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MG TD TF 1500 - Changed position of speedo

In my left hand drive TD 54, the steering wheel covered the most important section of the speedo. To improve the visibility of the speedo, I changed the locations of the speedo and the tacho. Only a hole for the trip meter set knob had to be drilled. The figures on the front of the speedo gives the speed from GPS readings in km. They do not correspond to the miles on the meter as a 5 speed gearbox has been installed.

YS Strom

I never drive with the speedometer, just the tach - that's all I need to see.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Sports cars were designed to be driven hard and the speed was what you maximized at any point. Thus engine performance and shift points were critical. The speed of the car was immaterial, an after affect.

So Tom is of the sports car purest set which dictates the only gauge you need to worry about is the tach. The speedo was only for those occasions through urban areas that you could not actually drive your car, but were just passing through to get to the other driving side. :-)
Christopher Couper

How are the instruments arranged in an a TD with the wheel to the right? Is the speedo partially covered by the wheel or is it to the left of the tach?

Personally I am more concerned about not over speeding and loosing the license than being a strict purist - but I have great respect for those who are - and the brain power required to work out the speed from five different gears and actual RPM I prefer to use for concentrating on the traffic and other more interesting tasks.

In the old days there were no speed limits between towns and villages, but now we have speed limits everywhere, so I find it a good idea to make speed checks as easy as possible and I am not urging anyone to copy my conversion. My intention was only to share this experience with those who might be interested.
YS Strom

RHD TD dash. Cheers
Peter TD 5801

P Hehir

My TC had/has the speedo right in front of the passenger, almost impossible to read most of the time so you learn to drive on the tacho.
Regards Don TF 4887 TC XPAG 7730
D J Walker

In pretty short order you know the gear/rpm=speed traveling without a need to glance at the speedo.

But as they say, it is your car. Modify it how you like, the next owner can fix it and talk about the DPO that owned his car before him.
Regards, tom
tm peterson

I'm kinda with Tom on this one. In California there are always cars passing me!
chuck
cj schmit

I've been thinking about it, and realize that I drive as much by sound as by speed. I know the way 25 feels, and 50 and - yes - 65!

I hear when a tire is low, and when the fanbelt is too loose. I hear when to shift out of first (almost immediately!), and when the transmission oil level needs checking. I head when it's lugging just a bit, and know that I have been ignoring the tach.


Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Jag XK-140 has the tachometer in front of the driver and the speedometer in front of the passenger. Back in 1958 we had a '52TD (that we drove across country). My wife drove it by the tachometer, as I did. We were in the USMC in San Diego at the time. A close friend , who had an XK140 asked us to mind the car for him when he went hom e on Christmas leave. Friends from MA were in town and stopped in for a visit. My wife thought that the friend might like to go for a ride in the Jag, so off they went. When they returned the friend looked a bit ashen. After they left I asked my wife what might have happened. She said, "I don't know. I just took her for a ride up 101 and never went over 5000. On the way back she (the friend) started talking about the psychology of people who drive at excessive speeds. I couldn't figure out why she did that." I then explained to my wife about the difference in gearing between the Jag XK140 and a TD. The friend was staring at a speedometer that was reading close to 120 mph. That was a great car. Bud
Bud Krueger

Yeah Tom. I was going to call you out on the sound thing but you corrected yourself before I got to you. :-)

Coming back from the last GoF West I had to disconnect my Tach and the Speedo was not working properly. I just drove by sound. After a few years you get pretty adept at that.
Christopher Couper

This thread was discussed between 02/11/2015 and 05/11/2015

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