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MG TD TF 1500 - driver door fitting

i needed to add the piping at the top of the door so i figured i may as well try to shape the door a little better while in there.
as you can see in the pic below i added two braces. after looking at it i wondered if i would be better off moving the back of the brace off the hinge bolts and to the top or bottom rails. if you look closely you can see that at some point it had a brace going to the top rail. last owner must have removed it.
which works better? not much trouble to change right now.

Thanks


TLW Wright

Well you really only need one of these. Part of your tension is just fighting the other one. You cannot bow the door, just twist it. So pick which one you need and get rid of the other one.

I have never tried to do an analysis of members cars to see which way the tension strap was installed but it would be interesting. :-)

This is the passenger side of my car in 1970 and it did not change from 1952.

Christopher Couper

Hi Chris,

I think we have corresponded on this topic before. I still don't see how a straining rod fitted within the door frame can twist a door. It could certainly lift the bottom corner by reducing the diagonal. The original flat strap is fitted on the inner face of the door frame and I think maybe by removing the bottom screws from this and twisting the door by hand before replacing them may work. The best way would be to have a strainer fitted to the rear top corner on the outside of the wooden frame (i.e. under the metal skin) and to the bottom front corner on the inside (under the upholstery panel).

Have a good weekend

Jan
J Targosz

As I tighten & loosen the turnbuckle that I've installed diagonally, which is recessed into the upholstered face of the top & bottom rails of the passenger door that I'm hanging at the moment, I can clearly see the bottom corner move in & out. I get almost 20 mm of adjustment. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

A turnbuckle worked for me on the driver's door, pulled it perfectly straight.

Jim
James Neel

i did change to the top rail very close to the old strap location. it worked much better.
i found the same thing on the two straps. they just seem to fight each other. so i have the one just sitting there snug. (the one from the bottom rail.
then i just adjusted the one from the top rail to the front to where i got the best fit. it also helped to pull the door off the bottom sill better than the old system. not a perfect fit but it is at least consistent from the latch on down.

it will pull the door in. you can watch it move in as you tighten then buckle.

once i had them where i wanted (again the one from the bottom rail not really doing much) i zip tied them together so they can not back off during driving.

TLW Wright

Jan: We probably did but since I am getting older and forgetful, I can enjoy our conversations again just like they never occurred. :-)

As I probably stated before my belief was that there were two people at the factory that put this strap on during production. One twisted the door and the other then screwed the strap in place to hold the twist. I suppose a talented person could have done it by themselves.
Christopher Couper

Hi Chris (again)

I am certain the very best way to get the doors to fit properly is to assemble the bare wooden frame to the body and adjust the joints and curvature of the timber before the skin is fitted. I did this with my TF and then stuck the skin to the frame with Sikaflex. Whilst the glue was still soft I wedged the door into the body with a brush handle against the garage wall. This produced a really well fitting, rigid door and sealed the lower edge where rust first starts.


Cheers

Jan

J Targosz

LHT & RHT locknuts will stop the turnbuckles from moving. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Have a look at "MG TD body build" on youtube 33mins in.
It shows how brutal they are at Hutsons in the UK and probably at the factory.
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

Check out the technique at 32:50. I would not try this with a painted door. :-)

These guys amaze me and also how they could even stay in business or what drives them to do what they do. At what they put in a TD should sell for at least $100k.
Christopher Couper

The problem with this turn buckle system is every time you need to tweak it you have to take the door card off which is not easy to do and replace with all the tacks, hidem, and such. A while back someone posted a photo of an adjustment rod system that could be accessed for tightening or loosening from the lower edge of the door metal. I thought that was quite clever and not visible unless you were looking at the bottom edge of the door.
John Quilter

John-
I think this is what you're remembering. Sorry can't remember who posted it though.
Roy

Roy Challberg

I believe it was Mort who came up with the idea. See pic. Cheers
Peter TD 5801

P Hehir

This thread was discussed between 08/01/2016 and 13/01/2016

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