Totally T-Type 2

When I first purchased my current MG TA in the mid 1990s it had a disparate array of control cables, knobs and switches on the dashboard. One of the first jobs I did was to tidy up this mis-match on the dashboard, so I ordered a new set of control cables from Mxxx, and purchased a couple of the correct switches from an autojumble. I fitted all three cables and they looked good. The starter-pull and choke worked fine, but the slow-running cable did not work, in that it did not matter how far you screwed the knob out it did not increase the idle speed. I initially thought that it was because of wear in the carb operating arm, so I left it for the time being. A couple of years ago I had the carbs rebuilt by Eddie Biddle of Malvern Wells. He did a superb job and replaced the slow-running operating arm at my request.

I refitted the rebuilt carbs and set them up so that the car was running well again. However the slow-running knob still didn’t work. I wasn’t bothered as it had not worked for the previous 12 years and had caused me no grief, but it was annoying.

A friend down in Sussex, Ian Linton, had been rebuilding his TA for a number of years and had at long last got it running and on the road. Unfortunately Ian’s slow-running cable did not work either, again a new one from Mxxx purchased a number of years earlier. Ian found that the little nipple on the knob end of the cable had broken off; he re-soldered a new one on and it now worked fine. On hearing about this I checked my cable and discovered the same problem. Around the same time I acquired a number of old T-Type cables in very poor condition, including several original slow running cables.

About 8 miles along the Fosse Way from where I live is a farm with a few small industrial units in the yard. One of these units is occupied by a super little one-man band outfit called J.J Cables (no relation to John James!). They specialise in making new cables for the classic and vintage motor-cycle trade, supplying throttle, clutch, brake, magneto and speedo cables for any bike you care to mention. Back in 2001 when I was re-building my PA I needed a new rev-counter/speedo cable for the car. I took the broken cable (inner and outer) down to them and they made me a new inner cable complete with correct Jaeger end for me very quickly and at a very reasonable price.

So a few months ago I took a few of my old T-Type cables along to J.J Cables and asked them if they could please replace the outer and inner cables for me. I gave them the length of both inner and outer cables that I wanted and left it to them to do the business. A few weeks later I got a telephone call saying my cables were ready for collection, so I popped down to collect them. They had made a superb job of re-building them, have a look at the photographs of the before and after condition of the slow-running cable. I had three slow-running cables and a choke cable rebuilt. The choke cable and one slow-running cable are for a friend of mine up in Preston who is rebuilding a TA Tickford. I have fitted another of the slow-running cables to my TA, and now for the first time ever in my ownership it works perfectly!

So if you have a choke, starter or slow-running cable that is defective, rather than buy a new one give J.J Cables a try. Sadly they can only repair defective T-Type cables, they cannot make new ones completely from scratch – they are too busy with motor-cycle cables. I have asked John to add their contact details to the ‘Suppliers’ list on his ‘MG T-Types Hub’ web-site.

Brian Rainbow

Above and below: photos of the old and the rebuilt cable

Ed’s note: A good article and a very useful contact for repair of your dashboard cables. I like ‘one man bands!’

As requested by Brian, I have added JJ Cables Limited to the ‘Suppliers List’ on the website. For those who receive a ‘hard’ copy of this magazine (some of whom do not have internet access) the contact details are as follows:

J.J. Cables Limited, Hillfields Farm, Lighthorne, Warwickshire, CV35 0BQ. Telephone 01926 651470.

Photos 1 & 2 – two views of the Luvax replicas supplied by Available Austins Ltd

We left Bob Butson (owner of TA0844) in the December issue, having sorted out the mess his engine was in and having fixed his gearbox. Bob takes up the story from now on:

The chassis was now complete, except for shock absorbers. I decided to save the telescopic conversion for later consideration and use Luvax replicas. These were made for Austins but very closely resemble the originals, with the same outside appearance and fixing hole spacing. They are supplied by Available Austins Ltd. Tel: 01676 541276. The rear arms and links, one front arm and two chassis pins were missing. These were obtained from Vintage and Classic Shock Absorbers Ltd. Tel: 020 8651 5347. Photos 1 & 2

Someone has queried the engine mounting which I used. This was a later mounting used on the TB/TC. The hole in the chassis engine bracket has to be enlarged to accommodate the sleeved rubber bush. This is illustrated in the drawing from an old NTG catalogue. NTG can supply all parts at mgbits.com (Ed’s note: the drawing is reproduced with permission of NTG at the end of this article).

When I acquired TA 0844 it had a totally rusted fuel tank so I purchased a reproduction from Sportscar Metal Works in Iver, Buckinghamshire sportscarmetalworks.com. Only when it was time to fit it did I realise that the filler cap fitting, which was brazed in, was for the later pressed steel top. Since the tank had never contained petrol, the whole fitting was easily removed with heat and a pair of naval cutters, it was destroyed in the process. I made a new one for the correct screw-on cap which incorporated a lock. Photos 3 &4

Photos 3 & 4 showing brass plate with shaped cut-out and the locking mechanism in position




Photo 5 – the finished article

Credit for the idea goes to Alasdair Enticknap who wrote an article published in the Octagon Car Club Bulletin. In this article he describes how to fit a lock into the later pressed steel cap fitting which has a hinge pin. He purchased a Halfords Locking filler cap Part No. XS584 for a Fiat Uno or Cinquecento and describes how he made a brass plate with a shaped cut-out to fit into the neck of the filler cap fitting. The fitting that I made incorporates this filler cap and shape. The dimensions of the cut-out shape and its thickness were determined from the cap.

