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MG TD TF 1500 Restoration Update 54 TF BBS discussion at MG-Cars.net
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MG TD TF 1500 - Restoration Update 54 TF
| Quick update as to where I am and what's happening with my TF. This is an original Irish car that arrived as a CKD and was built here in Dublin. It's been owned by our family since the early 60s. Very exciting week last week as I finally saw some colour on the tub for the first time in over 30 years. I decided to go with the Autumn Red and it looks fabulous. As a CKD I can't tell what the original colour was. Picture attached. The painter is looking to get the chassis with the engine to do another trial fit. I had already done one with all the panels. https://youtu.be/24JuvFEz9EU He has done a lot of work on one of the wings and wants to make sure it all looks correct. Currently though the chassis is in my garage as I work on the brakes and fuel system but no engine... Recently I have completed a rebuild of the pedal box. I adapted my RHD pedal shaft to accept grease by drilling holes on the lathe in work and taped the end for a grease nipple. I also made the couple of clutch modifications with the hole and cut outs on the lurch lever. The engine has been with the engine builder for over 2 years now and is very nearly completed. When I turned up yesterday unexpectedly they were in the process of lightening the flywheel. The crank was being balanced and the head was being cleaned. This I had converted to run on unleaded and had the porting also done at the same time. The block was just back from being pressure tested with the new brass core plugs. They were about to start on the new oil seal which needs a bit of adapting on the block to fit. All the other parts have been cleaned and are ready to go so hopeing to get it back next week. He is reluctant to paint it gold but as it's a 1500 gold seal replacement this is what I am going for as it's the colour it would have been. You can see the colour on the gear box I have just completed. Pic attached. I had bought a engine rebuild kit from Peter Edney in the UK so a lot of the parts are new. Over the next 2 weeks I expect to reunite the engine with the chassis and reinstall all the body parts which will be a mammoth step forward in this 30 year rebuild! I did also make 1 big purchase a couple of weeks ago and that was 5 60 spoke chrome wire wheels and tyres from MWS through Moss. See pic of the chassis in my garage minus the engine and body parts. Big saving due to the fall in the pound versus the euro against this time last year when I priced them. As one of the places I work with is an Auto electrician we have started to think about wiring the car and with their help have identified that the wiring usually used for the distributor won't work for the new alternator I got from Moss. This will need to be worked around. Over the next few days I plan to rebuild the carbs. These I had dismantled and cleaned and identified what was needed for the rebuild. I also plan to clean the petrol tank and have a seal for this also. So exciting times ahead. It may start to look like a car by Christmas. Finally thanks again for all the help and advice I couldn't have got this far without your help.  |
| D Lamb |
Gold seal gearbox!
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| D Lamb |
Reconditioned gearbox..
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| D Lamb |
Chassis new wheels and work space....
