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 - Rear Wooden Panel Replacement

Looking at the rear wooden panel in front of the gas tank, I'm at a loss as how to replace it without pulling the body side panels apart. There must be a fairly simple way to do this, but I haven't figured it out yet. I can see the obvious screws and bolts, but how do I get to the inside bolts? My shop manual has no reference to wood replacement. Any clues?

This panel.



Paul Jennings

Paul,

Look at my website www.dbraun99.com in the mg td15470 Restoration » Tub and Wings » Tub Restoration section. You have to lift the rear quarters off the panel and the center panel. The Wood panel screws to the rear tub brackets and nails to the wood above and below the panel. So yes, considerable disassembly is required to properly replace it. Also by the looks of it you will need to replace the rear timber at the bottom of the panel.

dave
Dave Braun

Dave is correct. Remember the wooden frame was built up on a jig, and all of the metal placed later. Think you will have to remove all of the nails around the edges including the door openings, and bend and straighten the bent over flanges most of the way around to remove the quarter. You very likely will find more bad wood in the lower hinge pillar/rear main side rail, and a lot of internal rusty sheet metal. The bottom rail supports and mounts the back of the tub. This totally effects the door opening fit and shape- make sure you check this and modify/shim as needed at reassembly. George
George Butz

Paul,

I replaced mine a few years ago. It was not a big job, I got a replacement wood panel from Craig Seabrook at the Whitworth shop. Replacement was straight forward. Remove the fuel tank suports from the old panel, Remove the upper steel panel that the spare tire carrier bolts through by pulling all the little nails. Remove the nails that secure the side steel panels at the back and the large 1/4" machine screws that secure the side panels to the internal metal frame. My old panel came out easily as it was rotted, getting the new panel in was a little tricky as it was a tighter fit. I did the whole job in an afternoon and the hardest part was finding replacement nails to match the English ones I removed.
I also took the liberty to seal all the edges of the new wooden panel with Silicone to prevent the ingress of water between the wood panels. I also sealed the replacement panel with a good varnish to prevent rot.
I was very happy with the result and found that there was nothing to be afraid of. Just use a little patience.

Ciao, Ben T.
Benito Travato

Well, here it is, panels off. No big deal, actually they came off easier than I thought. Getting the nails out without damaging anything was a little pain, but all went well. The back panel and the lower piece under it will be replaced. The rest is dry and hard. PJ



P.S. Jennings

You are really lucky- the wood looks great! I was certain much of the wood was fine on my TD. Anyplace I removed a panel or bracket, what was hidden wasrotten and vaporized. George
George Butz

You are only about 6 bolts from pulling that tub off! Aren't you tempted? What's lurking underneath? Be careful! It never ends...I know:)
efh Haskell

Yeah, I keep looking at those body bolts and want to pull the tub off, but while working on the back of the tub I think I'll leave it in place for rigidity until I blast and paint the rear metal frame work and get the back wood pieces installed. I don't want to chance anything moving out of it's proper position. When the woodwork on the back of the tub is done, I'll lift it off. Looking at the chassis, it appears that someone painted it under the cockpit area, which helped a little in the preservation. But, eventually, that will get all blasted off. PJ

A pic.




P.S. Jennings

Paul, your car appears to be in great condition,so resist the temptation to go further than necessary. Many years ago I started to make a few "simple" improvements to my TF 1500 xpeg 703 and before I knew it I had a Basket Case. It is in the process of coming back but check out the image. It will give you incentive to stop any further teardown. John

JR Mahone

John, The tub is not going to be tore down any more forward of the door pillars, as the wood and metal is in excellent shape and I see no advantage to do so. The tub will come off the chassis when I get the back of the tub together again with new wood. All the rear metal frame work will get stripped of paint and primed and painted before the wood goes back on. The quarter panels will be stripped and primed before they get remounted. Then the tub comes off as a unit and will be refurbished from there. I did this with a couple Fisher bodies years ago. Think the wood is hard to replace in one of these MGs, do a Fisher body from the 30s where every piece of wood has to be hand made, (they don't have kits) and they have a ton of wood in them. The chassis gets totally striped, blasted and re coated with a high quality chassis paint, plus anti-rust coated inside. I'm not into powder coating chassis, Not necessary in my book. I've built some show winner American antique cars and never used powder coatings, so I see no need for it now. Unless your going to put it in a show case, it's a waste of money. The car will get all new wiring, brake system, cables, etc, etc. All the chrome will be sent out. From there on, I'll take it one piece at a time. Fun isn't it! PJ


P.S. Jennings

Paul, it is great fun, but rebuilding the tub from scratch was probably the most challenging and frustrating part of my continuing restoration. I am about 80% complete on the tub. I became so burned out last year I switched gears and began chassis restoration just to get a change of pace. The chassis is almost complete so will be back to the tub next month. John

JR Mahone

This thread was discussed between 04/06/2010 and 08/06/2010

MG TD TF 1500 index

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