The fitting was turned from a piece of stainless steel bar, the top having the diameter and thread pitch to match the screw-on flip-top filler cap. A hole was cut through the centre after cutting away the correct depth for the lock; then the tank side was cut away leaving the correct thickness for the lock cut-out. The lock cut-out shape could then be filed out. The fitting has a flange which rests on the tank covering the old filler hole and provides an area for silver soldering to the tank. It is necessary to orientate the whole before soldering, to ensure that when the top is screwed on it flips open in the required position.

The water pump I restored as original, hence the article in TTT, July 2010. I understand that there is an alternative to the graphite seal (a seal can be made from lignum vitae, a very dense tropical hardwood which contains its own oils giving it self- lubricating properties – Ed)

The carburettors which came with the car were not good: the bodies were damaged but the pistons and pots were serviceable. Some of the furniture was never used on a TA. I had acquired many parts over the years and was able to rebuild a complete set as original. The search for the correct layout led to writing the article about TA carburettors which appeared in TTT, Nov 2010.

The starter and dynamo were fitted with new bearings and brushes and the starter drive with new springs. Lucas parts numbers as follows:-

I have a large list of many manufacturers’ parts numbers for the TA, which is most useful when at autojumble. A copy has been uploaded to the Technical Archive on the TTT 2 website. Additions to this list will be welcomed.

The starter was fixed with socket screws from Roger Furneaux for ease of removal of the motor if it became necessary. For restoration of the dynamo reduction gearbox see TTT 2, Issue 7.

The gearbox speedometer pinion housing modification to prevent oil working up the speedometer cable was illustrated in TTT 2 Issue 1, with a modified exchange housing from Doug Pelton. For those who wish to do this themselves, see photos 6 & 7 below. I did this modification some time ago and I cannot find to whom to attribute it but many thanks. It was obtained via http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mg-tabc. For membership of this group, email fdshade ‘at’ aol ‘dot’ com for details and for access to the extensive technical files at www.mg-tabc.org

Photos 6 & 7 – modifying the gearbox speedometer pinion housing

The distributor was fairly good. Unusually it was fitted with an oiler and tube for shaft lubrication – Photo 8. The shaft was worn but the bushes were good and a new shaft was a good fit. Advance springs, rotor arm and cap were obtained from distributordoctor.com

There are many versions of the oil filter conversion. The one I chose was illustrated in TTT 2, Issue 2.

Photo 8 – Distributor showing oiler and tube for shaft lubrication

The body was ready for its skin and I decided to use 1mm steel. The wheel arches had been obtained as a pair some time before but needed some alterations to make a good fit.

I was able to locate steel angle for the body support irons in imperial dimensions. The original ironwork was scrap except for the body side support behind the seats.

Soon after purchasing TA0844 I was offered a pair of unused original rear wings with just surface rust from storage. These required slight alteration, hence the heat marks. Of course the bonnet was out of square with the body and radiator and needed a small increase in length on the nearside.

Photo 9 – showing most of the metalwork finished

The front wings were restorable, as was the scuttle top, firewall and kick board. The doors, running boards, fuel tank and rear wings were scrap, but useful for patterns. Sportscar Metalworks made the tops of the running boards, which were supplied without their ends and brackets attached, fully shaped and wire-edged, but about 1/4 inch longer at each end. This was to ensure a good fit between the wings by enabling the removal of metal from either end.

Extensive surgery was required to the front wings. Rust had attacked at the mounting points, the running board ends and the sidelamp mounting holes. They were not matched. The nearside was a poor fit to the chassis rail. It was necessary to split the spot welding and realign.

The first body part to be made and fitted to the wood frame was the sidescreen compartment. The body frame could then be fitted to the chassis, where all mounting holes lined up without a problem. All the panels could now be fitted.

I fitted the door frames using the original hinges with new balls and pins, and reinforced the doors with steel corners as per the TD. Photo 10 shows this, but the lower front bracket has yet to be screwed in.

Photo 10 – doors reinforced with steel corners

The door aperture was covered also as that of the TD. Photo 11.

Photo 11 strengthening bar for door aperture

Am I stirring the OP? After the next article they will be steaming.

Bob Butson November 2011

Drawing of TA and TB/TC engine mountings referred to on page 4 and reproduced with kind permission of NTG Services.

