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T-Series Looking at a TD...

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dgaldrich

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A friend of mine has recently acquired a 52 MG TD missing some vital bits (like engine, transmission, and instruments). I'm in Florida and he's in Minnesota and not a real MG guy. In any event, I asked for the serial number just to try to find out when the car was made and he sent back the Type 22381 and Body Number of 4426-60843. I know the Type number is correct and while I wait for him to find the real serial number, I'm curious as to whether anyone can tell me what on earth the Body Number is or means. I can find little mention in any of the references conveniently at hand. Looking through the T Register, I find nothing like it on any of the data.

BTW, he's thinking of putting a Mazda Miata engine in it but would sell it to me and I'd put an XPAG engine/trans in if I can find one. Any help out there on either issue? Thanks
 
What is true for all classic cars is especially true of the T series MG; buy the most original car that is in great condition to start with. They easily cost twice what they are worth to restore. They are truly a labor of love , but let someone else love the thing first! In your case , even if the car were free , it would cost you more to find its missing parts than you could go buy a nice complete running car for. All you'll be buying for 2500 in a used TD engine is an engine that needs another 5,000 spent on it to rebuild it. A gearbox that is ready to use is 2,000. Instruments ready to install , 1,000.
 
From what I've seen, and I've by no means done detailed research, the first prat of the body number is the body type. The second number seems to be a sequential body number which appears to start not from the beginning of each model but from the first tub MG built. Which would be why it's a number of nearly 61k rather than somewhere in the 20k range. Others may know better, that's just the way it appears from my earlier cars.
 
If you want a car, get the best one you can find. That's the cheapest, in the long run. If you want a project, at the very least, get one that is complete or missing only some minor parts. Replacing missing parts is really expensive. If you don't have to do that, you have a prayer of restoring it in a cost effective manner.
 
Walk away from it!! It's a monetary disaster waiting to happen! I started with a complete running TF and when done, I'll have close to $35,000 in it without batting an eye. If all that stuff is missing, It's a parts car for body parts, nothing else. To modify it with a drive train from another car is still going to cost a fortune. Unless it's a free gift, I'd run away! JMHO. PJ

I might ad to this post, Anyone who has no experience or has no knowledge in what's involved in restoring a T series MG with it's wood frame construction should have an expert on them look over any car before getting involved! Their as far from restoring an MGB than a model T Ford is from a Thunderbird! The wood rots over the years and most can not be seen without tearing the car apart. There's a lot of them out there that guys have started and found out in a short time they made a big mistake money wise and months/years to restore. Their a labor of love and you need deep pockets to complete the car.
 
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Thanks for the replies. I do, in fact, have several friends that have experience with T-series and access to a pretty decent selection of parts. The serial number on the dumbiron is 4973 so that makes it a Dec 1950 production item though it was registered in the US as a 52. The absolutely worst case is that parting out the project would yield a profit. Thank you eBay.
 
Well, in my opinion the absolutely worst case is that you start working on it, spend a lot of money, and then realize that it will cost too much to finish it, so you sell it at a big loss. That's why it's a good idea to sit down with a pencil, paper, and some on-line parts catalogs and figure out what you need to do, how much it will cost, and how much time it will take. I would never discourage anyone from undertaking a project, but it has to be planned and cost-estimated. If you can see your way clear to do it in a manner that is within your cost limits and time limits, go for it. But go into it informed.
 
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