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MG TD TF 1500 - 6'-1' 221 pounds

Got the interior finished today. Seat is all the way back. backrest is in its rearmost position and I can hardly get in and out of the car. The problem is the stock steering wheel (in its most forward position). Anyone with a similar issue have a suggestion for a replacement (smaller) steering wheel that still fits the character of the TD?

Thanks

Tim
TD12524

BTW The steering wheel in the photo is the spare. I haven't installed the finished one yet.

Tim Burchfield

Steering wheel must not be installed right; you should scrape your fingers on the instrument panel when the wheel is all the way forward.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Tom, the problem is as the steering wheel goes forward it goes down, getting closer to my legs. I just found that pulling it all the way out makes it a little easier to exit but I still look like Houdini exiting a straight jacket when I get out.

Tim
Tim Burchfield

Well at least I know why I'm having trouble fitting in and exiting the car. "In 1954, the typical Brit was just over 5ft 7in tall, weighed 11st 6lbs (160 pounds)and had a chest measurement of 37 inches and a waist of 34 inches." I was that big in grade school.

Tim
TD12524
Tim Burchfield

Right leg in, bum over the tunnel, haul left leg in, settle down!

Now you have to work out how to get out, or arrange to have your food delivered
Ian Bowers

I guess you weren't brought up on war rations then!
A R Jones

Tim, I had a problem with the stock 17 inch wheel, so I bought a 15 inch Brooklands and there's quite a difference. I also like the slightly fatter and more comfortable grip. PJ

PJ Jennings

Tom
I am 6'-6", 228 lbs, and yes, it takes some practice getting in and out,, I changed to a Moto Lita wheel which is smaller diameter. Also, I don't have the under dash panel installed. That is where my knees are. Look at the attached pic, it seems like my seat back is a bit further back than yours,,, note the position of the seat back bracket. The lower part of the sea back is right up against the package shelf.

Well, the pic is too large,, it will follow shortly from my lap top

Steve
SPW Wincze

Tim,
I have adjusted the steering shaft vertically until it almost touches the lower edge of the dash. (The elongated holes in the underdash steering bracket give enough adjustment) This gives just the amount of legroom I need....It's "comfortable" now in a masochistic sense....8^)

Nick (6' 4" and 180 lbs)

PS: Fortunately I wasn't on war rations but does a daily portion of cod liver oil counts ????
Nick Herwegh

OK here is the pic,,,
Nick also makes a good point about the position of the steering shaft.

SPW Wincze

Google Moto Lita. They make a bunch of different wheels that would look correct. Not sure if they still make the adaptor hub, but there should be some around. I second Nick's comment about making sure shaft all the way up vertically. George
George Butz

On Ebay this guy has a bunch of steering wheels for TD/TF

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Laminated-Wood-14-Wood-Steering-Wheel-and-Adaptor-for-MG-TD-TF-WFR43-/151743504741?fits=Year%3A1955%7CMake%3AMG%7CModel%3ATF&hash=item23549e2165:g:QM0AAOSwcUBYI25f&vxp=mtr

Good luck

5'10", 210lbs and OK with bigger wheel.
P G Gilvarry

Above look like MotoLitas to me and way overpriced! I got mine from moss. I'm 6'2" and have custom bucket seats. It' still an old MD not ever meant for comfort. See the archives.
efh Haskell

Also recommend Moto Lita, smaller wheel. Made a difference in fit.
To enter: rear in first, then right leg followed by left. To exit, execute in reverse. 6ft, 190lb.
R W Hinton

Nick, do you have the outer clamp (shown in the picture below) attached? I don't see how the steering column can be adjusted up or down with this clamp in place. I have the clamp installed on my car.

