MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Parts

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 - Firewall wood

Taking these wood pieces apart, there was a strip of sticky rubber about 1/2 inch wide in between the strips and between the wood and sheet metal. Is this material still available as original? I wasn't going to pull this apart, but the sheet metal is going to the stripper and I don't want the wood damaged. It appears to have been apart before many years ago. At one time in it's lifetime the car was in an accident and the right side was damaged. A new right door and front fender were installed and by what I'm seeing, other body work was done. When they reinstalled the firewall, they pulled the bolts so tight they bent the lip where the bolts go and a gap was on the drivers side. Instead of straightening the firewall lip, they assembled it back and stuffed Bondo in the gap to hide it! The more I work on this car, the more proof I get that at one time it was owned by idiots, who probably didn't have the knowledge or funds to fix it correctly. So far I think I've removed 10 pounds of undercoating and the front fenders aren't done yet. BUT, it's progressing, so there is hope! Grin. PJ


Paul S Jennings

Yeah Paul - botch and cobble is a way of life for some folks. I assembled mine with 3M strip calk; package number is 051135-08578. Comes in 1 ft lengths - easy to work with - remains pliable and comforms to irregulaties with minimal hassle. Excess is easily removed after tightening. Firewall bolts never get really "tight" due to layers of wood in the sandwich. I pulled the bolts down with the final configuration in place then loosened each and added a drop of Loctite - probably overkill but thats just me. Later,Dan
Dan Craig


Thanks Dan, I'm heading to Lowes to get some more stripper to remove more undercoating, so while there I'll pick up some 3-M strip caulk. Thanks for the tip! All the sheet metal is heading to the media blaster hopefully next week, so I need all the undercoating off. I don't want them to use excess blasting just to remove it. They do a lot of custom cars, so the reports I've been getting is they know what their doing. They'll even coat the metal with a light coat of primer to keep it from flashing over. PJ
Paul S Jennings

Dan's got the right material and the right technique. This stuff used to come in rolls but the strips should be good enough.

I am sure it will be apparent but after you follow Dan's procedure its best to wait as much time as you can (a month or more?) before you take your razor knife for the final trim and finish. Even after a year I have noticed that the expansion of the caulk happens and it oozes out a bit. Of course that means that the caulk color will show (unless in this case you are going to paint your car black) so be prepared for a little touch-up in this area for a year or more.

I attached a picture showing how the stuff squeezes out over time, and it will harden too after years. This is all normal and what it did originally.

Chris Couper

Chris, I see you have regular bolts securing your firewall, I have carriage bolts in mine, which is what was in it when I got it! Which is correct for a 55 TF? PJ
Paul S Jennings

For TF carriage bolts. Sorry I did not realize you were talking about a TF.

Here is your same picture for TF. In this case the owner did not go around touching up the paint over the years so you can see what will eventually happen with the caulk.

Chris Couper

Chris, Ok that's what my bolts look like. Were there any markings on the bolt heads? Are they a British thread? Reason I ask is, I trust nothing on this car as far as nuts and bolts go. Thanks for the foresight on the sealer oozing out over the years. PJ
Paul S Jennings

This thread was discussed between 03/04/2014 and 04/04/2014

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archives. Join this live forum now