MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - Need some measurments

For those with actual original interiors (are there any left?). Can someone measure the dash, door, and panel piping size?

The kit I received from NTG has three different sizes. Larger for the dash (10mm/0.4"). Smaller for the panels (7mm/0.275") and even smaller for the Doors (5.2mm/0.2") Door piping is leather.

Jim Silva says the panel and dash should be the same but the door piping is slightly larger.

Pictures in Chris Cooper's "original MGTD" appear to indicate all the same size, but somewhere in-between the dash and side panel sizes I have.

Bruce Cunha

Yes, there are still some original interiors left. I'm not sure what you are calling panel piping, but my rough measurements show the dash piping to be a smidgen under 1/4" and the door piping to be a smidgen over 1/4" as indicated on the picture.
Joe

Joe Olson

Thanks Joe. By panel, I meant the piping that runs along the door opening and all the way to the back.

The door being just a little larger is what Joe Silva, MG master upholsterer told me.

The rexine will be thinner than the current vinyl, but this will give me more information on originality.
Bruce Cunha

+ and - 1/4" seems like a stretching thing to me. :-)
Christopher Couper

I wouldn't be at all surprised if things have stretched or shrunk in almost 70 years. I know I certainly have shrunk by an inch or so in that time! Anyway, I measure the panel piping as the same as the door piping, a little over 1/4", maybe 5/16". I think on some cars the dash and panel piping are continuous, but on mine there is a joint where the door and dash meet.
Joe

Joe Olson

0.25 is close to what was provided in my kit. I get 0.27.

I like the look of that one. The dash is at 0.4, and that seems large. The door is tiny at 0.2.

I guess I will need to unsew it and sew in a new tubing for the door.




Bruce Cunha

Remember. the piping except for the leather on top of the door, is all one piece. It starts at the rear, goes over the quarter panel, around and under the door, up the A pillar, over the dash, and follows the same path on the other side back to the rear.
If I remember correctly, the overall length is around 14 feet. So all of the interior sizes should be the same with the exception of the leather piping over the door.
Lew Palmer

Thanks Lew. That seems to be the way it was done. Why this manufacturer decided to have 5 piping strips (one for each side, one for the dash and one for each door) and then make them different sizes baffles me.

The seller says he will have the manufacturer send me a single strip of piping. I am now trying to determine how thick it should be.

LaVern's measurement of 0.28 for the internal tubing appears to be correct. Add 0.05 for the vinyl puts it at about 0.33 with the vinyl. That puts it slightly larger than the supplied side piping and slightly smaller than the supplied dash piping.

I decided to keep the leather door piping and just resew it with larger tubing.
Bruce Cunha

Lew may be correct for most cars, but most definitely not for mine. For what it's worth, mine has 5 piping strips, and the strip around the dash has a slightly smaller diameter than the others.
Joe

Joe Olson

That's interesting Joe. I look forward to seeing if anyone else has a 3 piece piping like this.

If it's super rare then maybe it was damaged in shipment and they just replaced the piece over the dash. That could explain the different size too if it came from a different batch.
Christopher Couper

Ok, wow we learn so much about these cars. My kit came with 5 strips, but the dash was considerably larger. Looks like your car is a 53. I wonder if this was another production change.
Bruce Cunha

A tiny bit off topic but what size core are you all using for the outside piping? My car has some really weird paper core that is too big and also not uniform. I like the vinyl but not the size. Tried various commercial piping but did not like the colors.

It should be pretty easy to pull the piping and exchange the core. I probably won't even restitch it as the bolts should hold it snug I would think.
Christopher Couper

This is the tubing that is in the exterior piping from NTG. It is solid and 0.280" That gives an exterior diameter of 0.33" (how close this is to original is a bit in question)

Bruce Cunha

This thread was discussed between 27/02/2022 and 04/03/2022

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG TD TF 1500 BBS now