Expansion core plugs
These were featured in the previous issue. Michael Bangs mikebangs(at)aol.com has a couple spare if you care to contact him [please substitute @ for (at)]. 18.00 GBP each, inclusive of UK postage.
TD/TF rear springs (again)
I have received my new rear springs for my TF and I’m very pleased with them.
I obtained them from Jones Springs in Darlaston, West Midlands (in the ‘Black Country’ – see article on SDF, earlier in this issue). Contact details are www.jones-springs.co.uk Tel: 0121 568 7575. Kevin is the man to speak to – a very helpful chap.
I supplied him with my old (correct) spring clips, plus the polyurethane angle pads, plus the Nylatron interleaf pads and the springs came back with all these fitted.
Chris Rainey, who lives reasonably close to me is also pleased with the springs he obtained from Jones Springs for his TD MK II.
A brief note about the Nylatron interleaf pads: as far as I know, I am the sole supplier of these. However, I don’t abuse my monopoly position as I only make 20p on each one. I buy them for 1.87 GBP each and sell them for 2.07 each. To buy them at this price I buy 500 at a time. I have a couple of hundred left and when I buy the next batch, they will probably have increased in price. I sent some of these Nylatron interleaf pads (plus polyurethane spring ‘saddles’, angle pads and bushes) to Jim Smith in the US and he kindly sent me a picture of the rear of his TD, having fitted the items.
Fitting my rear springs was quite a challenge. It wasn’t that the job was difficult, but lying on the floor in a cold garage was not a pleasant experience.
The worst part of the job was trying to insert the shackle pin through the back of the chassis mounting point and through the ‘eye’ of the spring. I tried one afternoon, but my fingers were so cold that I gave up. Determined not to be beaten, I had another try the next morning and succeeded. I found that the job was made easier by inserting a ‘slave’ bolt through the front of the chassis mounting, which lined the ‘eye’ up with the hole in the chassis mounting point. This pic shows the task in hand just before I lined everything up:
TC Sidescreen Trim
Keith Newitt has picked up a tip from a Facebook post concerning an alternative source for this trim. It is Triumph Herald body side, available from Rimmer Bros. https://rimmerbros.com/
Not cheap, but the product is stainless and Keith says that it is a very good match.
Shock absorber overhaul
When I removed my rear shock absorbers, I found that the link arm bushes needed to be replaced (they shouldn’t have needed replacement on a restored car, but that’s the story of my life!). As I write this, the ‘shockers’ have been sent to Raj Patel.
I know that there are other specialists in shock absorber overhaul, but I know that Raj does a good job, so I prefer to use his services.
For the record, the specialists that I know of are:
Raj Patel 39a Avenue Road Extension, LEICESTER LE2 3EP Telephone 0116 244 8103.
Vintage & classic Shock Absorbers Ltd 203 Sanderstead Road SOUTH CROYDON CR2 OPN Telephone 020 8651 5347 www.vintageandclassicshockabsorbers.co.uk
Stevson Motors Ltd Unit 1, 2A Harrow Road, Selly Oak, BIRMINGHAM B29 7DN Telephone 0121 4721702 https://www.stevsonmotors.co.uk
Brake Lining material
Mention was made of DS3920 brake lining material in Steve Priston’s article on twin leading shoe brakes for his TC in Issue 64 of TTT 2. I think that use of this material would result in a braking improvement without a TLS conversion, although a TLS conversion with DS3920 would give optimum braking performance.
I asked about this material when I visited Friction Services Ltd, who are located just 2 miles from me.
Friction Services told me that they don’t currently have any DS3920 material and they can’t say when they will get some more in stock. The reason for this is that the company who used to import it from Peru – yes Peru! – went bankrupt, owing the Peruvian company money. Another importer has taken over, but the exporter, ‘once bitten twice shy’, now demands payment up front. It is ordered in bulk (say 6 months’ supply) and apparently takes quite a time to reach our shores.
Due to uncertainty of supply, Friction Services now source an alternative material from Germany. It is Bremskerl 5300 and its technical specification can be viewed at: https://www.bremskerl.de/en/technical-datasheet/industrial_applications/bk5396
Friction Services offer a brake and clutch relining service and I know that some Triple-M restorers use them. Their website is at: https://www.frictionservicesltd.co.uk
Thin steel gaskets for tappet chest cover
Issue 64 (February 2021) gave an update on the sourcing of these gaskets. It stated that an order had been placed for 10. In the event, there was a flurry of interest, so we increased the order to 20.
