MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

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 - MG TF Sidecurtain Box

Greetings from the frosty north. The ongoing saga of the TF restoration continues.
I am currently completing the body tub and fitting the doors What fun!
The side curtain box is missing completly from my TF, and I plan to make
a new one from sheet metal, but I do not know the size (Length, width
and depth). If someone could provide me the measurements, it would
be much appreciated.
I am always amazed what our little cars went through before we get our
hands on them.The tie bar was replaced with a piece of 2" x 12" white
pine, with the bottom half completely rotted out. Saftey door latches were
screen door "hook and eye", guess the doors flew open a few times.
Last week; -30 degrees with the wind chill. With the garage electric heat
on , the hydro meter kooks like a helocopter blade in full flight
Hey, it's worth it !
Cheers Bill
Bill Pickthorne

The side curtain box is actually a fairly complex piece, there are four sheet metal pieces and a wooden lid. The lid is the only really simple piece. The sheet metal pieces (except for the back) all have a lip to hold up the cover. If you're good with sheet metal fabrication and a bending brake, you could fabricate them, but it would take some time. I wouldn't even attempt it without either a borrowed set to use as a pattern or a detailed set of drawings. These come up for sale once in a while on eBay, and usually sell for a reasonable price.

Luckily, on my car, I had the original box to work with, although I had to do quite a bit of repair on the metalwork. I also had to replace my tiebar, but at least I had (about half of) the original to work with as a pattern.
Mark B.

Mark, I have the new wooden bits, the lid, the panels between the inner
fenders, and the support pieces.What I need is the dimensions of the box
.Also have a brake and lots of sheet metal
A photo or two would be great,
Cheers
Bill Pickthorne

Bill
Exactly what dimensions do you want measuring? I'll take a load of photos tomorrow and email the best to you. I had my box in pieces a couple of months ago when I re-trimmed the interior. The two metal side pieces are quite small and simple, screwing on to the front and rear X members, but the (front) X member is more complex. It will be hard to get a real clear picture of the metal parts while they are in situ.
Cheers
John
John James

Bill,
From my experance with this one "measurments" won't do much good! If you have the "new wooden bits" ...you more or less should be able to "invent" the rest from that to insure that the lid won't fall through the cut-out for it! Don't forget ...our cars were hand-made! A little hint from someone living in a 100 year old house...the "illusion" of "square & plumb" is more important that the actuall impletation of same! There are many variables in the boot area...as I recall I had to grind nearly 1/2 to 3/4" off the length of one of my rails to get a good fit! I sent some photos to your email this am that might be of some help. If you can't get it from that and what John sends, let me know...I may have some pic's somewhere of the pieces when they were out of the car and before covered with leather and re-fitted...but I couldn't find them this morning. Looking at the way the car is made there could be big differances in the "well's" for the rear tyres were installed (even more so if yours have been re-done). This could account for the way the curtain box was constructed from "pieces" instead of a 1 piece "box"!
Lots of luck...it's really not too hard to get something that will work back there.
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

Bill, I'm sorry my message came across as so negative. I just hate people to fall into the trap of putting 20 hours of labor and $20 in supplies into fabricating parts that you could buy for less than $100. Not that I haven't done something similar many times in the past. On the other hand, if you have the time and the skill, and enjoy the work, go for it.

In my case, I can only work on my car on weekends, and I just can't afford that kind of tradeoff. I really really want to drive the car by this fall. Although I spent about 4 hours this weekend fabricating a guard to the flywheel and belt drive on my 'new' old air compressor, so I really don't practice what I preach.

I want to second what David said about right angles. My rear shelf isn't square at all, it's a trapezoid about 1/2 in narrower at the front than the rear. After everything is assembled and upholstered, it looks pretty good, and appears to be perfectly regular.

I'll help you with measurements and pictures if you'd like, but since my box is already assembled, I hope you will get better info from someone else who has theirs apart. The front part will be the hard piece to fabricate, part of it overlaps the tie bar, and it has a slight (about 3 degrees) bend where it hits the top of the rear shelf. It also has lips on both sides that go back about 1/4 inch, which are important since the front of the top slightly protrudes from the wheel arch, so these edges keep there from being an open gap.

Also, don't assemble the side curtain compartment until after covering the wheel arches. The padding and vinyl covering will affect the dimensions.
Mark B.

Terific Response ! many thanks gentlemen, especially for the pics. David, if you can find
the pics of the box components, that would be a great help.
Being retired, there is no problem spending an inordinate amount of time on a little
problem (I do that a lot !) There in lies the shere joy , especially things like clock
refurbishing (tip of the hat to Bullwincle), and temp gauge repair.
Meanwhile back at the sidecurtain box, I have the Moss" Panel Assembly above rear
axle", and the lid. It looks like the bottom of the compartment is made of the 3 plywood
pieces, plus there are a few pieces of hardwood.
Question; does the sidecurtain compartment sit above the top of the tie bar and body irons?
I think I am still missing something here.
Cheers , and thanks again Billf
Bill Pickthorne

Bill the 3 plywood panels make the bottom of the sidecurtain boot, the center panel is screwed in position and can be removed to access the differential for checking lube oil level. I may have some pictures taken of my TF with center panel removed if so will e-mail same. Hope diagram and photos sent yesterday helpfull.
jeff payne

Bill
The three pieces of ply making up the bottom of the box are all different widths. Mine are original if you want the measurements.
John
John James

Bill,
I am in the begining of my restoration and I have the box removed from the tub. It would be easy to make but not easy to describe. I would be glad to make a sketch and send it to you if you would send me your address. My email is jprogess@att.net. Several of the brakes are not 90 degrees and therefore a sketch would be much better. I am retired and enjoy making many of the parts that are missing. Have a good day.

John Progess
1954 mgtf
1960 MGA Coupe
1962 MGA Roadster
R Progess

Thank you all for the great pics and tips on the sidecurtain box
John has kindly offered to send me a sketch of the box parts.
I had a pre conceived notion of how the box was made, and where
and how it was installed. Wrong !
Thanks again,
Cheers Bill
Bill Pickthorne

Where do you buy the parts for the TF side curtain box for $100?
MW Davis

MW, have you happened to look at the date on this thread?
Bud
Bud Krueger

Bill,
There is a listing on Ebay for a MGTF side curtain box for $300 or make offer. No affiliation, just passing information along. Copy and paste the below link.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MG-TF-Side-Curtain-Box-frames-4-pieces-MGTF/202362662389?hash=item2f1dc12df5:g:wjwAAOSwHJVbQESG&vxp=mtr

Good luck with your project. I will be reassembing mine soon. Waiting on paint to be completed.
Dave


DLH Hodson

This thread was discussed between 07/02/2004 and 11/07/2018

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG TD TF 1500 BBS is active now.