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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 - Bumper Bars - Replace or Rechrome?

Most of the chrome bits on my TF were replated in 1968 and have been wrapped in newspaper, in a large box, ever since. I have the receipt for the work. In those days plating was done properly and you can literally see how thick it is. Unfortunately the bumpers and over-riders where not done. They are not rusty but the plating is poor and there are some dents. I have seen repro ones for sale but I wonder how durable the plating will be. I suspect if I bought a set I would have to pay to have the plating stripped off and redone properly so it's probably best to recondition the metal work on the original ones and get them rechromed. Can anyone recommend a plater in the UK? All I would require is stripping, polishing and copper/nickel/chrome plating.

Cheers

Jan T
J Targosz

Jan, I can't say how well the replacement bumpers are today, but in 2005 I bought a set for our 72 MGB and they look like new today. I coated the back of the bumpers and the new over riders with Galvicon paint. It is silvery in color. No rust has appeared on any of the bumpers. One thing though, this car never sets outside when not in use. PJ

As it looks today.


Paul sr

In my experience, new bumpers not only have thinner chrome, but the contour is noticeably different from the originals. You are much better off trying to find a chromer in the UK, or perhaps on the Continent.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

As tom noted the new bumpers have a different shape. Also there are a lot of overiders out there, labeled as fitting the TD/TF but they are for something else.

My old bumpers were too far gone to work with. I got a new set from Abingdon. You can see the difference.

I had 2 overiders which came with the car in 1965. I think one was original and one was a replacement. One had a fixed, welded in place stud, the other slipped over a stud. I had to replace the fixed stud as it was too short. I had both rechromed.
I bought two, aditional ones, on eBay labeled as being for the TD. They had fixed studs. But the inner curve was far from fitting either the new Abingdon bumpers or the old rusted ones. I had to grind and file the overiders to fit.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

I think my overiders are original - the car has been laid up since 1966. They have captive nuts, not studs, and these are in slotted holes to give a little movement when bolted up. Also a section of the sides is bent over for about 1" to slightly overlap the cross piece that takes the above nut. This overlap sits on the face of the bumper. I recall that repro overiders fitted to my former TD had a sharp edge which mated with the bumper profile and I had to dress this with a file to get a good fit. Can anyone confirm this? If mine are original then I will certainly get them replated.

Cheers

Jan T
J Targosz

Jan: Can you provide a picture of the front and rear of your overriders? Something does not seem right as you described it with regard to the 1" slight overlap. Not sure what you mean by that.

As pointed out the repros as early as the late 60's did not have the same profile as the originals. Most notably was the lack of a different top and bottom. The original bumpers had a distinct shelf on the top side.
Chris Couper

If you go to the Moss page, listing their part 454-010, which is the bumper over rider, there is an extensive write-up on how Moss came up with their version. They state that the design with the captive nut was factory designed.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

Hi Chris

I am recent returner to this site and am having problems uploading photographs. I have hit the "upload" button and gone through the routine of highlighting one of them on my computer but only to find it has disappeared when I try to upload a second photo. Is there somewhere I can find the rellevant instructions.

Cheers

Jan T
J Targosz

Just one upload a time! And...with a maximum of 1 MB (preferably less).

Good luck!

Jasper

JL Nederhoed TD#3966

Hope the photo works. Ignore the welds - I removed part of the back plate to knock out dents. I think it is original - there are a couple for sale on eBay at the moment and the back plate hsa a keyhole slot for a coach bolt rather thab the captive nut on mine. They also look to be pressed from much thiner steel.

Jan T

J Targosz

I suspect those are for an old Healy- outer shape the same, but inner contour totally different. The bumper bar on them has a central indentation that would match the bent in areas on your overider. Yours is definitely not from a TD or TF. In fact, the later factory TF overriders had more open curved areas, and that is when I believe Al Moss started selling the black filler to fill up the resulting gaps. All of the for sure known original overriders I have seen had a bolt or stud. Pretty sure all of the slotted ones are all repros. And Chris is correct- I don't think any repro bar ever has had the correct shape (much wider lip on the top, thin lip on the bottom). George
George Butz

see photo of AH guards

George Butz

Hi George,

My brother has a Healey 3000 and the bumper bars have a depression along the centre line. The overiders in your photo have "half moons", at the sides to fit into these depressions. Since TD/TF bumpers have a simple, flattened, curve profile is it not possible that they both have the same bsic overider (possibly made by Willmot Breedon)but for MG the half moons were flattened as in my photo.

