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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 - Rubber Bits

Redoing the brakes on my 1950 TD. Two questions: Where is the best source currently for rubber bits for the car ie. boots, suspension caps, etc.

Any recommendations for renewing the master cylinder?
rebuilding/re-sleeving vs new.

Also, what is the current mindset, DOT3 vs DOT5?
I walked this path 15 yrs ago and now attempting to get the car back on the road.

Thanks to all
J A Pflugi

I've been quite satisfied with using DOT5 in five of my older British cars, my TD, two Morris Minors, a Jaguar 3.8S and an Austin America. I do bleed a couple of squirts out of the wheel cylinders every 3 years or so to move it around a bit.
John Quilter (TD8986)

Search the archive for your topics, vast info in there. Wheel cylinders are so cheap now just replace them. Same with master, also hard to find the correct rebuild kit. Try Abingdon for suspension rubber.
George Butz III

Most if what is called rubber products are crap nowadays. I used the MGB V8 bushings on the front suspension of my first car. Using urethane on the second car. Should also use urethane differential to spring pads from a Spridget. The rubber parts degrade in a manner of months.

DOT 5 without question. Hydrophobic which is important on an open system. Especially on cars that are driven sporadically.

Buy new rubber hoses, wheel cylinders and MCs. I will sleeve original MCs for my restorations but buying replacement parts from the usual vendors for daily drivers is the easiest way to go in the long run.
W A Chasser

Buy a NEW MC! I rebuilt mine and it blew out a week later!!! You can kill yourself if the brakes fail! Don't try to do it cheap!!! Dot 5 for me.
Ed
efh Haskell

DOT 5 is the way to go for a car that is periodically driven or especially if it is put away for the winter. The steel piston in the aluminum slave cylinder is the weak point. Moisture is drawn into the brake with dot 3 when it sits, and you get corrosion between the piston and the cylinder. With DOT 5, you dont get the moisture.

Bruce Cunha

I have had no reported premature failures on the the suspension seals that I have been making for the last five years.

Regards
Declan
Declan Burns

Here's a photo of my seals installed on my TD
Regards
Declan


Declan Burns

Hi John
If you need new rubber parts give me a call. I have several tubs full of new one. I'm in Alexandria MN. You are not that far from me if you want to take a short road trip.

Gary
763-226-5789


gl krukoski

Declan, your rubber parts look great - thanks for your invaluable contributions to keeping our cars on the road!

I read your PDF - do you also make the bump stops, steering rack bellows or motor mounts? Similarly, the quality of the existing products on the market are of very poor quality and degrade rapidly.

Cheers,
Kevin
Kevin McLemore

Declan's parts do look amazing. Hopefully he will be able to get them to us again soon.
Christopher Couper

Good morning from Tennessee,
Since this thread moved to rubber parts, I hope I am not hijacking it too badly. I just received a front suspension kit from Moss. While the kit appears to have other problems, I noticed that the rubber fulcrum dust caps and kingpin dust caps appear to be of questionable quality. Declan's look amazing. Declan, do you have pricing? I notice that you have some too, Gary. Are you happy with the quality of the ones you have in stock? I want to die before this front end work has to be repeated.

Thanks,

Jim
JV Smith

Abingdon Spares used to carry Declan's seals, and also had a good quality rubber bushing and seal kit. My swivel/link seals were done with this about 2 years ago and are still perfect. The bellows supplied are different than original in appearance, and I will install them when my most recent original type finishes tearing. The seals/bellows have been horrific quality for many years. Years ago, the swivel seals split while my restored suspension was on a shelf during restoration! At some point I installed swivel pin seals marked ACG4030, which hold up beautifully. Maybe that is an old BMC part number? Lastly, the original type lower arm bushings are also junk. Use the MGB/steel tube center type, or one of the urethane kind. And DOT5 with all new cylinders/flex lines. George

George Butz III

This thread was discussed between 21/07/2020 and 26/07/2020

MG TD TF 1500 index

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