MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

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 - Original paint on back of firewall?

Searching my TF for bits of original paint.

> Was the back of the firewall painted body color? If not, what color was it painted?

Thanks,

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

The back of firewall is body color. Much of it can be seen forward of the kick panels and outside of the under dash cover.

Note in a TF the under dash cover is much smaller than the TD so even more shows of the firewall.

The lower scuttle or toe panel that is below the firewall is black on all cars.

www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtf/mgtf_finishes.htm#SheetMetalFinishes
Christopher Couper

Thanks Chris. I found paint under the dimmer bracket that may be original. I’ll look for more examples on the front and back of the firewall. Perhaps previous owners didn’t fully strip the firewall before resprays.

Is the toe board black on both sides? What about the lip at the bottom of the firewall? The lip on my TF was painted black to match the toe board when I bought it.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Yes, black on both sides.
Bottom lip the same colour as the rest of the fire wall.

Matthew.
M Magilton

You are probably aware there was a very thin black undercoat.

Matthew.
M Magilton

Matthew -

No, I'm not aware of original undercoat. Where? How thick? What type?

Thanks for confirmation of toe panel and the lower lip of the firewall.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Matthew means the primer was black and very thin. So you if sand through the color you will see black before you see metal.
Christopher Couper

Thanks for clarifying. I’m battling a thick soft undercoating that seems to cover very thing on the car so that type of undercoat was on my mind.

I believe that I found the original red paint color under the soft undercoating on the back (inside) of the firewall. Happy day.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Unsure with the TF, but another place I found original paint on the TD was by taking the inner dash out. Found original paint on the edge of the scuttle.
Bruce Cunha

For the TF you can tell what color it was originally from the code on the car plate.

www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtf/mgtf_finishes.htm#BodyCodes
Christopher Couper

Bruce -
Thanks. I’ll keep looking. Just about every square inch of the back of the firewall, wood, hidden metal surfaces, etc was under coated with a black soft undercoating. I can somewhat remove it with gasoline then wet sand the paint to remove black stains. I’ve found two colors of red plus the current bright red.

Chris -
HDC46/7211 has always been red, but the shades changed with at least two resprays. Many discussions have debated how much modern pigments and paint bases have changed the original color. If I can’t find the original paint to match, then I’ll probably use the code on your website using modern paints.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

I am doing the same thing for my TD. The green we found is not matching the green that was supposed to be used on my year of car. So I am also just having different greens mixed and applied to see which is closest.
Bruce Cunha

This thread was discussed between 30/06/2018 and 04/07/2018

MG TD TF 1500 index

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