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MG TD TF 1500 - Transporting MGTD11547

Looking for some comments on transporting MGTD11547 from Warren, MI to Regina, Saskatchewan, about 1450miles (I know it's km in Canada). A nice Gentlman in Regina wants to take possesion of MGTD11547 and He is looking at using and open trailer. Now I know there can be problems with using a car cover as the flapping in the wind will ruin paint. I'm thinking that hood be down, tonneau on, windscreen down, and maybe duck tape around tonneau so as to keep as much rain as possible out. Will consider any hints and advices you chaps can give. Thanks.
Greg & Grimm
G.J. Cenzer

Greg,
Mixed emotions...sad to see 11547 leaving you and Grimm...happy to see you have found a new caretaker worthy of the task.

IMHO: Open trailer: No cover for the obvious "flapping". Wind screen DOWN but only if correct "CUP WASHERS" are installed to keep it from "popping up" at speed! (Mine scared the Bjesus out of me when I first hit the freeway and it did that!) Tie the door handles together from inside the car. (just in case one would come open and hit the wheel wells of the trailer). Tonneau on and snapped in place. Tie downs ...the biggest "mistake" I see people make all the time is being too concerned with getting the front-end tied down and not worring about the rear-end! Use your "best" tie-down strapps for the rear of the car! I criss-cross these on back of trailer. The thing you need to be conserned about is not so much the car falling "off" the trailer going forward, but rather what happens at 60+ miles an hour when you have to stop quickly! We live near National Trails Drag strip off I-70 and I see the results of not having the rear of a car secured correctly all the time! One good panic stop and tralier stops ...but the "load" keeps moving at speed! (OUCH) I see an average of 3/4 of these a year out here!
Other than that make sure your "balanced well" on the tounge of the hitch to avoid under-steer of the tow vehicle and you should be good to go! Run down the road a few miles and stop to tighten things down...they will "settle a bit" so check them offten.
I always "polish" my St. Christopher badge before I take off ...I know they kind of "cancelled him" ...but hey I still keep him on the car!
Biggest problem I had was "rubber-neckers" and poeple that will chase you down wanting to buy the car!
Cheers, and hope we will still hear from you on this BBS Greg! Give old Grimm a "puppy-treat" from me!
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

You can get shrink wrapping (kinda like Seran Wrap) in large rolls and wrap the car in it's entirety. Do this after you have strapped the car down on the trailer. It works. One of our members did this when transporting the car to another state. No flapping to damage the paint.
Tom

What do you use to heat the shrink wrap that large. Who sells shrink wrap. Lowes,Home Depot?
I will still be active on the board as I still love MGTD's (and all MG's).
Greg & Grimm
G.J. Cenzer

Hi Greg,

Congratulations on finding a worthy new custodian for your TD.

Shrink wrap is actually 'stretch wrap' you wrap it around your pallet and stretch it as it goes, it clings to iteself and it pulls pretty tight, so you have to becareful not to overdo the stretching if you are wrapping something like a car which has a bunch of protrudences. Have someone help you so you get it tensioned right. Any shipping company can supply it to you, it will take very little from the roll. One idea would be to find someone who ships by pallet and ask to borrow a roll.

dave
Dave Braun

Greg....

Congrats...am sure the new Canadian owner will take might good care of it... Our national anthem has "....We stand on guard for T ...."....wait, or is that "Thee".... never mind.
Any packaging store has the stretch wrap...its not the same as the big Marina's wrapping their large boats and shrinking it....although you could check one of them!
gordon lawson

Greg & Grim,

Sorry to learn about the end of an era. My thougts are with you.

There's only one safe way to do this with an open trailer. The wind at speed creates an envelope that deflects much of the dirt, etc, but not all of it. The most sensitive area is the area on the front of the two wings (fenders). Take a large piece of cardboard and cover as much of the front as possible. Using duck tape, tape it firmly to anything that isn't paint, and that can be cleaned with spirits once removed. This would include the full bumper, the grill the glass of the headlamps, etc.Put something soft between it and the front of the wings. Make sure it is pulled as tightly as possible w/o tearing it.

Another trick I saw many years ago was to remove the headlamps and fix a wooden spreader bar the full width of the car, using the screws in the (now open) headlamp buckets. Attach a piece of cardboard to that. If it gets wet, be prepared to replace it.

If anything loose is used over the car, I absolutely guarantee the wind will tear it apart. You're just asking for trouble here! I'm very skeptical about shrink-wrap. If water gets under it, it could damage the paint, especially if it isn't noticed for a while. And it can stretch ... hmmm.

Definitely W/S folded flat - no other option - makes a huge difference towing, including gas mileage.

A good toneau can be very effective. If necessary put a piece of cardboard wrapped in plastic, tucked inder the front edge of the tonneau on the door sides. Now tape that to the partially-open door (difficult but it can be done) and latch the door. This will lessen the chances of the tonneau coming loose.

I've towed my TF many many miles and can attest to the wind flow I mentioned above.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qu.
Gordon A. Clark

The gentleman is active on the yahoogroups 'britcartalk' forum (British Saloon Car Cluc of Canada). I started reading their postings back when I still had my 1970 Rover 3500S (which I drove from 1983 to 1999).
Greg & Grimm
G.J. Cenzer

Greg & Grim

Other issue about trailering is the jolting of the roadway can loosen up things. I lost a overrider when we moved out from CA to WI with on open trailer. I had the top on and side curtains in place and had no problems. Roping the doors is also a good idea as mentioned.

The plastic wrap would work great. It could also keep the junk off the car. Just have to assure it stays tight. Wind has a funny way of getting under the edges.
Bruce Cunha


I've heard comments from folks when transporting cars across to/from Canada... Is that not going to be an issue?

Scott
Scott

Greg,
"big Marina's wrapping their large boats and shrinking it" ...I don't think you will want to use this. I have an Opel GT with the engine wrapped in this right now to keep overspray from paint off my pretty new engine! I did this with a heat gun ...the marina's seal boats using a blow tourch! It is truly "shrink wrap" I would be concerned knowing how hot I had to get it (800 degrees) about what that might do to paint!
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

Greg & Grim,
I don't know for sure, but if you can fold the windshield down, wouldn't it be better to remove it entirely from the car, wrap it well, and tie it down inside the passenger compartment for that long of a trip?
Gene
Gene Burgess

I have been investigating information from transporters that speclize in shippiong cars from US to CA it look a bit intimidating to me. lotsof paperwork both ways, getting out and getting in. I think the RB's have messed it all up for the little guys.
In the old days we used to have to give up the vehicle lisence registration and pick it up on return. If you wanted to return thru a different port you had to notify CA Customs and they would make sure your registration was at the proper port. As a little child I always wonered how they were able to accomplish this.
Greg & Grimm
G.J. Cenzer

I have talked to a lot of people who have brought cars into canada and they say it couldn't have been easier....they were trailering it in themselves however. Show up at the border with the ownership signed over and bill of sale and pay the taxes and go...that was about it. Perhaps the hassle is leaving the country...They run the vin through a computer (on the way out of the states) and check that it doesn't come up stolen.... not sure what else they do on the states side?
Again, I bet it comes down to the individual customs officer as to how easy it is!
gordon lawson

This thread was discussed between 31/07/2006 and 02/08/2006

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