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MG TD TF 1500 - Door stops

Does anyone have a pic of how the 4 door stops are attached to the tub (2 each side).
Now the tub is painted I need to get these installed ASAP to avoid scratching.
Thanks in advance
Darryl
D Lamb

Attached with four tacks.


Frank Cronin

Thanks Frank about to install them now.
D Lamb

Darryl there are useful pics on Chris Couper's site in the gallery. Barn finds show original installations. Agree with Frank re 4 tacks. The after market replacements may have to be trimmed to allow the door to close properly. I seem to remember PJ having to do this. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Thanks Peter this is the after market stops installed the keep the door quite proud of the tub and will require spacers on the locks inside. Does this seam right.


D Lamb

Peter do you have a link to Chris Coupers site. Thanks
D Lamb

I'm not much good with links but if you Google 'The Original MG TD midget' that should get you there. He also has a companion site for TF's. You should place the door in the opening & see if it closes fully. I think PJ's issue was that the door was kept partially open at the leading edge. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Here you go:

http://www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtd/index.html

Tim
TD12524
TW Burchfield

Darryl: Your picture looks good. The tacks are a bit heavy but OK. They were actually small headed brad nails (same ones that were used on the cowl rubber).

If your doors are not closing all the way because they are hitting the door buffers, you have other issues. You will need to widen the opening a bit. This is an art that involves changing shims on the body to frame and/or bending the hinges. Also you may need to play with the door strap a bit if the door does not fit equally at the top and bottom. The strap helps torque it (well at least in one direction).

Search the archives for all sorts of door fitting hints and tips.
Christopher Couper

Thanks Tim. Chris I think the issue PJ had was one of the thickness of the section of the stop that is parallel to the skin, not the part that is parallel to the visible face of the A pillar. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

That's right Peter. Door closes fine but I now have a 1 cm gap the thickness of the door rubber that lies on the outside of the car. Is this right. It's going to be draughty but at least the new paint work won't be scratched by the door closing!
D Lamb

That's not going to look good Darryl. 1 cm is huge. I believe it's possible to grind down the thickness of the section of the rubber that lies on the skin. Not sure whether PJ worked on the inner or outer face of that bit. It may also be possible to remove some of the A pillar timber to seat the stop further into the car. The leading edge of my door sits just off the outer skin, almost making metal to metal contact. Obviously the smaller the gap the better for both form & function, as long as there is still some clearance. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

I reduced the thickness of stops by grinding away the rear face, a hairy operation however achievable.

I also used self tapping screws to attach the stops after drilling a pilot hole through both the rubber and the pillar.
G Evans

I wonder like the bonnet rest rubber is made the correct profile by some suppliers and not by others thus having you to modify to fit is the same with these rubber door stop pieces?

Frank Cronin

Is the door flange (the crimped section) actually touching the rubber, ie the rubber is 1cm thick or is it held off by the nailed face?.
I have some Moss rubber buffers and the face is only 2.5 mm thick. If they are better than yours you can have them.
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

Cheers Ray I forgot to take a pic today. Will take one tomorrow. It's quite a gap caused by the rubber.

Also the exhaust hanger I got from Moss fell apart on me! Car hasn't even been on the road. It's just stuck using a pretty poor glue.


D Lamb

I have had so many bonded hangers part that I will no longer use them.
Where the bond parted I drill 2 holes and use a section of tyre wall either side and bolt to the chassis bracket. OK it may last only a couple of years but it is free.
2 other things, make sure you use the gearbox hanger bracket and rotate the silencer up near the floor boards or you will rip it off. That is if your roads are as bad as ours
Ray
Ray Lee

I think the individual door fit and gap is the variable. I had to grind and thin two of mine as G Evans did on one side, but the other was perfect. Easier to thin that to make thicker. Austin Healeys also have a problem with exhaust hangers falling apart. Friends had to stop at Walmart to buy bungee cords for emergency fix! George
George Butz

Strips of used conveyor belt is your exhaust installation best friend, lasts a lifetime.
G Evans

I have to say that is not my experience at all. When I changed the ratio in the diff and removed it (and put it back), I did the job without removing the exhaust. Momentarily the weight of thr diff rested on the exhaust during the removal and installation, yet remained secure.
Dave H
Dave Hill

"Door closes fine but I now have a 1 cm gap the thickness of the door rubber that lies on the outside of the car. Is this right. It's going to be draughty but at least the new paint work won't be scratched by the door closing!"

Can you provide a picture? Your door buffers look good. If they are keeping your door from closing then the opening does not seem correct. Best if you can also supply a picture of the entire door from the inside too, closed, so we can see the gap around the entire perimeter.
Christopher Couper

Is this right....in particular the piece that extends onto the side of the car....it's causing a large gap in the door fit and a draught I imagine!


D Lamb

It looks like the rubber is slightly distorted here. If the rebate where the rubber fits is too deep then it bends up at the edges, you may also need to chamfer the edge of the rubber. The new rubbers have a right angle edge but the door rebate has a rounded profile.
It needs relieving underneath with a razor blade or craft knife. The metal underneath may benefit from a judicious tapping back. A slight thickness there translates to a big gap at the door flange.
Went through all of this when I re-bodied our TF
Ray TF 2884



Ray Lee

Thanks Ray but that's not where I have my issue. The door is closing fine. It's about the gap when the door is closed made by the rubber between the door and the body. I will post a pic tomorrow.
D Lamb

Looking forward to the pictures but I suspect you have a hinge problem.

Did you put on new hinges?

The door may be too far forward. Or it could be just tilted wrong. This all gets changed depending on what size shims you have under the body bucket attachment points. Changing the shims warps the body bucket and most of the warping results in the door opening changing size/shape, by design.

This whole area is probably the hardest to get right and unfortunately needs to be done before you paint, but rarely does anyone do this. :-(
Christopher Couper

The gap caused by the rubbers


D Lamb

That gap is great. That is exactly what they are supposed to do.
Christopher Couper

Really not going to cause a draught Chris?
D Lamb

"Really not going to cause a draught Chris?"

Not anymore than about a dozen other places on the car. And without these gaps, your doors would begin to rub and bang into the door jambs at every small bump.

The T's series cars were made with all sorts of loose tolerances. These are not modern cars. They are really horseless carriages by comparison to what you buy today.

Everybody wants to 'fix' their T car in the hopes of making it better. Sometimes that's possible but often in the hopes of fixing one thing, we end up screwing up a bunch of other things that were just designed with expected loose tolerances.

OK. I will get off my soapbox.

BTW most T owners would die for doors that fit that good.
Christopher Couper

Yes, that looks like a factory-acceptable fit to me.
Matthew.
M Magilton

once you install the interior panels, piping, etc, you should not have a problem with draughts.
J K Barter

Lets look at it this way! Grin. PJ
Great fit Darryl!!



Paul Jennings

Alright guys I get the hint....thanks for the nice comments. And a very Happy Christmas to you all 🎅
D Lamb

There's will always be a gap. Just make sure your latch achieves the critical second click.


D. Sander

Back to the exhaust bracket,If when you mount it on the exhaust it must be level with the body and not at an angle. If it is at an angle you will stress the rubber trying to bolt it up which will split it before its even on the road.
You will need to bend the bracket a bit so it is parallel with the mounting face.
This is due to the exhaust pipe been welded at different angles causing the bracket to sit wrong.
s p brown

Thanks sp I will keep this in mind when the new bracket arrives.
D Lamb

This thread was discussed between 12/12/2016 and 19/12/2016

MG TD TF 1500 index

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