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| D Lamb |
| Darryl, I love the color you chose for the tub! Great choice! PJ |
| Paul161 |
| Great minds Paul :) |
| D Lamb |
| Dropped down to the painter with a few more parts and very pleasantly surprised to see this. The tub and firewall painted....still some rubbing down etc to do but good to finally see colour on the car.  |
| D Lamb |
| Love the progress. Nice choice of color I'm with you.... maintain the Gold Seal connection Bill Chasser TD-4834 |
| W. A. Chasser |
| Cheers Bill can't wait to see it all together. Hard though dealing with others who don't have the same high standards and need constant pushing to get the job done. It's exhausting and frustrating. |
| D Lamb |
| Darryl, Congratulations on the persistence and work done on your TF. When you look at the magnificent sleek lines of a TF,it is hard to believe the Abingdon designers and tin basher(Billy Wilkins) in 1953 knocked out the body shape and fit in two(2) weeks ! Also,computer assistance was not available in those days. Amazing. Turning the key when your TF is totally completed will allow you to forget all anguish and frustration involved in the rebuild. Cheers Rob Grantham TF3719("Aramis"),TF9177("Athos"). |
| Rob Grantham |
| Cheers Rob, thanks for the kind words and the interesting history lesson... ..that's twice today I have been refered to as persistent. When I sent the picture of the painted tub to my Mum she replied back with "God bless your persistence! You see its really her car, Mum and Dad bought it when they first met in the 60s, they did the only other restoration on it together and dad would have sold it many times over. It's because she said no that we still have it. It will make me very happy to see her turn the key when it's finally finished. The picture attached is of my Mum driving the TF soon after they completed the restoration in the mid 60s. |
| D Lamb |
| Cheers Rob, thanks for the kind words and the interesting history lesson... ..that's twice today I have been refered to as persistent. When I sent the picture of the painted tub to my Mum she replied back with "God bless your persistence! You see its really her car, Mum and Dad bought it when they first met in the 60s, they did the only other restoration on it together and dad would have sold it many times over. It's because she said no that we still have it. It will make me very happy to see her turn the key when it's finally finished. The picture attached is of my Mum driving the TF soon after they completed the restoration in the mid 60s. |
| D Lamb |
| Cheers Rob, thanks for the kind words and the interesting history lesson... ..that's twice today I have been refered to as persistent. When I sent the picture of the painted tub to my Mum she replied back with "God bless your persistence! You see its really her car, Mum and Dad bought it when they first met in the 60s, they did the only other restoration on it together and dad would have sold it many times over. It's because she said no that we still have it. It will make me very happy to see her turn the key when it's finally finished. The picture attached is of my Mum driving the TF soon after they completed the restoration in the mid 60s. |
| D Lamb |
Pic
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| D Lamb |
| Darryl, Wow ! Classy ! The TF isn't bad either ! Cheers Rob Grantham |
| Rob Grantham |
| Smooth Rob, I will pass on your kind comments. :) |
| D Lamb |
| Congratulations, looks like things are coming together well. Still hours of work ahead, but you must feel like you are on the home stretch. Simon TD29539 |
| S Griffin |
| Thanks Simon exciting times to finally see it come together. Welcome to the group. If I didn't have an MG I would love an Austin Healey and but to have both would be fabulous. |
| D Lamb |
| Sometimes the providence behind these cars is more interesting than the cars themselves!!! This sounds like one of them. Mark Stolzenburg Chesterfield, Missouri TF 8263 |
| Mark Stolzenburg |
| Interesting you should say that Mark. After watching a couple of episodes of Graveyard Cars where they not only restore the car but try to fill in all the blanks in the cars history I thought it would be an interesting project to do with ours. I have the original brown Irish log book (registration certificate) which lists the 5 previous owners and each lived within ten miles of where I live in Dublin. Over 1 day I visited 3 of the addresses trying to chase down previous owners but unfortunately to no avail. I have pictures of the original houses for the address given but no owners. The houses were some of the most exclusive addresses in Dublin and my cold calling in all cases was welcomed with interest and enthusiasm. All had moved or passed on and in one case for the very first owner I was sent to the oldest resident on the road who had to be 90+ who remembered the gentleman and was able to tell me he had moved many years ago but that they had lost contact. This should have been something I did 30 years ago as the very first owner would have been at a minimum 80 years old by now! An interesting exercise in which I hoped I might find out the original car colour as CKD cars don't have the colour specified on the firewall badge. Unfortunately it wasn't mentioned to be. |
| D Lamb |