At the same time, we needed to source 40 nitrile bonded cork gaskets to go with the thin steel gaskets. These have now been paid for and received. The photo shows the arrangement (the cork gasket is fitted to both sides of the steel gasket).
The steel gasket is 1.2mm thick and each cork gasket is 1mm thick.
We have had to pay for a ‘one off’ thin steel gasket to check fit against a tappet chest cover before ordering the balance (which inflated the unit cost). We have also had to pay for a tooling cost for the cork gaskets. Despite this, we have managed to keep the cost down to £12.50 for one thin steel gasket and two nitrile bonded cork gaskets. Postage is additional at cost.
By the time you read this, all those who have expressed an interest will have been contacted and some might even have received their gaskets.
If there is sufficient future demand, we will consider another order.
A ‘thank you’ to Paul Ireland, both for his article Keeping Oil in an XPAG in Issue 63, which has sparked the practical follow up, and for sourcing both types of gaskets. JOHN JAMES jj(at)ttypes.org [please substitute @ for (at)].
The South African variant
No, nothing to do with Covid 19! It’s the title of an article that will appear in the Octagon Bulletin (might have just appeared by the time you read this). Huw Davies, owner of a TD built by the Motor Assemblies Durban (MAD) – hence MAD TDs – has been discussing with fellow MAD TD owner, Royston Goodman, the possibility of setting up a database specifically for this model. This would hopefully be done ‘under the umbrella’ of the MG Octagon Car Club.
The initiative is a follow on from Huw’s article in Issue 60 (June 2020) of TTT 2. The aim is to provide more insight into the MAD built TDs and to reach out to any owner of MAD MG TDs, so that details of his or her car can be included in the database. Huw’s contact details are: titan2018(at)john-lewis.com [please substitute @ for (at)].
Little helper!
This python, 5 feet in length, has decided to help Alan Taylor in Bonny Hills, New South Wales with his TA. No mice in the shed now!
Shackle pins – rear upper for TC
I have a few of these for sale. They are good quality pins made from EN19T. Price is £8 for two (you’d be hard pressed to buy one at this price!). jj(at)ttypes.org [please substitute @ for (at)].
Also available (free of charge – you just pay the UK postage of £3.20) an oil filter element for late TD, and TF/YB (Octagon part number SBE018)….. and the clear out continues ….two TD/TF front/rear Classic Gold brand brake hoses, unused and still in their boxes. £5 each, plus £1.50 UK postage.
Unusual top profile of a piston
Mark Nobes sent me this close up of the top profile of a piston he removed from his XPAG block. His TD has come over from the US and after just over an18 month restoration, I’ve recently obtained an age-related registration number for him. He also sent me this photo of an additional panel under the dash.
Of slight concern is the closeness to the gearstick, but Mark thinks there will be enough clearance. He’s stripped and reworked the faces of two original Smiths’ gauges to be two tone, using Ford crystal green to match as closely as possible the original gauge colour for the top panels. The left-hand gauge is a voltmeter. The one on the right is the fuel gauge, which is connected up to an LSK hydrostatic fuel sender on the tank as per Declan Burns’ article in Issue 61 (August 2020) of TTT 2. He’s yet to calibrate it, but that should be straightforward. The fuel low level sender and light set up has been left in place so that it still works as per original. Middle switch between the gauges is for indicators – the turn handle has a light in the centre which flashes when the indicators are on.
Switches on the dash on the left are for fog-lights (F) front and rear, and a heater fan (H). The fog- light switch is two position and links to the front and rear fogs respectively and also to the two extra panel lights between the horn switch and the oil pressure gauge.
Mark has also sourced some neat little indicators and installed them on the apron bolts.
You can also see the Wipac-style matching rear fog and reversing light that Mark found, the latter being switched directly off the gearbox as per yet another TTT-2 article! Front indicators are incorporated in the torpedo lights using ‘switchback’ bulbs rather than the normal conversion sold by Stafford Vehicle Components. https://www.s-v-c.co.uk/
Stainless Steel Petrol Tanks
These are manufactured by Steve Gilbert in the UK sjgilbert(at)hotmail.co.uk [Please substitute @ for (at)]. Steve’s work is definitely ‘The Gold Standard’ in anything metalwork. I can vouch for this as he made my J2 body with new wings and running boards. This tank is on John Cockrem’s TC in ‘OZ’.