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 - TF 1500 chassis spacer

Dear All,
Can you help me please, what was their material of chassis spacers and how thick was their original? Where were their split and their closing (holey).

Thanks for your answer in advance.

Tamas

PT Panker

The spacers are some type of hard cardboard fiber material. Sometimes they have a cut out so they can be placed with a bolt in place, others I've seen have no cut out, only a hole. I use 5/16 fender washers with one neoprene fender washer. This seems to work well, everything lines up and no squeaks and rattles.
-David
D. Sander

Tamas: As Dave points out the material was a hard cardboard like multi-layered fiberboard.

But that's half the story. These shims were not just for padding sake but are used to bend the body frame and to create just the right opening for the doors. Therefore they are different thicknesses depending on the cars geometry and how the body was constructed.

See the note on fitting the doors here:

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

If you search the archives you can find even more hints and notes on getting the doors just right. Its a bit of an art and a lot of trial and error unless you get lucky.
Christopher Couper

It is very important to do all the body work on the tub with the tub on the frame. The biggest mistake made is when all the wood and body work is done with the car in pieces, then assembly is attempted after painting. Nothing will line up. These shims are used to achieve a good alignment with the hood and tub, and with the doors. Once these alignments are ok, the front fenders and running boards and then the rear fenders can be test fitted. Only when the whole car is assembled and the alignments correct can the car then be painted.
It is not at all uncommon for greater than 1/4" to be made up with these shims between the tub and the frame.
As I stated above, I use a neoprene 5/16 fender washer, with steel fender washers as needed for shims. This provides near infinite adjustment, with proper isolation for a quiet, rattle free mounting.
-David
D. Sander

Dave, good tip on the tub since this is the next thing on the list for me.

Currently the tub is on a dolly still all together. When taking the running boards off on disassembly, I discovered there is rust and metal decay around where the three bolts went through to mount the running boards to the tub. This seems like a common area where there is rust issues due to the moisture being trapped from the piping over the years. At first glance, the rust doesn't seem all that bad but more will tell when the metal gets processed exposing what lays under the paint.

After reading your post, do you recommend lowering and bolting the tub to the chassis and doing the metal work, cutting, shaping, welding, for repair? I know it will be tricky with wood under the metal to weld. Maybe sliding a piece of aluminum to help prevent wood burn.

This is a picture the right side.

Frank





Frank Cronin

Frank,
Most likely, you will have to cut a piece of the front quarter panel out and make a new piece to weld in. Ideally, you can make the seam at a diagonal from the corner of the door opening going down and forward to the bottom of the quarter panel, butt welding the new piece in. You will have to peel the metal off the wood to do the repair. You may find the bottom sill and the bottom four inches of the door pillar to be soft and ponky.
If this is the case, you will have to replace this wood. I would suggest sourcing the wood from Craig Seabrook at The Whitworth Shop in novelty, Ohio.
Whatever the course of action, make sure you leave the seam where the front and rear quarter panels meet. All to often people weld a patch in and eliminate this seam, making the front and rear quarter panels one contagious piece. In addition to looking wrong and not being original, removal of its seam will create stress cracks in the paint and any body filler.
You can do repairs with the tub on the tub dolly, just be sure to test fit on the chassis before you do any painting.
When I rebuild a tub, I do the wood of each side on the bench, then place the sides on the frame and test fit the doors, then hang the metal, and fit the doors again.
D. Sander

This thread was discussed between 05/01/2014 and 06/01/2014

MG TD TF 1500 index

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