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MG TD TF 1500 - Observations from first 200 mile drive (LONG)

Well, I drove "Rocky", my '52 TD, to the British Car Fayre, in Norcross, Georgia....This is an annual event, and draws cars from all over...Just about any British marque you can think of.
For me, living in the N.Georgia mountains, it is quite a trek, in the 60 year-old car....
About 2/3 of the 120 mile (one-way), trip, is 65-70 MPH, highway driving...."Rocky" was never pushed over 60 MPH, and most of the time , stayed at 55, or so...
I couldn't help but notice , that between 55 and 57MPH, the car seemed to "bounce"....
I have radial tires (180-65R15), and have been running them at 33lbs....I'm going to reduce to 26lbs, and test, to see if this is part of the issue...If not, I will get the tires rebalanced...Hopefully , one or both will solve the problem.
I rarely drive on 4-lane highways, but if I did, I would change the rear-end ratio...
Only problem with that, is I pull some pretty steep mountains, and doubt if "Rocky" would be able to make more than a crawl with a lower ratio gear set.
One thing that happened, was when I stopped to fill up gas, the car coughed and sputtered, when restarted, and I had to choke it to smooth out the idle....Thing is, it runs rich at idle anyway....Possibly vapor lock, caused by the new ,cooler fuel, hitting the hot carbs.
It was a gorgeous day, and I really missed having a set of dark visors...especially early in the a.m...My hand , became my visor, and it was less than satisfactory, driving with one hand, through the twisties in the mountains.
My friend followed me both ways, and did not notice any smoke, except at idle, (black), so that was good to hear...He also did not notices any wheel wobble, thankfully.
One other observation...I had installed a non-pressurized "catch can", for radiator overflow...
Strangely, even without pressure cap, the system sucks coolant when cold, and fills when hot....weird!...Since installation about 2 mos. ago, I have lost "0" coolant...
Ambient temp on the trip was between 50 80 degrees F, and "Rocky" ran at 80C in the a.m., and 90C in the P.M.
Lots of beautiful cars...but , I forgot my camera!
Thanks for reading.
Edward
E.B. Wesson

I drive with my tyres at 26-28lbs.

I also found that my wheels were buckled - though they could be balanced this didn't really help and I still had a lot of shake in the steering similar to wheel imbalace

Have yours checked to see if they have recieved damage and if they are running true. You may even have wear in the holes the studs go through meaning they are not bolted on dead centre...

You can get buckles straightened. Check out the shops that fix alloy wheels. Some of they wil do old style steel wheels too...

Cheers

Dave

Dave Moore

Dave
Are they like "B's", that need to be balanced on the car?
Thanks
Edward
E.B. Wesson

B's or TD's, they need to be balanced lug centric, not hub centric. It makes a huge difference. Then, if you would like, do the fronts on the car. It takes an experienced technician to do this, because it is an art.

I used to think that the hubs and the lugs were pretty well aligned on the TD... I've changed my mind recently after specifying a lug centric balance.

With regard to vapor lock, it shouldn't under most running conditions. Usually a well set up set of carbs will vapor lock only after shutdown with the bonnet closed.

Congratulations, Ed on a first great run!

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

EB,

I balance mine on the car since this also includes the brake drums and hubs in the balancing.

There was a recent thread about the "shake" at 55-57 MPH in TD's

Over 60 of the Southeasterns members have gone to the 4.3 or 4.1 rear end and we often drive in the mountains. That's where it's fun to drive a T-car
The conversion makes the lower gears more usable and we have no problems, including the grades at the passes in North Georgia. (eg: Neil's gap, I make it in third on the steep grades unless some idiot in front of me slows down too much and I drop below 2300 RPM. I have a 4.1 in my TF and cruise the expressways at 3500 RPM at 65 MPH
(under 4000 at 75 MPH)

You simply shift to keep the RPM's above 2300 so you stay on the power curve

Give me a call so I can convince you you can have both mountain and expressway driving when necessary, so you can really enjoy your TD

Good to meet you at Norcross

Don Harmer
770-457-4566




Don Harmer

Don
Problem is, I would be in 2d or 3rd almost all the time, and , to me , that would defeat the advantage of the new rear end ratio...But, you never know...
When I pull the car apart this Winter, a new axle ratio could be in the cards.
Good meeting you , as well.
Edward
E.B. Wesson

Glad you enjoyed the ride. Even with the wheels fully balanced as stated before, some of these cars experience Skuttle Shake. I have the 4:1 rear end in my car and do have to downshift on big hills,but what the heck, thats what makes it fun. PLus you can do this without revving over about 4200 or so and that revs put you at about 68-70 without straining hte engine, most o fthe time I cruise around 3500 or so and this is on the flats not hills. The cars were meant to be driven and enjoy a high rev oncein a while even at age 60 plus. Have fun in the future.
Tom Maine (TD8105)

edward, glad to hear rocky ran so well. they are so much fun when well sorted.
in regard to your thoughts on vapor lock i will echo what dave said. in addition cold fuel, if anything, will reduce the effects of hot carbs.
i do not have a catch can system for my car. i have never really understood the need for one..i have driven just over 2000 miles this summer, 400 of which was in 95+ temps, and 1 hour of stop and go traffic around the southside of chicago and n. indiana. my coolant is at the same level as when i started the summer season. i have not added a drop. i think there may be folks new to the old cars and attempt to keep the radiator topped off...not letting it seek its level after the fist run of the season.
high marks for a well sorted car..these are fun machines. regards, tom
tom peterson

Glad to see you there. Rocky i assume made all the trip much better than you had hoped. You have a beautiful car and I hope to see it more in the future. Please come to the GOF in Athens. These cars all do 10 times better than we sometimes give them cedit for. I get in another world when I get in mine.. One of our members won the drawing for a week-end stay at the W and $500 to spend. He was estatic

Ellis Get that application in




























Ellis Carlton

Check the drums carefully, one of my front drums was so badly out of balance that the only way I could stop the shimmy was to replace it. I 'm running 22(front)-24 (rear) lbs.
David Werblow

Ed, I had 2 of my wheels straightened and this cured my shake with standard hub-centric balancing. I highly recommend the 4.3 conversion. You would quickly come to realize that your new third gear is almost like the old 4th! I've driven the car through the Berkshire mountains and as long as you downshift aggressively and keep the rpms up, it climbs just fine.
Steven Tobias

Hill climbs were a really big deal in England prior to the advent of the TD. I think Abingdon was still a bit stuck on this when they selected the same 5.125 gearing for the TD as the TC had. It is obvious that they were changing their minds as the TD Mk II and the TF had the 4.875, and 4.55 rear ends available. Considering the smaller wheels the 5.125 makes no sense at all.

What suprised me most about changing to the 4.3 was how usable first gear became. I also believe my acceleration time decreased because I'm in first gear longer, at a higher speed before I have to shift to second. I only have to downshift on the steepest hills around here, if the RPMs go below 2800 or so you may start to bog, and it is time to accept the inevitable and downshift.

I've driven Tommy over 2000 miles in a week each of the past three GOF Centrals (I take a round about route) and over 6000 miles a year and the 4.3 has never let me down.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Thanks all for your input....I will definitely consider the 4.3 change, but being retired, on a "fixed" income , makes spending decisions a little more difficult....Right now, I'm just going to drive it, until the end of October, when I will begin taking "Rocky" apart....
I have lowered the air pressure,(26psi), and will test drive it that way , and see if there is any change.
Edward
E.B. Wesson

This thread was discussed between 12/09/2011 and 14/09/2011

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