MG TD TF 1500 TF Body ID Plate Install BBS discussion at MG-Cars.net

MG TD TF 1500 - TF Body ID Plate Install

A pic of my untouched plate. Note the black paint under the lid on all cars. Other end of the rivets were peened over as Rob mentioned. Cheers, Matthew.

M Magilton

Rob, I have 3 originals packed away, will have a look But Blair is correct on most that I can remember. Matthew shows the same. Black is correct for underneath as is the space behind the Battery,or battery box. Blair, I was Tim Gibbes Co Driver in the BDA Escort all those many years ago. Note on the image the top surface was painted on the ply rear when the body was painted, there by masking off the black underneath. There is traces of the black being painted first then turned over.

Rod Brayshaw

rivets seem to have been left unpainted. JB

J K Barter

On my TF the body plate is upside down - cannot be read from left to right when opened. I guess they were not paying a lot of attention when they riveted them on. JB

J K Barter

Same type of rivets used on the TD running board strips but in that case they are counter sunk while these are considered flush rivets. I got mine from www.rivetsinstock.com Sorry for the blurry photo.

Chris Couper

Rob I have only two, the third has been striped for painting but was the same as the two in the image. They are both TF1500. If the rivets were dabbed with colour like the rivets that assemble the side screen box sections I would expect the alloy rivet would shed any paint as time passed.

Rod Brayshaw

looks like you read them through the windscreen!

Rod Brayshaw

top side

Rod Brayshaw

Mine is orientated the same. Its not very clear but factory shots like this one of a pre-production car seem to suggest unpainted rivets. Rob, do you happen to have a chassis number for the lid with the NSW dealers plate? Matthew.

M Magilton

My Plate is opposite to many of these . It can be read from the engine side TF Body NO. 16167 Chassis number TF5663

Max Irvine

Matthew It is either TF9140 or TF9651 it's a long time ago that we restored those two. TF9140 went to japan and TF9651 went to Guam or Singapore. The image is TF9140 in Tokyo Japan 1988 at NZ house the trade commissioners property.

Rod Brayshaw

Yes James the entire battery enclosure 4 surfaces see images

Rod Brayshaw

the other angle. Also the base had the black painted thin ply section with two wooden blocks one at each end, secured with bolts.

Rod Brayshaw

Tiny bit of plating remains on mine. Matthew.

M Magilton

My patent plate has traces of plating but no evidence that it ever had any black paint. JB

J K Barter

The untouched body plate on my TF looks similar to the other examples, but it looks more like some kind of lacquer to me than plating. JB

J K Barter

Attached is a nice survivor example of a TF from the GOF in NY this year. The patent plate looks to be a nickel plating flash with black paint in the background.

Frank Cronin

Rod, Here is an unrestored car with the same nut on the radiator end of the panel. JB

J K Barter

A patent plate with completely intact plating and paint. JB

J K Barter

This does not show the whole battery tray on a TD but you might get enough of the view.

Chris Couper

Thanks Matthew for the proper identification of the anchor nuts used on the TF. The picture of the red TF #891 I posted earlier is an original car with the original factory paint. When you say “re-spray” do you mean re-spray to paint exposed bolts red body color after the car’s body panels construction on the assembly line or a re-spray was done later in the car’s life to care for faded paint? Just trying to understand how the factory assembled these cars. Your input is always appreciated. On the discussion of the battery box interior color which peaked my interest. I found a picture of my battery box when doing disassembly. It clearly shows the interior of the TF battery box was black. I will inspect it closer in person but it looks glossy – similar to the same paint used under the tool box lid. Since this thread discussed the inside of the tool box was painted black and the “ghost mark” painted edged outline of this tool box color on the ply rear, do you suppose think the interior of the battery box and the wood was painted black the same time the tool box lid was painted on the assembly line? JK, not much to look at but you can see the remnants of the surviving wood used as the base, the wood side rails, and the two bolts. Great discussion guys. Frank

Frank Cronin

Here's the battery box area from a 53 TD. You can see the bolts that held down the wood. Bud

