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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - MG TD 34,000 original miles

My mechanic picked up that TD i mentioned a while back... it has 34,000 original miles...the two front tires are the original Dunlop 1:55/15s.
Not much has ever been done...
Things that I noticed.. flasher relay was removed and is hanging by its wires... one horn had been removed and put back with 'robertson' head screw bolts (a Canadian thing).... coil had been replaced but the old one left in it's place....rear license plate light wiring didn't do the 'dip' to prevent water getting into the bracket....tool kit gone but might be still in the barn...interesting...the paint on the side of the gas tank ends covers the chrome from the side....mine (repainted) exposes the chrome from the side....
Oh...the gas overflow lines do not go through the little hole....
Early '53 with the body number on the firewall not under the tool box lid
The ivory colour was what i expected....more yellow then Old English White, but not yellow, yellow.....
The gear shift gator was smaller and tighter then I thought they were...
Only one fender rearview mirror...
Doors tighter then most i've seen....and the passenger door closes like a brand new car....good solid 'clunk'...!
The vinyl over the rear wheel wells is very tight and straight...nothing padded underneath (that I could see/feel)
Drain tube connected to the rad drain....
Original hose clamps (and maybe hoses?)....
Rivets holding on the bonnet rubber corners and bent over underneath...
He must have liked red wheels?

Enjoy..... http://www.gblandco.com/gb/tdalbum/index.html
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Great pics Gordon, thanks for sharing.
LaVerne

Great pictures Gordon. Two things I noticed right away was the color of the steering wheel center piece and the position on the radiator support. The tire reminded me on my hands.
Mike
Mike Hart (52 TD 16378)

Gordon, Thanks for the pics! It's amazing how many little things I picked up from them showing where my TD is not quite original. Keep them in a safe place. ... Chris
Chris Malcolm (TD 29228)

Wow! What a great archive of originality information. I noticed the plastic covering over the brown wires from the starter switch and spring clip (which is suppose to hold them to the battery cable). You can clearly see the cowl-bonnet rubber is much wider and flatter than any of the replacemets I have ever seen. Crazy that most all replacement rubbers have been great over the years, but not this one-would sure make the bonnet-cowl gap/fitting process a bunch easier. Great job!!One question- a little hard to tell, but are the fuses the pointed-end kind? George
George Butz

I looked at the fuses...they are paper, but regular ends.... assume they have been replaced at some point....
Wasn't sure where that little clip belonged....?
Notice the ties holding the water temp line to the rad support....
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Great Pictures Gordon!

Noticed the oil pressure wire wound flex hose has been replaced with a braided hose. The door fit, as you say is amazing. I went through a lot of effort for the little z-bend through the engine support plate, and to 'tuck' my wires under the reliefs in the fuse block... darn. LOL.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

I noticed the carb drain tubes go over the front engine mounting plate and down, probably to a clip under the bolt head, - not some convoluted route through the hole in the plate.




Dallas Congleton

Dave and Dallas, there are original picts around with the pipes going through the hole. Likely they were done both ways. George
George Butz

Priceless photos Gordon.

The paint on the fuel tank ends is the same as my TF. It saved them masking. If you removed a tank end you would see paint right over the side lip at the bottom and tub where the paint is hidden. When the plates were laid flat for painting the sprayer approached from the tub/bottom side to keep the paint off the exposed lip on the top/rear side.

Note the battery cavity is painted black.

Red paint on the dynamo pulley too.

What is going to happen to this car?

Cheers,
Matthew.
Matthew Magilton

Thanks Gordon! These photos contain a wealth of information. I especially like the fact that it is the same year and color combination as my TD. Once again, thanks a million for sharing these.
Bill
Bill Brown

Wow! What a great little car. F. W.I.W my English white with red leather 53 TD has had red wheels since at least 1955, the earliest pictures I have of the car.
Does anybody know anything about the heavy paper tag on the voltage regulator? I want one.
D. Sander

Also check out the Phillips screws in the windscreen brackets- unlike the ugly posi-drive replacements that have been made for too many years! Maybe we should send photos of those and the cowl rubber to Moss and have them make proper spares. George
George Butz

The daughter of the original owner asked my mechanic to give her an idea of what a restoration would cost....He suggested she make it safe, and keep it as it is...just cleaned up.... I'm not sure what her final decision will be....I offered to help do some of the cleaning.
It would be nice to just keep it the way it is...however, that won't happen so hopefully she will agree to leave the patina and just clean everything up.....
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

I second your mechanic. Clean it, put things back in place and drive it.

