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MG TD TF 1500 - TD '51 Bulkhead Foot Plate Damage?

Can someone please help with the following problem and questions. I'm trying to put the transmission cover back on since I'm replacing my floorboards and it does not fit at all. (see picture)

1. Is the top portion of the Bulkhead foot plate bent or damaged? That portion of the sheet metal should simply lie flat, not bend, right?

2. Do I need a new Bulkhead foot plate? I assume so

3. If so, where can I source? Moss doesn't carry it.

4. And, importantly, how hard is it to replace this without removing any other parts of the frame/chassis/scuttle top?

Boy, have I opened a can of worms!? :-0

Thanks,
Steve


SJC

Steve,
Being an amateur blacksmith, I was thinking that you could just remove the Bulkhead plate and hammer it flat again...?????
C.M. groucho

Steve,
That's bent and it looks typical of a botched removal or installation of the engine with the transmission attached.

If you remove it and bring it to a decent body shop, they can shrink it back... don't just mash it flat with a hammer, it will be distorted from the extra metal made when it was stretched.



Blair
Blair Weiss

Yes & no. What CM suggests is what I'd do. Remove it & then make a template out of thin art cardboard ensuring your template fits. It doesn't have to look pretty. Once you're happy with the fit of the template use it to reshape your original. I remade mine without too much drama. If you can get a pic of an original LHD footplate that would also help. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Thanks. I thought about trying to fix it myself after posting the message. Is it difficlt to remove in present state? I'm an expert at making simple tasks difficult.
SJC

I have fixed worse than that. This is typical of the damage after an engine/transmission removal and replacement. This was typical work when these were just used cars, wether it was an engine or transmission replacement or a clutch job.
This can easily be hammered back to shape with a hammer and dolly. You may find there are cracks in these metal too. These can be welded.
David
D. Sander

If it has stretched a trick of heating it up red and then dumping cold water on it can shrink it back. You can repeat that a few times.

It will cause the sheet metal to warp a bit but you have that now already.

BTW mine is worse. Somebody cut through it once to replace the camshaft freeze plug that had worked loose. :-)
Christopher Couper

Did the cover fit before removing the floorboards? The throttle should be disconnected if not already to allow room. It is a huge amount of work to remove with the car assembled. Unless you are restoring the car, just bend/hammer it out of the way so the cover fits, then use foam something to seal any gap.
George Butz

George, no it did not fit beforehand. The floors were seriously rotted so I thought new floorboards would take care of some of the fitting issues.

PO (my Dad) simply drilled new holes in cover to accommodate poor fit. Now those too seem to be out of whack. And yes it is a lot of work pulling out! I discovered that last night.

Lastly, in the highlighted area,

1. Is there supposed to be a "lip" for the cover to sit on?

2. Or should it be pounded flat so the cover can butt up against flush?

3. Or should I just not worry so much about it, get the da!# thing on and seal up where necessary?!

Steve
SJC

Mine was bent up also, not as bad as yours, but the transmission cover would not fit right. Their not difficult to remove if the floor boards are out. Unhook the throttle shaft from the carbs and it'll come out with the plate. Like Chris said, heating it up to a cherry red and shrinking with cold water, I use a wet rag, will help shrink the stretched areas back to normal position, along with pounding everything flat. I've done a lot of sheet metal work and your panel is very repairable. Your transmission cover will not fit properly in the condition your panel is in. It's not a 5 min job, but there's no way I'd leave it as it is. JMHO. PJ
Paul S Jennings

There is supposed to be about a 3/8" lip for the floorboards to rest on, if I remember correctly. One one car, a TD, this piece was so deformed that after I got it flat and true again I actually had to cut about 1/8" off one side to make it fit again.
David
D. Sander

There is no sealing lip, the edge of the curved part is rounded/rolled over I think, but rolled outward? The mating surface should be flat with the cover flange. Technically Paul is right, just depends how much time you want to put in, and what your end goals are for the car. I drove my TD for many years with the same part mangled up worse than yours. One corner had been bent up and cracked, and there was a big hole drilled to replace the rear freeze plug. Sealed it up with duct tape and that worked fine. Be careful if you remove it, because then you can pull the tranny easily and may as well change the clutch. The trickle down can result in total restoration......
George Butz

Thanks again everyone! Abingdon Spares sent me this picture of a new one which helps with an attack plan. can send before and after pictures if anyone is interested?

