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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Midget/sprite drivers door

Does the same drivers door fit all the models and if not how to tell the difference

Thanks for your help

Kind regards
Pat and Ray
Patricia Hooker

Image of door


Patricia Hooker

2nd image of door


Patricia Hooker

Pat and Ray, hi, welcome.

Doors do vary, obviously the earlier cars didn't have external door handles and wind-up windows and there are differences in the later two doors but sorry I don't know what they are.

I don't think the inner panel cut-outs look exactly the same as my late 1275 (and 1500?) but I'm not sure as I've never studied it that closely (or at all).

If you have any type of part number on the packaging or paperwork that could identify it as would the make (BM Heritage?).

Looks like there's a crease in the outer panel but if you're selling someone, not me, here might still be interested.
Nigel Atkins

Essentially, the door you have will fit all cars with wind-up windows, although there are some slight differences in the door locking mechanism.

I can’t tell you the exact change point, but the door latch mechanism changed slightly and the position of the captive nuts was altered. Consequently, the holes for the latch don’t line up if you try to fit an early latch to a late door and vice-versa. The easy way around this is to source the correct latch to fit the door.

Does that help? If not, are you having an issue with something in particular?
Dave O'Neill 2

I think the fixings for the door pull also altered when they went to the later type of plastic pull in place of the earlier drop down variety.
GuyW

Guy, you are correct.

The earlier pull was fitted to two captive nuts, whereas the later one was screwed into two square plastic fittings.

The door shell in the photos is obviously a replacement, as it has the holes for both types of pull, although no captive nuts.
Dave O'Neill 2

Interesting. Both doors on my 1975 1500 have both door pull sets of holes. Looking at the state of the doors I would have thought they were both original.

If they are both replacement doors, the PO owner has been particularly neglectful to let them rot again!

Maybe on the later cars the doors came with both sets of holes?

(jeez I'm turning into a midget geek wondering about door pull holes !)
Chris Madge

The pear shaped hole below the winder handle hole looked an odd shape to me but it might just be the angle of the image.

Picking up on DaveO's point about locks (and hinge positions?) in Terry's book, page 88- "For all markets, revised door assemblies were fitted from HAN9-72041 and GAN4-60460 (November 1967)." (build date).

So this door looks increasingly likely to be a BMT to fit possibly(?) 1275 + 1500.

Original Sprite & Midget The Restorer’s Guide by Terry Horler. –
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1906133336
Nigel Atkins

The later door plastic door pull mountings can be changed to riv nut fittings. The Heritage shell IIRC came without any fittings to attach the door handles.
Photos show what I'm struggling to say.


Jeremy MkIII

The OP's door looks like it has both sets of mounting holes.
I may be wrong!
Are there 3 different types of door pulls? All chrome, plastic and chrome (like below) and plastic as fitted to very late 1275 & 1500s?
If so this applies only to the earlier cars (mine's a 71).


Jeremy MkIII

Jeremy, yes.
The two earlier types use the round holes and the later plastic pull uses the square ones.
Dave O'Neill 2

This thread was discussed between 26/08/2019 and 27/08/2019

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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