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MG TD TF 1500 - Brake Line Banjo Clip

Hi to you all - this is a detail I've not found in the Archives. Originally the brake line was fastened to the rear axle by four metal clips,(Part No.ACH8650)with one more on the cross-member that runs by the master cylinder. This same clip was also used on MGA's where I am certain (through looking at a no. of unrestored cars) that the pipe was attached through a close fitting indent on the narrow part of the clip.

However a no. of drawings and some rebuild photos seem to indicate a more involved method of fastening wrapping the narrow part around the pipe and then threading it back through the 'buckle'. As a matter of interest these same clips were used to hold the harness onto the steering rack where this method might well have been used.

Repro. clips have been made in the past and they are not so difficult to make using thin mild steel so it would be nice to know how they were originally fastened. Even so operatives at the factory would no doubt fit them in different ways, unless the clip was made with the indent/kink already in it. I am sure the MGA one was preformed but this was not used on the steering rack-harness application.

Anyone out there know the answer to this ?
Thanks in advance,

John.
J.C Mitchell

John, Glad you asked this question for me- I fit new brake lines on the rear axle yesterday, and left the clips off as I want them on correctly. Hopefully someone with an original unrestored car can look. George
George Butz

I removed mine and the lines were not through the 'buckle' part...there was an actual 'bump' that fit the line!
What a job trying to get them back on as tight as when I got the car... It was the first time I realized I should have taken more photos before disassembling anything!
gblawson - TD#27667

I think the buckle part is folded in half over the line. Then the strap wraps around the axle housing with the other end going through the buckle, up and around the line and flatened against the axle housing.
Jim Merz

I fitted some a couple of days ago and was unhappy about the difficulty tightening them. Might try refitting them the way you suggest Jim, and see if that looks any better.
Regards, Richard.
R Payne

Thanks to those who contributed to this thread. From a very good source and based on their personal observation of original clips the following would seem to be the way brake line clips were fastened.

With the buckle end of the clip flat (in this case) to the axle, and the brake pipe on top of the buckle and towards the narrow part of the clip, loop the narrow part 360 degrees around the pipe threading the end back through the buckle. Then pass the narrow end 360 degrees back around the axle passing through the end of the buckle from the underside,pulled tight before bending sharply back to lock it.

Difficult to explain but it works and seems logical. The same method was probably specified for the harness applications and the illustration on page P6 of the Workshop Manual confirms this However I have a factory photo of a TF chassis and it is quite clear the clip is just looped around the harness and cross-member together and then locked up. I suspect factory operatives found the specified way awkward and too complicated and only did it on the brake lines because a possible safety issue arose. This is probably why later cars such as MGA's and Morris Minors had the pre-formed 'bump' clip.

I have always thought that unrecorded variations no doubt occurred in factory procedures and from operative to operative and this should always be borne in mind when seeking 'originality' !

However I hope the above will be of help to other restorers - any other info. on this topic would be welcomed.

Cheers John.
J.C Mitchell

Thanks John, that is very useful, makes a lot of sense. Regards, Richard.
R Payne

John, thanks! George
George Butz

This thread was discussed between 11/12/2006 and 17/12/2006

MG TD TF 1500 index

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