Is hopping up a MG TD off or on topic?

Yes they do...there's a cast iron lining inside the aluminum housing. Used with soft linings they'll bring the T-series to a rapid halt with minimal fade...widely used in vintage racing.

Note...both of these are running the original XPAG's...the front car is a TD and belongs to Manley Ford - it's very competitive. The car on his tail is a TC (right hand drive).

 

Mercedes Benz ,on it's W111( finnys) models had drums in the late 50's. The rears were finned like a Buick or Ford LTD but the fronts were plain,around 1960- 1961 Alfins were supplied to improve the drum brakes before the Discs became standard. If you are looking for cheapie Alfins,check any old fintail Mercedes you find to see if it has Drums on the front. They are Ford Stud Pattern and are, as is typical of Mercedes,very effective brakes.

 

http://www.mgexperience.net/

check the t-series forum out-and the v8 forum too.

 

look forward to raiding all the fin tail mercs I can find, but is the bolt pattern going to fit the TD, now that is a good question.

 

I sold "The US Mule II" earlier this year, it was unrestored but ran a blown 392 HEMI in its day and won its class at the US Nationals in 1965.

 

Matt,
By all means, do an engine swap...there are so many examples that soundly count as "traditional" around here.
The V8-60 that was raced on the west coast in-period was known as "2 Jr." and, among others, Phil Hill drove it.
Other common conversions involved early Buicks and Y-blocks.

This is an Offy that went into a TD (see MG tranny and SU carbs):



To those who are trying to dissuade you, please, there are MORE than enough stock MG TDs in existence. What the world needs are a few well done period conversions to bigger power...a 2 Jr. clone would be so righteous, as would any old Brit car with an Offy. Search the board for an old post of mine from this summer about the Mt. Equinox hillclimb...there's an HRG (a FAR rarer car than a TD) with an Offy in it. If you think there's something un-pure about that car, you need your head checked.

My family's owned a ton of TDs...still have two (Devin bodied car, and an Bertone-bodied Arnolt Coup&#233 in fact. I passed my VSCCA test in a TD 17 years ago...great-handling car that unfortunately isn't very quick. Racers in the 50s knew the deal and made adjustments (well beyond tuning the XPAG) accordingly.

There's a TD (or TC?) up in either Washington or Oregon with a V8-60 with one of the only sets of V8-60 Ardun heads on it...you going to kick that car out of bed for eating crackers? EDIT: Damnfingers posted a photo of this car...I only now saw it.

Bottom line: your car, you can do whatever you want with it. I would have loved to see The 37 Kid pull up to a T Register show with the Mule, as would a few of the people on the board of directors for that club.

Would you rather please the purists or please yourself?

XOXOXO

Cris

 

The HAMB is a collection of opinionated purists...Hot Rodding Purists! And there is nothing more traditional in the early world of hot rods, and road racers than an MG TD. Hell even the little mags of the time have lots of MG's in them.

The world needs more custom MG's!

 

here is my inspiration. a real live TD/C, it is amazing what 2" lower all around does for these cars.

 

That looks great! Are they easy to lower, both front and rear?

 

Pretty easy to lower , but they don't have a lot of ground clearance as is. Because they were sports cars to begin with, they typically only have about 5 1/2 to 6" from the pipes to the pavement.

The front suspension is supported with coils set into a pan bolted between two arms which make up the lower control arm. Best way to lower it is to move the spring pocket lower.

The upper arm is also a lever shock. Its a kingpin and trunion arrangement that looks a lot like some early GM stuff. The steering is R&P. Out back are parallel leafs.

For the day, a pretty good handling setup. The whole basic arrangement was carried over to the TF, MGA, and the MGB.

 

just have lowered springs made (dearched) in the rear.

I cant figure out how to lower the front and not screw with the lower A-arm angle...as the darn thing sits almost flat stock. Some one must know...

 

here is a period add for a TD/C also know as a Mark 2 (not to be confused with a TD2, which is the second itteration of the TD with some upgrades)

 

It's been an eternity, but I seem to remember flipping the trunnion shaft to lower the car and inch or two, but that was by accident. I wasn't trying to lower it. Reassembled the front end, one side was lower than the other, dammit.....