Editor’s Note: Address for Rique Llinares

Rique, who makes Ash body frames and burr and straight grained walnut dashboards has contacted me on a couple of occasions regarding his correct address. It seems that some prospective customers are trying to contact him at his previous address which was at Town End Farm Cottage, High Casterton. Rique moved from this address five years ago! – his correct address is now:

E.Llinares, 1 Meadowcroft, Ireby Road, Burton in Lonsdale, CARNFORTH, Lancashire LA6 3LT. Tel: 01524262588 Mob: 07787393926 email: riquellinares(at)hotmail.com (substitute @ for (at) ).

Torrington needle thrust bearing with hardened steel washers on the left which replaced the standard thrust washer on the right.

Recently I took my TA in for its annual MoT test, using a local garage that is sympathetic to classic and vintage cars. I was fairly confident it would pass OK, having greased all the suspension, adjusted the brakes and checked all the usual things prior to taking it to the garage. The mechanic, who knows my car well, gave it his usual thorough check over. He had the front axle up on a beam jack and checked all the front suspension for wear and seemed quite happy. He then asked me how much vertical clearance should there be on the kingpins; 4 to 6 thou came my swift reply. You better have a look at this then he said, and using a long lever under the front tyre he raised the wheel. To my amazement there was what looked like a tenth of an inch movement between the stub axle and the front axle eye. I won’t fail it on that, but make sure it’s not the same next year when you bring it here was his response!

The MoT test took place only a week before we were due to go away in the TA to attend the “T Register Autumn Weekend” up in the Yorkshire Dales. I anticipated covering about 600 miles that weekend, so I thought I ought to correct the thrust clearance before departing on that journey.

The next morning I was out in the garage early, and had the front end of the TA up on axle stands and set about stripping down the offside front suspension. To remove the kingpin thrust washer requires the kingpin to be drifted out of the stub axle. The easiest way to do this is to remove the front wheel, remove the front hub complete, then remove the 4 bolts that hold the brake back plate to the stub axle and steering arm. Once you have removed the 4 bolts, tie the brake back plate out of the way with a large tie-wrap, making sure there is no strain on the rubber flexible brake pipe. Once you have done this it is possible with a set of feeler gauges to measure the clearance gap between the thrust washer and the front axle eye. In my case it was not as much as I thought, it was 39 thou, but was still way outside the 4 to 6 thou that is acceptable, so I made a note of the clearance. Now I could undo the cotter pin that locates the kingpin and carefully drift it out. I removed the small nut that holds the kingpin top hat and felt washer in place and removed them. I could now drift the kingpin downwards until I could remove the stub axle and old thrust washer from the front axle. It was now time to wash the stub axle, kingpin and thrust washer with Jizer ready for re-assembly. The old thrust washer thickness was measured using a pair of callipers and was found to be 120 thou thick, so the thrust gap was 159 thou (120 + 39). I had a new spare kingpin set, so I was able to measure the thickness of a brand new thrust washer, it was 124 thou. It was obvious that I needed a much thicker thrust washer, but where do you get those from without making your own?

My solution was to use a Torrington bearing as the thrust washer. This is a small flat roller bearing that is 78 thou thick. You need to put an hardened washer either side of the Torrington bearing, and these are available in 3 sizes, being 32, 63 and 95 thousands of an inch thick. I used the Torrington bearing with two of the 32 thou washers, this measured 142 thou thick. I was still 17 thou under size, so I used a 10 thou shim from an MGB wheel bearing shim kit. This gave me a clearance of 6 thou once everything was greased and assembled back together. I put the 10 thou shim at the bottom between the lower Torrington shim and the stub axle. One thing to make sure of is when you replace the 4 bolts that hold the brake back plate, stub axle and steering arm together, clean the threads and use Loctite on assembly. Repack the grease in the front wheel bearings and reassemble using a new split pin in the castellated hub lock nut. Pump the kingpins full of grease before using the car. I had hoped that the Torrington bearings would make the steering a bit lighter, they may have done but I am damned if I can notice it. The TA has the highest steering ratio of all the T types, and is heavy!

The photograph shows the Torrington bearing plus two hardened washers along with the old bronze thrust washer, plus a selection of MGB wheel bearing shims. I have listed the part numbers of the Torrington bearings and washers below, along with the prices I paid for them at my local bearing supplier in September 2011 to give you a guide to the cost.

Torrington needle thrust bearing for ¾ inch shaft, NTA1220, £2-80 each inc vat
Torrington thrust washer 32 thou thick, TRA1220, £1-94 each inc vat
Torrington thrust washer 63 thou thick, TRB1220, £2-76 each inc vat
Torrington thrust washer 95 thou thick, TRC1220, £2-82 each inc vat.

You can purchase a mixed pack of MGB front wheel bearing shims from Moss, part number ATB4242K (7 pieces) for £2-55. The shims come in 3, 5, 10 and 30 thou thickness.

Finally, if like me you also own an MGB in your stable, the MG Owners Club have for several years been supplying exchange MGB stub axles using Torrington thrust bearings in place of the old thrust washer/shims. They supply them ready pre-set and set-up, and you have the choice of needle roller thrust bearings or conventional shims.

Brian Rainbow

Back to school in order to calculate the combination of thrust washers and shims to use with the Torrington needle thrust bearing to take up the clearance gap.

