bringing a classic back to life

[pyroskater6912]

well i've had this '52 MG TD sitting in my garage since my 13th birthday, i've never seen it run in my lifetime, but my grandfather ( who gave it to me) swears it has his DD back in the early 90s.

this is what i saw first thing in the morning:


so i decided to clean her off, since my grandfather too so much pride in his cars, and it seemed like a shame to have years of crap on top of it, and leaves underneath it.

and here is a few engine shots:

its missing a battery, but the terminals are reversed, so i had a hard time finding one locally. and i have no clue where that red hose is supposed to go, its just hanging out there.


and here is the other side, shes missing an air filter, and i'm kinda nervous about taking those british carbs apart, i've heard they're bitches.

the only other issue i'm worried about is that the wiring under the dash is everywhere, only god knows what works and what doesnt... this pic doesnt do it justice. you can also see the car's original color though, after a bit of research, i found the car should have been green, and it looks like it was, someone just decided to paint it (poorly i might add)



and just a quick comparison, i cleaned the right side up a little, she still has some shine left in her when compared to the left.


next paycheck i'll be (hopefully) getting a new battery, as well as new plugs

[jeep45238]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

The red tube is supposed to be like that. Old cars like that didn't have a PCV system, what they did instead was drop a hose down to under the car and let the air passing under create a minor vacuum instead (hence the dark streak down the middle of the road that was very, very prevelant in the old days).

It's probably a reverse polarity electrical system, like the old Fords. If it's a 6V battery system (like the old fords) it's a pretty commonly available battery. Put in a battery, air filter, change the oil out, some fresh gas and a few shots of either and give it a go and cross your fingers that the carbs will work alright. Worst case there are places out there that will rebuild them locally, or you can send yours out to an MG referb shop to be redone.

I seriously dig the old MG's (and Opels) man, get it runnin!

[saturntech95]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

I have a weird love for brittish cars, that thing is in increadible shape. If you need parts there are surprisingly tons avalible from Moss Motors and Victoria Brittish Ltd. I would love to see how it cleans up the rest of the way and if it starts right up.

[YourMainParadox]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

Wow I would love to have that.

[pyroskater6912]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

i'd love to clean it up the rest of the way, but the only tire that holds air and its shape is the spare, so moving it is alittle tough. hopefully i can find some tires or wheels that i can just fit on it so i can roll it outside for a good wash

[SL2Bob]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

Wow I would love to have that.

+1 that looks like alot of fun just waiting to happen.

[bgates2b]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

I found these guys very useful when I was working on an old MGB. Not sure if they'll have parts for yours, but give it a shot.

If that's British Racing Green for the original color, I highly recommend you return it to that color, the quintessential color for any British car.

[pyroskater6912]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

I found these guys very useful when I was working on an old MGB. Not sure if they'll have parts for yours, but give it a shot.

If that's British Racing Green for the original color, I highly recommend you return it to that color, the quintessential color for any British car.

i checked them out, doesnt seem like they have much that could help me, but thanks, i guess i'm going to be ordering most anything i need from moss motors.

but a little bit of an update, i changed the oil, polished up a lot of the chrome parts , and took a look at the gas tank, thankfully my grandfather knows well enough to have drained all fuel from it prior to storage, so i dont have to worry much about old gas in it. i replaced a section of the fuel line with some that came with my nitrous kit (from the t fitting to tap into a fuel line) due to some dry rot, and i priced a battery... $259 for the damn thing. hopefully, if it all works out, i'll have it running by the deadline i set for myself... august 13th

but it was originally british racing green. from what i can gather, my grandfather is used to own a red one back in the day, now he is usually a stickler for originality, and wouldnt have touched this car if it wasnt for the fact that he missed his little red convertible. maybe next summer if i can get my hands on an air compressor and a spray gun it will be back to its original color.

[ArghIGiveUp]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

Twin Suttons, yay! As if having ONE isn't bad enough.

Let me tell you something about those SU carbs as the former owner of an MG that was equipped with them. They defy physics, common sense, and, well, they are just all around evil. If you value your sanity, you'll consider upgrading to something else - anything else. A soda can, some string, and a few pebbles could function better as a carb than those damn things. Seriously, who designs a carb that you have to fill with oil?

That said, they can be tuned to work perfectly... Just don't drive it in any weather other than the weather you tuned them in, and only buy fuel from one station, or you'll be fiddling with the damn things constantly. I am dead serious about this. If you stick to driving around in the same weather and never fill up anywhere but one gas station, you'll only have to fiddle with the carbs about once every week or two.

By the way, that car will drive you completely insane. I lost most of my marbles from working on little British sports cars. Not that insane is bad... It's fun once you get used to the crazy looks. [img]{SMILIES_PATH}/lol.gif[/img]

[Robert]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

I'm waiting for Chris to chime in because he'll want to relate. Get it running!

[pyroskater6912]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

yeah, i've heard terrible things about these carbs, but as long as it runs, i dont really care at this point... plus my grandfather knows how to get them tuned, and its not like i'm going to be dailying it (although that would be pretty cool)

but looking at tires, and the lovely ones on it dont have any size except for "15 inch".... i think i'm going to take one of them out to a local tire shop to see if i can get the stockers from my ion put on it so i can get it rolling

[ProDarwin]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

Why would you NOT daily that? That's fucking awesome.

[JRSTANGE]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

very cool. I'd love to have it and get it running.

[ArghIGiveUp]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

yeah, i've heard terrible things about these carbs, but as long as it runs, i dont really care at this point... plus my grandfather knows how to get them tuned, and its not like i'm going to be dailying it (although that would be pretty cool)

but looking at tires, and the lovely ones on it dont have any size except for "15 inch".... i think i'm going to take one of them out to a local tire shop to see if i can get the stockers from my ion put on it so i can get it rolling

WTH? They don't say something like D78-15? Somewhere on there you should be able to find the size. You're probably missing it because the tires are sold old, they pre-date the P-metric system that you're used to dealing with.

Also, stock Ion tires are going to be way too wide for those rims, me thinks, but you can try.

[ArghIGiveUp]

Re: bringing a classic back to life

Why would you NOT daily that? That's fucking awesome.

Answer: Because they're less reliable than a turbo Saturn that was built by retarded monkeys who sought advice only from Saturnfans members. Seriously.

They are freakin' cool, though.