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MG TD TF 1500 - Door Tensioners

Does anyone have the contact info for the fellow who makes and sells the turnbuckle style door tensioners?
I have bought from him on ebay but cannot find a current listing. I lost track of his name and address.

Thanks
Tom
'54 TF
T Norby

Tom,

I know exactly who you are talking about. When I wanted to find him I couldn't find him either. I have recently seen those on ebay. I will keep an eye out for him. Because I could not find him, we made our own. We screwed the eye bolts through the steel plate for more strength.

http://home.comcast.net/~rrking13/IMG_1191.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~rrking13/IMG_1192.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~rrking13/IMG_1201.JPG

Hope this helps,

Rich

www.mgtd.co.nr

Rich King TD 8732

Tom,
FYI...If you're into DIY I used threaded rods with adjusting nuts recessed into the bottom of the door. Now adjustments can be made in either direction without taking the door panels off.
Mort

Mort 50 TD (Mobius)

I used 1/4" rod, threaded lh and rh with gas welded mounting plates The plates duplicate the ends of the originals.

Jim B.

JA Benjamin

Nice work Jim!!!!

Are you going to be coming up to our British By The Sea Gathering on June 1st? Harkness Memorial State Park, Waterford CT?

SPW
STEVE WINCZE

I have just been messing around with the door tensioners and used fitings I bought from a hardware store that are used to tension fencing wire. They have a LH and a RH thread and turning them either shortens or lengthens them. I did find, however, that the strap does not pull in the problematic, front, lower corner of the door. All it does is pull the frame into a sort of parallelogram and prevent the lower front return on the door catching the body frame.


Jan T
J Targosz

I'm putting in X tension points as Mort did. One of my doors leans out at the top verses the normal bottom. To keep both doors more stable, I'll use the 4 point system. PJ
Paul S Jennings

Paul,
Consider running a threaded rod through the bottom of the door frame. Counter bore the bottom hole for a tensioning nut. I use a lock nut. This way you can tighten or loosen as required. Overtime the camber may change and you wont have to take the panels off.
Try to keep the axis of the rods toward the inside surface of the door. This way you will be putting a camber on the door instead of creating a parallelogram. I think that is what happened to Jan as mentioned above. That's the possible danger of misplacing eye screws when using the turnbuckle method. The way Jim did his resolves that problem.
Mort

Mort 50 TD (Mobius)

Good point Mort! I'll copy your photo, I copied the previous ones. Looks like you embedded the upper brackets. I like the idea, a little more work, but adjusting the doors in the future is a piece of cake! Actually, quite ingenious! Thanks. PJ
Paul S Jennings

I'll answer my own question.
He is Sherwood Parker
Can be reached at sherparker1 at msn.com
I found his product to be well designed and it really helped true up my door fit.

Tom
T Norby

The problem I found with a turnbuckle is that you must turn it in increments of half a turn so that it rests flat below the side panel. If the pitch in the rod thread is too coarse, half a turn may be excessive for a fine adjustment in the door fit. The devices that use a nut allow for a continuous adjustment.

And, of course, one wants to warp the door at the corners, and not to deform the door frame in its plane. Hence, the tensioning rod must be attached at the innermost of the door frame.

Jesús
J Benajes



Perhaps a related question from your humble poster - my driver-side door (LHD) on my '54 TF was caught by a very strong wind gust and now is a bit more "sprung." Any "easier" remedies that I might try before a more tedious or "major" effort? Remember - I don't know from much!

I can close the door with a bit of effort and it stays shut.

However, I have to be careful when unlatching as it tries to spring open pretty forcefully!

Thanks to any "tutors" out there,

Jerry
Jerry Chandler 1951 TD

Jerry,
Might you have a photo of the door hinges from above both closed and open?
Was the door distorted at all or just the hinges?
Mort
Mort 50 TD (Mobius)

Use a strip of computer paper. about 1" wide and 8.5" long.
Close the door and find where its rubbing against the opening.
Then insert, increasingly thick shims inserted where the paper drags, forcibly closing the door against the shims, to un-bend the door or hinges until the door closes without effort.

This is an old body repair mans trick.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

It might not be all in the door, the hinges could be sprung. You'll have to pull the door to check, meaning one side of the hinge has to be free, when it is, see if it will fold flat as if the door was closed. If it's sprung, there will be a fair size gap and it won't fold flat. Remove the hinge, close it, put it in a vise and squeeze the hinge together. Being brass, it will re shape it's self quite easily. PJ
Paul S Jennings

This thread was discussed between 27/04/2014 and 29/04/2014

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