Re-assembly complete with an acceptable clearance to satisfy the MoT tester…
even with his crowbar!

We left Bob Butson (owner of TA0844) in the June issue, contemplating the mess that his MPJG engine was in. Clearly, with crankpin journals undersize by as much as 90 thou another crankshaft would have to be sourced. Bob takes up the story from now on:

Continuing with the engine, I had to obtain another crankshaft. After much searching, Andy King offered one with a 40 thou. undersized grind which had been crack tested. Now to clean up the block and oilways, remove the core plugs and check all moving parts.

The front engine mounting plate had some holes with a dished area around them. The front plate was slightly bent, and one engine mount had a cracked weld. Some threads in the block had been mangled. They needed to be helicoiled. The bores needed to be sleeved.

The spacer between the crankshaft timing gear and the pulley is a running surface for the front oil seal and has a scroll to screw oil back into the engine. There was a groove where the rope seal located and the scroll was damaged, (Photo 1)

Photo 1 – showing damaged scroll

I made a replica. The rope seal is not very efficient so I opted for a modern lip seal. The seal I chose was quite substantial but very slightly bigger than the original rope seal and did not quite fit the original cover. I made a new cover turned from solid which very closely resembled the original. The seal and an appropriate cover can be obtained from Brian Rainbow, brian ‘at’ brianjrainbow.free-online.co.uk

The timing gears were in good condition but a new timing chain was needed. The clutch plate was in good condition but needed recorking, I was recommended to send it to Charles Cantrill, Tel. 01215673140 cancork ‘at’ cantrill.fsbusiness.co.uk The flywheel had to be refaced.

Having considered many varied opinions about engine modification, and as the flywheel and head were as standard, I did not modify these, except for re-facing and an unleaded conversion for the head.

All engine components were ready for boring, metaling and balancing. The cam followers will be refaced and hardened, as will the rockers. The work will be done by Cox & Turner Engineering 01935 826816 ian ‘at’ coxnturner.freeserve.co.uk

Other problems were the following:

• The breather pipe exit from the rocker cover had been sawn off and replaced with a smaller diameter pipe. This was easily rectified using a piece of the correct diameter tube. I also made a breather downpipe to fit. The photo (right) shows this and also the oil filter conversion used (see TTT2 Issue 2).

• The camshaft tensioning spring was missing: it was broken off just beyond the rivets. A kind soul on the Yahoo groups.com website group mg-tabc sent a drawing (see photo below).

I obtained a strip of annealed spring steel from model engineers Folkstone Engineering Supplies Tel. 01303 894611. After shaping and drilling they hardened and tempered it.

The head studs needed to be replaced as did the big end nuts. These were supplied by Roger Furneaux roger46tc ‘at’ virgin.net The horseshoe shaped circlip which holds the three springs to the clutch plate was in two pieces. I was fortunate to obtain the last of a small batch which had been made privately.

When I assembled the engine I used bolts of original specification, i.e. metric threads with BSF heads. I have compiled a list of original bolts for the MPJG engine, this can be found on the ttypes.org website under the ‘Publications’ section of the site. Some of these bolts are stocked by Roger Furneaux and some by 251 Products, Tel 08707 664252, email sales ‘at’ 251services.co.uk For the latter, if bolts are required, they should be specified as only setscrews my be available.

Ed’s Note: My understanding is that some of the MPJG engine bolts and XPAG engine bolts are the same. As Roger specialises in XPAG items, these are the ones you can buy from him. Those specific to the MPJG engine (well, most of them), as well as those which are used on the XPAG, can be obtained from 251 Products.

I managed to find three suitable springs which serve to move the clutch plate away from the flywheel, and to restore the thrust bearing retaining nut. I replaced the clutch cross shaft bushes. These were supplied by www.bearingboys.co.uk They appear to be able to supply any type of bearing . They also supplied the cogged V fan belt No. BX44 which I used. A new timing chain, rocker shaft and bearings were obtained from the MG Octagon Car Club.

I had re-faced the oil pump cover and made a new shaft. A static shaft and gears were obtained from the MGOCC. The gears were for a TD but had to be reduced to the correct length.

All the engine components were ready for assembly by Christmas (2006).

On rebuilding the engine I found that the pistons which I had fitted protruded above the top of the block, they were Morris Ten pistons which I mistakenly obtained about twenty years ago. Cox and Turner were able to find the correct set.

The head assembly was quite straightforward but I was advised not to fit the rocker lifting springs. All went well after that. I used ‘Wellseal’ jointing compound for all joints from www.ready2race.co.uk

When fitting the exhaust manifold to the head I found that the centre limb was out of line with the outside limbs, giving about 1.5mm gap at its join with the cylinder head. I thought that tightening this to the head would strain the manifold too much for old cast iron and so I had the mating surfaces ground in line, hoping that too much metal had not been removed.

Good progress being made with the MPJG engine

It was time to sort out the gearbox. The first motion shaft had a worn spigot, a missing spring ring for the bearing and a groove worn where the oil seal had run. A limb had been cracked off the rear cover at a bolt hole and the mounting plate was bent. The selector shafts were in good condition but the forks were worn.

