Front Wing Protection

Having had a couple of near misses with dropped spanners on my newly sprayed (at enormous expense) PB front wings, I was reminded of the ‘CARE AND PROTECTION’ chapter in Jonathan Goddard’s book ‘Practical M.G.TD’. Jonathan has given me permission to reproduce the paragraphs and photos on ‘Front Wing Protection’.

It is all too easy to drop something when you are working under the bonnet and inevitably the “item” will fall on to a nice clean painted wing.

As I had experienced this event, with some frustration, I decided to look into making some wing protectors so that the paintwork would be covered and protected during under bonnet maintenance.

I used cloth backed vinyl in a light “biscuit” or beige colour which matched the vinyl on the interior of my car. This material is available from some high street haberdashers but also from coach trimmers and some M.G. parts suppliers.

In order to obtain a good fit, and to work out how to hold the cover in place, I made a trial cover out of brown paper. The paper can be cut and ‘moulded’ to the required shape in order to provide an exact (3D) pattern for the vinyl.

If the vinyl is supplied in one metre (39 inches) width you might want to make the protector out of two pieces. The overall length of the cover is 48 inches so I put a joint in just before the headlamp support to achieve curvature around the leading edge.

By stitching in a number of cut darts in the vinyl this curve can be accommodated. I also included six darts down the inner edge to achieve a good fit down the inner wing length.

The maximum width of the cover is 29 inches but you might want to add an additional 4 inches to allow the edges to be folded in (2 inches each side) and machine sewn to give added strength.

All the edges of the finished cover should be turned over and hem stitched to provide strength.

The wing cover has a number of fixing locations helping to hold it firmly in place.

1) A tailored, shaped front top wing section with a “pocket” edge to grip firmly at the front.
2) An “opening” around the headlamp bracket-to-wing fitting has to be cut to allow a wrap around and overlap for a tab with sewn in “Velcro” to help achieve a secure fitting.

3) A hole to allow the side light to protrude through and help align the vinyl.
4) Two slots cut into the “inner” trailing edge of the cover that fit over both the bonnet buffer bracket and the bonnet catch rear brackets.

As the wing protectors are “handed”, it is necessary to make one for the driver’s side and one for the passenger’s side. Note these pictures are from the passenger’s side front wing.

Wm. M. Collingburn is a traditional coach trimming supplier for MG cars.

Wm. M. Collingburn & Son *WE HAVE MOVED* Unit 6, Mowbray House, Olympic Way, Gallowfields Trading Estate, Richmond, North Yorkshire DL10 4FB, ENGLAND.

Email : collingburn(at)btinternet.com {substitute @ for (at) to beat the spammers} Tel / Fax : +44 (0) 1748 824105. Due to the nature of production in our workshop we are not always available to answer.

Editor’s Note:

Jonathan’s book has sold hundreds of copies worldwide, but there are still TD owners who are not aware of it.

The book is available to order from the T-Shop at £6.99 + postage, from this link: Practical MG-TD: Maintenance, Update and Innovation