TAs (and still they keep turning up!)
TA0592 (AGA 384)
I somehow managed to miss this one when I was compiling the first list of TAs that appeared in Issue 68 (October 2021). I think that the reason was that it appeared on the MGCC T Register website after I had published Part 1 in Issue 68. It was (possibly still is) for sale for £17,500. It is said to have had a rebuild which is 95% completed with just interior trim and carpets to finish.
TA1639 (was EGP 608)
A true ‘barn find’, last driven in 1969, for which the asking price is £12,000.
TA1830 (ARX 440)
Another ‘barn find’ (actually, in the ‘barn next door’).
According to the owner, this one was registered to the MG Car Company in 1937 and used as a publicity/show car. There is a picture of it on page 126 of Mike Allison’s wonderful book The Magic of the Marque.
The registration plate was used by the Factory more than once to promote sales. A period photo in the December 1995 issue of Safety Fast! shows George Tuck in a publicity shot for the new TA Tickford. It was used again to promote the TB Tickford and a photo can be found on the front cover of the T Register’s Yearbook for 1988. Also, according to the owner, the registration plate was used on a VA saloon, albeit I have not been able to find a reference to this.
Unseen and in storage for 49 years, it is said to have a University Motors reconditioned MPJG engine which turns over and has good compression.
The asking price is £13,500 o.n.o.
Unfortunately, the registration number is not recoverable.
TA2121
Yet another ‘barn find’! This one is in Austria and was sent to me by Gerrit Gartner, TC and TD owner, with whom I correspond from time to time. Gerrit says that the car is not far from him and has been resting for 25 years.
The owner cannot be tracked down at present, but it is known that his father drove the car in the 1960s when it was used for racing in Austria. It is said that it was even driven by Jochen Rindt in its early days. It has a 1500 cc engine.
The premises in which the car is stored belongs to a mechanic who needs the space, so it looks as though a decision will have to be made about its future.
Gerrit has promised to keep me updated.
TA2756 This is currently (at the time of writing – end of December) advertised on eBay.
The reference is eBay item number 385303558341.
The asking price is £5,500, but in my view, the chassis is not recoverable.
TA3124 (CSF 886)
This is a lovely old unmolested TA which had been in store for several years and only had 30,000 miles on the clock. It sold at Mathewson’s Car Auctions in Pickering, North Yorkshire for £12,200.
Keeping it in the Family (TD29527 (YMY 312)
The following has been received from John Grimwood, via Brian Rainbow.
“Sir, many of your senior readers will remember YMY 312 as it belonged to the late Bob Brassington. After his tragic death in 2009 I became the custodian of his wonderful car. Bob’s twin brother was married to my sister, and she persuaded me to buy it to keep it in the family. I did not take much persuading.
After many enjoyable years of happy MG motoring, it is time for me to pass it on. You will be delighted to know that Bob’s niece, (she is also my niece), will be the new owner and that she has a son, (also called Bob and not old enough to drive yet but an MG enthusiast), as they too want it to remain in the family.
It is pretty much the same as Bob left it, with the content of the toolbox and glove box hardly disturbed. It has been maintained to a high standard by Steve Hall of Morton, Nr Bourne.”
Ed’s note: I well remember Bob. If my (failing!)
memory serves me right, he also owned an NB, which he spent quite a few years restoring. Having looked up the MG Car Club Triple-M records, I have renewed faith in the few ‘marbles’ I have left because the records confirm that Bob owned ADG 100, a 1935 M.G. NB 2-seater. The car (a desirable 6-cylinder M.G.) is taxed and on the road and has been in the same ownership since 2010 when the car was sold at auction.
Where I am on less certain ground is that I seem to recall that Bob was a keen motorcyclist. Also, that he used to organise ‘Chilly Willy’ runs in Cheshire in early Spring (March winds?) to blow out the ‘cobwebs’.
Anyhow, enough of this! It really is heartening to know that Bob’s old TD is staying in the family and that the younger generation have an interest.
Ed’s further note: For thebenefit of those readers whose first language is not English, you could say that ‘marbles’, as used above, is similar to ‘brain cells’, so that ‘losing one’s marbles’ can mean losing one’s memory – a natural consequence of getting old.
HARRY LESTER
HIS CARS
&
THE MONKEY STABLE
I have had a few requests recently about the availability of Stewart Penfound’s book.
It can be ordered direct from Stewart using the email address [email protected]
The book costs £25 plus postage.
Greaser on TD/TF Brake Shaft
The following has been received from Matt Sanders:
“I am about to do the RHD conversion on the 1950 TD and noted on an old TF LHD brake shaft it was drilled and has a greaser on it. On my MGF I had a greasable clutch shaft fitted which B&G sell, wonder if this idea came from the LHD TF one? Seems a common fault on the MGF, the shaft corroding stuck and happened on my car.
