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MG TD TF 1500 - TD 4265

Hello folks!

As promised I'm ready to start posting some pictures of #4265. The owner has had the car since the early 60's. The car was parked in 1965 and remained there in various stages of disassembly until September 2013.

He then brought the car to my shop where I began the complete restoration. The car was near completion fall of 2014, however as winter would be setting in soon it took a back seat until spring. The remaining work was completed (with the help of you folks) and the car made it to its first show this past weekend.

In a field that included an Auburn boat tail speedster, Porsche gulf racer, and many other exquisite automobiles #4265 came away with the trophy for best in show. Not bad for her first outing since 1965!

Anyway, I'm ready to start posting some pictures of how the car has come out and try to answer any questions people may have. There were several things about the car that were quite peculiar, yet had to have been original to the car.

Thanks!

David


DNP David P

Nice job David! Car look wonderful. Would certainly like to see some of the peculiarities you found about the car. PJ
Paul S Jennings

With the show setup. Including tools and original spare tire with display plate. (I know, I didn't get prop rods made up in time, but I kept a very cautious eye at all times especially with any wind.)


DNP David P

Back of the seat. (Which basically no one EVER sees) I decided to use decorative tacks to cover the cut tacks beneath.

P.S. Is it possible to upload more than one picture at a time?


DNP David P

David, just one image per post on this forum. Not too inconvenient once you get used o it.

BTW, what are the LTDs toward to bottom of the seat back for?

Good looking TD. Thanks. Jud
J K Chapin

I'm going to venture a guess that they are for a Half tonneau,,,,

Steve
Steve Wincze

Jud-Steve beat me to it. The half tonneau comes forward to the seat and over the tonneau bar. Then the elastic straps go down the back of the seat and attach to the lift the dots. You hook those on before the rest of the snaps. Otherwise they are pretty impossible to get to.

Paul- I'll get to the odd stuff. Those pictures are on my computer and I'm using my phone right now.

Thanks


DNP David P

All the original parts for fuel cap. Blasted and painted the inside. Polished outside. New cork


DNP David P

Went with a little different spark plug wires. Rhode Island Wiring is a good place to find wiring. You can get plain black braid I believe. I thought the tracer made it "pop" a little more. Surprisingly cheap. That's about four dollars worth of wire and there was extra. I thunk the shipping was a little salty, so get all the wiring you want at once.


DNP David P

David,

Congratulations on the award and the completion of the project. (disclaimer: I know they're NEVER finished, but David deserves a break, so...)

.......
MAndrus

I sanded the back side of the bumpers and guards, then painted them with a deeper silver. I feel that it looks better than the glare of the thinner chrome on the backside of the parts.


DNP David P

MAndrus- You are right that they are never truly "finished". It is finally basically all together and fully functional. The only part that is not assembled is the Underdash panel. If the customer hadn't already bought the kit I would just not put it in. (It appears to be a real bear to deal with...)

Paul- one of the peculiarities I found was that the running board strips appear to have been held in place by countersunk solid aluminum rivets. (Still had the original paint under the strips though the car had been painted multiple times.) I found some through some searching. The widely available nuts and screws would have been much easier.


DNP David P

My question is relating to the window post. I don't think I have seen one setting up that high.
Bruce TD4139 Cunha

Bruce: He just did not screw them in all the way.
Christopher Couper

Bruce- I see what you're talking about now. I did have it adjusted that high so the side curtains slip nicely in between the flaps of the top. Seems kind of silly sticking up that much, but the alternative seemed to be having the side curtains only meet the inner flap and not slide in between the two. I installed the top first and used the factory holes that were in the wood.

Here is finally one of the before pictures.


DNP David P

Here is how all of the outer panels arrived. Not bad condition. Mostly just surface rust. There were several dents and tears in places, but nothing major.


DNP David P

Here's a shot of how the interior came in. All of the gauges and switches were disassembled and restored to working order. I found a correct -20-20 ammeter to put in. The only new parts on the dash were, the wood, the glove box knob, starter and choke cable, and the low fuel light. (and of course the wiring on the back.)


DNP David P

Long time no post, I know. Very busy and other projects are occupying time. But i thought it would be good to post a few more helpful tips for anyone doing another TD. Ill try to post some more of the detail work for those wanting absolute originality.

Here is a picture of some difference between the Moss repop headlights and the originals. The repop is the easiest route. I didnt like all the differences, so i actually removed all of the rivets, had the pieces rechromed and found the right rivets to put it all back together. (that process was actually pretty difficult...)

You can get them rechromed without disassembly, but you end up with buildup between any seams.


