MG-Cars.info

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

Recommendations

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 - Oil Filler Cap

I have three questions about the Oil Filler Cap:

Question #1 - Anyone know about Moss's reproduction Oil Filler Cap, part #433-490? It appears to be brass instead of plated. The chain is wrong and too small.

Question #2 - What steps are needed to replate my original oil filler cap? It's in usable shape, but plating is worn.

Question #3 - Source for the rivet that attaches chain to valve cover? (bottom photo) Previous owner brazed the chain to the rivet on my TF.

Chris Couper's TF site states:
Oil Filler Cap: Etched around the oil cap filler were popular brands (recommended by the factory?) of oil. This part had a mat finish (could be cadmium or unpolished nickel) with etched and black painted letters. The knob appears to be finished in a soft nickel. The chain appears to be cad plated.

Thanks for your help,

Lonnie
TF7211

Photos:
Top = Moss Oil Filler Cap
#2 = Cap in Chris' site included with the description (above)
#3 = TF8541
Bottom = TF9052


LM Cook

Most Moss parts have been photographed by Moss are are view able on their website.
Ed
efh Haskell

The photo of the Moss filler cap was copied from their website.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Lonnie,

I wrote up an article which is on the MGTC Owners Club website re restoring
Rocker Covers. In the article you will find reference how I tackled the Rocker Cover cap rebuild.

Google 'MGTC Owners Club WA' and on the site look for the section on 'Restorers Corner'.

I turned up an aluminium solid rivet(with flat head) on the lathe I had at the time. You need to turn a small 'land' for the base area to enable a solid affix when peening the inside tail.

Cheers
Rob Grantham
TF3719("Aramis"),TF9177("Athos").
Rob Grantham

Lonnie. Nickel is an easy metal to plate It uses vinagar as the acid. There are a number of web pages on how to do it.

Or, you can send it to me and I will plate it and fill in the letters. I have an original and a moss replacement I need to plate, so one more is not a big deal.

cunhab52 at gmail dot com
Bruce Cunha

Once again Moss seems to drop the ball. Not only did they not realize the oil cap they copied had lost it's plating but the letters also were worn. I can sort of forgive them about the chain as they would just get whatever is close in looks. Probably could have done worse in this area.

As you can see the three bottom images are pretty much the same. TF9052 has that plastic cover which I am 99.9% sure was owner installed because the chain does move back and forth and rub the paint on the valve cover. I have also seen people put heat shrink tubing over it too.
Christopher Couper

As Chris has indicated, the chain for the cap was never covered with any sleeving of any sought originally.

Cheers
Ro/b Grantham
Rob Grantham

Thanks Rob and Bruce

> Rob - I had saved your article about rocker covers earlier this year. Really well written, as all of your articles. However, the steps required are beyond my abilities or time. For those who want to read more, here is the link:
http://www.mgtcownersclub.com/restorers-corner/mg-t-y-type-rocker-covers

> Bruce - Thanks for the offer. That's more than I could ask you to do. Are you going to disassemble your oil filler cap before you plate it? How will you remove the old plating?

I believe that Frank Cronin plated his oil filler cap and painted the oil brands in the indentions. Don't remember how he plated it.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

I found Frank's post and photo of his oil filler cap. "Nickel finish on the knob, black lettering, and dull zinc finish on the cap. (close match for cad plating)" He disassembled as Rob described. Beautiful job.

The thread title is "Rocker Box colour" Frank's post is near the bottom. Posted 20 April 2015 at 02:25:36 UK time.

Link to photo:
https://mg-cars.org.uk/images/bbs/posts/8_20080728093917803_71422262100099_1429492911.jpg

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Just keep in mind the shine in nickel comes from how much something beneath is polished. No polishing means flat/dull. Partial polishing can give you satin where full polishing will give you the silver like finish of warm chrome. Chrome itself is just a hardening layer that also has a bit of bluish tinge, which was applied over nickel.
Christopher Couper

Removing nickel is fairly straight forward. You just reverse the plating process and use a piece of metal to accept the nickel liberated off the cap.

The gasket is a bit hard to get off, but it does not need to be removed. The vinegar does not appear to affect it.

If you do need to replace the gasket, you can use a rotary tool to remove just enough of the end of the handle bottom to remove the washer.

Replace the gasket and I drilled and tapped the handle to accept a round head machine screw.

Filling the letters on the Moss replacement is a bit harder as the lettering is not stamped very deep.

Here is a Moss replacement cap I did.


Bruce Cunha

I always had issues with the way the cap sat on the cover all those years ago. When I looked at this during the restoration I discovered the cork gasket was the problem. I cut a section out of the cork breast plate and after a bit of deft cutting had a usable cap. I never throw anything away. Worth noting that the early TD's had the chain on the front bolt head as shown in the engine diagram in the WSM. I couldn't find mention of a change over date to the right hand side when I went looking. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Bruce -

Was the Moss cap that you did finished in natural brass as appears in the Moss photo, or was it plated? If plated, was it nickel? Brass? Other?

Thanks,

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Lonnie. The Moss Caps were all brass, no plating. Not sure why and if they changed it.
Bruce Cunha

It looks zinc or nickel plated in your photo.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

That is nickel after I plated it. They come from Moss brass. Originals were/are brass that is nickel plated.
Bruce Cunha

Did you take it apart before you plated it?

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

I took the chain off, but otherwise, just cleaned the brass and plated it.

You can paint the letters before or after plating. The plating will not stick to the paint.
Bruce Cunha

Thanks Bruce. I’ll buy one and give it a try.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

This thread was discussed between 24/11/2019 and 04/12/2019

MG TD TF 1500 index

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