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MG TD TF 1500 - Thaddeus is rolling again!

Thaddeus is a 1953 MG TD that I bought in Texas in January 2001. It has been under restoration since it arrived in Puerto Rico around the middle of said month.

The car was completely disassembled and restored chassis up. All paint was removed from chassis and body, the metal treated with anti rust and primed and painted. The wood was carefully inspected and found to be in excellent condition, except a couple of pieces in the firewall which were replaced. The car was restored to be used as a reliable driver, therefore it was modified somewhat.

For example, MG B fan, modern oil filter, pertronix ignition, generator (restored by Holcombe), horns and wiper motor (by Lawrie Rhoads), voltage regulator (converted to electronic by Bob Jeffers), brake cylinders and master cylinder (re-sleeved by Sierra Specialty Automotive), carbs (by Joe Curto), gas pump and brake light relay (converted to electronic by Dave Dubois), shocks (restored by Worldwide Auto Parts), exhaust manifold by Jet Hot. All original chrome that could be rechromed were, some chrome was replaced as it was much pitted.

The engine was carefully examined and found to be recently rebuilt and balanced, therefore only the head was modified for leadless gas. The transmission and differential were likewise examined and found to be in excellent working condition.

The car is Ivory with green interiors and is 99% finished and used frequently, when it does not rain! I am presently making a new walnut burl veneered dash, making and installing signal lights (thank you David Edgar and Dave Dubois) and researching to install the top (hood).

I enclose a picture of Thaddeus and its owners Drs. Sonia Borges and Stuart J. Ramos.
Stuart J. Ramos

Hi: Oops! Here I try again to send the photo.

Stuart


Stuart J. Ramos

Beautiful job Stuart.... you have done a great job and hope you have many miles of enjoyment....!!!
gblawson(gordon)

Really nice! George
George Butz

Stuart!

Fantastic!

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Dr,
Please keep us informed how the dash progresses. I have fantasies of doing the same thing myself. My 1950 TD has a "beautiful teakwood style Formica" dash per some old sales literature I have. I'm redoing interior from scratch - would love to follow your woodworking progress as I also have a wood shop.
Regards,
Ed
efh Ed

Stuart,

Beautiful! Nice car too.

Dick Thomas
Wooster, Ohio
Dick Thomas

Stuart-
Beautiful job, love the paint color!!
Roy
Roy Challberg

Very well done, Stuart. Congratulations. Enjoy the ride. Bud Krueger
Bud Krueger

Stuart,

Your TD is a credit to your resolve in getting a magnificent job done !

Cheers
Rob.Grantham
TF3719("Aramis"),TF9177("Athos").
Rob Grantham

Hi Guys: Thank you very much for your kind remarks about Thaddeus, our 53 TD. It restoration took a long time but I believe the effort was worth it and has brought us much pride and satisfaction.

VENEERING: Ed asked about veneering. Thaddeus currently has a dash I vennered several years ago, that I want to replace because it has suffered somewhat during restoration. Veneering is a fairly easy technique if you are vennering a flat surface, using flat venner and have basic woodworking techniques and skills. I reccomend that you get a copy of: Veneering A Complete Course, Ian Hosker, Guild of Master Craftsman Publication Ltd. This book explains the basice techniques of vennering, all you need for this project. Because you will be working with a flat piece (I preffer plywood) and if you get flat veneer you will probably will not need a vaccum press (I did not). Try this link also:

http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/welcome.htm

I will keep you posted of my progress and feel free to email me any questions you might have, I wiil try to answer them.

Best wishes,

Stuart
Stuart J. Ramos

Stuart,
What do you think about using solid wood vs. veneer for a dash?
Ed
efh Ed

You have a much better choice of wood if you get veneer...not to mention the cost of a solid walnut/or whatever board!
Veneering is pretty easy... a few clamps (or the system linked to in the earlier post...looked neat)

I found a couple of things:

don't use the new latex based contact cement(i found it developed cracks)
don't use paper backed veneer
dampen the veneer and clamp between two pieces of plywood until flat and dry/or iron flat
put two coats of contact cement on both surfaces
have a roller to roll it out before clamping the cover sheet of plywood on


http://gblandco.com/gb/tr4dash/tr4dash.html



gblawson(gordon)

I admire you guys that can do such nice woodwork. Definitely not my strong point! George
George Butz

Stuart,

Congratulations!!

Very nice job.

Evan
Evan Ford

This thread was discussed between 13/08/2008 and 25/08/2008

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