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MG TD TF 1500 - Front ourigger length

Hi guys

With the rear engine/gearbox mount and clutch lever problems sorted out, I am now working on the radiator.

When trying to fit the radiator on a new support I found that the stay bars were different lengths.

A check of the length of the front outriggers shows that they differ in length by about 1" (25mm) and both appear to be bent/buckled where they join the front cross member. It would appear I have had a front end crash. The outriggers in front of the radiator appear not to be damaged.

Also the left rack boot is rubbing against the edge of the outrigger circular cutout.

As the outriggers will be hard to straighten, I am thinking of drilling new bolt holes to get the radiator support in the correct position.

Can someone who doesn't have front body panels installed, please measure the distance from the centreline of the shocks to the front of the outrigger or the centreline of the radiator support.

regards

Stuart
Stuart Duncan

Hi Stuart. happrnd to have the rad off my car
MGTD 4490.The measurement on my car is:
From the forward bolt on the chock to the
aft bolt on the radiater support is 7 cm ( 3 and 3/4") The measurement from the forward bolt on the chock to the front of the dumb iron
(outrigger) is 35 cm (13 and 3/4".
Hope this will help.

Regards
Thoralf. Norwa MGTD 4490
on top of the world.( 59 deg north)
hope you get your car ready for the
summer Down under.
Thoralf Sorensen (TD4490)

Stuart
I would think you would want to correct them properly so that your front vallance fits properly. Especially if you already have it this far apart.
They are not that hard to straighten. the steal is not as hard as you would think. if your not capable of it a local body shop should be able to do it reasonably. I was quoted $300.00 I dicided to tackle it myself, as I have more time then money, being unemployed. Not to mention I have done a lot of metal working over the years.
My outriggers were also obviously damaged and buckled. I have had pretty good results straightening them, but the left side is not perfect yet. It was very badly buckled and the steering rack hole is still out of round and the top of it has a bow in it. The right side is just about perfect now. Having measurments should help to get it where they should be and let me know if the right side is in fact correct now.
Thanks Thoralf
Steve
Steve Carroll

Thanks Thoralf and Steve for your replies.

I did some measurements after Thoralf's post, but didn't write them down, so will do some further measurements and photos tomorrow.

FYI, I have Girling shocks which can be interchanged between sides, although my right front will not hold fluid.

Stuart
Stuart Duncan

Stuart, the entire front of the frame of 'the53' is exposed at the moment. I'd be happy to get any images, or dimensions for you. Just let me know what you need. Bud
Bud Krueger

Bud,
Could you send me anything you might send to Stuart. As you can see my car obviously had at least one front end collision in its past.
Both of the outriggers for the bumper and radiator support as well as the ones for the steering rack are not in their proper orientation.
I have replaced the radiator housing and the steering rack housing but still have to shim the steering rack and the radiator.
Right now the car drives and handles well but I would eventually like to replace/rebuild both outriggers.
Any info/photos/dimensions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mort

Mort 1950 TD Möbius

It would appear my front irons have been been bent but have been repaired as my distances are the similar as those measured by Thoralf (see photos). The right is a bit shorter.


Stuart

Stuart Duncan

The attached photos show the front irons.

Note the bend in the top of the left iron (bottom photo) where it is welded to the cross member

I don't think the damage is worth fixing. I will just add a spacer at the front if the bumper doesn't look right and adjust the vallance to fit.

I am not after a show car, just a driver. This decision is based on being 3000km from the nearest supplier of TD parts (especially correct bolts and nuts)

Stuart

Stuart Duncan

This thread was discussed between 19/09/2011 and 07/10/2011

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