1952 MG TD F20C 6 speed

Wow! This is awesome; love what you've done to improve the car so far! Thanks for sharing, and enjoy...sounds like lots of fun.

TurnerX19 said:

Sounds like your wipers are in perfect condition. I have never tried, but I think it would be possible to improve the power output of the wiper motor, either with a stronger magnet, or a rewound armature, or both. This is a kind of "lost art" of electric motor rebuilding. There might also be a modern (not wiper) motor that would sneak into the original case. I had a few of those apart in my youth, but I can't remember how they changed rotation to oscillation any more  I do remember assisting them many times by hand while riding in Mom's car though!

That's pretty much the conclusion I've come to: in perfect working order the TD wiper motor barely works.  I've also researched going to the TF style under the cowl motor and arms, but what I've read says it's a lot of work for a system that is barely/not any better than the TD arrangement.

Like you suggest, I think the next step is to pull apart the motor assembly and see if I can hot rod it with a much stronger electric motor.  I won't be getting to that anytime soon though, so a copious coating of RainX is the best option for now.

Stealthtercel said:

To the OP: That's a beautiful car! Could you tell us more about the seats, like where they came from and how you made them fit? (TDs aren't that big inside, right?)

The seats are from Factory 5 Racing and are the vinyl buckets they sell for their Cobra kits.  When I bought them in 2018 they were a great deal at $500 for a pair of them with sliders.  I just checked and they are $900 for a pair now (see link below).  I had seen posts from others and knew they fit in a TD before I purchased them.  Frankly it was as simple as bolting their sliders to the floor and calling it good.  They have a nice compact base that fits without issue.  They are quite comfortable and provide reasonably good lateral support as well.  I couldn't be happier with them.

#16325 - Black Vinyl Roadster Seats - Factory Five Parts Catalog

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) said:

Wow! This is awesome; love what you've done to improve the car so far! Thanks for sharing, and enjoy...sounds like lots of fun.

Thank you.  Yes this car is lots of fun to drive.  One of the better descriptions comes with a story.  I used to own and ERA 289 FIA cobra replica as well.  One day I needed to pick up the Cobra from a shop and had a friend come with me to pick it up.  He drove the MG there and the Cobra back.  After driving both back to back he likened the Cobra to riding a Harely Davidson; powerful motor, great noises, somewhat lazy handling and cushy ride.  He compared driving the MG to riding on a manic scooter; quick, lively, and zingy.  My preference is clear as I still have the MG and sold the Cobra.

One of the great things about the mods to this MG is that they don't screw up all of the good traits the MG had from new.  The S2000 drivetrain is the same weight or at most 80 lbs heavier (according to weights I've seen posted online) than the stock MG 1250 motor and 4 speed.  So while I haven't weighed the car yet (I keep meaning to) I expect it to be under 2,100 lbs (stock MG TD is 2,065 lbs).  While the F20C motor has nearly five times the power of the stock TD (about 250 hp vs 54 hp) it is power based on RPM and not massive torque.  So the huge increase in power isn't twisting the frame and structure nearly as much as a V8 swap would.  

The real joy of this car is that is has all the vintage looks and charm, but you can drive it easily and without concern in modern traffic.  The car is engaging and immediate at even low speeds.  Even if I am just cruising along sedately, the 6 speed tranny is geared short and tight and so I'm always shifting, and that transmission is truly a joy to work with.  The car wants to do whatever you ask of it.  Weekend road trip?  Sure!  Run to the grocery store?  Absolutely!  Date night with the wife? You bet!  Back road drive with the local car club?  Yes please!

Even for all the modifications, this car is not a high performance canyon carver.  To go back to the motorcycle analogy, it is not a superbike.  Maybe it is a vintage cafe bike, but frankly the manic scooter analogy is still pretty apt.  The design dates from pre WWII and there is only so much you can do with that.  So this MG ends up being a reliable, engaging, joy to drive with tons of vintage character.

So it was past time for new tires for the MG.  I used it as an opportunity to make a bit of a change. I decided to go to a larger sidewall for more ride compliance, longer effective gearing, and a more vintage look. I put on Sumimoto HTR all season performance tires in 205/65/16 front and 215/65/16 rear. These tires are over 2" taller in total diameter than the Toyos that were on the car before. Just one quick drive on them so far and I definitely like the more compliant ride and longer gearing (should now be equivalent to a stock s2000). I think l'll like the looks as well, but I need to raise the car a bit to accommodate the new tires.  Surprisingly, even with the fenders looking fairly stuffed with the new rubber I was only getting minor rubbing at full lock. 
 

A few updates on my MG, I put it on corner weight scales and it came in at 2,111 lbs fully wet (full tank) and with top and side curtains. As that's only about 50 lbs heavier than the quoted weight of a stock TD, I think it's not too bad. 
 

Last fall my radiator developed a leak that was getting increasingly bad. So I pulled the bonnet, radiator shell, and radiator. That took about 30 minutes and generated only a small handful of fasteners. These old cars are SO simple. 
 

the radiator was leaking at both the top and bottom tanks and was not realalistically repairable. It was a fully custom aluminum unit from  Ron Davis Racing in Arizona. I called them and they had the design on file, but quoted $2,600 to rrr we place it. Ouch!  I looked for other options and found an aftermarket aluminum radiator for MG TD's and found they were willing to do a custom version for me. A few weeks of emailing drawings back and forth and they produced a new radiator to my specs for $455. I installed it and have been running it for a few months now. Even when pushing the motor in over 80 degree temps, I couldn't get it over 200 degrees and it quickly drops back down to 180 when I back off. Success!

Old and new radiator side by side and new one installed. 
 

I also added a second muffler to quiet down the exhaust a bit more. It is.a 2.5” OD exhaust system with just one Flowmaster Hushpower muffler. I added a Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator/muffler as it is small and I’d heard good things about them. For a muffler with only a 10” long body and a straight through design, it did a good job knocking down the DB a good amount and taking out some rasp. 

Here is the full system before.

Here’s the spot in front of the axel to add a second resonator/mufgmer. Not much room. 
 

Here’s the new Vibrant in place. I’ve clamped it to start to make sure I like it. I’ll likely weld it in later.