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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 - Pancake air cleaners

Does anyone know where I can get replacement elements for the pancake style air cleaners I'm using on my 52 TD? (The original manifold and oil bath air cleaner were missing, and not financially worth replacing.)
I got the chrome cleaners from Abingdon Spares, but they don't have replacement elements. They look to be just a foam rubber doughnut, about five inches in diameter and three-quarters of an inch thick, wrapped in wire mesh.

Andy Moyce
Andy Moyce amoyce@pol.net Oakland

Hey, Andy-

I also have the "pancake" style air filters made by Hellings & Stellings that I got from Moss. As far as I know they don't sell the foam only, but you have to buy the entire filter (backplate, foam with screen and chrome cover). They run about $25 a piece as I remember. You may want to search motorcycle shops or lawnmower suppliers for foam or pleated filter.

Good luck (and let me know if you find replacements for the future!).

Larry Thompson
'51TD
Larry Thompson

I have looked too and could not find any elements for sale. I have wondered about cleaning the old ones. Has anyone tried that? Ron
Ron Coates

Replacement foam filter material for the pan cake type air filter is available from most heating and air conditioning shops. Sold by the foot cut what you need and replace the old foam.
Rob

I had a similar problem after I decided to use the Abingdon Air Cleaner on my supercharged TD. I thought the element supplied with the unit looked too inefficient and flimsy. So, I bought an element made for a TF which was a little too large in diameter but otherwise just right. Since it is of a corrugated construction, it easily compressed to the diameter I needed and is readly avialable for future spares and/or cleaning.
Jim Merz Missouri STL-QB@msn.com

I forgot to add that the TF element is higher so I used two tappet inspection plate nuts and washers to reach into the unit to hold the outer plate and the unit together. To keep from overtightening the nuts, I also put a stop nut on each of the two air cleaner studs to keep me from screwing the tappet nuts down too far or causing them to strip themselves. The tappet nuts are in Abingdons book page 3 item 19.
Jim Merz Missouri STL-QB@msn.com

I used to run the Moss Stellings-Hellings pancakes on my XPEG, but discovered during a tune-up that one of the foam elements was completely gone and the other had one foot in the grave. The foam had broken up and been drawn into the engine. I know many people use these units without this problem--maybe the LA smog attacked the foam. Anyway, they didn't work for me.

The other thing I didn't like was the loud hissing noise they made.

I recently switched to some K&N's from Moss; they have a truncated cone shape. I think the original application was MGB's with power brakes. I'm sure the K&N's filter better, the elements aren't going to wind up the engine, replacement elements are available, and the noise is much reduced. There was no interference on my TD with 1.5" MGA SU's (a little longer than real TD 1.5's), but the fit in a TF might be a different story.
Jack Williamson

Jack, did you put this K&N filter inside the Moss Stellings-Hellings pancakes or was the filter made as a one piece application ?? I have wanted the K&N but was told that it would not fit a TD !!!!!
John Kinney Danville IL JVK52TD@AOL.COM

I also wanted to use the K&N pleated type filter (I believe to be inherently better than foam), but was also told they wouldn't fit on my stock 1 1/4" SUs. If is as simple as using the K&N element on the Stellings-Hellings fixture I'll make the switch!
Larry Thompson

There is at least one model of K&N's which will fit a TD -- because they're on my car.

I completely removed the Stellings-Hellings units, and didn't use any of the parts in the conversion. The K&N filters came complete with backing plates and filter elements.

The trick is to use truncated cone shaped K&N filters--not the 6" long cones they make, but of their shorty models with top lopped off. The filters on my car are just a couple inches thick. Anyway, since the hood sides slope in from the cowl to the radiator, and because the semi-downdraft orientation the carbs tilts the bottom edge of the filters outward, the cone shape provides R-E-L-I-E-F. (I'd be surprised if straight sided K&N's would work. I know the TF filters are straight sided, but the backing plates are stamped to tilt the filters, right?)

I saw a picture of these filters in a Moss catalog a year or two ago with a caption, "NEW! At last a filter which gives clearance for (some year, 68 1/2?) MGB's with power brakes (it was power something, must have been brakes?)." They looked like they'd work, so I ordered them--and they did. Did the MGB use a single filter on a manifold; I've never looked under the hood of a B. But obviously you'd need two for a T-series.

There wasn't any problem bolting them on to the MGA carbs; the backing plate was drilled to match the air vents, etc. I was paranoid about the mounting bolts possibly coming loose and getting sucked into the engine, so I drilled the end of the shanks for cotters. I suppose you could also install Riv-Nuts in the backing plates, but that sounded like more work. I also added a fitting to one of the plates for the breather hose running from the valve cover, TF-style. I used an Earl's barb fitting (-8 ?) and peened the threads so the nut could never vibrate loose and be drawn in. work loose If you add this fitting, spend the $15 or $20 for a Greenlee chassis punch or a decent nibbler so you can make a respectable hole.

I can't see any reason the same setup wouldn't work in a TD with 1 1/4" SU's. Aren't the 1 1/4's shorter (from flange to flange) than MGA 1 1/2's I'm using? Also, my car has heat spacers between the carbs and manifold, although I milled the original spacers to about half their stock thickness. The only challenge would be modifying the backing plates for the smaller carbs. And because of the angle of the filters, the modification would be more or less invisible. I'll bet you could cannabalize the Stellings-Hellings plates, cut out the middle section and rivet the transplant on to the K&N backing plate; use good steel self-plugging rivets of the correct length. I suppose a bead of silicone between the backing plate and the patch wouldn't hurt. If you've never used a Whitney-Roper punch to make rivet holes, you owe it to yourself to try it. You'll never go back to drilling rivet holes; import punches are in the $29 range.

If you don't have a 1 1/4" backing plate of some kind to use as a donor, it wouldn't be that much harder to start from scratch with maybe 22 gauge sheet metal. Of course the nicest way to make the big hole would be with a Greenlee punch, but a 1 1/4 might be a little pricey. A hole saw backed up with wood in a drill press would work fine (don't forget clamps), or you could do it with a nibbler and files.

I don't know if this would work in a TF, is there sufficient clearance to the side panels?
Jack Williamson

Jack,
For the TF there is such small clearance because of the slope of the side panels,
that a flat backing plate would thrust the front edge of even
a 1 1/2 inch thick filter too far outboard, and so it won't fit.
The original TF filters are offset at the carb flange about 1/2 inch provifing
a considerable tilt so the filters are parallel to the side panel with about 3/8 inch
clearance only. ( a bear to work around)

Another comment, some of the pancake filters have too little area for
air flow ( the ones about 4 1/2 in dia and about 1/2 -3/4 inch thick)
This results in poor performance as the air flow is too restricted.

It's to bad tha tK & N doesn't make an aftermarket filter the size and
shape of the TF / MGA filter for the TD.
Don Harmer

This thread was discussed between 13/09/1999 and 16/09/1999

MG TD TF 1500 index

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