I did see one thing that I have not seen before. What is the hole in the back of the seat for? Mine were recovered by the PO, and there is no hole in it.
Bruce Cunha

Thanks for the pictures, Gordon. Great detail, lots of them and they're all very clear. It's good to have a permanent record of what an original car should look like.

Particularly interesting for me as, looking at the production record, I notice it rolled off the line 12 days before mine (7th Jan compared to 19th). And it's the same colour scheme - although mine was originally green!

- Tom.
Tom Bennett - 53TD 24232

....Bruce.... Dave Braun mentioned this...haven't looked at mine yet (it is still the original seat back)....its to let air out of the seat back when you sit against it.....

(or, to make it easier for mice to get in....?)
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

I'm going back out today...anything you want photos of?
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Gordon,

Thank you for the excellent pictures. Pictures of the wheel wells that capture brake lines and suspension components would be greatly appreciated. Other pictures of the undercarriage may be of interest. Also, pictures of the brake lines as they run across the rear axle. Finally, where do the carburetor overflow pipes terminate in the front of the engine compartment?

(I've probably just worn out my welcome!)

Thanks.

Larry
Larry Shoer

Gordon

Great pictures. Could you get some more of the engine compartment, particularly the generator/distributor area. Thanks, Matt
Matt Davis

And I'd like a pulled-back view to show the routing of the carb overflow pipes.

Thanks. Tom
t lange

great find! wow. i really cannot imagine on a production line taking the time to route those overflow pipes through that hole, but i guess the new guy on the line might not have known better! LOL! regards, tom
tom peterson

Took 48 more photos...

The carb overflow go down together but one is longer...hard to see, but one end shows below the crossmember, the other is a few inches higher.
Not sure if i got the whole routing of them from the carbs (they are uploading now)....

I tried to get a shot of the wood and am amazed at it...still a crisp sharp edge and all is solid as a, well, a piece of hardwood...

The master cylinder is missing...didn't find it in the box of parts she sent along...but the NOS wipers are kind of neat?

That would be the factory half tonneau.... interesting edging and reinforcements... think those are two patches put on at some point and then tearing right across them.....?
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Thanks, again. What a great resource.

Larry
Larry Shoer

Thank you Gordon! Awesome set of documentation pix for all of us. Finally see (#122) how the piece of exhaust pipe bracket attaches! Been in my parts box for 30+ years! Guess I'll have to out it on now.
Randy
Randy Biallas

Good day all:

Attention Mr. D. Sander:

The tag, on the cover retaining clip is probably similar to the warning, which was attached to my control box (VR) when it left the Lucas Works.

I had one on my RF 95 control box, cover clip, which came in its original Lucas container, when I received it circa 1971. I removed the tag but kept it in my box of oddities.

The tag is approximately two and three-eighths inches long,(2-3/8"), point to point, and one and one eighth inches wide, (1-1/8"). The holes are centred at about five sixteenths of an inch, (5/16"), in from the points, above mentioned, on the centre line of the tag. The tag is a biscuit coloured affair (may be a bit browned with age) with the warning in red coloured print.

Now if everything works out fine I shall upload a photograph of the tag--if not contact me at: carminowe@shaw.ca and I will send a print in that matter.
Cheers all: Jack Emdall, TC6768/TD3191, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada


kernow

It was mentioned that that tag might have come on a replacement regulator rather then the original....?
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

The photos (#79 and #80) of the corner protector pads and rivets are interesting and relate to an earlier posting as to whether the washer was under the head of the rivet on the outside, or on the inside under the cleat-ed ends of the rivet. The conversation also addressed whether the recessed portion of the rubber pad was inside or outside the panel.
This is like my car was and is the way I restored it.

Dallas Congleton

Gordon - I don't see any shots of the entire run of thecarb overflow lines to where they go straight down.

If you go back, I would love to have aphoto of that, with the bonnet side held up - or without bonnet if work will be done.

great time capsule.

Tom
t lange

Good day again:

In going through the myriad of photographs, submitted on the subject TD, I should like to draw particular attention to copy # 50. This shows the number plate lamp wires exiting the rear number plate mounting bracket, then carrying on into the Mod. # 467 lamp body.

This has me baffled, an easy thing to do at my age, as I have tried to figure out how the wires were fed up to that exit point.

I believe this is attained by feeding the wires up the vertical, near-side tube of the spare tyre carrier, then with some suspected difficulty fishing them through the horizontal tube and thence through the mounting bracket terminating at the lamp.

However; here's where things go pear shaped ! The internal opening of the near-side, vertical tube, for TD3191, does not meet with the internal passageway of its horizontal counterpart. Something is prohibiting this action from occurring.