Tim
TD12524

Picture from http://www.dbraun99.com/mgtd15470/Steering/Steering%20Rack%20Refurbishment/slides/Outer%20steering%20tube%20bracket%20attach-1.html

Tim Burchfield

Have any of you checked to see if you have the peddle extenders on the clutch and brake? That would make a difference of about 2 inches. and no I have not removed mine to see how it feels,(previous thread).
Cheers, Byron.
JB Warwick

Yes Bryan, they are attached. Moving the steering column up would help a lot but because of the clamp shown above and the stress put on the rubber bushings I'm not sure it is possible or even safe.

Tim
TD12524
Tim Burchfield

I find that the seat back brackets pointed down, pulls the bottom back up a bit making room for my butt.
6'3" 285 lbs.
And butt first and use my hand to pull each leg in one at a time by the cuff.
I also have removed the clamp on steering shaft under dash and am able to move the wheel in or out. This also lets me move the shaft up into the dash more.Yes it moves when driving so I have "bent" the outside of shaft where the clamp should go a bit so it does not move as much.



M Grogan

Tim,
Yes I have the clamp between outer steering column and chassis connected. However I loosened it before adjusting the rake of the wheel. AFAIK the C-clamp attached to this bracket has elongated holes too. FWIW the possibility of changing the rake of the wheel is mentioned on page 16 of the TD owners handbook.
Best wishes,

Nick (TD3232)
Nick Herwegh

@RW Hinton
I tried your method but somehow ended up on the garage floor.
Was it something to do with my TD being right-hand drive?
Tim TD1580
Tim Wilkinson

Nick, thanks very much for the info. The only thing I see on page 16 of the TD owner's manual is how to adjust the length of the steering column. I don't see anything about the rake. Am I missing something? Another problem I have is that the column clamp under the dash barely fits in the arms of the slotted bracket. It's as if it's too big.

Regards

Tim
TD12524
Tim Burchfield

Find enclosed a scanned copy of page 16 of my owners manual, edition January 1950.

Nick (TD3232)

Nick Herwegh

Nick, very interesting. Here's the same page from my Owner's Manual, edition 1953. I wonder why it changed?

Tim
TD12524

Tim Burchfield

The Ebay wheel I referred to is $385, almost $500 at Moss after you get the adapter.

The boss in Moto-Lita, wheel is Springalex from UK.

Peter
P G Gilvarry

Tim likely the slotted part of the bracket has been squashed. Suggest slightly bending out. I agree w/ other thread no problem moving wheel up and down, you may want to loosen the firewall mount/pinch bolt to make it easier, of course re-tightening when finished. George
George Butz

The method of fixing the top end of the steering column changed at some stage. At one time it was an extended bracket from the side I think, but by the time they built my TF (Dec53/ Jan54) it was a bracket welded to the chassis hoop that offered much less scope for adjustment. I remember well because when I converted my car from LHD to RHD I had to make a new bracket and weld it to the hoop.
Dave H
Dave Hill

George, the firewall bracket for the steering column has a single hole for the pinch bolt, not a slot. So it seems that even loosening the column clamp under the scuttle won't let the column rise or fall because it is held steady by the firewall clamp. Do others have a firewall clamp with a slot rather than a single hole for the pinch bolt? I got my firewall column clamp from a Moss distributor.

Tim
TD12524
Tim Burchfield

Abington Spares part 60 in the Steering section shows the bracket with the height adjusting slots forthe steering shaft
SPW Wincze

Steve, I couldn't find a part #60 of the steering column pictured on the Abington Spares web site. The part I'm referring to is #71 in the attached picture. The one I have is not slotted and when it is tightened, allows no up and down movement of the steering column. I haven't been able to find the part on the Moss site for comparison. Anyone have the clamp shown below with a slot in it?

