1953 MG TD Roadster

[GregT]

Hello TUGgers,

My brother-in-law was just gifted one of these from a family member and it is not in running condition, but the body is in beautiful shape.

He hopes to restore it, and I’m curious if anyone has done this and has any advice and counsel for someone embarking on this task.

Please advise and thank you!

Best,

Greg

 

[Passepartout]

Could be a money pit that even in fully restored state wouldn't be a) worth a bundle, and b) isn't a great driver with zero safety features and marginal performance- iirc 55 or so bhp. I'd put the pristine body on a Miata donor. Could be cool.

 

[Carolinian]

I would try to keep it original. There is a US-based MG club that offers a great deal of support. Restored MG's bring good money, but not if bastardized with the incorrect engine / drive train.

MG's and Triumphs are easy to find parts for, as a company called British Motor Heritage acquired all the machinery to make just about everything and when they run out of something, they just make more. I have owned a number of British sports cars or convertibles including a Triumph Spitfire, Sunbeam-Talbot Alpine, Singer Gazelle, and currently an MGB.

Cars of this era are MUCH easier to work on than these front wheel drive crates of today. Even the kit car reproductions of the MGTD's run about 14K and a good original can bring three times that.

For MG parts, I usually use a US based company called Victoria British. I have also used Moss Motors.

For years, I have been hoping to find a reasonably priced MGA, which is my favorite MG, but the ones I have seen locally are priced high and the reasonably priced ones are too far away.

They do a British car show annually at Hershey, PA and here in North Carolina there is a British car show annually at Tanglewood.

With that year model, the screws and bolts will be BSF and Whitworth, not SAE or Metric. Always keep your screws as finding replacements is not easy. My Sunbeam-Talbot Alpine was of the same era, and I found some older British cars in a junk yard that were beyond saving, and paid to take every screw and bolt I could get out off of them. You will also need a set of BSF ./ Whitworth tools, but they are available to be found. BSF is the abbreviation for British Standard Fine, which are the smaller ones, and Whitworth are the larger ones.

 

[jpsmit]

Good TD's are definitely way up there in price. They are simple to work on. Hope it is OK to refer another forum

I belong to the British Car Forum britishcarforum.com - lots of great advice (I couldn't have restored my MG Midget without it) and a lovely environment.

it will be fun!

 

[ScoopKona]

Mechanical with these things is easy. If the body is truly clean and sound, then it's an easy, fun project. Just remember, for every bit of rust that you can see, there is 10 times more elsewhere you can't.

When I bought my "forever car," it took me five years to find a clean, mostly rust-free body. If it reads "Perfect condition" in the ad means, "I don't know a damned thing about old cars."

Your best bet is to take a gazillion pictures of everything you can -- especially from underneath -- and upload that to an MG enthusiasts forum. They'll be very helpful.

 

[Brett]

Could be a money pit that even in fully restored state wouldn't be a) worth a bundle, and b) isn't a great driver with zero safety features and marginal performance- iirc 55 or so bhp. I'd put the pristine body on a Miata donor. Could be cool.

All those old English cars are money pits - sell it to Mike Wolf

https://www.factorytwofour.com/is-your-classic-car-a-money-pit/

 

[Carolinian]

All those old English cars are money pits - sell it to Mike Wolf

https://www.factorytwofour.com/is-your-classic-car-a-money-pit/

The money pits are the current front wheel drive cars with computers in the engine. Everything is jammed in where it is very time consuming to work on and you can't buy just the part you need, but instead have to buy a whole "assembly". Simple mechanicals mean lower costs to maintain. Plus, the style of older cars is so much more pleasing.

 

[buzglyd]

Greg, I’ve seen an old MG around Carlsbad that has been convert to electric. There is a company in San Marcos near me called EV West that does these. He would have to evaluate how much it would cost to restore and how much it would be worth when complete and make a decision from there.

 

[Carolinian]

Greg, I’ve seen an old MG around Carlsbad that has been convert to electric. There is a company in San Marcos near me called EV West that does these. He would have to evaluate how much it would cost to restore and how much it would be worth when complete and make a decision from there.

That would be the ultimate bastardization of a wonderful classic.

 

[GregT]

Thank you all for the suggestions -- I've given him the link to this thread and also to the different forums mentioned -- greatly appreciated and I hope he can make it happen!

Best,

Greg

 

[buzglyd]

That would be the ultimate bastardization of a wonderful classic.

It would run though.

 

[Carolinian]

It would run though.

I have fewer problems with my MGB than with my Ford Escape, and when they happen, they are easier and much cheaper to fix. I want no more cars with front wheel drive and / or computers in the engine.

 

[Passepartout]

I have fewer problems with my MGB than with my Ford Escape, and when they happen, they are easier and much cheaper to fix. I want no more cars with front wheel drive and / or computers in the engine.

Exactly why I suggested putting the body on a Miata donor chassis. Rear drive and supremely reliable Japanese mechanicals.

 

[ScoopKona]

Exactly why I suggested putting the body on a Miata donor chassis. Rear drive and supremely reliable Japanese mechanicals.

I own a classic that you probably wouldn't like either -- and its German, so it's even more expensive for parts.

But, doesn't matter. I like it. It's also gone up in value by more than 25x since I bought it. It is the best performing "investment" of my entire life, strictly from a percentage increase standpoint. I'm keeping it until I can't get in or out of it anymore. Until then, I'll stick with my strange engine, strange transmission, takes corners like it's on rails fun car.

These cars are basically works of art. Those who are lucky enough to have one should keep it as stock as possible, and maybe pass it along to the next generation.

 

[Passepartout]

I own a classic that you probably wouldn't like either -- and its German, so it's even more expensive for parts.

