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MG TD TF 1500 - Fun thread - worst mistake?

A long while ago I asked how long it had taken to complete your restoration. Answers ranged from 8 months to 30 years, and people seemed to enjoy it, with some commenting on what a good thread etc.
In that spirit, I ask, what was your worst restoration mistake? (Read it any way you want, it could include divorces and law suits, I suppose!).
In my case, the list is already long. Because I was told the engine was probably low mileage, I assumed there was no problem there - till it overheated and melted the bearings. Other mistakes include (most recently) putting the rubber snug UNDER the floorboard instead of on top, drivers side floorboard that wasn't correct (and missed critical flooring screws), breaking the irreplaceable wiper motor circuit board by dropping it because my fingers were greasy (I had to build my own to replace it), and I'm sure, many more that I can't remember (or have thankfully suppressed) at this moment.
Anyway, if you feel like sharing, do!
Geoffrey M Baker

I'd say the biggest mistake is starting the restoration! Most people spend 20 years restoring a car that could have been driven and enjoyed all that time. And when it's done, the car is never enjoyed in the same care-free way again. For that reason, my garage is full of drivers. ;)
Steve Simmons

Biggest mistake is believing that any work carried out by a previous owner will have been carried out correctly
G Evans

Buying a car in an on line auction with aa last bid time of 8.00 pm on a Saturday night. By then my wife and myself had treated ourselves to a nice dinner with a bottle of wine and my common sense was at the bottom of the empty bottle. The positive aspect if you are selling anything on eBay set the closing time for mid Saturday evening.

Jan T
J Targosz

My biggest mistake was buying parts from @*$$! Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

My biggest mistake was placing the timing chain wrongly in the Xpag engine.
After I finished the restoration about a year later I tried to start it and the ignition was wrong.
So I had to dismantle everyhing including the radiator, timing chaincover and sump etc. to get to the timingchain.

Erik

Erik van Hardeveld

I made a humdinger of a mistake in rebuilding my car. I stripped it completely down to the wood and replaced much of that. When I put the wood frame back on the chassis I assumed that the holes half way along the wooden side runners were for coach bolts to hold the body to the chassis. Much later after I had replaced the sheet metal, done a million other jobs and repainted the body I found out my mistake. The holes were really for bolts to attach the running boards to the body! It took me some time to work out how to fix it. I had to drill vertically upwards into the side rails in such a position as to intercept the coach bolt just below the head. Then remove the bolt minus the head, then drill through the head, then plug the vertical hole with a dowel. The most amazing thing is that I managed it!
Dave H
Dave Hill

I was helping a friend paint his car. The clear coat comes in one, one gallon can of part A with four, one quart cans of part B.

Of course we mixed it 4:1 instead of 1:1.

The first coat went on great but took a long time to get tacky. When we realized the mistake we called the manufacturer rather panic stricken. We were assured it would be OK if we waited a week before laying down the next coats - properly mixed.
MAndrus

I once put a transmission in backwards and had 4 gears in reverse. So I turned the body around and ended up with the world's first right hand drive, rear engined '48 Desoto with wipers on the rear window.
MAndrus

The list is long.

But I crawled around under the TD, on my belly and back, for 4 years. Then with almost everything finished I put in a lift.

Mort
Mort 50 TD

Bolting the tranny in while I had my son here to help me lift it then discovering most of the bolts needed helicoils after he left town!
And of course base+clear. Would NEVER do that again!!
Ed
efh Haskell

My biggest mistake was not doing a really good job on bagging and marking all the hardware for their specific location.
Mike
Mike Hart

Biggest mistake was not buying some different manuals. I rebuilt my TD by reading Moss and Abington spares catalogues. The expanded pictures are great, but I ended up taking off and putting together most things at least three times prior to getting them correct.
Bruce TD4139 Cunha

My biggest mistake was doing exactly what a certain Mr Dave Hill from Cambridgeshire did re: running board bolts!! I have only done one side and have saved myself from further grief by reading Dave's post on here.
Thanks Dave for sharing.
One I owe you!
c caygill

You make me feel much better - now that I know somebody else could do the same crazy thing!
Glad I posted it.
Dave H
Dave Hill

I'm sure I will remember more failures as time passes, but today I installed my water pump and immediately had to deal with half a dozen leaks - split top hose, problems with the bypass hose... there are always things we don't expect as well as the ones we plan for!
Geoffrey M Baker

It's hard to know where to start...my TD project is 11 years and running...still waiting to discover the mistakes! My first car was a '66 midget I repainted Brookland's Green while it was layed up for a new transmission. Before finishing, I decided to spray some undercoating on the bottom which I managed to overspray onto the newly painted hood leaning against the wall on the other side of the car. Of course the hood was there because I had to repull the engine because I put the clutch disk in backwards.....
J Cosin

Biggest mistake for me was buying new parts because it was cheaper than fixing the old parts. That was bad enough but I also discarded the old parts instead of saving them. So I had to repurchase some old parts to restore and threw away (or sold on ebay) the new parts.
Christopher Couper

Me too Chris. Except I couldn't bring myself to toss the originals. I'm glad I'm a bit of a bower bird. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Well said Chris Couper.

Originality 'rules' in more ways than one!

Cheers.
Rob Grantham
TF3719("Athos"),TF9177("Aramis").
R GRANTHAM

Me too Chris and Peter.

Bought 2 new running boards for the TF as an easier option to getting the originals fixed. Couldn't get them to fit. The size was way out. Luckily I don't throw things out so went back to the originals.

Anyone want 2 running boards for a TF going cheep!

Currently I can't find my 3 bonnet strips and 2 bumpers. Could be in 1 of 6 places. 2 of which are previous garages I had it stored in and if so are gone. Awful sinking feeling just thinking I may have lost them. But haven't given up looking!
Fingers crossed...
D Lamb

Buying a car someone else had disassembled.
David Littlefield

Not on the TD, but another car that's now 25, I put in Mike Sanders rust prevention grease some 5 years ago.
Except I should have done that on the first day of having the car when there wasn't any rust yet. There are things you cannot correct at a later stage...

Rgds Mike
Mike Fritsch

Had a YB when I was a teenager and fully rebuilt the engine and it restarted with no problem. I generally knocked out my own gaskets. I eventually found a second engine to play with and rebuilt it, no oil pressure when I started it. Checked oil ways, etc., etc., everything appeared OK, I couldn't figure what was wrong. I eventually decided to take the oil pump apart to check it out. In my enthusiasm to knock out my own gaskets I had added a gasket to the end plate on the oil pump gears increasing the side clearance. Oil just leaked off the side of the gears back into the sump. I got it right on the first engine but had a brain fart rebuilding the second engine. This was 50 years ago and I remember the screw up to this day

The YB engine was the same as my TF 1500 but the 1250 version

TF 1500 9194
I Massey

This thread was discussed between 30/11/2015 and 04/12/2015

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG TD TF 1500 BBS is active now.