Also, I knew that it could be patched up and sealed with various items but want to minimize that to keep all the gas fumes out. Right now there are more holes and leaks than I can count...

Steve

SJC

Steve in Dallas,

As usual, Abingdon is quite helpfull!!!!!

STEVE in Ct
Steve Wincze


I wanted to make two points here.
First Steve:
On your panel, it looks like you are missing the captive nuts that retain the transmission cover bolts.
You should try to replace these as getting nuts on the transmission housing securing bolts is difficult and a two man job.

Second, all;
In Steve's first picture you can see the original positions of the lift-the-dot studs for the carpet.
Moss shows a different placement, but Steve's picture matches my early 52'.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

JA,


See picture. Not sure why there's another lift-a-dot on the left side but not on the right?

And can you be more specific on where the "missing the captive nuts that retain the transmission cover bolts". I will google too.

I took the the cover off and pounded down but it still doesn't fit!? :-( At this point I'm going to improvise.

Lastly, per everyone's advice, I'm going to repair (attempt at least) the my pedal box issue. Man oh man is that going to be hard!

SJC

There is non on the right because the foot rest goes there and the carpet does not extend up on to the bulkhead.

Looking at your initial picture again, you may have all the captive nuts. The ones in a semicircle that the transmission cover bolts to.
If you do then ignore my comment. If you do not, you should put something there. I had to make a few.
At one time my bulkhead had been cut in half. Perhaps a clutch or flywheel blew up. It did some damage that I repaired but I could have done a better job on the captive nuts.

Attached is one of my replacements.

Remember the plate is covered by the carpet so perfection is not that important.


JA Benjamin

See http://www.ttalk.info/PedalShaftDelk.htm for some good info on the pedal box. It's by Jeffery Delk, Southeastern MG　T　Register. Bud
Bud Krueger

Bud, thanks. I've read that but still trying to process it all. When I opened up the Pedal Box, there was no spring. It's all a bit confusing at times because one parts website will show a spring and some don't.

JA, yes I have all of those bolts and I'm glad you said it's a two man job. It makes me feel better about my assumed ineptness...
SJC

SJC you can see the use of the LTD snaps in the pictures here:

http://www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtd/mgtd_carpet.htm
Christopher Couper

If you look close enough, you can see the spot welds for the capture nuts cages. PJ



Paul S Jennings

Steve, I've done it twice, by myself. First time was quite easy. The tub wasn't on the frame and the gearbox wasn't installed. Second time was a complete TD. Main thing that would help would be to have fingers that are about 4 inches longer than they are now. Bud
Bud Krueger

Steve, removing the scuttle ramp would also be a big help for pedal box work. Bud
Bud Krueger

This is hilarious!

My "long weekend" floorboards replacement project (started about a month ago and still not finished) has turned into:

-clean and prime the tunnels
-repair bulkhead foot plate
-repair pedal box
-remove front fender for access (and respective lights)
-replace fume excluders and retaining plates
-to a decision to go ahead and restore it! ☺

So, I'm now off to searching the "restoration" archives, and asking you guys a lot of questions, I'm sure.

Wish me luck!

Steve
SJC

Steve
There is a TD footwell panel currently on Australian ebay for $50.
Peter TC9356
Peter Malkin

Steve, Reason I thought of naming my car "Two Step"! It's been two steps forward and one step back since I started on mine 5 years ago, so I definitely know where your coming from! Fun isn't it! Sure get an education in the process! LOL. PJ
Paul S Jennings

Thanks Peter but it looks to be RHD
SJC

Is the foot Plate the same colour on both sides?

Cheers...Barry
C B Ryley

Yes. Black. But most of the inside is covered in carpet.

http://www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtd/mgtd_finishes.htm#SheetMetalFinishes
Christopher Couper

This thread was discussed between 09/03/2015 and 20/03/2015

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