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MG TD TF 1500 - TF 1414 Tub rebuild and going on chassis tomorrow

This is what I do on my vacation. Rebuild the TF. I haven't had a "normal " vacation in three years....

Assembly went pretty smooth which I think having a car not having any wood to repair and only repairing the original body panels to the tub. I was pretty much nailing in the original holes in the wood that I did plug with wood match sticks, tooth picks, and wood glue. Every nail was nice and tight. Finished the tub in 2 1/2 days. Doors on day three and apply epoxy primer to touch up. It's going on the chassis tomorrow. ... FINALLY! !


Frank Cronin

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Frank Cronin

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Installed felt as originally done at the Factory

Frank Cronin

4

For the cowl, used strip wax. When taking the car apart it looked like rubber crushed between two panels but it really isnt. You could peel off some of the old stuff and it would roll into a ball between your fingers. It does ooze after application and just simply scrap off.

Frank Cronin

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Not original but put some on under the scuttle to keep water from seeping in from under the seam.

Frank Cronin

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Application to rear quarter.

Frank Cronin

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Close up of the wax.

Frank Cronin

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Frank Cronin

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End of day 3

Frank Cronin

End of today.

Frank Cronin

And it's going on this tomorrow. Finish up the doors and panel test fit the entire car.

Frank Cronin

Must be a joy to work in a space like that Frank. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Frank, looks great. I can't help but notice the tires. If you don't mind could you tell me what the brand of tires are, the width of the white wall, radial or bias ply, and the size. Thanks, Fred
F. Driver

You have something to be proud of there. Nice work. Beautiful job.
David
D. Sander

Frank


Could you let us know how you went about removing all the nails from the body?
Bruce Cunha

Hi Frank,

"Finished the tub in 2 and a half days". I am envious!
Great to see a very good TF being brilliantly restored by a true enthusiast.Congratulations.

Rob Grantham
TF3719("Aramis"),TF9177("Athos").
R GRANTHAM

Excellent work Frank! Your doing a bang up job! PJ
Paul S Jennings

Very nice job Frank what colour do you have in mind?
D Lamb

Thanks everyone for the kinds words. Much of all the credit goes to everybody on this board sharing all your knowledge and experience restoring these cars. I owe much of what I accomplished to you guys.

Bruce - the best tool I found was a cheap cat's claw I bought for a under $5 at ACE Hardware. I read your post this morning but I didn't have time to find that tool to take a picture. It was small enough to get under the head of the nail with some help with a hammer to raise the nail's head but carefully so you don't break off the head of the nail. With just enough clearance to expose the shank, I used a pair of side cutters to grasp the shank of the nail, gradually lifting it out of the wood, and finally twisting it out. As long as the nails aren't so badly rusted without breaking the head, they came out pretty easily. The only place I ground down the head of the nail was on the scuttle where it is nailed to the front top rail to prevent damage to the metal on the scuttle.

Fred - I bought the tires from http://www.dbtires.com/index.html I purchased the Diamondback I 15" tires 165/80R15 with 2 1/4" white wall width. I really like the tread pattern and it really looks close to bias ply which I really wanted but has the safety and ride characteristics of a modern radial tire.

I did a lot of research on this as to which company to buy from. I did a lot of reading on reviews between this company and Corker and I found a lot of great reviews from Diamondback compared to Corker. I know white walls are not "correct" but the goal of my restoration is to bring it back how it looked how my mother remembers the car growing up and when I remember the car when it was given to use when I was four years old. I'll post a 1960's vintage picture on the next post.

Peter - I have to say I'm lucky I've got a friend who's helping me who has a nice shop. He is a machinist by trade. We work together real well and he is enthusiastic about this project as much as I am.

Dave Sander - I'll never forget you taking my call one morning just to talk about tips restoring the tub and all your sound advice. Much appreciated!

Rob - the knowledge you share to the forum and dedication to precisely restore TF's accurately and correctly does not go unnoticed. You set a high standard and I hope to reach that.

PJ - thanks to your recent post on the scuttle wood blocks and scuttle brackets... I needed look at that today while assembling since I had no photos taken of them before I removed them when disassembling the car. Thanks for getting me out of a jam!

D Lamb - The car was originally grey and it will painted that color. After a long and exhausting search, I have found the grey paint and I will reveal the exact color when I have mine painted and finished. I will be painting it single stage.

And now for the pictures...

Frank Cronin

This is me and the car around 6PM tonight. I'm pretty happy!

Frank Cronin

2.

Passenger side door. Having a solid, , well preserved, single owner car helps! A simple adjustment to door cross brace and I was finished.

Frank Cronin

3.

The driver side was the challenge however. The problem was the bottom hinge. The door was making contact with the body panel not allowing the door to fully close. The solution was to add a spacer under the brass hinge and a few whacks to the bottom hinge to make the door more square.

Frank Cronin

Last pic. Now she's ready for paint!

Frank Cronin

The inspiration. Photo for Fred.

Frank Cronin

Frank, thanks for the tire info. there is a way to find out if your TF left the factory with white wall tires. If you contact British Motor Heritage in England for the build information on your car and the record has a little red dot towards the end of the entries than it was born with white wall tires and destined for the USA. If you would like a copy of this information for my TF contact me at driverduo@comcast.net
Fred
F. Driver

Frank, I am glad to help, and glad I was home when you called. I'll happily take a call to help a fello enthusiast.
You may want to try to bend the hinge you have shimmed. I usuaully bend the hinge by placing a piece of pine in the hinge and forcing the door closed to bend it, spreading the hinge open more.
It looks great! It helps to have a solid car to start with. I can't wait to see it in person. Remember to take a lot of pictures for your restoration album.
Best of luck,
David
D. Sander

This thread was discussed between 11/12/2014 and 13/12/2014

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