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MG TD TF 1500 - Color? Jack & Wheel Brace

What was the original paint color of the King Dick jack, jack handle, and wheel brace for my TF-1500 with disk wheels? TF7211 built Sept 1954.

Thanks,

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Satin black Lonnie. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Thanks Peter.

My wife bought a nearly complete TF tool kit (lucky me!!). I'll paint my KD jack, handle, wheel brace, and cranking handle to join the took kit.

Another question …

Was the cranking handle painted black, or was it black oxide or similar coating? Paint just "begs" to be scraped off when inserted through the bumper.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Crank was black and yes it will get all chipped up.

Note the brass handle "probably" was black too but most like to leave it brass. Hard to tell for sure although I have seen unrestored cars with all black cranks.

TF9052 has a CAD crank but I am skeptical of that. There are a number of CAD items on that car that other cars don't have.

Matthew's TF is late so perhaps he can tell us if his brass handle was natural or black.
Christopher Couper

<<TF9052 has a CAD crank but I am skeptical of that.>>

The owner said he had this cad plated. Why, I have no idea.




Frank Cronin

Probably the same reason Lonnie is concerned about the scratches. CAD plated means no paint loss but if you look at it, it still has scratches where it was clipped in. :-)
Christopher Couper

I've seen an original TF handle on a one owner car here and it was definitely cad plated. I'm going with polished and lacquered brass though, as are there are precious few who can be definitive about the originality of this component and able to supply incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

One thing you can probably be sure of is that it was not polished and lacquered brass....
J K Barter

My 55 TFs crank was black, (what paint was on it), and the brass handle was dirty green from age, it appeared to have never been painted. Then again, who knows for sure, I just polished it up. PJ
PJ Jennings

"I've seen an original TF handle on a one owner car here and it was definitely cad plated."

Are you sure it was not just faded and dull nickel silver? MG seemed to put nickel on a lot of brass stuff which tarnishes and comes off rapidly.
Christopher Couper

I am not certain if my TF9097 handle is the original or if it has been swapped out at some stage, but here is the original handle for TF4887, photo by the owner D.Walker. Appears to be thinly plated brass. Like the other tools, the handle probably evolved over time, and not necessarily in conjunction with MG model changes.

M Magilton

Are you sure it was not just faded and dull nickel silver? MG seemed to put nickel on a lot of brass stuff which tarnishes and comes off rapidly.

Could have been Chris, the dirty greenish color could have been a mixture of anything, It took a bit of polishing on a power buffer to clean it up. PJ
PJ Jennings

Paul: When you polished the handle did it get kind of shiny and yellowish vs the bright and blue of chrome? Nickel will look that way.

Matthew's looks like nickel to me from the picture.

PS: It looks like years ago I decided that the crank handle was nickel over brass and that is what I published on the website finish pages.

It's fun to get old in that you get to redo all sorts of things and events just like it was the first time. :-)
Christopher Couper

I've seen photos of brass handles and plated handles. Some have creases around the middle. Some are smooth.

My cranking handle is in pretty sad shape. Rust pits. Missing handle. I have smoothed the handle area somewhat with a flap sander since the photo below was taken. Not much better than putting lipstick on a pig.

TOP PHOTO: Cranking handle in TF9052. Probably cad plated as Frank stated.

CENTER TWO PHOTOS: My cranking handle. I'll probably clean it up, paint, and keep the tonneau in place to hide it.

BOTTOM TWO PHOTOS: Cranking handle in a TF owned by the late Will Bowden. Not showing brass.

Lonnie
TF7211


LM Cook

Lonnie: Was your crank stored on the Titanic?
Christopher Couper

I warned you that it was in sad shape.

My guess is that water was trapped under the handle and caused the corrosion.

Interesting, the Moss TD/TF cranking handle #386-150 has an open end and a crease around the middle like mine, but no rust pits.

$100 Moss; $200 ebay; gotta finish my restoration before I even think about getting a better one.

Lonnie
TF7211

Moss cranking handle - handle.

LM Cook

I meant to say thinly plated over the brass, not thinly plated brass.
M Magilton

The owner of TF 9052 was obsessed with preservation of his car, and he had his crank cad plated so it would not rust.
David
D. Sander

Perhaps with the lack of uniformity of the hand crank - it is in the same case as the tool rolls, jack, and grease gun. Depending on supply and availability, sometimes you got a Shelly, a King Dick, Enots, or a Tecalemit.

In the case of the hand crank, having a nickel plated handle, brass handle, all black, and all cad are correct?

Here's mine.

Frank

TF 1414



Frank Cronin

My handle is cad which I painted black with a brass handle. At shows I put it through the bumper and into the dog nut. Never fails to start a conversation. Young folks want to know what it is and the old ones always have a story about hand cranking something.

Jim
James Neel

The main reason for not doing that is that sooner or later somebody is going to whack their shins on it and it may be you.
Dave H
Dave Hill

James, you tell the kids its to wind up the giant spring inside right?
M Magilton

This thread was discussed between 24/06/2019 and 01/07/2019

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