The first motion shaft from my spare gearbox was a bit rusty, as were the selector shafts and the top of the casing. On stripping the spare box I found all gears and both lay shaft and reverse shafts to be in very good condition and so I replaced these in my original box. I replaced the first motion shaft bearing and mainshaft bearing with new. The layshaft cage bearings looked OK, as did the cage bearing in the first motion shaft. I took a chance and did not replace these. After cleaning the original synchro hub it appeared fairly sound. I had no way of ascertaining the wear on the synchromesh cone. (See follow on article on replacing synchro-hub balls).

I repaired the groove caused by the oil seal in the bell housing in the first motion shaft using a Speedy sleeve. This was supplied by www.sealmasters.co.uk. The number to fit was 50SRK118, I took the shaft for their sizing.

The universal joint flange for the mainshaft had a damaged oil scroll and was worn due to poor location with the end cover. I replaced the universal joint flange and the end cover with those from the spare box. The oil scroll seemed insufficient to prevent oil leakage from the gearbox, but that is how it was manufactured. Time will tell.

The gearbox remote was next. It appeared to be in good order, with minor wear on the selector lever and in the holes bored for the operating shaft in the casting. There was rust on the gearshift lever and some play between the ball, at its end, and the socket. I re-sleeved the socket. The domed shift lever anti-rattle spring cover was rusty but not pitted. The anti-rattle spring was broken in half. The spring cover had a round section retaining circlip and, due to the flange on the cover not being quite wide enough, it moved under the circlip when changing gear. This would give an annoying clack. I used a flat circlip no. D1300-058-Pack2/ 1CB41 from Simply Bearings Limited simplybearings.co.uk which solved the problem.

Ed’s note: Thanks for another instalment Bob and thanks for some useful supplier contacts. Your follow on article on replacing synchro-hub balls comes next.

A method of inserting balls into a TA synchro hub

A delicate operation, but it works!

When rebuilding the gearbox on my TA it was necessary to strip and clean the synchro hub. I devised this method of reassembly as no special tools were available.

Tools required: two similar G cramps, a 1 1/2 inch wide strip of aluminium, two 2BA bolts about one inch long, eight 2BA nuts, a piece of flat bar ½ to 1inch wide, a bench vise and two small screwdrivers.

A clamp similar to a piston ring clamp was made from the aluminium strip to fit around the outer hub edge flange with about 3/8 in. spacing, fixed by the two 2BA bolts and two 2BA nuts. Clamp two G cramps in a vise and rest the outer hub on the fixed limbs. Insert the springs in the inner hub, then place in position, partly into the outer hub, then fit the clamp. Place a flat bar about ½ to 1inch wide just long enough to straddle the top of the clamp and tighten the G cramps lightly to the bar.

(This ensures that the aluminium clamp sits squarely on the hub and does not rise up when fitting balls and nuts).

Adjust the clamp screws so that the balls may be placed at the ends of the springs. The balls should locate at the entrance to their housings. Two small screw drivers and some dexterity may now be needed. Allow the aluminium clamp to rise about 3/16inch to clear the outer hub flange, adjusting the 2BA bolts as necessary. Push a nut between the clamp and the ball for each ball. Some more adjustment of the clamp bolts will be required. Dribble a small amount of oil over each ball and tighten the clamp screws, making sure all nuts remain in position. The balls are pushed into the hub just the right amount and at just the right centring by the nuts. The inner hub can now be pushed down leaving the nuts to fall free. Check that all balls were located. If any escape, try again. At least they will be retained within the aluminium clamp.

Bob Butson

Unlike TA1980 featured earlier, TA1521 has had a very hard life.

The car was brought home from England at the end of WW II by a Polish Serviceman and was reputedly raced in the early fifties in Upper Silesia (Katowice area).

The father of the current owner, Maciek Peda, bought the car in uncompleted condition around 1975. At that time Poland was behind the ‘Iron Curtain’ and there was little or no opportunity to acquire literature and spares. As a result, the TA remained untouched in the state you see it in the photo above.
With the collapse of communism in 1990 the time was now right to rebuild this car. Spares were sourced in England and in Germany and the restoration was completed by 1996. Then disaster struck – to quote Maciek, “sadly after five years, first MPJG ‘passed away’ – in past he had broken at least two conrods. Block was repaired, but had not the right stiffness. After five years of use came inside of block cracks and water was going to oil”.

Knowing that another MPJG block would be extremely difficult to find, Maciek seriously considered replacing the expired unit with an XPAG or VA engine. Surprisingly, around 2005, an incomplete MPJG engine with block, conrods and crank in premium condition was found…………in Poland of all places!

Nice ‘shot’ of the completed TA1521 with Maciek at the wheel.

