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MG TD TF 1500 - Paint Color - Inside the Tub

> Was the inside of the body tub painted the same color as the body, or was it left in black primer, with body color overspray?

> How was the bottom of the body frames and main bottom rails kept from being painted body color?

> Any other paint details that I should know?

Photos of unrestored TF9052, and TF9097 show these parts painted BODY COLOR:
+ underside of the firewall
+ the underside of the scuttle (upholstery color near the dash pad)
+ dash support
+ inside of front quarter panels
+ interior side of the body frames
+ (I don't know about interior side of main bottom rails - no photos)

These parts were BLACK or NATURAL, or possibly a light dusting of body color overspray:
+bottom of the body frames
+bottom of the main bottom rails (black or natural)

TF7211 will be painted in a few months. Trying to learn what to tell the painter to paint.

Thanks for your help,

Lonnie
TF7211





LM Cook

The interiors of all body parts were painted with cheap black paint. Depending on who painted the car you will find various amounts of body color going from just the edges (my car) to almost the entire panels being over sprayed. Note that very little masking took place if an item was not in plain site.

The general rule though is that if the finish can be readily seen from either side it should get the body color. Climbing under the car does not count and that would be black.
Christopher Couper

That’s what I thought. But the inside of the firewall that is exposed above the carpet of TF9052 and extending under the battery box doesn’t appear to be overspray. The painter had to intentionally paint it by contorting his body or spray it from underneath. Maybe he just wanted to do a “pretty” job.

I’ll check some other unrestored cars.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Lonny. I suspect they had the body on some sort of lift to paint the underside of the firewall. WHY they painted the underside of the firewall, I have no clue. It was pretty much covered, in at least the TD, by carpeting and the under dash panel.

As for the interior. Chris has it correct. I suspect it was up to the painter. I have seen TD's with just the edges painted inside, and I have seen them with the inside of the doors and panels painted.

Mine just had the edges painted and that is what I reproduced.

You can see what it took for me to paint the underside of the firewall.

PS. The two unpainted spots on the back inside panel are where someone at the factory wrote a date and initials on the panel. I am assuming this was the date the body was made as it was 1 week prior to the date given for the car. I wanted to preserve these.





Bruce Cunha

While not original, when I do a TD or a TF I paint the underside of the firewall with body color before I mount it to the tub.
Be well,
David
D. Sander

Dave, the underside of the firewall was painted body color on at least the TD.

This is Bill Chassers barn find. Garaged since 1960. You can clearly see the Almond green body color under the firewall.

Bruce Cunha

My 55 TF looked like this when I bought it. It was originally MG Red and it looked like they painted the sheet metal before the wood was attached, of course, this appears to be overspray under the firewall.

PJ Jennings

Another picture. PJ

PJ Jennings

Bruce, clarification of my statement above. The factory painted the underside of the firewall (scuttle) body color starting at about TC 5000+/- through the TF. A concourse restoration would assemble the tub and then paint. To get a good finish on the underside of the firewall (scuttle) I paint it before assembly, then paint the assembled tub.
This is not the way they were painted when new, but I like the look.
Be well,
David.
D. Sander

Thanks David -

I’m glad that I posted the question. You confirmed the photos that I’ve seen of unrestored TFs.

I’ll ask my painter to paint the inside of my firewall with the exterior color before I assemble the car.

I plan to paint the hidden areas on the quarter panels with epoxy sealer and black acrylic urethane.

Are there any other “hidden” areas that I should address?

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Lonnie: It's OK to carefully paint both sides of the firewall before assembly but you will then want to make sure the wood member on the body gets painted body color and also when you put the two pieces together you will need to hand paint your carriage bolts and also the caulk between the firewall and body since that was all painted at once originally.
Christopher Couper

I agree. I only want him to paint the inside of the firewall. Then I’ll assemble the tub and firewall. He will paint the tub and outside of the firewall with the firewall attached as you described.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Dave and Lonny. That does make it easier to paint the undersides. It is not hard, but you have to have the tub up high enough to get under it.

Painting it off works.
Bruce Cunha

I'm not sure I understand about the wood being painted. I had to replace some of the wood between the firewall and scuttle, but the wood in the pic is original and has no paint on it anywhere. ???
PJ Jennings

Lonnie,

I had my painter do the tub and cowl painted together. This is how the factory did it if you want it painted that way.

If the tub and cowl is still apart and getting ready for painting... before assembling be sure to use "dumb dumb" between the cowl and wood. It will squeeze out when you tighten the carriage bolts and simply shave off the excess.



Frank
TF1414





Frank Cronin

Lonnie,

The black that you see underneath brushed over under the body panels nailed to the bottom rail was done after the car was painted body color. You can see the red body color bleeding through proves the whole tub was painted the body color. When taking apart TF1414 I noticed that this black "undercoating" or preservative (lack of a better word) was used on the interior of the car as well. Take note of the grey body color to the wood and the hardware is also painted in one of my pictures. My car has never been apart until I did it.

My pictures also show that when adding this application to this step on the assembly line was done in a very spirited manner. Basically it was just slopped on. This was probably done at a similar time when they spray painted under the scuttle to match the color for the interior when the tub painting was complete.

If you need more pictures, let me know.

Frank
TF1414





Frank Cronin

Just a couple shots under the scuttle...





Frank Cronin

Frank. It looks like someone has sprayed gray primer under your firewall. MG used black. I suspect there may have been some rust or flaking paint and it was repainted in primer.


Bruce Cunha

Here is a great picture of originality under the firewall. Note that the right side panel is black. But the wood does not appear to be painted. The metal panel makers covered the metal with black primer prior to the wood going in. I found this on my doors, there was black primer under the natural wood.

The firewall is painted underneath after the firewall is attached to the tub. There should be some overspray on the firewall to wood tub, at least on the inside edge.



Bruce Cunha

Bruce, Frank's car was originally painted Birch Grey. What you are seeing as primer is actually birch grey (same as my TF9097). You can also see the under-scuttle red paint to match the red upholstery and dash.
M Magilton

That makes sense.
Bruce Cunha

Photos of underside top scuttle & underside of fire wall TF8958. Original black caulking in place. Note dash frame paint shadow on underside of top scuttle.
Considering preserving the original paint on inside of firewall with a cut & neutralizing of rust patches.
Cheers John
Not able to load pictures will have another attempt
J.K. Chester-Freeman

No luck with photos but if anyone wants more detailed pic contact me at jc-f@aapt.net.au
Cheers John
J.K. Chester-Freeman

John: Makes sure you pictures are not larger than 1024 pixels wide. Not sure if they improved that but this was usually the reason most could not get pictures accepted.
Christopher Couper

Thanks Chris
more to follow
Cheers John




J.K. Chester-Freeman

Two more of fire wall original paint & caulking on TF8958.
Cheers John




J.K. Chester-Freeman

This thread was discussed between 27/10/2021 and 31/10/2021

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