My MG TF Story

It was just before Christmas 2010 when I was looking at ads in the Victorian MG club ‘for sale’ notices.

One took my eye, it read “1954 MG TF in pieces, not running”.

I rang on the off chance it hadn’t been ‘snapped up’ as the price was very attractive.

As it turned out, I bought the car over the ‘phone, sight unseen and arranged to pick it up on the 27th, just after the festivities of Christmas.

We left Adelaide just before 6am expecting to get there, pack it on the trailer and leave by about 5pm, hah, we left at around 7.30pm which meant an overnight stay just out of Melbourne.

Jeanette washed the car on the way back and we left 39 years of dust and droppings in the wash bay, but it looked much better.

My daughter’s partner helped me take it off the trailer, as it took about six of us to push it on I thought it would be hard to get off my tilt trailer….but, on the way back I put air in the tyres.

“Release the handbrake” I called out, and ‘whoosh’, the tilt trailer tilted, the TF, now having air in its tyres, took off down my drive way and was only stopped by some bushes about 50 metres down.

Don with his new purchase ….. which turned out to be pretty complete.

At the time I was living in the Adelaide hills, known for its beautiful “English” gardens, but it was cold and damp. One day when it only reached 5 deg C. I decide enough!

The partly completed TF departed down to the beachside town of Goolwa, about 90kms from Adelaide.

I bought a 40′ x 20′ shed with a large 4 bedroom house attached.

Eighteen months after moving I retired (at 71) and decided to get on with the TF and it was completed just on its 7th year with me.

It now resides with my 1946 TC, the hardest part – which one do I choose?

Would I do it again? Of course, and the 1936 MG SA Tickford I now have is another story for a different group.

Ed’s note: Don sent me lots of photos of the rebuild. Some of these follow next. The first of these was work stated on stripping down prior to Don’s move.

Ed’s further note: After reviewing the photos he sent, Don was concerned that some of the photos (particularly the one above) show the paintwork as flat. Don says that it is shiny but for some reason it doesn’t look like it!

Don Walker

2 thoughts on “My MG TF Story

  1. Rich Gardner says:

    What is the color of the car? I’m assuming it is Ivory, and if so, is it the original shade, or have you even been able to find the right shade? Just for the record, it really looks great.
    I have a ’55 in process which was originally Ivory and I’ve not decided as yet whether or not I’ll stick with that color.
    Rich

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