Maciek is quite an M.G. fan and also owns this magnificent WA (chassis number 0406)

Clearly a man of many interests, Maciek supplies spare parts for Lanz tractors via his website at peda-muzeum.org and apart from collecting cars, he also collects the remains of crashed or ‘belly landed’ American aircraft. Maciek says he collects them “as a tribute to those young airmen – they flew and fought with those aircraft.”

Recently a large military event was held in Maciek’s area of Poland; he decided to exhibit a small display of some of the surviving parts from the remains of the five Boeing B-17 Bombers which he has collected.

Maciek standing with TA1521 in his display tent at the military event.

TA1521 in use as a ‘duty’ car at the military event with Maciek and a friend dressed in military uniforms.

TA1980 came off the Abingdon assembly line on 30th November, 1937, the last of twenty TAs (TA1961 – TA1980) assembled on that day. It was fitted with engine number MPJG 2241 and left the Factory bound for Australia in red livery with red trim.

The first owner was Jim Ship of Wollongong who paid 409 pounds and took delivery of the car when registering it as new on 16th June, 1938. The TA has been fully registered on each 16th June ever since.

Jim sold it to Sid Rutty, also of Wollongong, on 9th March, 1945.

The car again changed hands on 13th August, 1948 for 500 pounds and has been owned ever since by Claude Harris of Albion Park.

The MG TA body plate reads “Body type B270 Body no. 811/7054”. Its original registration number plate was DZ-815 but was changed to WR-005 in 1946 as the brother of the owner’s name was William Rutty Snr.

The car has won and been placed in many Pre – War concourses, some being against much rarer and more valuable cars such as Frank Betts’ magnificent MG K3.

Through the years Claude’s Passion for MGs has forged many life long friendships with the likes of Ted Ackroyd and Bill Rutty, who at various times have wished they still had their original new MG TCs they purchased in 1948.

The TA has never had a serious accident or been raced or taken part in any motor sports events but used in club runs and outings with the South Coast Vintage Car Club in Wollongong and the MG Car Club. It has never had a loose spoke in any of the wheels. The carburettors have never been dismantled, only the suction chambers and guides cleaned and oiled and the float levels checked. The needles and jets have never been removed from the carbs or the seals replaced. The clutch corks have been replaced and the seats are showing some signs of wear.

Starting in 1949, Claude with a group of like minded MG enthusiasts with up to 20 cars would load up with camping gear and attend the Annual Bathurst Easter Motor Bike and Car Races until their demise in 1988 and Claude still has all the programmes and photos to prove it.

This photo was taken of Claude (22 years young) driving TA1980 at the top of Mt Panorama, Bathurst on 16 April, 1949. The odometer now shows 12,000 miles; it has been round the clock once, making the total distance travelled 112,000 miles since 1938.

A very important event in Claude’s MG days was on 18-5-1957, travelling at 50 MPH on the Princes Highway in the TA and slipping a diamond ring on a young lady’s finger.

What is remarkable about the car – apart from its length of ownership (63 years) – is that it is still in its original condition, as the photos at the end of this article testify. Claude still has the original manual, the Transfer Rego and the Motor Spirit Consumer’s Licence with petrol ration tickets which expired in January, 1950 when petrol rationing ended in Australia.

Another remarkable fact is that the car has been in the same Region/Town (Wollongong/Albion Park) from the day it was imported. Claude has known the car and its previous owners since it was new, and is still in regular contact with the first owner’s son, Noel Shipp (who wouldn’t mind the car back!) Noel can recall riding in the car when it was brand spanking new.

Claude remembers vividly as a boy how he and everybody in his father’s Garage/Mechanical workshop and the Blacksmith’s shop next door would down tools and run out on to the footpath to watch TA1980 drive through town. This was back before WWII when cars, let alone bright red sports cars were a rare sight. Little did he know that some ten years later he would become the proud owner!

I am most grateful to Claude and his son, Ross for helping to put the article together and for arranging to have the photographs taken. Acknowledgment is also due to the photographer, Des Stubbs.

Above and below: view of each side of engine

Above and below: view of each tool tray

Above: chassis no. on front of n/side chassis rail

Above: view of dashboard

Above: View of interior – quite amazing when you consider that the car is nearly 74 years old and has covered 112,000 miles!

Above: Three-quarter view

Above: And to close… a ‘shot’ of Claude’s grandson, Lawson in his Replica 1938 Cream Cracker (BBL 78) Billy Cart which has been raced with some success at several downhill race meets (but that’s another story)

First published in 1989 by Bay View Books Limited and re-printed five times. Out of print for some years before Herridge & Sons published this edition in June of this year.

The book needs little introduction, but for those who are not familiar with it, the following reviews give a good flavour of what to expect:

“Page after colourful page of various models in minute detail ….. a must for any owner” Motor Sport.

“Goes a long way to assist the purist in his quest for authenticity…..well written and profusely illustrated” Enjoying MG (MG Owners’ Club monthly magazine).

The cover price of the book is £22.50 but it is available to order from the T-Shop at the discounted price of £18.50. Postage rates are £3.15 UK, £6.60 EU and £12.03 Rest of World. The link to purchase is here: Original MG T Series by Clausager

We do not make any charge for packing, nor do we levy any surcharge for payment via PayPal.

