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MG TD TF 1500 - Wood between firewall & body

Was a filler used as a sealer between the wooden bow and the tub/firewall? Mine appears to have some sort of a sealer in there. Mine also has a small V grove on each side of the wood as it butts up to the metal. Was this normal or is the wooden surface supposed to be flush with the metal on the outside? Also, was this painted from the factory? My wood is in excellent shape and I don't want to break the firewall and tub apart if not needed. It's a bit of work, but I've got all the paint off of one side without separating the firewall from the tub. PJ
Paul sr

Sorry, here's what I'm talking about. PJ

Paul sr

Yes. It was like a caulk. I have found it at RV stores where they use it to seal windows around the body. It comes in rolls (about 1" wide and 1/8" thick) with paper backing and you put it down after peeling the backing off.

Then place the firewall onto the caulked body and tighten everything up. It will ooze out a bit and you can trim it off flush with the edge of the firewall.

The whole assembly gets painted all at once.

I guess if you thought yours was in tact except for the 'groove' you could try to fill that with some form of caulk but I bet it would work out over time exposing the unpainted groove. Others may have a different experience. I just decided to pull my firewall apart and redo it so it was done right.

Chris Couper

The wood was painted tub color at the factory.

I have not seen grooves in the wood.

As for a sealant, I didn't, and not have had any problems.

Warmly,
Dave
Dave Braun

Sorry guys, I didn't mean to imply the wood had groves in it, it's where the wood and metal meet there is a slight angle on the edge of the wood, about a 1/32 of an inch each side. Thanks for the input and since everything is tight, I think I'll leave it as is. It really looks good, it's just the edge of the wood was a concern along with the sealant which over the years has oozed out a bit. PJ
Paul sr

My TD had a thick, dense, black tar-like sealer in between the firewall and the wood. I see no need to separate if the wood is fine and there is no rust. I don't know about a groove either, but a TD is a little different that the TF in this area so could be. George
George Butz

I used window type calk from a tube between the wood of the body and the wood filler that is installed between that filler and the firewall. So, I have calk on both the front and back sides of the three pieces of filler as it is called here. No leaks anywhere
Jim Merz

Hello Paul
The stuff I used is sometimes referred to as 'Dum Dum', don't know why. Just Google '3M Strip-Calk part# -08578 [black]'
Lots of sellers on Ebay or find it at an auto paint supply store.
Regards
Hiram
Hiram Kelley

Hi Paul, I used Eastwood's seam sealer and
used the tube type that fits in a caulking gun.
Richard Taylor TD3983

All firewalls that we have stripped off had a black sealer that went hard over time. The wood underneath was black. Its correct that the body tub was painted with firewall attached and bolted up tight.

We use a caulk type that skins over on the exposed edges.

Never seen grooves.

All the 6 wood sections underneath the firewall have had to be replaced by us as dry rot has damaged each section, some worse than others. Some had the inside areas crumbling away once removed.

Check the end grain at the bottom of the 4 vertical sections to establish if they are sound.
Rod Brayshaw

Hate to start another "Whats original" conversation and would not think of contradicting Dave, but on TD 4139 the wood was not painted. I was the first person to fully restore this car and there was no paint on the wood. I did find the tar like material between the firewall and the wood, but under the rubber strip was unpainted wook.

Not saying someone could not have taken the firewall of and sanded it, but there was no signs that it had ever been painted.

Any other older TD's like this?
Bruce Cunha

Hi Paul, After a very expensive restoration one of my friends ended up with wet feet because he didn't seal those joints . It is not impossible for water to get past the rubber and into the join and it's too late afterwards.
I have sealed mine while bolting them up just to make sure.
And at the stage you are at I wouldn't hesitate to do it.
Regards from down under.

Rob TD 0267.
R Browne

Thanks fellas for all your input. Rod, the wood is hard as a rock! The car evidentially spent most of it's life in a dry environment. I only found two pieces of wood to replace and both were in front and at the bottom of the fuel tank. All the wood in the car was varnished originally and some of that painted over. The wooden bow this topic started over is varnished also.
George, a black dense sealer is what was used on mine and appears tight. No rust! PJ
Paul sr

Bruce Cunha: Was your wood painted black or natural wood? It should have had some finish on it.
Chris Couper

Hi Chris

No paint or preservative that I could identify when I took the car apart back in in 1974. As I said, when I pulled off the firewall, there was black sealant in between the metal and the wood, but under the rubber was just wood.

A few years back I had a battery leak and ruined the paint on the firewall. Had a body shop paint the firewall and in the process, they painted the wood.
Bruce Cunha

This thread was discussed between 31/10/2013 and 04/11/2013

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