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MG MG Y Type - Bumpers?

Hi again...

I am trying to determine what bumper blades I have fitted to my 1949 YA

I have consulted David Lawrence's book but this has not provided a complete answer.

The front bumper blade, in profile, is deeper at the top.
It has three holes, the end ones being 120mm from each end (to centre of hole - around the curve).
Overall length (around the curve) 1415mm.
Pointed ends.
I think that this is correct for an early Y

Rear bumper blade, symmetrical in profile.
Five holes, the end ones being 155mm from each end (to the centre of the hole around the curve)
Overall length 1507mm (around the curve)
Pointed ends.
I guess that this is a YB blade but I think it is fixed to the correct YA type backspring

I know that TD blades can be fitted with modified backsprings.

Questions-

Should both front and rear blades have the 'deeper top' profile (Lawrence suggests this)

The rear blade is longer than the front and has more curved ends - is this correct

Are the outer bolt holes of a YA blade in the same place as a YB.

I assume that the outer bolt holes on a TD blade are not in the same position as on a YA or YB ?

If you've read this far....thanks

Regards

Rob
Rob King

Well Rob, as usual a lot to go on here!

Yes the front bumper is corect for a Y. Nothing much more to add here.

The bumpers fitted to the Y were, as you say, different to those on the YB and the YT. The support bracketry also differed to accomodate the different "styles". The YT actually used the YT design as both could support overriders but not all YBs had overriders fitted as standard. These overriders are not the same as the TD being narrower in frontal profile.

So, back to the question. The outer holes should be approximately in the same position as those on the Y. Both Y and YT/YB bumpers had the longer top piece and were not symetrical in cross-section. So all that points to the rear one you have as not being either Y or YT/YB nor probably even TD. The inner holes, according to Let there be Ys, are about half way between the center hole and the outer holes. In terms of overall length and depth, both Y and YT/YB are the same.

So the question now really is - what do you have there for a rear bumper? My short answer is Rob I do not have a clue but could well be possibly either TD or TF maybe. My only suggestion would be to haul the bumper along to an MG show and compare it to those on the cars there. That said, it could feasibly be off either an Austin or even another Nuffield Group car as I beleive the bumpers were actually made under contract to most of the UK manufacturers of the time by Wilmot Breadon.

Good luck!

Paul
Paul Barrow

Hi Paul,

Thanks for that......I'll try and keep them brief from now on!

Rob
Rob King

Checked my original TF rear bumper. Outer holes are in same place. Length seems to be the same (as far as I can tell with the overiders in place). Except that there are 6 holes (two centre holes for the number plate).

Cheers,
Matthew.
Matthew Magilton

Hey Rob

Dont do that - actually your questions are very well laid out, and that makes it a lot easier to answer complex questions!

Paul
Paul Barrow

When I bought my YB, it had TD overriders on the rear. These looked awful sot I removed them. I tried for a long time to get some propert Y Type ones, but they were not available new and I could not find any second hand ones. NTG told me that they were getting a batch made, but at horrendous cost. So I looked elsewhere.

Morris Minor overriders are very similar, although they sit a little higher on the bumper. You would be hard pushed to see the difference if you did not have one next to a genuine Y Type one. Good quality reproductions are readily available for around £30 a pair. They have a flange where they fix onto the bumper, and the MM bumper is shallower than the Y. Nonetheless, I thought that I could make them fit, so I got an old MM overrider to try.

I cut off the flange and enlarged the cut-out for the bumper and got a near perfect fit. It took about an hour with an angle grinder for each one. The photo shows the overriders as supplied and after modification. I will add photos of the front (original Y Type overriders) and rear (modified MM overriders) bumpers of my car showing the two types. The MM ones are not perfect, but I think that they are acceptable and noticeable only to the most fussy eye.

Mike

M Long

Front bumper

M Long

Rear bumper

M Long

This thread was discussed between 26/02/2011 and 28/02/2011

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