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MG TD TF 1500 - TF wheel knock offs

I have wondered at what point the knock offs went from steel to brass construction. The TF I am now working are steel and the spare knock off assembly is as well. The replacements on my TF including the male threaded knock off are brass. The ears are more "pointy" as compared to the replacements and the have a slightly different angle out ward as well

L E D LaVerne

For comparison. I wonder at what point construction was changed to brass and why? I had always thought it odd they sold copper hammers as they will damage the brass version but with the steel they should not. Kinda makes sense now I suppose.

L E D LaVerne

I must check my original knock offs LaVerne to see what they are made of. They are pretty damaged having been hit over the years with anything that was handy. Is there any way of fixing them. I had to buy new ones to go with the new wheels but would ideally prefer the originals.
Noticed the originals have off and near written on them which is not on the new ones.
D Lamb

This may be a dumb question, but...
How do I tell if they are steel or brass?

Tom
'54 TF

T Norby

Tom,
Use a magnet
Regards
Declan
Declan Burns

From experience with TFs I have owned over the years,all the original knock offs were steel. The knock off 'ears' were not pointed originally. Belting with steel head hammers makes them pointy !
Lead is kinder to the chrome and does'nt end up distorting the shape.

Quite often the originals were re chrome plated after many years use without first bringing back to original form. Polisher/linishers tend to just tear off the butchered metal and hence the 'ears' are left in a resultant dreadful, pointed state.

Working the knockoffs back to original form is hard work. Much of it has to be done carefully by hand hammering,filing, sanding etc. If any of the lettering happens to be compromised,a skilled hand Engraver operator can bring the letters back to appropriate standard.

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

My first encounter with the steel ones were with Bill's TC a couple of years ago

L E D LaVerne

The replacements were brass and I wasn't all that thrilled to see the made in China sticker.

L E D LaVerne

There must have been some variation in knockoffs within T-Type models, or the already pictured TC ones have been hit hard at the ends, or are early replacements. The original lettering was sharp. Generally the eared type are "flat" nearly all the way across on the side you hit with a hammer to loosen. The Chinese ones pictured have that trait, but the ears appear too short, among other things. Below is a known original TC (steel) knockoff.

My dad bought the late '49 these are on in 1952, and though it came with a one pound copper hammer in the toolkit, he always used a #3 rawhide hammer, as do I. Rawhide is even gentler than lead, and is what hammer I would use if I had brass knockoffs.

D mckellar

What annoys me about the replacements is the "Undo>Undo".
M Magilton

A large rubber mallet functions fine with no damage to chrome, usually these are obtainable from "cheap shops".
G Evans

The knock-offs that I am 99.9% sure came from an original TF wire wheel car are steel. The spare wheel knock-offs of which I have 2 from different original sources are also steel. The new replacement knock-offs that I put on the car (Moss #'s 200-210 & 200-220) are made of brass.
BTW, I use a block of hardwood approximately 3-1/2" X 4" and 6" long and a 6 pound hammer to install and remove the knock-offs. This causes no damage to the wings on the knock-offs. You need to be careful not to over tighten though.

Mark Stolzenburg
Chesterfield, Missouri
TF 8263

Mark Stolzenburg

This thread was discussed between 30/10/2016 and 31/10/2016

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