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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 - 'Vintage' Round Battery Caps, Decals, Tray

I've been searching for six vintage round battery caps to replace the two 3-gang caps on the modern battery in my TF for car shows. Couldn't find any, so I made some.

7-Up bottle caps, some rubber corks, a little cutting and painting. Finished.

They are just for kicks and giggles at shows. Not for Concours. Not for use on the road.

> Battery Cap How-to:
http://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxisXBEpc-IWOHdJTkFhbzZKczA/view?usp=sharing

> Lucas Battery Decal How-to:
http://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxisXBEpc-IWYWZBbnVlVzY3bWM/view?usp=sharing

> Wood Battery Tray How-to: (enhancements to Bud Krueger and Colin Stafford's instructions)
http://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxisXBEpc-IWRUFCNFZlWmdsLU0/view?usp=sharing

Lonnie
TF7211

LM Cook

Lonnie I just opened the Lucas Battery Decal How To & have saved the artwork you've provided. Thanks as both decal's artwork is bound to be useful. However I was wondering about the original colour of the decals as they appear to be white on black in the original 1954 Lucas ad & not the black on black that you mention. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Peter -

"Black-on-Black" is just my guess. I have never seen a real 1954 Lucas battery. The battery cases were a tar-like substance. The logos were stamped into the black case. I don't believe that they were painted in the mid-50s.

It's hard to photograph black-on-black logos. The art department at the ad agency probably enhanced the raised logo by coloring it for the ad. Looks like most of the ads are illustrations instead of photos.

I chose yellow for my Lucas logo just because I liked it. Vinyl sign shops have a multitude of colors available to produce the logo.

Image below:

> TOP: Reproduction Delco battery with unpainted logo stamped into the case. I believe the mid-50s Lucas logo was similar.

> BOTTOM: 1954 Lucas ad with yellow logo. I believe the color was added by the illustration artist.

Lonnie
TF7211

LM Cook

Makes sense. I've been chasing an original Lucas battery case from the early fifties but with no luck. I've never seen one either. If I can find a case I'm able to get it rebuilt to the original specifications. I've been running an ad for an original case here in Sydney for months now but so far with no luck. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Peter: I had posted an free offer a few years ago for a repo case with the original caps but nobody wanted it so it went to the recycler. I probably should have at least saved the caps :-(
Christopher Couper

The Lucas caps are impossible to find Chris. I've been checking out Ebay & Gumtree for the last two years but no joy. At one point I thought there may even be a small group of oddballs out there who collected battery caps but again Google produced nothing. The suppliers of the AM Lucas battery in the States refused to sell me just the caps. If I'd bought a battery & said I'd lost the caps they may have come to the party. So we battle on. As Jim said on another thread "It's all about the journey!" Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Interesting discussion on the colour of the original Lucas rubber case battery logos. I agree that the ads of the 1950s seem to have white lettering.However,when having my current battery rebuilt I contacted a very respected and experienced battery rebuilder,and he indicated that the 'LUCAS' logo vertical lettering on these 1950s batteries was in fact red in many cases.

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

I think that the red is correct but came in the mid to late 50's & may have been used on the MGA. I've also heard of gold on the later Lucas batteries. I'd initially thought white for the TD/TF but Lonnie may be correct with the embossed lettering on the case in black, the same colour as the battery case & the white was just the illustrator doing his thing & jazzing up the artwork. The white decal may just be life imitating art. I recall this discussion some time ago but don't know that it was ever resolved. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

1954 to 1955,red lettering(lol).

Cheers
Rob Grantham
R GRANTHAM

Ok..? Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

This thread was discussed between 11/05/2015 and 23/05/2015

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