A friend of mine milled the slots in this RHD shaft pictured, and drilled it for me it is also drilled through lengthways and plugged one end with a flush screw, there is plenty of steel there in the wall thickness so I don’t think this drilling will be a problem for strength.
This milled area in the picture is the pedals end, the idea is to allow grease to be present to stop it seizing up – I have since added 2 holes on the other end of the rod.
On the B&G chassis tube, it has 2 bronze insert bushes inside. I have drilled these bushes and added radial grooves on the lathe to the external side of these to make some grease channels, so hopefully, it will keep a film of grease there to stop any corrosion and, also, any problems of metals growing on each other. These bushes are very tight and I had to relieve some metal from them to get a sliding fit.
I think this modification (see pic of finished job) is hopefully going to avoid the brake shaft from seizing up.”
Stainless steel wood screws
Matt Sanders sent me the following details of a S/S wood screw supplier; (useful on T-Type bodies).
Kayfast Ltd
Unit 10
Flanshaw Way
Wakefield
West Yorkshire
WF2 9LP
United Kingdom
Phone: 01924 276555
email: [email protected]
I believe that Roger Furneaux also sells them.
Unleaded Fuel Diamond for petrol & diesel vehicles
Matt also drew my attention to this product.
One has a right to be sceptical as similar products have come and gone in the past. Matt says that he has used them on his Land Rover, Rover, Chrysler and Chevrolet and they have improved the economy and running – plus they help stop the E5 and E10 problems.
Publication of the website in no way implies a recommendation. https://www.spitfirefuelcatalyst.co.uk
A scientific explanation as to how this product works to help to stop the E5 and E10 problems would no doubt be useful.
TF heatshield
I supplied one of Barrie Jones’ heatshields to David Mendoza. The heatshield does, of course, fit in front of the exhaust manifold. As this hides the MG logo on the manifold, David decided to add one to the shield.
Publication of the website in no way implies a recommendation. https://www.spitfirefuelcatalyst.co.uk
A scientific explanation as to how this product works to help to stop the E5 and E10 problems would no doubt be useful.
TF heatshield
I supplied one of Barrie Jones’ heatshields to David Mendoza. The heatshield does, of course, fit in front of the exhaust manifold. As this hides the MG logo on the manifold, David decided to add one to the shield.
“A TALE OF TWO GEOFFs”
Geoff Fletcher has been sending me updates from time to time on the progress of his restoration of TC8365. There was a feature on Geoff, which included a photo of the superb restoration job he did on his Austin Healey 100, in Issue 57, December 2019.
I haven’t heard from him for some time, not since he sent me this picture, back last June.
“The other Geoff” (Geoff Broad), was busy restoring TC8100 at the time. The picture below shows what a first-class job he made of it.
Issue 65 (April 2021) gave some history of Geoff’s car, which originally came for Co Tyrone in Northern Ireland and ended up in Yorkshire, where it had two owners, one of whom had started to restore it. The car had been left out in the open, so the body was ‘shot’, which no doubt was a factor in deciding to use a period racing body.
This leads me to suggest that, had the car not been saved, it might well still be rotting away in a field, like this one, with probable terminal damage to the chassis.
I must say, I do like the shade of red of TC8100.
A GOOD SUPPLIER
I’ve just had the exhaust manifold on my J2, ceramic coated by Adam at AD Moto in mid-Wales.
It was significantly less expensive than had I gone to Zircotec in Abingdon. I may not be comparing ‘apples with apples’, but the job that Adam has done is good enough for me.
His website is: A.D. Moto | Hand Crafted Motorcycles and Custom Parts
You’ll note that the business is a motor-bike workshop and if you are also a ‘2-wheeler’, you are sure to like what you see.
Unusual Stamping on a TC Guarantee Plate
Tom Lange in the US recently contacted me about the stamping of the engine number on this Guarantee plate.
It shows the replacement engine number XPAG B 34978 stamped on the Guarantee plate.
There are a couple of points to make about this stamping when comparing it against the Factory stamping on the Guarantee plate of my old TC (TC0750).
Firstly, there are 3 ‘boxes’ on the plate for the chassis number and engine number, when only 2 are required.
In making this point, I am assuming that the number of ‘boxes’ on the Guarantee plate for later chassis numbers stayed at 2 (I don’t have a picture of a late chassis number plate to hand).
Secondly, the car would not have left the Factory with just a replacement engine number stamping. The engine originally fitted to TC9031 was XPAG 9595 and this is what would have been stamped on the Guarantee plate.
Citing the Guarantee plate fitted to TC0750 as an example, if a replacement engine was fitted by the Factory, (as was the case when replacement engine B 51135 – replacing original engine number XPAG 1403 – was fitted by Abingdon in 1955), the original engine number would have been crossed through and the replacement number stamped immediately below.
We’ll probably never know the circumstances of how the Guarantee plate queried by Tom came into being, but my guess is that it could have been supplied and stamped by a dealer at the time of an engine swop.