Find more Home Built by Jeff / homebuiltbyjeff / homebuiltbyjeff Mailing Address; Home Built by Jeff PO Box 1520 Bowral, NSW 2576 AUSTRALIA Music: www.bensound.com
What a fun car for tootling around in the sunshine! My Dad used to drive them from the docks in Sydney to the warehouse of P&R Williams who were the Sydney retailers at the time. It was really something for him in those days. Normally he would be pre-delivering AJS and Velocette motorcycles they also sold. Yes double declutching is a good skill to have with these early cars with no or poor synchromesh.
You sure do get quite a few looks driving around in a car of that age. I recently went for a ride in a Riley Kestrel, boy do you get some looks in that thing.
Yeah. It is fun to go for a drive on a nice day every now and then, in a car you are not just looking for somewhere to give it the beans. Just going for a nice cruise.
my first car was '61 mga. first made in '55-56. right after the TD. in fact, there were still a few TD's on the road back in the late '60s. i'd love to have one. update.... bought one. vintage =1952
Great review of your Pop's MG! Out of curiosity, what is the back story on the vehicle? Did you Dad restore the vehicle? Where did he purchase it? Interestingly, my Dad had an '52 MG TD he purchased in the late '70's with intentions of restoring it but he never had the time or finances to tackle the project. He wound up selling it in the mid 80's to someone I believe from Australia ... Hmmm?
My Dad bought it only a couple of years ago from a Chinese guy in Chatswood, Sydney. It was already restored when he got it. Sorry I don't know much more about the back history of it.
Unfortunately not really. He has only gotten into cars in the last couple of years. He also has a pretty crusty MGB, and he does have a Landcruiser Sahara all decked out for spending a couple of months at a time in the outback, but that doesn't really interest me.
Haha, maybe I will do a review of it at some stage. It is crap to drive now though, as they stuffed it up. The back can't carry anything because it is full with the big fridge, batteries and the power inverter, etc. But it has solar panels and a second fuel tank, etc.
Can this thing keep up with 70mph traffic on the interestate? I hotwired and stole an abandoned rubberbumber MG Midget once upon a time as a kid, and it got a nice 50mpg. But I dont' think I'd fit in one now.... legs too long.
The original TD came with a 5:12 rear-end. Much too low a ratio for today's highway speed. If you get a hold of a Moss Motors catalog, you can order a set of 4:55 rear axle gears that pop right into the differential housing. They're made in India and of very high quality. With the taller gear ratio you can keep up 60-70 MPH on the highway. But to tell the truth, I always felt uncomfortable going that fast in a TD. In an accident or a roll-over at that speed you don't stand a chance. Good compromise on the gears, though. Still good acceleration but a little better in cruise.
