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Rear Brake Adjustment

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Thanks Bob - I too used a square (one shoe was miles out!) but the caliper is a great idea and I have replaced the post felts.

I measured the disks which are supposed to be 11" according the the Workshop Manual and they are 11 1/16th, so that fits with the oversize logic. Since one of the reasons I am doing this is one size binding (there was a small leak from the wheel bearing) I really want to use the new shoes so I now have two new drums on order.

Let's see how badly Brexit screws up the transport across La Manche...
 
Roger
if i am not mistaken, TD's only ever came with steel wheels. wire wheels did not come back out until the TF. i believe people then put them on TD's.
 
NutmegCT said:
Correct! Wire wheels came on the TFs.

https://www.mg-td.com/themgtd.htm

Tom M.
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Interesting. I canā€™t doubt your point. But what I know is that when I needed new drums ( I think it was for the front or back but not both) they were no where to be had. And no supplier clued me in to the fact that the wire wheels were the non-stock. Seems strange that the disc was the common item yet none to be had now. Evidently many, many people went to the wires as soon as possible.
 
John Turney said:
According to the referenced source, wire wheels became optional on TDs in 1952.
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Of no real relevance, but I believe the TD I worked on was a ā€˜52. And it is the only T-Series MG I have ever worked on. After I resolved myself to the under floorboard master cylinder I enjoyed my experience with it. The carburetors were very easy to get right and I was quite surprised at its spunkiness.
 
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John Turney said:
According to the referenced source, wire wheels became optional on TDs in 1952.
Click to expand...

When I was a kid in high school and college in southern California in the '60s, TDs were all over the place. The only one I ever saw with wire wheels was Marion Weber's (MG Mitten) concours-winning TD with Borrani wire wheels. The TCs and TFs had wires. The latter I never saw with disc wheels. I thought the TDs were OK, but needed wire wheels to make their vintage design look right.
 
That accords with my knowledge of TDs, having brought a wire-wheeled TF back from military service in Italy in 1958. That car was originally purchased in Germany by an Army sergeant. I don't know if any TDs came with wires, but for sure the ones I have seen have disc wheels. On the other hands, I think all of the earlier (and prized) TCs had wires and the TF follow-on to the TD had wires, as Steve relates. Wires, while presenting their own challenges, are really an aesthetic enhancement to old MGs and Healeys in my opinion.
 
I was there in 1952 and I've owned three TDs, the first, a 1951, in 1954. I never saw any TDs - and there were plenty of them running around in the 1950s - with wire wheels until years later when they were retrofitted. They all had steel disk wheels. There may have been a factory option but as I said, I never saw any wire-wheel TDs until way after the TF in 1954. And remember, I'm in Fairfield County, CT - the home of SCCA and the epicenter of sports car ownership after the War thanks to GIs bringing back TCs from England. Vette is right. There apparently no TD drums to be had. My memory may be hazy but as I recall, TDs had 8" drums, TR2s had 9" and TR3's had 10". How expensive would it be to have a machine shop sleeve the drums? Or - one extra upgrade was Alfin drums of finned aluminum with a steel liner - perhaps someone has a few lying around.
 
Getting back to basics and the original question, you put new rear wheel cylinders on and now you can't adjust the rear brakes to tight. I had this problem once and discovered one of the pieces that get pushed out by the cone shaped adjuster had fallen out, I think it is more likely something is missing or not properly set than the drums have suddenly worn past the point of adjustment, or maybe the shoes are the wrong size as shown in variances in the picture.
 
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