Curt
I have recently completed the body tub on my 1950 MGTD. Like yours it was
weak in many areas and non-existent under the passenger door. I jumped right
in and removed all of the nails and took the sheet metal off. This gave good
access to the metal frame and all of the sheet metal internals. I
subsequently remade the rear wheel tubs using the old ones as a pattern. I
used Horst's book as a reference as there are no TD's in town and found that
it wasn't that hard a task as long as you followed the advise especially for
the door opening. The only problem I had was fitting the top rear rail
pieces as they were a fraction too long and this made the rear of the tub
too wide for the original metal. I used new "nails" that I purchased from a
furniture repair shop. These were made to fasten into hard wood and not back
out, they worked really well. Most shops now use pnuematic tackers!
If you have any specific questions you can contact me direct and I will try
and help.
Brian Smith
1950 MGTD
1959 MGA Coupe
1974 MGB GT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Curt Strohacker" <strohacker@acadia.net>
To: <mg-t@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2002 8:00 AM
Subject: Re: wood condition & Rebuilding the Tub
> I recently purchased a 1950 TD and planned on a restoration. What I did
not
> plan on was a complete wood replacement in the Tub. After I did the
> examination with a pick I found that 80% of the wood structure was soft
and
> needed replacement. Rather than try to save a piece I decided to go for
the
> whole kit.
>
> I have purchased a complete wood set from the Whitworth shop and now need
> to decide on the process.
> There are conflicting approaches to this job.
> One calls for complete removal of the sheet metal skin and then refitting
> the sheet metal. This is what is outlined in Horst book and others.
> The other approach is to do the job in sections which allows you to keep
> the body shape and supposedly simplify the sheet metal work. This is what
> is recommended by a local shop familiar with the T series cars.
>
> Either way it seems like a daunting task. I have a beautiful restored
> rolling chassis. The engine is rebuilt and ready for installation. Now I
> will have to make a decision on my approach to the tub. Incidentally the
> sheet metal is fine with only the usual perforations at the running board.
> The rest is sound.
> Any web information available on this process. The books are informative,
> but don't answer all the questions. Any direction on this job would be
> appreciated.
>
> Curt Strohacker
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