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MG TD TF 1500 - Another Real Mark II on eBay

Oddly, the seller never mentions that this is a Mark II or TD/C car; altho he does give the VIN. A few things wrong: the dash, the glove box knob, the black overrider spacers on the bumpers, the lettered threshhold plates. Missing the second fuel pump (and fuel line?), but remarkably correct, all in all. His ad might benefit from mentioniing whether they are steel or aluminum Borrani wires, a contemporary option.

Anyone see more wrong?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1952-MG-T-Series-CA-FRAME-OFF-RESTORATION-486-MILES/323047134357?hash=item4b371c1495:g:F4AAAOSwBp9ac8M~&vxp=mtr

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

I'd like to think that there were better/more original cars elsewhere in the States, so I can't agree with the sales blurb. A few things apart from Tom's observations that I'd change include the oil filter colour and decal, the front right handed float bowl lid, the ignition switch lever appears to be brown rather than black though this might just be age - if so it needs buffing, (nice to see the correct switch though - no window), the genny doesn't have a brush inspection band and the radiator slats need gentle straightening to improve the uniformity of their relationship. The paint job, although pretty, seems way too shiny.

The radiator surround does appear to be slightly low on the passenger front when aligned with the windscreen and bumper bar, though this might just be an illusion due to the fall in the road. The scuttle/windscreen rubber also seems overly long. Would I swap it for mine? Probably not. Nice car though. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Generally very nice, good panel fit, door gaps, bodywork well done, nice chrome and the majority of details are correct. A few picky things (and I really don't like the blonde wood dash), but this is one of the nicest TDs I have seen for sale in a long time. Considering it is a TD/C, priced well IMHO.
George Butz III

Yeah I think the sales pitch is BS. Especially the comment about a concours 97 points at the Silverado? Is that 97/100? Given some of the poor finishes, all the incorrect and missing details the judge was either an idiot or didn’t know the car he was judging. I also thought concours judging was based on a 1000 point scoring system. Either way not very discerning toward originality.

Tom’s question whether the Borrani’s where steel or aluminum I have never seen a set in person. I have seen aluminum Akront rims though. Looking at how the rim appears to be shaped where it wraps around the tire bead it appears to look very similar to the Akront’s in form. But that’s just an uninformed guess on my part based on a different manufacturers design element.

Bill Chasser
TD-4834
W A Chasser

The fit of the rear of the Tonneau appears to be to low.

I know this one is a bit still up in the air, but should the hood latches and buffers be body color or black?

Threshold plates are modern upgrades.
Bruce Cunha

I would hate to have you guys inspecting my TD.
I hope whoever buys this car will have as much fun as I do with mine.
Rob Woodfull

Getting the restoration just right is the real challenge for me Rob. Anyone can stick anything anywhere but researching, increasing my knowledge, sourcing, repairing & fitting original components is a real buzz. I hope to have as much fun driving my car as I did when I was 19, except that I'll be driving a TD that looks just as it did when it arrived in Oz all those years ago. But for me at any rate the restoration journey is equally important, maybe even more so. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Totally agree Peter. Just started the second restoration of TD 4139. Am going to try to do things as well as I can to bring it back to what it was off the factory. That is difficult but fun. And I get to learn a whole lot more about the TD.
Bruce Cunha

Not a good restoration. Another of those "Frame-off" tricks. I'd love to know how they do it without first removing the body?

Non-Rexine dash The dash is Series 2, but the tail lights are Series 1. headlamps are Series 2. Am I wrong in saying that this wasn't a factory combination? .

Of course the wire wheels aren't standard, but I doubt the rims are Dunlop. I've never seen a Dunlop wire wheel with a rolled rim. Think maybe they're Boranni, but very pretty all the same.

The worst however, is that the grill is seriously off-centre. I suspect this car has been in an accident and was poorly straightened. Would love to see the CarFax on it.

$27 Gs right now. Someone out there must be crazy. I wouldn't touch this one with a million-foot pole!

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qu
Gord Clark

That uneven gap in the radiator is not unusual. My car has it too. I think it has to do with how the grill is set into the shell. I have tweaked mine over and over and cannot get rid of it. I may have screwed up the studs once when having it chromed but for the life of my I cannot get that gap even.

But what is not normal is for it to slant the way it does. Something is wrong there for sure.

The headlamps should not be chrome for that car number. The taillamps are OK with those instruments in a 52. The turn signal was obviously added on which is pretty common.

Those are Borrani rims.

All in all it is a pretty good restoration. It would not take much to make it real nice. The red is too bright for me and I am not in favor of the engine color. Too dark IMHO for a later car. Maybe OK for a 49/50. Or maybe it's just because the car color is so bright. Hard to tell from a picture.
Christopher Couper

I like to read the comments on these cars, you guys see more than I ever do. That said, I don't think 1952 TD's had brown interiors. I think they were red or green only.
EL Brown

Chris you have brought up an interesting comment regarding engine color. Was there indeed a color change during TD production. I have heard this argument about engine color in the past that the muddy maroon red is wrong. That the color was a brighter red like that on a “B” series(?). If there was a color change when did it occur?

Bill Chasser
TD-4834
W A Chasser

Closed at 27,900 bid with no sale. Wonder what the reserve price is. Doesn't! Say if engine # matches. The fuel pump is in the place where the extra pump would be. No way of knowing if exter shocks are there. The things that are not right are easy fixes. Got to say this is the highest bid price I have seen in a long time. Forrest TD/C/22679
Forrest Rubenstein

The engine color change is an interesting question. Clearly from looking at unrestored cars from 1951 to 1955 the engine color was brighter than what is painted in this car. Could 1949 and 1950 cars have darker paint? Not totally sure.

There is some belief that early cars had a darker color but trying to find an unrestored 1950 TD is pretty difficult. And any color pictures of cars would be suspect because of color stability in even Kodachrome not to mention it and Ectachrome were shifted in color temps. You would have to have a MG Red TD to really be able to make a good judgement so you could do a comparison of shades.

So I don't fret about the engine color of early TD's if someone wants to paint them a darker red.

This picture is an unrestored 1951 MG Red TD. You can see that the engine color and body color were almost identical. I have seen this car in person so I can attest to the colors.



Christopher Couper

This thread was discussed between 06/02/2018 and 11/02/2018

MG TD TF 1500 index

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