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MG TD TF 1500 - Chris Couper/a little bit about my car..

Chris, As requested,here is a little about my car- it's the oft heard story, bought in my youth, it needed restoration, but had not been repaired or restored in the past. It had 62,000 miles on the odometer and had good bones. It had little rust and very good wood. I started work on it, but then got a job, got married had kids,etc. and only worked on it occasionally. now that I am retired I had time to finally get it on the road this summer, after several years of following the good advice on this board in it's restoration. Being impecunious,i kept as much original trim,etc. as possible keeping the appearance of an old car rather than tart it up too much.Many parts such as the bumpers and overriders were bought from Abingdon Spares 40 years ago and were made in England and are noticeably thicker steel than the ones available now from the far east. I have tried to keep it as close to the way it was as far as colors, etc.
Best,
James

J K Barter

Looks great. Did you put the wires on it?
S Griffin

Thanks, no it has it's original 48 spoke wheels.
J K Barter

JK. Thanks for the info. Can you tell me about the paint? Did you repaint it?
Christopher Couper

I did repaint it with acrylic lacquer matched by TCP from a hinge that I sent them that still had the original paint. I could not get it matched locally, they just did not have the right pigments and metallic powder to match the period metallic paint. It is difficult to get an accurate photo of the paint, as it looks different depending on the lighting-the attached photo is pretty close. (an old Bardahl sticker was on it when i got the car so I put a new one on the bumper as a nod to 'the way it was'..)
JKB

J K Barter

Maybe I haven't paid attn to other TF's so excuse the question. Do the rear wings normally appear to be splayed outwards or is there a story to how they appear. Maybe a camera anomaly I'm seeing.

Cheers

Bill Chasser
TD-4834
W. A. Chasser

no,camera lens distortion in that photo.
J K Barter

Lovely car James particularly like the colour.

Like you I have being restoring ours for nearly 30 years now. With college marriage and kids all happening along the way. Finally got the painted tub attached to the chassis. The most excited I have been in a long time.

You make a very interesting point about salvaging as much of the interior as possible. I had an interesting experience at the NEC Classis Car Show in the UK when I saw the only TF there. I went over to the car and as I stuck my head into the interior the smell transported me back 35 years. It reminded me of our car and a smell I hadn't experienced in a long time. I suddenly realised I wasn't going to be able to recreate that. :(


D Lamb

D Lamb,
Looks like you are making great progress! It is fun to see a life-long project nearing completion. attaching the painted tub is definitely an exciting milestone. I still have plenty of details to complete on my MG tracking down electrical anomalies, getting instruments rebuilt,etc. It has progressed to being a rolling restoration! May you continue to enjoy great progress on your car!
JKB
J K Barter

Darryl,

I do not remember anyone previously posting a comment about the smell of the interior of very original old cars and the emotions that can be evoked. I relate to your experience completely and agree that it is a great pity the restoration process so often means that the unique combination of original materials that give rise to this are unable to be replicated this sensory experience is lost.

Regards, Michael
M R Calvert

Very well put Michael. I hadn't thought about it until then. If I was to describe it I would say it was a mixture of old leather and oil but probably so much more. It's one of those things you can't recapture in a nut and bolt restoration.

The owner of the mostly original car was an 80 year old gentleman. He is the original owner and drives the car every week. It keeps him young at heart. He was a delight to chat to and full of useful information. He was very happy to pose for the picture attached.

D Lamb

Because of the numerous people enjoying the interior smell of my Y-type, I've sometimes considered fitting a small collecting box to the car, with a note saying "please smell the interior for only 1 euro".

If I did that I would be able to cover most running costs! I won't because I like to share the experience (and make clear where the funny smell of my jacket comes from...)

Willem van der Veer

When I was a teen my dad had a completely original 1928 Austin Heavy 12. The smell was incredible in that car. It was exactly that experience that set out to repeat when I went searching for my TD.
S Griffin

A nice photo Darryl. There can't be too many one owner vehicles about like that one. Mine is also a TF 1500 and was originally black, but I have only owned it for a paltry 44 years or thereabouts. However I suspect it will still put a smile on my face if I make the same age a the gentleman in the photo.
Regards, Michael
M R Calvert

@J K Barter: TCP did a great color match on the paint. You don't see a lot of TF's that color nowadays.
Christopher Couper

This thread was discussed between 10/12/2016 and 12/12/2016

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