Cheers

Jan T
J Targosz

Jan, The outer appearance and contour is virtually the same for Healy and TD/TF guards, likely the same manufacturer. The inside that fits against the bar is totally different however. The MG inside edge is single sharp metal edge. You have Healey guards that someone hammered to fit, as well as the depth of the curved area is also way too deep. While possible from something other than a Healey, the guard in your picture positively did not come on an mg td or TF. George
George Butz

JA Benjamin, New Jersey, USA
If you go to the Moss page, listing their part 454-010, which is the bumper over rider, there is an extensive write-up on how Moss came up with their version. They state that the design with the captive nut was factory designed.

Well in the article it states they used a Healy 100-4 overrider, not a TD or TF. I suspect the factory made a few changes over time. I have original TD/TF overriders with both welded bolts and holes, but none with captive nuts.

Here is a picture the backside of an original overrider.

Chris Couper

The subtleties of an original TD overrider versus a reproduction is tiny. I am not sure how the newest reproductions look compared to the older Moss reproductions. It would be interesting to compare them side by side.

I have attached a picture of an early (circa 1970) on the left with an original overrider on the right. From the picture it is hard to tell that the upper portion (away from the bumper) is a bit narrower on the original. It just looks a little skinnier.

You would have to have a trained eye to spot that on a car unless they had mixed overriders or perhaps an original was parked next to a reproduction.

Chris Couper

Interesting Chris. Is the hole threaded in your picture? George
George Butz

No. Its just a hole. I have 4 of them like this and one more that has a bolt welded through the hole.

On another thread a few months ago I queried some folks with original bumpers and the results were a mixture of both types, sometimes on the same car :-)
Chris Couper

I have a set of four overriders that look the same as TD/TF except that they are cast in brass rather than pressed. They are quite a lot heavier than the originals. They were in a box of spares when I bought my TF.

I have often wondered what type of car they came off, any ideas would be welcome.
Max Irvine

Hi Max
Very early TD s were fitted with cast brass overiders.
They turn up at swap meets occasionally. Good on you if you have four of them as they are prized by some TD owning friends. I guess that the cost accountants saw them as a target for savings and replaced them with pressed steel overiders.
Regards Wayne. TD 1864.... Y6668
W Routley

Thanks for the information Wayne. They are of no use to me so let me know if you would like them for a fair price (your call). Three of the four are identical to each other the fourth is from memory slightly taller. My son commutes between Melbourne and Sydney on a regular basis so transport North would be easy. I haven't seen them in my garage for a while but I think I still have them.
Max Irvine

Max: I would welcome a picture of your cast overriders. I must admit I have never seen them before. I will post it on the TD site.

Is this an Australia thing?
Chris Couper

I found them in my garage today so will post a couple of pictures shortly. My memory was proven wrong in that all four are the same. Two of them have hexagonal tube nuts about 2 inches long. I suppose they are spacers to clear either front or rear valance. Externally they look the same as pressed ones.

The extra weight probably takes about 1 second off zero to sixty mph and 5 mph off the top speed.

I have never seen these before either but don't think they are an Australian thing, we might be crazy but not crazy enough to make these (I hope)
Max Irvine

if you re-chrome anything, find a shop that will follow the sequence copper - nickel - chrome. I worked for a while in an outfit with a plating shop, and that's the way to go.

David
D A Provan

David: Yes. This is the definition of triple chrome plating. It does not mean that it was plated with chrome three times :-)
Chris Couper

Also find a shop that will put a slight radiuss on the edges - the stripping and polishing process can leave a very sharp edge that the plating mmigrates from leaving it very thin - the rust can then start at the edges and creep under the plating - the radius prevents this.
Chris at Octarine Services

Most of the rust-through is from moisture collecting on the inside of the U shape. If you coat the inside with POR-15 Silver or a similar product, they will look original but will last much much longer. I did this over 15 years ago on my MGA and they are just a bit pitted, despite that car being parked in a carport. I did it over 10 years ago on my TD, which is parked in a garage, and those still look new.

Ira
Ira Spector

This thread was discussed between 06/07/2013 and 24/02/2014

MG TD TF 1500 index

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