I found this on the web....

 

here is another TD/C that has been restored to stock vs the one I photographed which has been raced and modified and not returned to stock.

 

Where's Fat Hack?

Fine, I'll say it... PUT A GM V6-60 IN IT!!



-Dave

 

what i was thinking is that I could press the shaft out of the king pin, since it is just held in place with a bolt, flip it over, and reinstall it. I think i would gain about a 2 inch drop. and not screw it up to bad.

 

Judson supercharger...still available, makes power, looks and sounds cooler than hell.

 

Where...other than Ebay?

I don't think Folchi has any for sale now.

 

i didn't know there were repop ones available. hmmm.

 

Buy a Morgan plus 8 and be done with it.

That is if you don't already have the T series car.

The plus 8 is of course British, has the vintage style, has very good power with the small all aluminum V8 GM designed and is everything you may be looking for. Do a search.

Morgan has been building cars since Jesus was in the second grade, the plus 8 has been in production over 30 years. This is something you might consider, I would suggest and earlier plus 8 over a newer one.

Your choice but check a few out.

I have nothing against MG's, I drove them for many, many years but don't discount a plus 8 and let's not get started on TVR's.

 

Well... Morgans look kind of "pants" but also cost much, much more, don't they?

 

This is a GREAT picture. I really like the black with red gut. It might be tired in the world of 32 Fords and other "primered" rat rods, but it will be timeless on TDs.

The picture also really emphasizes the gaps between the tires and the fenders. The car seems to need either bigger wheels (like the 19" TC wires) or a lowering. Hmm...

 

Well, wait, those are obviously radials. Do most TDs ride on radials?

 

Closet MG owner indeed, I resemble that remark.
Hey Fur biscuit. Is your car white or very pale yellow ?
A guy I grew up with, his dad had a pale yellow one (in Belvedere) many years ago, not sure where it ended up. Could still be in Bay Area.

 

these car's were not hot rods from the get go.they are sports cars.

but,i still think it's topic .

my friend built a very fast mg during the early sixties .it had a blown small block .the fenders were all holesawed out for wind and to lighten it up .

good luck on your project

 

I make no discount about Morgans, TVR's, Triumphs, Alfa's, Lancia's, Jowett's, Lotus's and every other sports car from what ever period you want to name from 1945 to 1980. They all maybe the greatest thing since sliced bread, but simply put: THEY ARE INSIGNIFICANT, they dont add up to jar of vegemite.

MG built how many thousand TC's?

MG built how many tens of thousands TD's?

MG built how many hundreds of thousands of A's and B's?

The press may have called the A stoneage, the B recieved worse comentary, the TD was archane, the TF was a flop by MG standards. But more people bought more MG's than every other foreign sports car ever built from the dawn of sports cardom.

More legendary race car drivers of the 50's and 60's got thier start in MG's. More people learned what handling, breaking, and steering was really about from MG's. People learned how to drive around accidents rather than into them.

gripe, gripe, piss, moan...I know, sorry.

 

Amen.

 

Whoa...

Not sure I agree with that at all.

Lots of those brands are very significant for all kinds of reasons...

 

no this one is olde english white. It had been customized with lots of lightening holes drilled in various parts of the car. It also had some parts that weren't normally chrome plated done.

i would love to have this car, it has socal race history to boot. what i have learned was (that the lady who currently owns it) her father bought the car for her to go to college in the 50's. She still owns it to this day. The car is a 1950.

Imagine having a TD/C to go to college in, that would be like having GT 350 for college. The car appears to be basically untouched. I took lots of detail shots, it has been detuned, it was super charged at one point and still has the brackets in place, but no supercharger. It has Alfin brakes, aluminium gas tank, Andrex shocks in addition to the stock shocks. and all manner of cool goodies.

 

i was basically refering to production numbers, and shear out reach to society as a whole.

all over those cars i mentioned are actually very historically import on an individual level. and i would gladly put anyone of them in my garge (except the Jowett)