Tim
TD12524

Tim Burchfield

MY Mistake I should have typed part number 60

SPW Wincze

In diagram above, 63 is the TF welded clamp, 50 the TD bolted to firewall/scuttle clamp. Tim, I'm 100% sure if you loosen the firewall clamp you can move it up and down at least an inch. Then tighten the clamp bolt. George
George Butz

Thanks Steve. I think you meant to type 50 in your last reply. My question involves part #71. George, I can see how the TF bracket allows for the column to move up and down. Does the TF also have part number 71?
My car, a 51 TD, has part number 71 and 50. I don't have a problem with part 50. The hole in part 71 for the bolt is not slotted and and the clamp is bolted to the tower/stiffing bracket. I still don't see how the column can move once bolt and nut (70) are tightened. Am I missing something (wouldn't be the first time).

Tim
TD12524
Tim Burchfield

I am thinking about restoring my fathers 52 TD. I am 6'9" 275lbs... should I stop before I start?

Great ideas on this thread!

-Scott
SCG Scott


Scott,

I suggest you find someone in your area with a TD and try it on for size if your father's TD is in a parts only condition.

Good Luck,
Jim
James Neel

I don't think the TF has the lower clamp=- but it has been a long time since I looked at one. Tim, since you won't believe me or listen to my advice, I went out, loosened the #51 clamp, and moved the column up and down and took pictures. Pardon the dust- it is 95F outside now and not our driving season! This is with column pulled down- without loosening the firewall clamp 71.

George Butz

With column up, about where I keep it adjusted.

George Butz

I made the same fix as P.J. The 15 inch Brooklands wheel works great for me at 5'10" and 210 lbs.
Jack Long

George, what makes you think I'm not listening to your advice? I simply asked if your car, a TF, has the same set up as a TD as far as the clamps for the steering column are concerned. Since you indicated they don't then why would your advice apply to my situation and my TD? I appreciate your input and knowledge on this and the many other topics you have commented on here. It seems to me that the steering column clamp at the firewall, on a TD, should be slotted so that when the under dash clap is loosened the column has some up and down movement at the firewall clamp. I can loosen the under dash clamp and move my steering wheel column up or down with some force. But it feels that it is bending at the firewall clamp. If I remove the clamp I can move the column easier and farther up and down. I just wanted to know if others had a slotted clamp at the firewall. I do not. I will put a slot in the clamp and try it for up and down movement. The last resort would be to remove the firewall clamp altogether but I'd like to avoid that if possible. Thank you George and everyone else for your advice and suggestions. I appreciate it.

Tim
TD12524
Tim Burchfield

Tim, what makes you think that George has a TF? His car is a TD. Bud
Bud Krueger

Bud, I assumed since he said the TF didn't have a firewall clamp he was referring to his TF. My mistake. Thanks for pointing that out.

Tim
TD12524
Tim Burchfield

Tim,
The fact that your TD doesn't have a slotted firewall clamp might be the reason the later owners manual was changed (that is: didn't have the vertical adjustment procedure). AFAIK the part number wasn't changed during the production run though.
As my car is a 1950 model I assumed it had the slotted clamp, loosened it up and adjusted the column too my liking.... I really should check now.

Nick (TD3232)
Nick Herwegh

Nick I checked the 1958 MG TD Service Parts List and the "Clip - steering column steady Part # 139940" has not changed since chassis # TD0251. So you were correct. I'd be interested to know if your column steady clamp has a slotted opening for the bolt.

Regards

Tim
TD12524
Tim Burchfield

I fitted a smaller wheel to my road TC and that helped, BUT then I removed the seat runners and carpet from under the seat and it made a BIG difference. It might have been a good idea to fit captive nuts in the seat bottoms (and bolted them from under the floorboards) but I haven't bothered because they don't seem to slide around at all. Despite being fairly tall I feel I am sitting down IN the car, not ON it. I was 6'2 1/2" when I made the changes. I am assuming the same thing could be done with a TD.

Too much stuffing in the seat bottoms and back could accentuate the problem.

Bob Schapel
R L Schapel

Tim,
I loosened up the 5/16"pinch bolt and the clamp opened enough to see that it has a slotted hole. The pinch bolt isn't even up to the top of the slot although my steering wheel is moved upwards as high as possible.

