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MG TD TF 1500 - signed fuel tank

Hi gang,

I have been taking apart my 51TD TD5751 and found that on the inside of the fuel tank side panel the worker who assembled it signed his name.

Anyone else seen that before?


Dan Gill

I've not seen it on a fuel tank, but have seen initials on coil ends of fuel pumps from time to time. Been waiting to find one with Killroy was here :-) Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Nothing on mine was signed but as the edges of the end panels were chromed this means that the whole panel went into the plating bath with the outside of the panels then painted body colour. It's hard to believe this panel was once chromed. The odd thing is Gerry/Garry's? signature survived but the chrome didn't. (If it was on a RAF or RAAF base machine shop bench the LAC would have to stand for leading aircraftsman or woman). Dan as your car was a very late January 1951 build, our cars were made within a day or two of each other. Could you maybe post a pic or two? Cheers
Peter TD 5801 (1st Feb 1951)
P Hehir

Mine was late January '51. Haven't run across any signatures yet.
Bob McLeod TD 5618

I believe just two outer edges were chromed.
JB
J K Barter

No signatures, but when I removed all the paint in a dipping process. I found that each part had some type of ink stamp on it. The stamp were numbers and all the numbers were within a hundred or so of the others. Unsure if these are just numbers stamped on at the factory similar to a label you would find today, or if it was an inspectors stamp.

Nov. 1 1950 TD

I did find an initial in the paint under the tail light on my 67 MGB GT. Looked like it was done with a finger.
Bruce Cunha

Dan; I hope that you can clear coat that area or somehow let that signature survive. Just a bit more human history for the TD.
CR Tyrell

You're correct JB but unfortunately it's impossible to just chrome the outter edges! Even if it were possible the edge of the chrome would eventually lift & peel away. So the whole piece is immersed in the tank & gets chrome plated whether we like it or not. This is not an issue on the inside & is probably a plus however this can & does create problems with paint adhesion on the visible ends. I scoured mine with sandpaper, applied an etch primer, flatted that, primed it with a primer/putty, flatted that then gave it 4 top coats of body colour. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

When restoring the 72 MGB, I found behind the left tail light Assembly the signature PJ written in wet paint with a finger, the right side had the same with anothers initials. My initials are PJ, now how unusual is that! PJ
Paul S Jennings

LAC Lacquer?
Not seen anything like that before, only batch numbers, mostly on upholstery panels.

Matthew
M Magilton

I hate to throw cold water on this exciting discovery but my sleuth tendencies tell me something is wrong here. The signature looks to be done with a felt tip type marker.

The modern fiber tip pen was invented by Yukio Horie of the Tokyo Stationery Company, Japan in 1962. The Avery Dennison Corporation trademarked Hi-Liter® and Marks-A-Lot® in the early '90s. The Hi-Liter® pen, commonly known as a highlighter, is a marking pen which overlays a printed word with a transparent color leaving it legible and emphasized.

So perhaps this was done during a repair in the 60's or 70's.
Chris Couper

Good day all:

My TD, TD3191, has a build date of Sept.08, 1950. The only oddity I came across, with respect to the current thread, was during its rebuild in Dec. of 1973.

Folded seven times lengthways was a piece of paper, three inches by two and one half inches, wedged into a spring coil for the seat squab.

When retrieved and unfolded, written in pencil, were the numbers 3191. The paper was/is quite fragile and has several rust stains and other signs of perishing.

I suspect the squab was identified and set aside for the car prior to the original leather work being installed (the latter being solely conjecture on my part).

For what it's worth then:
Respectfully submitted:

Jack Emdall, TC6768/TD3191, Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia, Canada (carminowe@eastlink.ca)

kernow

During the restoration of TD4224 [Nov 7th 1950],which took place in 1995/96, I removed the passenger's door panel and found "Patricia" written on the inside in chalk on the panel. It was a moving connection to someone who helped assemble my MG. I still have the panel and will try to get a picture. I wonder if anyone else has found her signature?

George
G. L. Raham

this factory workers signature found on a 1955 TF1500 is genuine.

The worker is till alive and still lives in Leamington Spa was contacted by the owner in 2012 who verified he signed it while fitting doors to MG and Morris Minors at Morris Bodies.


Rod Brayshaw

This thread was discussed between 30/03/2014 and 10/04/2014

MG TD TF 1500 index

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