NEWBIE HERE WITH MOST OF A VW

[MG wanna B]

hey folks,

newbie here with an MG TD LONDON ROADSTER that has a vw drive train, and suspension system.

new to all of the vw stuff, so, I will need some wisdom.

[Marc]

Sharp-looking ride.

Every one of the kitcars similar to this which I've encountered has had gaping air leaks around the engine, allowing spent cooling air to be drawn back topside and recycled. This'll cause overheating, especially in traffic on a hot day, so the gaps must be filled (with something that won't end up coming loose and lodging in the fan intake - doesn't have to be anything sexy, even roofing flashing will do provided it's well-secured to either the body or the engine). You need an inlet for cooling air - perhaps through the fenderwell(s) - which won't be inclined to draw hot air from below back into the engine compartment.
Another common issue is that the bodywork doesn't allow room for a proper aircleaner tall enough to contain the "standoff" characteristic of these engines at speed; this results in disruption of the metering. If you have this situation, the only solution (without butchering the body) is to use an elbow such as those found on Buses and Karmann-Ghias to allow remote mounting of the filter.
Does this car use an extension bracket to mount the front suspension beam? Check it over closely - as well as whatever means was used to extend the steering column. Also ensure that if the front brake lines needed lengthening it was done correctly (no compression fittings!).
Typically cars like this are found to be so light in the front that the stock springs are too stiff, and the front brakes have a propensity for premature lockup on wet pavement. There are various ways to alter the springrate and brake bias, some work well and some can only be considered hack work.
What year is the VW chassis under it? The VIN number stamped into the top of the tunnel by the shift coupler access plate under the back seat will tell us if the paperwork doesn't.
The rear suspension's going to either be "swingaxle" with enclosed shafts or "IRS" with constant-velocity joints at both ends of the shafts. Here's a sketch of an imaginary car that's half one and half the other:

Beetle front suspension was of king-and-linkpin design through `65; after that balljoints were adopted:

[MG wanna B]

these particular model cars, "London roadsters", were all factory built, most on vw bottoms, but, some, as in this case, were built on a tube frame, and, only used the running gear, and, brake assemblies.
due to them being factory built, there are no assembly manuals to acquire.

mine has a lot of chrome parts, and, a chrome bottom pan that divides the underneath, from the engine bay.
the air filter assembly goes up into the back side of the spare tire mounted on the rear, and, the car has an "A" frame front suspension, with coil over shocks, and, has a weight bar added to the very front of the car.

it drives very well, performs great, but, the rear shocks have gotten weak, and, will bottom out fairly easily.

i'll have to resize my pictures to get them to load.

100_3902 - Copy.JPG

[Marc]

I'm aware that some Londons came with bespoke frames, but you said it had a VW suspension system and I took you at that word.
I haven't any experience with their A-arm front but one would think it has to be better than the VW setup for this purpose; looks like they're using an upper arm from some other car (or perhaps an off-the-shelf "racy" part) and a proprietary fabricated lower...do I detect a rust rail around that upper balljoint nut (indicative of looseness)?
The rear looks like they "skinned" the bearing housing portion out of stock VW control arms and then built their own trailing link - no "VW" suspension parts of any kind involved here either.




Best way to post pics is to put them on a site like Photobucket and link to them. viewtopic.php?f=18&t=127818

[MG wanna B]

i'll have to check on these items you mentioned, as, this is a totally new adventure for me, and, just got it up on the lift to inspect, and repair.

I mostly keep MG B's.

[Marc]

It looks like they used `68-up Type I brakes (the stock drums/discs have a 4x130mm bolt circle). If that's true you'll have the option of juggling front & rear wheel cylinders if needed to improve the brake balance...drumbrake Bug front W/Cs are 60% bigger than the rears and they do interchange, so for example if you find the fronts locking up prematurely you could fit front W/Cs in the rear, a common dodge with front discs that's simpler than screwing with proportioning valves and often does the trick.

There are two stock balljoint front spindles - they interchange, but take different inner bearings & seals and tierod ends. From the factory, the early ones' tierod nuts take a 17mm wrench and the lates are 19mm. Rarely you may find early ones which have been reamed for the late tierod end, but they'll still need the smaller early bearing & seal.

Bugs never got front discs in the US market, but in Europe and Mexico/Brazil they did. Calipers could be of several different designs, the most common being the "double-pin" style that's also used on `66-`71 Type IIIs. Can you get a picture of one of the calipers?

The stock photo of the chassis shows it with optional rear disk brakes. Those were never offered by VW but there are aftermarket kits available. On a car this light I really don't see any need for 4-wheel disk brakes other than for style points (or to avoid the periodic manual adjustment that the drums require)

[MG wanna B]

i do know that it has front disc brakes, and, the drum on the rear, with adapters for the wire wheels.

i should know more, tomorrow, as, that's when i'll be pulling them off for inspecting, cleaning, and, polishing.

have some loose ends to tighten up.