Just good old-fashioned service at the lowest price we can possibly give!

Also back in stock is the MG TD/TF Workshop Manual at £19.50 (compare our price with those of the Car Clubs). Postage rates are £3.15 UK, £5.50 EU, £10 Rest of World.

Towards the end of Bob Butson’s article in Issue 5 of TTT 2 he recalled how the differential which came with his TA (but was from a TC) was found to be unusable as the near side differential housing was cracked around the inside edge of the threaded portion, making correct crown wheel to pinion mesh impossible. He continues the story…

I was fortunate to find a TA differential and have rebuilt it using new bearings and the serviceable parts from the new and the old. With new wheel bearings, half-shafts and hubs from Roger Furneaux (roger.46tc(at)virgin.net) the rear axle is now complete.

I was also fortunate in finding someone to straighten the front axle beam. Barry Foster, who is at Butleigh, Somerset (not far from Glastonbury) did the work. Barry is probably better known for his work on Triple-M cars. The front springs could now be fitted.

The firewall and kick plate had non-standard holes and very many dents. Malcolm Green’s book, MG T Series Restoration Guide, has a drawing of a standard TA scuttle showing all the original holes. The flange which holds the toolbox to the firewall had been spot welded out of line on the offside.

Feb 2004 – some progress in restoring the firewall

Having obtained two new stub axle pins from Bob Grunau (grunau.garage(at)sympatico.ca) I sent them and the steering knuckles to Roger Furneaux for machining and pressing together.

On stripping down the steering gear, I found that the drop arm link end had been swapped with one of the track rod ends. The ball pins, springs, grease nipples, and castle nuts would have to be replaced. The drag link was so bent it could not be recovered. The worm in the BC box was crumbling around its edges. It looked like the case hardening was breaking off. There was also much wear in all the other parts: so much that the box was unusable.

By April, having received the two steering knuckles with new stub axles fitted, I could fit the king pins and hubs.

It was now time to think about wheels. Three had badly rusted rims and were scrap. I salvaged two centres, which left two wheels with thick spokes and two with thin spokes. They had good rims but with many missing and broken spokes, so I decided to purchase a new set of unpainted 19 in. side laced wheels from Phil Hallewell. To solve the steering box problem I would be using a VW box conversion. This was ordered from Roger Furneaux with a splined shaft to fit the Brooklands wheel which I bought some twenty years ago.

Ed’s Note: P. J. Hallewell Engineering (Phil) is a recommended supplier on the ttypes.org website. Phil used to manufacture both side laced and centre laced 19 in. wheels – indeed, I purchased two sets of wheels from him some time back – but he no longer supplies them as he cannot source the rims. However, he still rebuilds wheels.

Apologies to Bob for interrupting his article!…..

With marriage looming there was much to do with the house and garden and progress with the TA was slow.

It was not until September that I completed the braking system. All the brass unions were useable; the wheel cylinders were re-sleeved by a precision engineer friend. The master cylinder had cracks and was beginning to break up. Bob Grunau supplied the replacement. By now, my VW steering box had arrived.

The handbrake lever was very sloppy on its cross tube. I decided that a new piece of tube was required. The nearest OD available was slightly greater than the original. The lever brass bush was reamed to fit and the increased diameter took up some of the wear in the cross tube end pivots. I could get the lever chromed while the assembly was in pieces after drilling to fit a grease nipple. To start it was necessary to saw through the tube in two places to remove the lugs to which the cable securing pins were attached, and to remove the lever stop from the tube.

The VW steering box now fitted to Bob Butson’s TA. Note also the later type TB/TC front engine mounting.

The handbrake cable attachments and the lever stop were welded and pinned on opposite sides. The welds were turned off on a lathe; I hammered out the pins and the attachments came off the tube pieces with a little persuasion, I then assembled and re-welded all the components on the new tube. This was set aside until after the engine and gearbox had been fitted.

The front engine mounting arrangement on the chassis was by a selection of bent and rusting washers. This arrangement was converted to the later TB/TC type (as in above picture). To do this meant drilling the engine mounting brackets to receive the larger rubber and steel sleeves. I had to make new retaining bolts.

It was not until August 2005 that I could start on the engine. What a mess! There were odd bolts with odd threads everywhere, most of the timing cover bolt holes stripped, the timing chain with a rusty section, mains and big end bearing surfaces scored, three big ends under size by 70 thou and one at 90 thou. (somewhat thin!) The main bearings were sixty thou undersize and the bores were plus sixty thou. The camshaft was in good condition but its bearings were worn. The tappets were pitted and grooved. Six of the threaded holes for the sump bolts in the lower edge of the block had been drilled 8 mm using UNF nuts and bolts. The holes were anything but vertical, the threads must have been stripped at some time in its history. I milled the six to take a top hat style threaded insert, pressed in from the top of the block flange.

The timing gears were good but the timing cover was missing part of the camshaft pressure spring. The flywheel housing between bell housing and block had cracks around the hole for the starter motor; some extended to the bolt holes. Luckily I had a spare, purchased last year at Beaulieu Autojumble in perfect condition.