Was this the standard method of wire routing for the lamp or was this a modification introduced on later production models ?

If this is the norm, for all production years, my feeling is that the piping must have been obstructed when originally welded. I can find no indications of after Works damage that would support the blockage nor do I recall that (photo #50) being the way it was wired when I bought the car in 1971.

As it stands, the depicted method of wire routing is not possible for my car. Thoughts requested.

Cheers all; respectfully:
Jack Emdall
kernow

Jack,
I had the same problem. The other day I had my rack off and tried a probe up and down each of the verticals. Each time the the probe was stopped by the horizontal bar. Since they are bent there was no easy way to open up a hole. I went to plan B. I drilled a hole on either side of the blockage and put grommets in and snaked the wire thru. Now I have the wire coming out of the license plate tube with a nice loop on up to the light. Very difficult to see the bypass since it is behind the wheel.
Mort


Mort TD 1851

Great shots of the half tonneau Gordon. Also the Tecalemite filter cover in its correct paint. Note how some sort of sleeve was covering this filter when the red paint went on the engine block, with just a little overspray on the filter cover. I suspect the generator was done in much the same way. Possible to see the front end of the generator please Gordon? May need to do a little wipe to see any oversprayed paint here.

Cheers,
Matthew.
Matthew Magilton

...we are going to do an engine clean and power wash....will take more at that point.....
Have been chatting with the owner and she would like to keep it as original as she can.....probably a bit of paint blending to cover some of the bare spots.... still in the thinking stage...
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Good day again all:

Firstly; Mort; thank you for the photograph of your brilliant, number plate wiring, route.

I suspect, from viewing photograph # 50 (per Mr. Lawson) that; if the depiction is/was a modification sanctified by the design office, then it is/was just another of the poorly documented actions which arose, continuouly, during the three and three-quarter years of the TD's production.

And, if that is/was the case; then our encountering a common obstruction, prohibiting the following of a similar pathway, suggests that our respective cars were built prior to the deemed change having taken place.

Anyway, I shall leave it at that. Thank you again.
Cheers all; respectfully:
Jack Emdall, TD3191, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.
kernow

Greetings all:

Well, am I a total pratt or what !!

A Mr. Dallas Congleton just woke me up and do I feel thankful !!

But I still feel rather stupid, mates !!

To many years fitting the TC back together causes confusion, not to mention, in my case, serious mind f---ts taking place!

The wires feed in through an oval shaped hole, in the rear, centre of the spare tyre carrier. In particular through the common pipe or tube into which the the number plate bracket is pushed.

So simple---so challenged, am I !

Positively my last words on the subject !

Respectfully:
Jack Emdall, TD3191

kernow

Picture D-2 in the workshop manual clearly shows the overflow tubes going over the front plate (down to the clip) not through the hole in the carrier plate.

Brian
ZBMan

Matthew, As for the tank ends, I see that the flat side is bare, but the raised bead is painted. I always assumed that the inner surface was painted with the entire bead masked. How would one keep overspray off of the chrome return, if not masked? It looks to me that the flat area (perpendicular to the endplates) is masked, but it is not wrapped around the beading.
Steven Tobias

I mentioned that i was surprised by that as well...mine you can see the chrome from the side, but not on that one?
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

How would one keep overspray off the chrome return? By approaching the spray gun at maybe 45 degrees from the 'blind' side. Any minor overspray that lands on the bright side would be easily polished off during the final buff. Masking would have created another problem by leaving a sharp raised edge in the paint. Here is a pic of my end plate still in its factory paint, with paint over the blind side.

Matthew.


Matthew Magilton

Whilst I had the end plate off, here is a view showing the packing pieces (mentioned as "Packing -tank end cover" in the Service Parts List). The black grease is just something I added to help protect the metal.

Matthew.


Matthew Magilton

....had a great couple of hours this morning with my chrome cleaner....


gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Gordon, if you get a chance I would like to see a shot of the front-top of the generator to show where the red paint stops (it will need a wipe here).

Thank you for all this,
Matthew.
Matthew Magilton

Sorry Matthew...forgot that request...will get it this week....
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Gordon - I know it's been mentioned before, but we all appreciate your bringing this car to our attention, and so well photographing it.

I know a lot of low-mileage cars that seem at first blush to be really interesting, unrestored cars, but then you notice rubber that has been replaced, chrome that's been re-done, the things that have been moved, changed and otherwise made non-original by POwners, intent on keeping their LBC on the road.

