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MG TD TF 1500 - Introducing Winston

This is the BEFORE picture. Here is a picture of Winston, a 1955 TF 1500 that was my mother's car in the 60's. I fetched it out of Dad's barn where it was sitting disassembled since 1977. He had taken it apart and did some bodywork on it, but then it just sat there for 25 years collecting rust, bat poop,and dirt. The boxes you see on the left are boxes of various parts and fasteners, all unlabeled. I brought the car from Edenville, MI to Chipita PArk, CO in an enclosed Ryder truck. The next picture is the AFTER picture. Mike


MW Davis

Here is an AFTER picture, after about 2000 hours of work over 5 years, off and on. "Finished" on May 8th, and Winston now has 30 miles on him since 1977. He also has the notorious rear main leak at about 1 drip every 1-2 seconds at idle, with hot Valvoline 10W-30 with ZDDP+ in it. I clearly did not get the clearance of the oil thrower set quite right. Well, $#%#%! The engine did not leak after 2 hours on the test stand, naturally. The car does bring back some good memories, as I drove it in 1969 taking out various hot babes back then!


MW Davis

Here is another view from the back. This is indeed the original color for the body and for the interior. It had wire wheels as new, but I had to toss them as they were all banged up and way rusty. I did the paint, the interior, the hood, engine, etc...


MW Davis

One last shot of the interior. Essentially, this car was a basket case, and I wanted one I could drive. It is restored quite original with a few exceptions here and there. After doing this, I can see why most people only ever do one! I have other vintage cars and this one has been the most challenging. The BBS has been instumental in helping me do this, along with various books, the New England Register CD, etc... Thanks to all you guys, another one has been brought back from the dead! Oh, the black instrument panel is indeed original, and I have seen another one on a red car out here. Mike


MW Davis

I'm happy to be the first to congratulate you. You've done a really nice job. I hope to get there with mine soon.

Jim Barry
J Barry

Mike,
Well done ...Winston looks great.
Happy motoring.
David Sheward

The difference is clearly visible. Great job ! And special thanks for bringing one back to life. Congrats and happy driving. And maybe you find a hot babe for the passenger seat, too.
Mike
Mike Fritsch

Great job! I am glad that Winston tests good, like a TF should.
Larry Brown

Nice one!
Chris Malcolm (TD 29228)

Mike,

Well done! Winston is a great name, considering his birth place. No drips or leaks up on the rack - then it begins once on the ground - par for the course.

Congrats,

Jerry
Jerry Chandler

Nice job. Nice looking car. Maybe 20-50 oil will drip less? George
George Butz

My first "T" series was a 1500 exactly like yours. Black with green interior, wire wheels. Owned it for about 23 years. Still kicking myself in the rear for selling it. Have fun with it and maybe, just maybe, you can fill that passenger seat.
Cheers,
Bob
Bob Jeffers

CONGRATULATIONS MIKE!!!!
Quite nicely done,,, I have not noticed a black panel before, and i really like it !!

SPW
STEVE WINCZE

Way to go Mike, looks great!
Some day when life slows down I'll get mine done too.

Dan H.
Dan Hanson

My "center cluster" was somewhat of an archaeological dig. Had been painted "over" several times. Did not look like anyone (before me) had actually taken it down to bare metal. I have some old pics of the car, (suposed durring "first re-paint") that showed it black. Black was the "last" colour I found when I stripped it.
David Sheward

Well done, Mike. Bud
Bud Krueger

First, thanks for all the help, gents. There were a number of times when I thought I would just bag the whole thing. But then I figured that you guys have a lot of preserverance, so I need to have it too. I'm going to change to a higher viscosity oil, probably 15W-40W Classic Oil that has the ZDDP in it. Mike
MW Davis

Mike, great job, another Colorado rescue. I know the frustrations well! Without these guys mine would have been on Ebay long ago. Congrats. Maybe we'll meet sometime.
Ed
Crested Butte
efh Haskell

Excellent Mike. Does this mean I'll see it in Glenwood in a few weeks?
LaVerne

Great car! Glad you did it! This helps to let live MG forever!

Jasper
JL Nederhoed

Suweeeeeeetttt!!!

Congrats.

BobbyG
Bobby Galvez

Mike

Great job and inspiration for those of us just getting going on a strip down. My 1954 mgtf came from the factory in black with red leather and over the years has kept that colour scheme. My Tf was driven to canada in approx 1980 and has sat in storage ever since then. A good friend insisted that I needed it after I retired and it joined the group. First priority was to complete my 1950 TD - done - second restore my 1974 MGB GT - done so now the TF gets all the attention.

Thanks for the pictures it does help to spur others on.

Brian
Brian Smith (1950 TD3376)

Congratulations Mike.

I bet it has an underdash shield!!

I looked up "Finished" in my T type dictionary and the word wasn't there!

Mike
Mike Sutton

A big thumbs-up!
JE Carroll

This thread was discussed between 18/05/2012 and 20/05/2012

MG TD TF 1500 index

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