Seems that the clamp was changed during the TD production run without altering the parts number and the owners manual lost the adjustment procedure...

Only thing you can do is to make a slot in your steady clamp.
Best wishes,

Nick (TD3232)
Nick Herwegh

Thanks Nick, that's what I'll do. Glad to see I wasn't totally off base with the adjustable steady clamp. I just couldn't see how the steering wheel rake was adjustable (short of stressing the column) without the firewall steady clamp being adjustable up and down. Thanks again for the info.

Regards

Tim
TD12524
Tim Burchfield

Hi All,

I've followed this thread with interest and almost every issue with leg room speaks to me.

I'm 6'3" and at one point ballooned up to 280 lbs. - a lot of it at my mid-section. My trouser inseam is 34",and this might be the most important of all physical measurements. SCG Scott I'm thinking of you at 6'9" tall - if your legs aren't real long there's hope.

I lacked leg room in a number of ways:
.- my knees were cramped under the stock steering wheel.
.- my right knee rode pretty hard against the gear shift knob, and it took effort to keep it off - exhausting to say the least.
.- my left knee rode hard against the door latch knob and there wasn't much to do about it other than endure.
.- the tops of my knees rubbed up against the bottom curve of the dash.

I love the car and a couple of times a year I'll take some drives of several hundred miles each way for events. I looked for ways to improve the situation and found a number of them.

This will be repetitive with regard to some items, and perhaps of value with one or two that haven't been mentioned. Hoping that it will help to have a number of things all in one post, here goes:

Pedal Extenders - my car had them and I removed them. Big help right away, but things were still tight. By the way, pay attention to how the pedals mount - getting both of them into the same gap between the shafts will make it a very tight fit for your feet to work them.

Steering Wheel - a couple of things:
- with the original steering wheel I adjusted the height to the upper most setting on the bracket behind the dash. This helped. It may be counterintuitive, but I also extended the wheel towards me - it creates more lap room as it slides towards one's chest.
- This was some improvement, but not enough. I got a smaller diameter MotoLita wheel. I found mine on eBay with a custom milled hub - not important, but it looks good.

Seats -
- of course I made sure that they were slid all the way back. I also detached the bracket on the seat back that slides over the tab at the back of the seat base. This lets it ride against the rear bulkhead. Not a big difference, but every little bit counts.
- All of this still left me wanting another couple of inches. I was considering bucket seats since the seat backs are much thinner. This got me looking at the original seat back and the more I looked and compared to some photos online the more it looked like mine was pretty much flat in contour across the width of the car. Some seats showed a pronounced concavity at the driver and passenger positions. I took the seat back to an upholsterer and asked if he could either remove some stuffing or find a way to pull in the back springs tighter to create that concavity. He did it and it got me probably another couple of inches. This was the final bit that I needed for myself. It got my knees free of rubbing on the gear shift, on the door latch, and on the bottom of the dash..

If this last adjustment by the upholsterer had not worked I'm pretty sure that I would have given serious thought to bucket seats. There's a TD not far from me that is a good resto-mod which has them and I would have gone to the owner to try it out first hand before committing.

While these changes made a big difference, I'm by no means saying that it makes it a roomy fit. People ask how I can fit into such a small car and I sum it up by saying it's an act of will - I'll endure some discomfort because I love the car enough. ;-)

Getting in and out is still a procedure - hiney first, then right leg then left leg. Removal is the opposite of insertion. It doesn't require contortions, but it takes thought. I do focus on not using the windshield frame, the door itself or the steering wheel for support when I'm entering or exiting - I focus on using the scuttle for my right hand and the body just in front of the hinge mount for the convertible top (not the rear of the door) for my left. Passengers get the briefing, too, but it's easier for them since there's no steering wheel to work around.

Hope this helps, and as always thanks to all for the benefit of much knowledge and experience that is shared here.

BobbyG


Bobby Galvez

This thread was discussed between 25/07/2017 and 31/07/2017

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