The price of the stainless-steel rack is £325 and can be ordered from Paul at octagon ‘at’ ireland-family dot org or phone (+44) 1206 298736.
The Editor has a couple of Paul’s racks with him (these were brought to the Cotswolds Tour by Paul and carried to Keynsham – on an original style rack!!). They will be taken to the Stoneleigh Show in February, where they can be picked up and paid for, thus saving the postage cost.
If you want to reserve a rack to be picked up at Stoneleigh please contact the editor via the website or to jj(at)ttypes.org {Please substitute @ for (at)}. A small deposit will be appreciated.
Dave’s Doughnuts – no you can’t eat ‘em and they haven’t gone stale!
Hagerty International
Chris Tinker, who recently called in with his wife, Christine, is full of praise for Hagerty’s Breakdown service (run by the RAC).
Over to Chris……….
I have recently had two trips to France in my TC. The car had been going superbly, but on the second trip I had a blown head gasket. I just wanted to report that my Hagerty insurance was exceptional. Instant recovery, delivery to a garage of my choice close to my destination. and then due to the garage being over booked until a few weeks later, repatriation of the car to home, where the offending gasket has been well and truly fixed. Well done, Hagerty! The MG ‘T’ Society works in partnership with Hagerty Insurance for the mutual benefit of the Society and our UK members, why not call Hagerty on 0333 323 1383 quoting promotional code: CCTTT. We think that you will be pleasantly surprised at the level of service and the competitive quote. Returning to Chris and his TC, which he has owned since 1972, he must have set something of a record for the most miles covered in a day in a TC when he drove from Tobermory on the Isle of Mull to Ipswich last year in a single day, about 500 miles. He meant to take two days for the journey, but just enjoyed the drive so much that he kept going! A most satisfactory repair (TD ckoke and starter cables overhaul) The following has been received from Ian Ailes: When I refitted the choke cable to my TD, I found that it would not lock. The return springs on the refurbished carbs were just too strong for it. I bought a new one which works on friction but was not convinced it would be up to the job. The knob was also black rather than dark brown as the original. I decided to see if I could repair it and took it apart as much as one can. All you can do is carefully open up the black spring clip with a sharp bladed screwdriver and slide it back to reveal a slot into which fits a small woodruff key which acts as a lock on the pull handle slots. When the handle is twisted, the key is pushed up but retained by the spring clip allowing the shaft to slide back in.
Whether the woodruff key was missing or worn out I don’t know because I never found the old one. Anyway, how do you make a new key to repair it? A small washer was staring at me on the workbench and it dawned on me to see if I could cut a slice off an appropriate-sized washer it might work and it did. I found it easy to cut a slice off thewasher with a junior hack saw. I had to file the slot open slightly and face down the edge of the washer to match the profile of the shaft but a Dremel sander did that easily. I greased it all up with copper grease and slid the spring retainer back to complete the repair.
When it came to fitting a new starter cable, I was able to unsolder the old handle from its cable and solder it to the new cable so that both knobs matched. A plumber’s gas torch did it easily. I had to lightly drill out the socket in the engine bay bracket to take the new, thicker, metric outer sleeve of the new cable; I think it was 4.5mm.
NEED TO KNOW – petrol tank threads
I found that I could not easily screw in the brass fittings to the petrol tank so searched for a suitable tap to clean the threads. I found Malcolm Beasley at Beaulieu Autojumble and he identified it as 3/8” BSP. He is great for supplying old taps and dies. The tap cost £2. When I got home, not only did it fit the two tank threads, it also cleaned up the thread for the sender unit on the radiator. My temperature gauge had been restored and returned with a larger bulb than the original. I had to buy a new adaptor – Moss part 361-050 – to finish the job.
Treating Incontinence
Prevention is of course, better than cure, but if your XPAG or XPEG leaks from the rear main crankshaft seal and you don’t want to spoil your (or someone else’s drive) then help is at hand.
I am asked from time to time where these drip trays/catch tanks can be obtained and I refer the enquirer to Bryan Purves in East Sussex.
http://www.bryanpurves.co.uk Bryan took over the manufacture and distribution of these trays/tanks from the late David Pelham, who developed them from scratch (David used to call them “nappy buckets”).I spoke to Bryan fairly recently and he told me that he had just arranged for a large batch to be made, so he should have plenty. When I asked the price, he said £56, but I’m not sure if this is inclusive of postage – probably not. He will send them worldwide.
Supplier contacts from Ian Ailes
The bifurcated rivets mentioned on Page 22 of Issue 50 were obtained from:
Business name: your_shop2015 First name: your_ Last name: shop2015 Address: West End Avenue, Leyton<, London E10 6DZ Phone:07440561131 Email: [email protected]Ian bought his TD in September 1998 and is hoping to start it up before Christmas.
He has also found a company in Alton who sell sticky back black baize and white felt ideal for the sidescreen box and toolbox. Easy to fit compared to most jobs. Very quick delivery too.
https://www.vinylwarehouse.co.uk/sticky-baize–felt-fablon-65-c.asp
The SVW Register has just commissioned a reproduction print run of the Salesman’s Manual from March 1939. This booklet was issued for the benefit of dealers and salesmen and is very informative about the cars then on sale. Obviously, the booklet is primarily of interest to SVW owners but the TA is also featured.
We have purchased a small supply from the SVW Register and offer the booklet at £20 per copy (the same price as the SVW Register is charging), plus postage (which is minimal). It measures 4 3/16” x 6 1/16” x 3/16” (106.4mm x 154 mm x 4.8mm) approx. It is a high-quality reproduction and is marked as such.
To order, please contact jj(at)ttypes.org {please substitute @ for (at)}. Payment will be accepted by PayPal, Bank transfer, or cheque.
Barrie’s Notes, a 76-page soft-back book covering almost every aspect of TF maintenance has sold well over 500 copies worldwide. We have been fortunate in acquiring another twenty copies, which are on sale in the T-Shop for £6 plus postage. When they are gone, they are gone!