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MG TD TF 1500 - My radiator story

This is a long story, it will take two posts.

I purchased my TD in the fall of 1966. I drove it in the Boston area for that fall and that winter and then in Florida for several more years. The radiator never seemed to be an issue although the radiator cap never fit correctly and it had a pressure cap screwed to it.
During the rebuild I recognized that it was an incorrect radiator. (See the first montage. )
It was a German made radiator that had been repaired in the Boston area.
I got an eBay special TD radiator, which I had to have recored. Thinking that was all that was needed I reassembled the connections as they were, With new hoses and "Correct"? clamps.

Then a few weeks ago, I posted my thermostat housing and was informed that the bypass assembly was incorrect. (Upper left picture in the second collage.)

Doing some research on Criss' "Survivor site" I saw what should be there. I order a bypass outlet elbow and new hoses from FTFU. While waiting I decided that the branch pipe was incorrect also and would not work.

In the second second collage upper right you see the old hoses, adapter and branch pipe. (The bypass tube gotBlocked in the collage. It's much smaller than the "normal one This was leading to a build up of rust in the thermostat housing).

The lower left frame, shows the new parts from FTFU. I did need to cut 3/4" off the new branch pipe. I suspect my radiator is a bit too close, but I have no Idea how to correct that.

While there I drained all the old antifreeze and renewed it. Is been in there about 4 years now, but only about 800 miles on it.

The next post will show the reinstalled parts.

Jim B.





JA Benjamin

So here is all the new stuff. Please let me know of any issues.


It seems amazing the extent that some PO went to to avoid replacing the correct parts.

Jim B.

JA Benjamin

Those clamps may be correct, but they draw a lot of blood.
J Barry

Wow, there's something I've never seen before. I guess it worked though.
Steve Simmons

Jim I think the small elbow for the branch pipe may be from a YT. The original TD elbow fitted the take off area on the thermostat perfectly. The YT and the TD are similar but a keen eye would spot the difference. I'm now looking for the correct elbow as I have recently acquired one from a YT. It appears to be identical to yours and accompanied the TD thermostat housing and an original oil filler cap that I swapped a restored ignition switch for recently. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Jim B: Looks great. One small nit picking tip. Whenever you change out the hoses again align your hose clamps so you can use the screwdriver on them in place. Some of yours are rotated or upside down where you would have to disconnect assemblies to loosen/tighten them.

As was pointed out by others in various threads, most nut and bolt positions are what they are in relationship to an assembled car, not what would be easiest to assemble from scratch.
Christopher Couper

Thanks Chris.
I did mess up on the clamps that are on the lower radiator outlet. I think the fasteners should be on the bottom of the hose to give more fan clearance. The hard one is the inner clamp at this connection. The chrome radiator shroud blocks it along with the fan. There is no room for a screw driver, or a nut driver (what I actually used). I wound up using a 5/32 open end wrench.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

Jim, Your last picture looks correct. Is your temperature sender been relocated from the radiator tank to the elbow below the thermostat housing? This gives you a more rapid and accurate reading.



John Quilter (TD8986)

Jim B: This is the best arrangement of the clamps I could come up with.

The vertical pipes clamps could be rotated a bit more though but you get the idea.


Christopher Couper

Bottom hose clams on a TFs position are critical so you can get a screw driver on them when the side panels are on. I made that mistake when I put mine back together and found I had to take the side panel back off to reposition them, not fun! PJ
PJ Jennings

This thread was discussed between 12/06/2020 and 14/06/2020

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