Bud Krueger

Rob, the rear two Simmonds nuts are as pictured, but the front two are gone, probably when the radiator was taken out at some point in the past. Frank, the red paint on the nut and bracket only shows to the left side of the picture because the side panel was creating a 'shadow' over the right side when the spay gun was applied to the side panel (and probably the bonnet top at the same time) and some paint escaped through the bonnet gap and hit the nut. This could not have been a bodyworks paint error as the car was not assembled when these panels were painted. I surmise this happened either as a factory rectification repair or a later paint job. I cant tell if this involved the whole car or just a patch. Do you happen to have other detail pictures of this car? My picture shows original finishes except that I have touched-up the black bracket. Matthew.

M Magilton

Another Simmonds nut on the oil pipe union. I also have these on the horn mounts. Matthew.

M Magilton

I think Rob is correct. The "aero type nut" or also called "anchor" nut vs. the speed clips are two different things. Since the grill hardware is listed as Simmonds manufacture in the SPL, perhaps they produced this type of hardware as well. Just a typo when they published this in the SPL. We know the factory issued books and some pictures Rob has pointed out before (Jublie worm style hose clamps vs wire on the breather) was not always 100% accurate. I still have my old hardware when I sent my grill for chrome plating. In the bottom part of this photo are the old speed clips and small phillips round head machine screws to attach the grill slats. The upper right corner are what was left of the hardware to the sideplates and bottom plates for the grill. Round button flat phillip head style machine screws. The upper left are the clips and flat head machine screws that secure the top of the grill. The screws are exposed when opening the bonnet and not covered by the thin rubber webbing. Frank

Frank Cronin

Matthew, I scanned through the photos I have of this red TF #891. In the picture attached is the Simmonds "aero" nut on the other side of the bonnet. The bolt here is the Simmonds anchor nut on top and is also painted body color -- red. I do not have any pictures of this hardware that attaches the front of the bonnet. I can not say with 100% accuracy if major engine work was done on this car that would require removal of the bonnet side panels. The paint on these Simmonds nuts look undisturbed and untouched.

Frank Cronin

A cropped photo of the picture above.

Frank Cronin

I will add this picture as well. Clearly the this bolt to the flasher unit is painted red. Why, I have no idea. The flasher unit probably has a cadmium plating to it that is fastened by a red bolt. The tool box is that this flasher unit is mounted to clearly is body color. "Close call" but this sort of throws out the "painted bolt rule" I have understood is that if a bolt was attached to a bracket or another colored piece of hardware, the bolt head was painted the same color. I went to the Original mgtf midget picture gallery to check out Colin's red TF #6688. If only the camera was just a little to the left or to the right, we could see the orientation of the Simmond's hardware to fasten the top of the bonnet side panels and the color. As for your picture of your grey TF Simmonds "aero" nut and when I first saw it, as Rod said as well earlier, it looked like to me like surviving grey paint. Cadmium does have whitish, silvery plating. This is a superior sacrificial coating to protect corrosion. In an electrochemical reaction, the plating material will corrode, and the fastener material will remain protected. In your picture, the sharp corners of the nut are worn but there is either surviving paint or cad plating on the bolt flats as well on the tip of the bolt above the bolt heads. Since I have cataloged all the bolts and labeled in zip lock bags when I did tear down I will inspect the hardware. My car is the same color as your but not in the greatest condition as yours. Mine was more "tired looking". In any case, I am only giving my opinion and maybe Colin Stafford can take observe and take pictures of this hardware on his car and hopefully another original car will come to the surface so we can compare. I do recall a thread on a red TF in Georgia that caused quite a stir with the color of the valve color.... (did I just say that???) At least we have another car we can examine. Again as Rob said, a great opened minded and great discussion on the originality of these cars. Best, Frank

Frank Cronin

I will start a new thread on Simmonds nuts so we can list them all. I found a few more. Great input here. My photography could be playing tricks, but I can see only traces of cad plating on my nuts. Cheers, Matthew.

M Magilton

This thread was discussed between 30/10/2013 and 03/11/2013

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