Bug, huh? I had one of those AND a bus at the same time.

 

[ScoopKona]

Bug, huh? I had one of those AND a bus at the same time.

Nope. Not a bug.

Bugs don't corner like they're on rails. I can take a 90-degree left turn at 60mph. I have a small, fast, some-say-underpowered car that did well at Le Mans. I keep the original engine outside the car. And I run a similar engine. That way I can offer a matching numbers, limited production car someday when I'm in my extreme decrepitude. Until then, I have the most fun canyon-carver ever made.

Anyone who has a classic should keep it stock. It's the only smart move these days. My car would lose six figures of value if I hacked it.

 

[Carolinian]

Bug, huh? I had one of those AND a bus at the same time.

The parts situation for Bugs, I am told, is good. They are also very easy to repair, something they do not need very often. The chassis is the same as the Wehrmacht kubelwagens used by Rommel in North Africa, so they are a rugged car.

The German car I would like to find a steal on is an Amphicar, which were made in Hamburg in the 1960s. They have twin propellers under the rear bumper and you can drive them down a boat ramps and take off across the water. The mechanical parts are almost all Triumph or VW, and therefore plentiful.

I saw a good example of what putting the wrong drive train in a car can do its value at an auction as the classic car show at Charlotte Motor Speedway some years ago. Someone had found a very rare Rolls Royce convertible body from the 1920s (1929 if memory serves) with no drive train so they bought a hard top Rolls of the same year and installed its drive train in the convertible body. Someone took the hardtop Rolls, now with no drive train and installed a Chevy drive train. The body and interior with stock Rolls and in great condition. It just had the wrong drive train. I thought it would still go high, and the other car in the auction I would have loved to have, a post-war Armstrong-Siddeley Hurricane convertible I knew would be too rich for my blood. I did not sit through the auction but went on out to the show. That afternoon, on the way out, I stopped at the auction area out of curiosity to see what those two cars brought. The Armstrong-Siddeley was, as I expected, way up there in what it brought, but the Rolls went very low, $2,000 to $3,000. I kicked myself for not staying for the auction. At that price, it would have made a wonderful wintertime driver.

 

[Passepartout]

It really depends on what the owner/rebuilder wants to do with it. Obviously, if one is going for 'Concours d'Excellence' then frame-off restoration with correct parts, and attention to detail is paramount. But if one's aim is to have a dependable daily driver, considerable latitude can be made as to drive train, colors, wheels/tires, etc. There is a helluva difference between Henry Ford's $500 2-door and the Beach Boy's Little Deuce Coupe and every other hot rod of the genre.

 

[emeryjre]

Nope. Not a bug.

Bugs don't corner like they're on rails. I can take a 90-degree left turn at 60mph. I have a small, fast, some-say-underpowered car that did well at Le Mans. I keep the original engine outside the car. And I run a similar engine. That way I can offer a matching numbers, limited production car someday when I'm in my extreme decrepitude. Until then, I have the most fun canyon-carver ever made.

Anyone who has a classic should keep it stock. It's the only smart move these days. My car would lose six figures of value if I hacked it.

Is it an 50's era Porsche 356??

 

[Carolinian]

It really depends on what the owner/rebuilder wants to do with it. Obviously, if one is going for 'Concours d'Excellence' then frame-off restoration with correct parts, and attention to detail is paramount. But if one's aim is to have a dependable daily driver, considerable latitude can be made as to drive train, colors, wheels/tires, etc. There is a helluva difference between Henry Ford's $500 2-door and the Beach Boy's Little Deuce Coupe and every other hot rod of the genre.

I was never a fan of bastardizing a car for a hot rod.

Thinking people do not devalue their property like putting the incorrect drive train in a classic car. What it does is give someone an opportunity to get it real cheap like that Rolls I mentioned. Those who temporarily substitute another engine to help preserve the correct one, however, can be making a smart move as long as the original can be put back and is kept. There was a Jag XKE convertible I was once negotiating on where a prior owner had replaced the working Jag drive train with a Chevy drive train, but the original had stayed with the car and would go to the new owner. The seller was in financial straights and I missed out on it by trying to drive too hard a bargain. His asking price had started low because of the incorrect engine that was then installed.

 

[buzglyd]

Speaking of installing incorrect drive trains: I was riding my motorcycle in Carlsbad one day and noticed an old VW van ahead of me. I was surprised by how quickly it pulled from the stoplights. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I sped up next to him and noticed a Porsche placard on the back of the van. At the next stoplight I asked him if he had installed a Porsche flat 6 into it. Indeed he had and started a little company doing those installs.

BTW, this is a good friend’s company in San Marcos. A Miata with a V8 is a FUN ride!

Home | Monstermiata.com

www.monstermiata.com

 

[Passepartout]

Speaking of installing incorrect drive trains: I was riding my motorcycle in Carlsbad one day and noticed an old VW van ahead of me. I was surprised by how quickly it pulled from the stoplights. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I sped up next to him and noticed a Porsche placard on the back of the van. At the next stoplight I asked him if he had installed a Porsche flat 6 into it. Indeed he had and started a little company doing those installs.

That would be cool, but much more commonly transplanted are Subaru pancake motors in old VW buses. Makes a nice driver. Probably not as quick as Porsche, but less finicky and cheaper.

 

[buzglyd]

That would be cool, but much more commonly transplanted are Subaru pancake motors in old VW buses. Makes a nice driver. Probably not as quick as Porsche, but less finicky and cheaper.

The nice thing about the old Porsche motor is that it is air-cooled which likely makes for an easier install.

 

[ScoopKona]

Is it an 50's era Porsche 356??

Close. But no.

 

[emeryjre]

Close. But no.

hmm, this is getting harder. Is it a Porsche, or a different marque?