This, on the other hand, is a genuine, not cleaned- or tarted-up car, and a very valuable benchmark. I hope it remains such.

Tom
t lange

Between these photos and Mr. Braun's site the story is now complete, for me at least.
Now I know what the broken nub on my valve cover used to hold - a loop for the oil cap safety chain! And I feel better seeing the fuel pipe at the tank end does not get strapped to the tubular cross member as it shows in the Chasis section in Moss catalog (as I read it at least). I was worried my pipe was too short.
Thanks Gordon!
Ed
(5/24/2011 still snowing!)
efh Haskell

...I think we might just save it this way.... the chrome comes up about the same as mine did...maybe not quite so well.... I tried rubbing compound on a couple of places and was able to remove some of the ground in dirt and stuff.... we treated the leather and hopefully it will remain....
Interesting....I thought it was a red interior when i first saw it, but it is more of a tan...not biscuit (I don't think) but tan....the dash cleans up orange/brown and is rexine, but doesn't have a leather type grain like mine does...more of a cross hatch (you see the material imbedded in it....

(see my next post)
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

I've used very fine steel wool on chrome, 0000 with good results.
D. Sander

"I think we might just save it this way" ...that is great news!
There are lots of restored T's out there (mine included) The patina of orginal is something getting rare these days.
Had mine not been already "done" by others I would not have gone the route I did.

Can't wait to see the results!
Thanks so much for sharing this with us.
David Sheward

A couple,more items of interest. The exhaust pipe at the trans mount has a spacer. I didn't know that and had to use some washers for the gap. The spacer may have made a difference in the tail pipe fit. I don't see on in the Moss catalogue either.
Also on the brake line at the rear frame I see a clamp used at the shock mount.
Mike
Mike Hart (52 TD 16378)

I've been using 'Autosol' since my boat racing days... through my Motorcycle days and it does such a great job on brass, aluminum and chrome....just takes a few applications on chrome to get down into the pits .....
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Gordon you might see if they can clean the rear end and get a picture of the "TD" stencil.
LaVerne

All,

In picture 95 I noticed that the speedometer cable threads through the firewall from a sepreate hole. Is this original? if so when was it changed? My 52 TD does not have this second hole.


John
J Scragg

Here is a link to a firewall layout...not sure if early or late, or the same for all?

http://www.mgcars.org.uk/mgtd/mgtd_firewall.htm
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

The speedo cable hole in the picture is the same as TF.

Matthew.
Matthew Magilton

We are still waiting for the owner to ok start of the work, so haven't started cleaning the engine yet...but there is a bit of red paint on the generator bracket....but not the generator....can't tell if the pulley is painted or not....Another week or so before cleaning....


gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

We have to keep in mind the fact that, thought it has the paltry 34,000 miles on the odometer, it has been worked on a bit in its life. There are bound to be some things that aren't as they were when it left Abingdon. Bud
Bud Krueger (TD10855)

...I agree Bud... the original coil still in place and the original front tires however, give me reason to believe its pretty darn close .....
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

No question about it, Gordon. I'm astouded by the look of the wood. I see no rot. The images will be great help in my efforts to reassemble 'the53'. Bud
Bud Krueger (TD10855)

Great photos of a rare car indeed. Next time you do your photo shoot, can you focus on the windscreen for the etchings and their locations. Much appreciated, Vince
V DiGiallorenzo

Just an update....I have spent three hours on the front fender with a buffer and rubbing compound.... just can't get it back to a solid Ivory....there seem to be hundreds of little pits ..... like road chips, but on the tops of the fenders... it almost looks like he may have over sprayed with a cream paint as you see the nicks through a very thin layer of colour.... because of their location, I know they are not from stones getting kicked up...
Almost makes me think birds in the roof of the barn dropped things over the years cause they are all on top... Anyway.... if the owner wants a car with any kind of even paint, I'm afraid it will require a body job....
If indeed, that is what she decides, I will take the one headlight bucket to an auto paint place and have it computer analyzed as this is such a pretty Ivory.....
Looking closely at the spider webbing on the paint, he may have put a clear lacquer or something like that on it....and then it cracked....not sure. I cleaned a 6"x4" spot on the firewall and it is absolutely perfect...the most lovely paint......
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Gordon, you are progressing at just the right speed. It's interesting what you are discovering as you proceed.
Keep up the good work!
Cheers, Barry
PS- I would appreciate it if you could fly out to Vancouver, in your spare time, and do a little clean up on my car.

C B Ryley

This thread was discussed between 06/05/2011 and 31/05/2011

MG TD TF 1500 index

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