DNP David P

David looking at the headlamps. Why was the stamping for the mounting bolt externally placed and the other internally. Wondering also (because I don't know) but my car has the two pieces spot welded TD 4834 rAther than riveted. I always assumed it was an early vs late production item

Thanks in advance

Bill Chasser
TD4834
Bill Chasser Jr

David,

very nice car, great job.

I noticed the oil pressure gauge line coming from the top at the head. Do you have a different type of line set up ? All of the ones I've seen had Y connection at the bottom for the oil pressure gauge line. Was this unique to the car?

Ed
TD/20709
ECS Stanfield

Thanks! I should have clarified I suppose. the headlight on the left is the Moss reproduction. The one on right is the original before disassembly. (almost a shame to take it apart.) You'll notice several differences:
-1.Like you noticed, the base plate location should be on the outside of the shell.
-2.Really the entire base plate shape is different. Look at the bulb shaped lower portion and the two small rivets it is lacking.
-3.The top medallion location is different as well as the trim ring screw. The screw should be going through the body instead of the ring. You can see that in the picture i attached to this post.
-4.On the bottom of the headlight it should have a stamping of "LUCAS S700" AND "MADE IN ENGLAND". It also has the wrong holes in this location.
-5.Really looking at this second picture, the entire body of the repop has a more round profile than the original.

All these differences made the reproduction nowhere near acceptable for me on this car.

As far as riveted/spot welded I havent seen a spot welded one so I do not know. I know these headlights have definitely been on the car since 1960 and so far i have no reason to believe they were off of another car. But it WAS a 9 year old car when he bought it. So anything is possible.



DNP David P

Ed- I'm almost certain it's an early/late TD issue. I believe the early TDs took their reading from up at the head. This posed a problem as it gave false readings with significantly lower pressure than if it were taken at the lower point. They corrected this on the later TDs. I made the call to stay true to its original location. If silly details like that don't matter to you, use the lower location. It's supposed to do a better job.

It took me a minute but I found a picture I remembered with it in the upper location. See the attachment.


David


DNP David P

Dave. Your TD Is just 126 after mine. I have the same chrome headlamps, riveted. One of the things I find interesting is the black interior. My TD has a black interior also.

Fairly sure that MG did not make a black interior, but it is interesting that so many were changed to black.
Bruce TD4139 Cunha

It was a 60's thing Bruce. No black interior's from the factory. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

DAVE,
VERY NICE JOB !!!!! Please be careful when you have the bonnet opened as in the second pic,,, you are very likely to end up with stress cracks in the bonnet at the leading and trailing edge where the bonnet meets the center hinge. I know many have done this without a problem, but most have ended up with the cracks.

Steve
Steve Wincze

I have seen many variations of original headlamps with the mounting base inside and others outside. My original lamps were painted, and have mounting base spot welded inside the shell, car made 10/51. George
George Butz

Beautiful car David!
What is the color? I am close to having to decide on a color for my TD and there doesn't seem to be an easy way to get a "correct" green (if there is such a thing).

Bill
B Mooney

Bruce- It is actually a green interior that got PAINTED black at some point. You have to really love the green to use that color. We decided on the tan/biscuit.

Steve- I dont lay the hood that way anymore. Now I put the front hood side in the gap between the radiator tank and support brace. The weight actually sits at the rear on a rubber block I place on the toolbox. This is surprisingly sturdy and allows both panels up at the same time. The only downfall is that you cant show off the wicked-awesome white felt in the toolbox.

Bill- The car was originally the darker "Woodland Green". This would be a shade more blue than the color I ended up going with. According to Christopher Couper's MGTD website. The PPG paint code would be #2246. This ends up being a color called "Elm Green". This is a color typically used on various Volkswagens. Its not a perfect match as I said, but it is pretty close and personally I like this color better. I did leave an undisturbed patch of the original paint where the license plate bracket attaches to the tire rack. That way if we ever do need to compare, we have that to go back to.

This next picture shows what original paint was left under all the built-up gunk I scraped off. The "T" looks a little weird because the tape is curled up. I basically made a tape template to repaint with. The color I saw was not bright white and not yellow. More of an off-white with a yellow tint. I went with Ace Hardware "Navajo White". Matched very well.


DNP David P

Understand the interior change. My TD was originally Sun Bronze and had a red or green interior originally. I can't imagine either would have looked that good with a sparkly bronze exterior.
Bruce TD4139 Cunha

I have an extra original King of the Road chrome headlight bucket that looks pretty good if anyone needs one. Not show quality, but original.
FREE!

Chuck
cj schmit

CJ I could use it as I have one without the KOR emblem or provision for one. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

This thread was discussed between 04/05/2015 and 04/12/2015

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