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MG TD TF 1500 - TD Serial Number

Hi all

I am getting ready to register the TD here in PA and am not sure what the serial number is. I have attached a picture of the plate. It is unusual in that it has a number in the middle block where all of the ones shown here http://www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtd/mgtd_etchings.htm#chassis have letter codes.

The Florida title has the 21872 as the identification number. Just looking at the plate I would think it would be 6016.

What do you think?

Stuart

S Grimm

Stuart it seems the serial or VIN number is as you suggest. It's also the chassis number. At the LH front of the car on the chassis rail you'll find this number stamped into the bottom of the triangular bracket, but either number could be correct as there were about 29,000 TD's made. My guess is that your I.D. plate may be a reproduction. You're correct in assuming yours should have letters identifying the destined market e.g. EX LH NA (Export Left Hand Drive North America) or something similar stamped into the middle part of the plate. There should also be more in the archive on this. Tom Lange may be able to shed a bit more light. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Yes, Peter is right - your Guarantee plate is a reproduction. Chassis 6016 came with engine 6318; you can verify this chassis number by the front left dumb-iron, where the outside vertical plate will have the chassis number stamped there (often hard to find and read). Be sure the numbers on the plate and your title match the chassis number, and verify that the engine number is the correct one. If it is titled as 21872, you perhaps have a problem.

I do not know what 21872 is or means; it is not an "official" MG number, and may perhaps reflect a replacement engine? I would do everything in my power to have the number corrected by the DMV to the chassis number (6016), and save everyone down the line major hassles. In CA especially, in the 50's cars were titled with their engine numbers rather than their chassis numbers, which makes life difficult when engines have been swapped.

I'm happy to help verify your car in any way I can, as I have copies of the Production Records for all T-type cars.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

If whoever made those plates would have just etched the TD/ you guys would never be able to tell the repos's :-)
Christopher Couper

Stuart - You are correct, your car is TD6016, original engine number is XPAG/TD/LHX6318 Built 12 Feb 1951 (see picture below). The place that the DMV is going to want to see is where the car# is stamped into the left front dumb iron, just below the fender. If you will e-mail me at SUfuelpumps@donobi.net I'll send you a complete write up of where to find the numbers are.

D.W. DuBois

See http://www.ttalk.info/Tech/CarNumber.htm for more information on this. Bud
Bud Krueger

I got nuttin'. I removed the fender and found nothing (see pic). The area is very smooth. The inside is another story. It is very rough like someone took a ball peen hammer and beat on it for a few hours. It looks like it has been scrubbed. I could remove the paint but I don't think we would find anything.

The engine is in fact 6318. Are there any other serialized parts that would help identify the car as TD 6016?

Stuart

S Grimm

Stuart,

Look for your Body ID Plate as pictured about a third of the way down this website page:

http://www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtd/mgtd_etchings.htm

I'm going to bet that 21872 appears on that plate and that's what Florida used to identify your vehicle.

One of my cars originally had an Arkansas title that used a number on the Body ID plate.
David Littlefield

My TD has a Utah state plate on the bulkhead and uses an arbitrary assigned number which appears in the original US title documents. The car is actually TD21284 as stamped on the chassis. They obviously ignored this for some reason. Has anybody come across this in the past?
Regards
Declan

D Burns

Chassis stamp TD21284

D Burns

With hammer marks inside and smooth outside, any chance the outside has been Bondo filled? Feel the thickness to see. BTW, my TD which was originally sold here in Florida has the engine # XPAG... line as the VIN #. George
George Butz

Stuart, Declan's second pic shows you exactly where to look for your number. Mine was invisible until I wire brushed the area clean thus revealing the number. It had been filled with paint which I was then able to remove from the indentations & it is now visible again. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

After a bit of sanding off paint there is definitely nothing stamped into the frame. I have a feeling the car was in a front end accident and that part of the frame was replaced or it was rotted out and replaced.

The numbers on the body id plate do not match the one stamped into the second box on the chassis id plate where the codes are supposed to go.

It could be that somewhere down the line it got a number assigned to it like Declan's Utah car or whoever made the repro id plate just screwed it up.

I have to get the VIN verified by a certified inspection mechanic or a police officer so I will see what they say about. We may just leave it as is unless it is a simple matter to get it changed.

Stuart

S Grimm

Declan,

The laws and practices vary from state to state, but generally speaking, a state will assign a VIN to a car whose original VIN has gone missing or has been defaced or altered. Also, hot rods often require an assigned VIN because they can be assembled from pieces of several different cars. It could be the State of Utah would have the reason your car has an assigned VIN, but access to records going back to 1978 may be difficult if not impossible.
David Littlefield

One more idea - The Body Number. There should be another plate on the firewall that talks about the Body Number, see http://www.ttalk.info/Tech/BodyPlate.htm for this. Is there such a plate on the car? Any chance that the number 21872 appears on it? Bud
Bud Krueger

D W

Are there records that would match the body number to the chassis number? So far the TD number and the engine number match your production document. If we could match the body to the chassis then we would have enough information to call it TD 6016.

Stuart
S Grimm

You might find something on the wood runner under one of the doors if their original. I think they were stamped. Kind of suspicious that it was removed from the chassis. You might open up a can of worms from years ago. PJ
Paul S Jennings

You can always try what they did in the 50's. Show them the engine number and claim its the car number. My car is registered that way.
Christopher Couper

This thread was discussed between 10/06/2015 and 11/06/2015

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