkansas City, KS
1997 Sportsman ET Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble ,OK

[Gary0302]

Hi Aahz,

Online advise from forums can be very helpful, as long as the responses are from those with genuine experience, as opposed to those that like to throw out haphazard suggestions without ever having specific experience on the subject at hand in first place.

Having someone with aircooled VW experience nearby can also be an extremely valuable option. If you have not already done so, go to the top of this page, select Community, and click on Clubs in the dropdown menu. Check to see if there are any active clubs in your area, contact the group, and go from there. In my personal opinion, that is one of the very first places (or steps) to begin. Best of success, my friend.
_________________
Gary David Holbrook
Facebook and YouTube
Coastal North Carolina

Check out my videos on Youtube

"It's a buggy not a space shuttle...." - Dale M.
"When in doubt, blame it on the previous owner" - Gary0302

[andygere]

Start off by buying this book and reading it. All the info you need, easy to understand and very practical.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/how-to-keep-your-v...id=3x23201

[Aahz]

Thank you all. I bought the book. It is very helpful. I am in fact aComplete Idiot about these engines! Will learn all I cab though. I plan on keeping my little baby so need to know how to take good care of her!

[Aahz]

Got a question.
When I bought the car I used a dolly to bring it home. Problem is I forgot it was in First gear still when I took off!
(See newbie)!! I went about 200 ft before remembering.
Question is what damage I could have done to the motor?
I was up to about 30 or 35 mph before stopping to take it out of gear???

[Singerdude]

Welcome to the Samba

Every answer so far contain good info. I don't have as much experience as the senior members in here but the little wisdom I got I gained through rookie mistakes, false sense of confidence and careless spending. But I started with virtually zero experience with cars, your results may vary

First off, never assume that anything on your car is "stock". Make especially sure that you measure and correctly identify every part that you wish to work on or replace. Your car may have been assembled with any combination of parts from different years/models and ordering replacement can become a pain. For example: My buggy was built on a 72 standard beetle pan but had a swingaxle transmission instead of the period correct IRS trans... Ordering the wrong trans without double checking was an EXPENSIVE rookie mistake... I made lemonade with lemons by converting all the drive train to IRS but that was a few thousand bucks outsourced job that I hadn't budgetted for. Tough pill to swallow. There were also plenty of other smaller errors but you get my drift...

Also, by reading stuff here you will probably soon get the idea that bigger is better engine-wise (been there, done that, and it is!) Take your time and do your research dilligently. Also know your talent level and your limit. People here have a way of making everything seem easy: everyone and their neighbors are stroking this, turbo'ing and fuel injecting that... And it's all fine and dandy if you are have experience and skills in the mechanical arts, or deep pockets, preferably both. That said some people are faster/better learners than I am and do miracles from almost nothing. So again: your results may vary.

A good start would be to get the Bug Me video series at bugmevideo.com they are a good source of info with visuals for most of the usual jobs in a stock setting. Now I think they are available for on-line rentals or you can just buy the DVD's.

I wish you a trouble/worry free summer with your car, I hope you enjoy the heck out of it

[andygere]

[Wolfgangdieter]

Who is manf? Build manuals are available online for FF/CMC - not sure on others. Have you checked out www.tdreplica.com ?
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CMC '57 Porsche Speedster Replica and Dolphin boat tailed full pan VW MOD-T Street Buggy

[Aahz]

Yes I joined tdreplica.com as well. Just looking for all the help I can get from air cooled engine folks...
I'm not all that mechanically inclined so figured I'd get as much input as I can! !!

[Aahz]

Just came from the shop. The so called "Master Mechanic"I bought thee car from Lied his butt off! Big surprise..
It's not a new motor or tranny like he said.
As far as they can tell the only thing my little trip did was bend a couple push rods. But the guy I bought it from hard mounted the front engine/tranny to the frame And used Zip Ties to hold it in place. (Glad I didn't drive it home)! The exhaust is bent at the heat box, won't go in.
There's oil leaks everywhere, the after market iol cooler he put on isn't mounted to anything. .
Ohh well live and learn. At least when it comes out of the shop it will be done Right!
I told them to fix it all! !!

[tgodber]

I have flat towed my buggies a few thousand miles. I always like to start the tow vehicle moving and then put it in neutral to make sure the buggy is rolling freely.

That said, I did buy my second buggy and then tow it 200 miles without checking the transaxle oil level. Never assume anything. It was nearly empty and I cooked the trans. Oops.
Luckily we had a replacement in stock.

This will be a learning experience for you. Good luck

We need pictures!
_________________
My wife said I never listen to her.
Or something like that!

[Aahz]

I posted the pics I jus got, take a look. .

[Singerdude]

Very nice ride I hope it comes out of the shop in tip-top shape and they don't discover any other half-assed build surprises.

[zoltron55]

I noticed on your pictures you need the lower cooling tins

[andk5591]

There is another recent thread on one of these. I redid one about a year ago for a guy. Just for curiousity sake, do you have a budget for this thing, because based on what I am seeing, it aint gonna be remotely cheap.

I did a buddy a favor (and charged about half my regular shop rate) on the one I did and fortunately the engine and tranny were fine, but just going through everything and not doing any cosmetics other than giving it a cleaning ran him $3K.

Depending on what your shop is charging you and how familiar they are with VWs etc, you can easily be double that and havent even talked about paint or anything. Seeing some really nice ones on here for close to $10K, but have seen them usually going for around $6-8K for a decent running car. You may want to rethink things.
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone - 63 Short pan,1914.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Cindy's daily driver.
Max - 73 standard Beetle hearse project - For sale
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

[didget69]

Looks like the trans nose cone is broken at the mounts.

bnc
_________________
I never found the need to impress people with any mechanic certifications, trophies or track wins... unless it was for Mom to post on the refrigerator door.

[Aahz]

Back from shop. Posted some more pics. Yes nose cone on trans replaced. As with push rods, charging system fixed, etc. Wiring harness next...