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MG TD TF 1500 - Another 'Barn Find' TD/c on eBay

My iPhone doesn't show the auction # but newly listed today. TD/c 17174.

I would like to open constructive comments and not simply pick the car apart for the sake of picking it apart. I would like to here from individuals who may own TD/Cs and have intimate knowledge related to originality and particularly those with cars with build dates during 1952 in order to maybe close some gaps in my own knowledge base.

Since I own TD/c 16920 the car on eBay appears to have been built in the following couple of batches of cars. Obviously the color combo is incorrect as green/red was never a factory combination. I can't see any indication that the Andrex shocks are/were present but admit my iPhone screen can only zoom so far before detail is lost. The dual chassis fuel lines appear to be in place but it is obvious that the pumps are not both in service looking at the supply lines to the carbs. Air cleaners are wrong. The hubcap medallions may be correct for this car but then I would think the grill cloisonné would be "cream and Cracker as well to be correct. None of the Mark II cloisonnes are present which may be correct for this car. My car is an appearance pkg car and may be one of the first pre production cars to have been so. This car is not which lends credence to the latter published information that states "all TD/Cs" after Dec 1952 will have the following items.... what it doesn't say is "all cars prior to Dec 1952 will not have the following items" Tom Lange and others know what I'm talking about and I welcome comment.

I have contacted the seller asking for further pictorial documentation with regard to the vin tags and dumbiron #s, engine tags and stamp#s, pics of the Andrex shocks and mountings, speedo and tach and the pump placements.

There seems to be a transitioning period from the first week of June to late December 1952 where gaps occurred in the visual enhancement added to these cars.

Bill Chasser
TD-4834
TD/c-8151
TD/c-16920


W. A. Chasser

With not much to go on in the post on ebay, mY guess is the original engine got replaced with standard fare, and the seller is shy about showing an engine number that does not match the ID plate. The replacement seating, looks like vinyl to me, and may be an indicator this car got used enough (plenty) to have worn out two engines and an interior, before sitting in the "barn" for the last 40 years.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1952-MG-T-Series-/322461250352?hash=item4b14303330:g:oFsAAOSwWxNY1A33&vxp=mtr
D mckellar

Seller got back with me and wanted to send pics I asked for to me directly tomorrow. I asked that he post them to the listing for others who would likely ask the same questions as the auction progressed.

Bill Chasser
TD-4834
W. A. Chasser

Is the padded dash a common after market thing back in the day?
S Griffin

Finding definitive answers to detail questions is often difficult in life, as in MG's. I find it helpful to go to the factory sources (especially parts manuals), as being the most authoritative resources we have, and I have had very few reasons to disbelieve their information.

According to page [R4] of the factory TD parts manual (AKD834), Second issue, June 1958 (the one I happen to have at hand), "commencing chassis no" 22613, various alterations were made to the Mark II or TD/C (I have never seen the factory call it the TD/c):

bonnet complete (or just right side)
flash - bumper and bonnet ("MARK II")
plinth - rear bumper flash
sleeve nut - flash to bumper
grab rail - R/H fascia (or L/H fascia for RHD cars)
Radiator
False nose
case with nuts and washers (radiator shell)
medallion - M.G.
grille [stainless?]
nut
wheel medallion
spare wheel medallion

The long and short of it is that at or about that car TD/C22613, the grille slats became stainless and were no longer painted to match the interior color; a grab handle was added to the under-dash on the passenger side; enamel emblems were added to both sides of the bonnet and rear bumper; and the radiator and spare wheel medallions became b/w enamel. (I do not understand why the right hand bonnet side was offered separately, what the change to the wheel medallion was, or why the radiator was different. There is also no mention of the bumper reflectors I have seen on some late Mark II cars.)

There may be information out there in factory literature that points to the change being at a different chassis number, but I have not seen it (Service Bulletin 99 in early December, 1952, discussed the changes, but I can't seem to lay my hands on it right now...). And I think it really unlikely that there was ONE specific car where changes took place; that would be too much to ask.

So were there earlier cars with this flash? I don't know, but think that until we do, the factory-stated number should be our guide. I remember that Mike Shea had some information that the flash was introduced at a different number, but I have no differing information.

As for this car, it is one of 10 TD/C cars built on 16 June, 1952. There were 4 batches of TD/C cars built between Bill's car and this car; by then all TD/C cars had TD3 engines. The photos don't tell us much, but it seems to be pre-flash, as it should be.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

I was/am under the impression that the Mark II had chrome radiator slats

In the several ongoing discussions I have not seen this mentioned.

Am I wrong? Were the chrome slats just an aftermarket item?
If so I feel better about having them on my TD.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

I mentioned in my response above that the grille slats were stainless on the later cars - the three I have on my wall, two of which came from Mark II cars, are all the same. Earlier cars (before 22613) had the slats painted as the interior.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Thanks Tom

Jim B
JA Benjamin

This thread was discussed on 24/03/2017

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