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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 - What did we do before the internet?

I started antique car-ing in 1972. Hemmings and a phone call, a few dollars in an envelope for a paper catalog and a check in the mail for parts.

.....and still, we complain.

.....
MAndrus

I was restoring a 1924 Buick in the early 70's and would use Hemmings and Cars and Parts to find someone selling old Buick parts. If it was a part I was having trouble locating I would call the seller long distance if he listed a phone number. If no phone contact info I would write a letter requesting info about the part and offer to pay him for some photos if he would take them and send them to me. And of course I would attend every swap meet big or small looking for what I needed. It sure has gotten easier to find parts and spend my money. I love it!
L Staller

Paper newsletters from the various clubs were the best source of info for me. I still have many of them.
Christopher Couper

Ads in Road & Track and TSO. Bud
Bud Krueger

My TD was the first MG I restored. I did not know anyone that owned one and the closest club was over an hour away.

The car was restored by studying a haynes manual and with the expanded pictures from the Moss Motors catalogue.

I love the internet.
Bruce TD4139 Cunha

First car I ever restored I did at age 18 (I'm 59 now)... a 1958 Turner 950S that I found in a field in Buckingham, PA, with grass quite literally growing through the steering wheel. It had been advertised in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin for $500.

I had never seen a Turner before, but since it had Austin A-series components I was at least familiar with the major bits, having owned several Sprites at that point. Everything needed rebuilding! In order to figure out what it should look like, I went down to the Philadelphia Free Library where they have the world's largest collection of auto literature - the "McKean Collection". I combed through brochures, sales sheets, photographs, magazines and basically anything I could find, "Xeroxing"* those things that were useful. (*remember when we called it that?)

Ultimately I found out there was a club in England for the Turner cars and I wrote a letter to them, complete with drawings I made by hand to describe the car. I asked them about the availability of metal patch panels for the body since mine had several rust holes. They promptly returned a letter to me, informing me that I couldn't possibly have a Turner because they all came with fiberglass bodies, not steel. Well, I was pretty dang sure what I was hammering on was steel, so I sent them the photo below, showing rusty holes in the corners of the fenders and a welded and leaded cross-bar below the grill aperture. It took a while to get a snail-mail back from them, but when I finally did they said they had contacted Jack Turner (still alive, fortunately!) and he told them that there was one car that was steel-bodied - it was the original, hand-made 'buck' that was used to make the original mold for the bodies, and around car #68 (my car#) they no longer needed it so they put it on a chassis and sold it! This, indeed, was my car.

Many emails later I'd made numerous friends within the club and some of those friendships remain to this very day. Indeed, it was one of those friends that helped me obtain my 1949 Triumph Renown 32 years ago.

Here's a photo of me at 18 and my very tatty Turner. This is the photo I sent to the club...



kmclemore

...and what it looked like shortly after I finished it. It was a bit of a 'sleeper', since I had completely race-prepped the little 950cc engine (even to using titanium rod bolts and radically modified combustion chambers) but kept the outside of the engine and car looking very stock. I later did find the proper hubcaps - they came from a Hillman sedan!


kmclemore

Kevin - Do you still have it?

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Of course there was no internet at the time, I didn't even know what a computer was, there were none of those even invented yet for the home user. Hemmings was the bible, large yellow paper full of ads, plus auto related magazines along with their for sale sections. Phone calls, snail mail and Hershey Pa. parts show once a year. Yes, the Internet has not only made finding auto related items easier to find, but I think just as important, it has brought us car lovers much closer together. No one back then could have ever made me believe I could communicate with folks in the UK, Australia, the Netherlands and elseware in a matter of minutes. I love the good side of the Internet and ignore the bad side. PJ
Paul S Jennings

I don't Tom... sadly.. like a fool I sold it about 10 years later. The guy that bought it was a VP at American Express in the World Trade Center in NYC. He took the following photo on the way home the day he bought it, with his wife in the car. I think of him every 9/11.




kmclemore

Paul.... Hershey every year for me (in NJ then).

I was there 71-85 including the mud years. Local farmers made a mint pulling everything from Duesenbergs to motor homes out of the field.

.......
MAndrus

Gents,

My first TD was love at first site as it sat on the corner at the local MG dealer's Very USED car lot. When I started showing up to buy parts counting my pennies a British mechanic took pity on the kid and started to help with advice on the problem of the week. With no internet I was very lucky to be able to hang around and ask questions.
I still remember his name was Jack but thats all I can recall.

Regards,

Jim Haskins 1953 TD (The second one)
J. M. Haskins

I can honestly say I started in 1962 with my TD having no knowledge, a lot of curiosity and a strong desire to make my car reliable with the help of a free Moss catalog. I am glad I stuck with it. I wound up making many MG friends and with a very nice, restored TD.
Jim Merz

This thread was discussed between 11/05/2015 and 13/05/2015

MG TD TF 1500 index

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