| Do you have a friend or family member who does family tree research? They may know of some additional avenues that you have not tried. Just a thought. Matthew. |
| M Magilton |
| Most parts on the car have been painted now and over the last couple of days I have been slowly putting it together in the paint booth! Not my booth I hasten to add. I am rebuilding it at the painters premises. Having already done a dry run when the car was in primer I thought it would go together a lot quicker. Getting there slowly. Unfortunately my engine is still not ready and I don't look forward to installing this at a later stage. Maybe someone would have advice on how I should get the engine into the newly painted car. Do I strip the whole front end down again. Colour is Autumn Red and I am extremely happy with it.  |
| D Lamb |
| Darryl, I could only comment on what I did and that is, installing the engine goes smoothly if the front panels are off. Nothing forward of the firewall. Too many attachments you have to get to and I see no logical way this could be done with the panels in place. Even the engine bay wiring is easier. It's one of those things that you don't want wait on, but it will make life a lot easier. By the way, it's sure looking good! Remember, Patience is the virtue. PJ |
| Paul Jennings |
| Car looks great and doing a test fit in primer is highly recommended. Also fitting the piping and cutting out the slots for the bolts when the body is in primer is a good idea too. I think you're going to get into some problems trying to fit an engine with the bonnet side panels on. Could it be done? Sure, but on a nice paint job like yours, you're doomed to scratch it or dent when swinging the engine in. Here's a link on a short reel on the MG Factory in 1948. Has some racing news in the beginning and about the one minute mark or so they show a MG being put together. The last thing that was put on at the factory was the running boards and front wings. I don't know if it is in this reel or not but it shows the tub for a TD being lowered to the chassis. The tub is fully painted with the rear wings on and piping installed. Watching closely you will see they had all the wiring on the chassis on and fuel line.Search MG in the search bar and you'll get some hits. Watching these videos never gets old.... Here's the link. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/safety-fast |
| Frank Cronin |
| In the '30 but made the same way.... http://www.britishpathe.com/video/making-mgs-at-abingdon/query/SAFETY+FAST |
| Frank Cronin |
| Darryl: "Colour is Autumn Red and I am extremely happy with it. " In the outside picture it looks like MG Red, but the interior picture (last one) looks a bit more like Autumn Red. What formula did you use, just for reference? |
| Christopher Couper |
| I must check Chris. It does look different in person. A bit of a brown hue to it. |
| D Lamb |
Pulling the engine...here ya go.
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| L E D LaVerne |
Considering where you are with it at present...I would take it another step and lift the tub back off as well.
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| L E D LaVerne |
| I knew asking the question that the only way of doing this was to strip down the front end. Thanks guys for your confirmation. |
| D Lamb |
| I wonder can the engine be installed with one wing and bonnet side removed. Any bright ideas...the rear of the rear wing is virtually touching the chassis hangers for the rear suspension. I have moved the wing as far forward as it will go but still very close. The painter is talking about bending the chassis bracket that attaches to the rear wing. I will post pics tomorrow. Thanks  |
| D Lamb |
| the wing is VERY VERY close to the top shackle bracket. See photo 205 in " The Original mgtf midget Gallery " I filed my bracket to give some clearance only to be told that I should have packed up the tub to clear. If yours is actually clear then I would just open up the hole. Ray TF 2884 |
| Ray Lee |
| Great answer Ray never thought of that. I will investigate that tomorrow. Thanks ☺ |
| D Lamb |
| don't forget that if you pack up the rear of the tub it will drop the front edge of the door changing the fit. I have had the tub off twice once for painting and once because of chassis failure. It was messy getting all the fits right with packing. Ray |
| Ray Lee |
| One of the problems I also have is I can't get the tank straps to fit with the rubber on the rests. They are slightly short. This now makes me think I have the tub too high..... |
| D Lamb |
| "This now makes me think I have the tub too high" What thickness shims did you use? Originally it was a hard cardboard like material about 3/16" thick. Might have used one at the lowest places and up to three at the highest, depending on how much bending that needed to take place for the doors. I suspect this is directly related to the problem you are having with the rubber door buffers. Is there anyone in your area that has dealt with a body off restoration that can take a look at your car and advise you? We can try from pictures but it's a lot better in person especially if you can measure and try a few techniques. |
| Christopher Couper |
This thread was discussed between 19/11/2016 and 17/12/2016
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