T-Series History of a 1952 MG TD

[Sarastro]

Ever wonder about the history of your car? It seems likely that it has experienced a lot, but documenting it and putting it all in order can make that inevitable situation suddenly appear very real. My TD came with a lot of old documentation, receipts for parts, service, and insurance purchases, as well as a couple old registration cards. I organized these today and put it all into a spreadsheet. Most of this is hard documentation, from those documents, but there are also a few handwritten notes from previous owners. Here's what I found.

1951 or 1952: The car was first sold in Texas.

1960: Purchased by the second owner, who lived in Annapolis, MD.

1972: Engine was rebuilt. 14 receipts for parts this year, so quite a bit of work was done.

1973: Owner moved to the San Diego area.

1976: Dropped a valve into the cylinder and damaged the engine. The car sat unrepaired until 1978.

1978: Sold to the third owner, a lady in Concord, CA, for $3200. She had it towed and repaired there. Second engine rebuild.

1980: Sold to the fourth owner, in Huntington park, CA., for $1500. He ordered a new short block even before completing the sale of the car. The '78 rebuild must not have been very well done.

1980: Owner moved to Pasadena, CA.

1980: Installed the new short block (third engine rebuild) but had the old one rebuilt, too. I wonder why--maybe as a spare?

1980: Replaced the clutch and rebuilt the transmission, separate service operations 3 months apart. Strange.

2005: Replace the engine. Fourth rebuild.

2008: Last document from the fourth owner. He owned it at least 28 years!

2012: Sixth owner, Pasadena, CA. He intended to rebuild the car, but realized it was more work than he could undertake. The fifth owner (unknown) had run the car without oil pressure and wrecked the engine bottom end. I wish I had more information about the fifth owner, as he obviously did a lot of work on the car. It's clear that the transmission has been recently rebuilt and the clutch is nearly new, for example.

2012: My purchase. I'm the seventh owner and I'm doing (at least) the fifth replacement/rebuild of the engine.


The fourth owner apparently didn't do any of his own work, as he left quite a pile of service documents. Over the years, he spent a stunning amount of money on the car.

Of course, this collection of documents is almost certainly incomplete. It's especially hard to believe that the engine wasn't rebuilt for the first 20 years of its life, and, indeed, the parts order for the first rebuild shows a significant (0.030") regrind. It might well have been rebuilt once during that period. But whatever its completeness, taken together, it tells an engaging story. I'm fascinated by it.

 

[Deleted member 8987]

What that history lesson tells me is the TD engines were not long-lived units.
Why I saw them in college with 327's and Volvo lumps.
Can you imagine the tow bill from Sandy Eiggo to Concord?

 

[rick_ingram]

When I bough my 1978 MGB (in 1986), the State of Illinois still offered a service where for a small fee (I think it was $5), they would send you copies of all titles that had been assigned to the car through the State. (No out-of-state available).

I was able to learn the names and locations of all owners of this MGB since it was purchased new, from the BL dealer in Springfield, Illinois.

Sadly, with today's restrictions regarding the sharing of personal information, this service is no longer available.

I know the names of:

- one previous owner of my 1968 MGC
- one previous owner of my 1969 MGC
- one previous owner of my 1972 MGB
- two previous owners of my 1974-1/2 MGB/GT

Unrelated...in 1978 I was in the market for a new car....and was now "in the money" having started my first "real job" as a pharmacist post college graduation in 1977. At that time, the closest MG dealer was located in Springfield, IL, or I may have checked out a new MGB. I waffled between a Silver Anniversary Corvette and a "Black Pearl" option Datsun 280Z (both available as new cars off of the showroom floor). I traded in a 1976 Pontiac Grand Prix. I chose the Datsun, and drove it until 1989, when the frame rails finally rotted through (it was my everyday driver). It was a GREAT car, with a five-speed transmission, rear window louvre, and a/c.

I traded the 1978 Datsun 280Z for a (then new) Nissan 240SX. I was REALLY disappointed with that car, and traded it the following year for a new 1990 Nissan 300ZX (first year of the bodystyle.) This was the first 300ZX of the new bodyshell that the dealer in Champaign would sell. I kept this 300ZX until 1993, when I married Jean and felt that a two-seater was inappropriate with a new wife and two "new" sons that came in the deal. Man, was I wrong! I traded the 300ZX in on a new 1993 Jeep Cherokee Sport....and caught holy h*ll from Jean (who is also a gearhead). So, in 1997, I found a new, never registered/titled 1996 Nissan 300ZX on the lot of the same dealer from who I had purchased my 1990 ZX.(I became known at the dealership as "Rick - he bought the first and last 300ZX's we had here!") I brought it home; I was happy...and Jean was happy! (I have a GREAT, UNDERSTANDING wife!) I stll own this car; it has 74k miles on the clock.

 

[drooartz]

Very cool history, both of you.

I've got the complete ownership history of my MGB -- in the UK you can still request the list of all owners of your car, and whoever imported my car got that documentation before it arrived in Canada. Subsequent owners have updated the list ever since. Very neat to have the history. I asked the DLVA in the UK if I could verify any of the info, but they don't do that for foreign owners even if it is an original UK car. Ah well.