Two out of the three springs on the clutch plate retainer were broken and the thrust bearing retaining nut was mangled. The twelve clutch springs were intact. Four of the threaded holes in the front mounting plate were stripped. These would be drilled to receive top hat inserts pressed in from the engine side….. to be continued

Bob Butson

Ed’s further note: Mention was made of stub axle pins obtained from Bob Grunau. Bob also supplies these to me for owners on this side of the ‘pond’ and I currently have a few pairs in stock (also one pair of Triple-M pins). For splined hubs and half shafts (and wheel spinners) you can always go straight to the manufacturer (which is where most of the suppliers source their stock). The manufacturer is Orson Equipment in Dudley, West Midlands http://www.orsonequipment.co.uk

Looking at the photo on the previous page of Bob’s restoration of his firewall reminds me to mention that two suppliers of bodies have recently been added to the ttypes.org website.

Steve Gilbert supplies panelled bodies and all metalwork, including petrol tanks. Steve is a real craftsman; he supplied me with a panelled body, wings, bonnet and front apron for my J2. Steve’s e-mail is sjgilbert(at)hotmail.co.uk

Rique Llinares has been described by one of the subscribers to TTT 2 as “the best body builder in England”. The Ash Frames he makes as standard are: J2, P-Type, TA (early and late), TB, TC, TD; anything else to order. He also makes Burr & Straight grained Walnut Dashboards for PA, PB, TA/B, TC, TD; any other dash and trim to order riquellinares(at)hotmail.com A TA body under construction by Rique and a completed J2 body is shown below.

The author’s TB

Chassis TA1957 had hung on the wall of my garage for around 30 years and I decided recently to refurbish it with a view to building up a car from the bits and pieces I have accumulated since I bought my TB around 1970.

Generally it is in good condition, fairly straight but with a few splits and cracks and badly butchered rear spring front mount spigots. I decided to replace these as someone appears to have used a drill to remove the metalastic bushes plus they were pitted with deep rust.

I had no previous experience of removing these spigots, but from inspection it was clear to see that they screw into the chassis cross tube under the rear body support brackets which are riveted to the chassis.

On the near (left hand side looking to the front) side a vertical tapered pin sticking out top & bottom was clearly visible. This knocked out easily and the spigot unscrewed without trouble although spanner travel was minimal due to the spigot being enclosed by the body bracket. Simple eh?!

After removal I noticed that the cross tube had 2 small raised areas showing on the outside which had not been visible before. These turned out to be metal plugs which filled 2 holes in the tube at right angles to the pin position – see photo 1, i.e. horizontal, where, clearly, another taper pin had previously been. I assumed from this that the original pins were placed horizontally and that this spigot at least had been replaced during the life of the car.

PHOTO 1 – Near side showing original and later pin positions.

The off side had no visible pin showing despite cleaning up and using a magnifying glass to try to identify any blemish or mark to give me a clue. Was the pin vertical or horizontal? I decided that the only way to determine the location of the pin was to cut off the spigot and drill into the remaining metal to expose the pin inside the tube but leaving the flatted section so that the spanner could be used later to remove the remains. After a bit of sawing, angle grinding and drilling I could see inside the tube.

PHOTO 2 – Offside with pin nearly out – note split outrigger permitting pin removal.

The result of this was that the pin was horizontal, which was to be expected from what I had found on the near side. With careful measurement I marked the pin position on the outside of the tube, made an intelligent guess about which way it tapered (I could see it inside the cross tube using a torch but the taper is not easy to see) and with a hammer and drift knocked it out. It was surprising that this pin was initially invisible from the outside and one must assume that these were ground off flush with the cross tube as part of the manufacturing process.

It does appear that when the cars were manufactured the spigot was pinned in place prior to being fixed in the chassis as it would seem that the pin cannot be inserted with the body outrigger properly fixed – see photo 2. The pin hits the outrigger metal – not a problem on mine as the outrigger was moveable due to vertical splits in the metal adjacent to the rivets.

PHOTO 3 – old spigots removed

Interestingly both threads on the spigots where they go into the cross tube were clean and shiny. I expected water penetration to have rusted these over the years – see photo 3 (right). I have purchased new spigot units from NTG – (“can’t remember the last time we sold any of those”) and taper pins and reamer from BBN Online. The taper pins are 3/16 x 1½ inches imperial taper.

I’ll fit the taper pins vertically as they can be pushed in through the circular hole on the top of the outrigger.

I’m hoping the refit will be easier than the removal. If it’s not I’ll let you know. I had to buy 25 taper pins so if you ever contemplate this job let me know as I can’t imagine I will be changing another 23 spigots in the future!

Finally, as far as I am aware these spigots are the same on the TA, B and C.

Jeff Townsend

Ed’s note: Jeff used to race his TB. If you have a copy of Chris Harvey’s book “MG The Immortal T Series” you will find a colour plate of JPC 901 on page 90. The photo was taken at Silverstone – the car was red in those days.