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MG TD TF 1500 - under dash 'cover'

Since being able to return toMG ownership in the last 15 years I have not owned a car (TC,TD,and TF) that has a under dash to firewall (bulkhead) cover. However I seem to vaguely remember that my TA and TF owned back in the early 60s had such. Is it a trick of my memory ( put down to age) or did they exist. I seem to recall they were made of "fibre board" type of material
JK Mazgaj

Yes, but they are a darn nuisance in my opinion, and I wouldn't fit one - makes it so much more difficult to get at the wiring and everything else behind the dash.
Dave H
Dave Hill

63-085 at Abingdon Spares.

B&G has it too.

They do exist
P G Gilvarry

It's called an Under Dash Shield.
See http://www.ttalk.info/Tech/Under_dash.htm for a bit about one. Bud
Bud Krueger

Agree.
I have the original one for my 1950 TD that covers the entire under dash section. Took it off and laid it aside for display. It would be a "bear" trying to get to those under dash wires in the event of an electrical problem with it in place. I like the openness. Just be careful when shifting gears; My nuckles get close to the exposed wires. My TF has the smaller center piece cover which I do leave in place. It seems to work better.
Eddie
EWH Haynes

I bought one from Moss and would you believe they put the white tag within their writing on it on the front outside of the cover and to remove it the finished covering will tear off! Buy one from someone else that has sense enough to put the tag on the back if needed. I should have sent it back, but I had it for over a year before I installed it. Dumb on my part. PJ
PJ Jennings

PJ: I have been caught with the "keep it in the box" with a number of items that I have bought from various parties over the years. My old school thought of it should be perfect needs to go away with the new thought of "we hope your product will be OK but it's likely a mess" that the world works in today.
Christopher Couper

If you're someone who actually uses their car instead of staring at it in the garage or trying to win originality contests, the first thing to do is remove that panel and get rid of it. I remember a caravan I joined up the Pacific Coast many years ago. There was a TF that had problem after problem. Sometimes as often as every two miles it would quit in just the wrong place on a curvy road. It also quit smack in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge. I told the guy over and over to check the wiring behind the dash but he complained it was too hard to get the panel off and that it couldn't be back there anyway. Finally after risking my own safety pushing him off the road numerous times, I (and others) told him he was on his own. He got word a few days later that he towed his car 400 miles home and to his mechanic. The problem was right where I told him to look... the ignition switch connection. It was a 1 hour repair - 45 seconds to tighten the grub screw on the switch, and 59:15 to remove and re-install the panel.
Steve Simmons

I must admit I don't want one as the reasons for it not being there far outway installing one. I was just curious and needed to confirm my memory wasn't that bad-yet!!!
JK Mazgaj

Steve,

During a run a friend had exactly the same problem on his TD, we suspected it was the ignition switch, to test our idea, we didn't bother to get under the dash, we just used a jumper wire from the battery to the A4 terminal of the fuse box. It worked and my friend continued with the run, then to home. To stop, all he needed to do was get into 4th gear and release the clutch to stall the engine.

John

J Scragg

I have an original TD (unrestored) and I took it off as the wiring is all original and I wanted to have access if the wiring started to smoke, which so far it’s safe. I have the panel hung up in my garage. David...
David Honness

I showed my car at the Portland Roadster show in 2016 and they marked me down for the messy wires under the dash. They really are not messy, that is just how TD wiring is. If I had the cover I wouldn't have got marked down for this. Cover or no cover I probably would not have beaten the Jaquar XK120 I got second to anyway! :)
Rich King TD 8732

The cover makes the underdash area much neater, and likely provides a little sound deadening and insulation. As original, it is a massive pain to remove. David DuBois made one that I think was in two parts and easy to remove- design maybe on T-Talk? At restoration, I modified mine so the edges in front of the roll hoop are straight and narrower. You still have to remove the steering wheel and drop the column down to remove it. I don't recall this making the recent thread that listed less than ideal or questionable things on our cars, but it should be on it! George
George Butz III

Mine is in two parts as it fits around the Smith heater, splitting it was the only way it was removable with the heater in place. PJ



PJ Jennings

This thread was discussed between 18/07/2019 and 27/07/2019

MG TD TF 1500 index

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