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MG TD TF 1500 - Anybody drive their TF in all weather?

I does and was tired of the little to no wiper action. I just installed a two speed B/Spriget motor. Think I'm gonna be a lot happier now. If anybody is interested I'll post what I did.
LaVerne

Yes, LaVerne, please post. Glad to read that all went as you had hoped for.

Cheers -- John
John Brickell

Guess it's just you me John. The rest must be fair weather drivers. I'll shoot you something on it later tonight.
LaVerne

LaVerne
I drive my 1953 TD,all 12 months of the year. I live in Ohio and will drive it as long as there is no salt on the roads.


Tom
T.L. Manion

That a boy Tom. Unfortunatly this will only work for a TF.
LaVerne

LaVerne, I also would be interested in the conversion. PJ
P Jennings

I would be interested in seeing that.
Did you ad a washer to the system as well?
It would be cool to have something to "juice-up" the bugs a bit as well.
Somewhere I have a pair of "demisters" I never got around to installing. That's my biggest problem. Can of sterno doesn't work on our dash first time you take a corner ...it's gone!
David Sheward

....surely you jest.....


gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Gordon,

You have brought back old memories with your photo. Reminds me of my first TD driving back and forth from IL to western NY October through March in the late 50's and early 60's. May my present TD never see snow. Never the less a good memory,

Jim Haskins

1953 TD
J. M. Haskins

....this happened on a completely clear January 15th day...I picked up the TD after having the rear end gears changed and was moving it to my garage....it started to snow 'huge' flakes and within a mile it looked like this....certainly gave me two or three priceless photos....
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

From June a few years back. snow was building up enough I had to pull over and scrape it off with my hand.

Since there is some interest I'll put this all together and post it here when I'm done.


LaVerne

Back after a trip to Phoenix to rid myself of some MGA rust and pick up a 4.3 axle. And a root canal..oh boy.


In order to do this modification you will need to aquire a late two speed midget wiper motor. Those from an MGB will work if you change out the drive gear which is available from Moss. The MGB gear has a sweep of 125 degrees. The Midget has a sweep of 105 degrees. They can usually be found on FeeBay for around 50 bucks.

Pictured from left to right

The gears from an MGB 125*

MGA 120*
Stock gear from the TF


LaVerne

You don't need the screw cable from the Midget motor as it is a larger diameter and can't be used. You will need the threaded cross fixing and hopefully the first section of guide tube that came from the Midget.

Remove the cover off the stock motor and pull the original screw cable out. Replace the cable link in the motor and put the cover back on. Remove the power lead to the wiper motor and thread it back into the cabin through the loom opening.

Take a short piece of wire and put an eyelet on it. Attach it to the ground point on the wiper cover screw, Thread it through to the cabin compartment.

Your done under the bonnet and it will still look stock.


LaVerne

The stock cable on the left with the threaded fixing removed from the Midget motor and the Midget cable on the right.


LaVerne

Remove the wiper knob and glove box from the right hand side to allow access to the wiper wheel box. Loosen the cable shroud clamping assembly and remove the cable and slide it out of the way.

If you received the Midget guide tube with your motor, you will need to remove 2 1/4" from the end of the tube to match the length of the original flex cable. Then flair the end of the tube. If you did not get the tube then you can fabricate your own with a piece of copper tubing.


LaVerne

The new tube will require some careful bending to the desired shape. My desire was to mount the motor on the top of the foot rest. Once you have the shape, place the newly flaired end in the clamping assembly of the wheel box and tighten the clamp.


LaVerne

Remove the cover from your new motor. Remove the "C" clip from the gear pin and remove the cable link. Place the old screw cable in the the motor followed by the cable link and replace the "C" clip.

It is not nesassary to remove the gear as I did in this photo. Your new motor will have a "park" feature like any modern automobile. It is possible to reverse the side that the wipers park on by removing the gear wheel and either swapping sides on the parking ramp or easier is to rotate the steel pin plate 180 degrees on the plastic gear wheel.


LaVerne

Replace the cover and thread the cable up through the cable shroud. I found it beneficial to loosen the three screws on the wiper wheel box to allow the cable to pass through easily. Screw the tube fixing nut to the wiper motor.

The B and Midget motors are fastened to the bulkheads with a large rubber padded "U" clamp and a rubber padded isolation block. There is not enough room to use these so I have chosen to bend the end of the clamp and fasten it to the foot rest with only the carpet for padding.


LaVerne

I was fortunate that my brother inlaw is building a 427 Cobra replicar which uses the same motor and he had extra wiper motor plugs and an extra wiper toggle switch. These can be purchased new. I have made a simplified wiring diagram , taking power from the original wiper hot wire.
I have totally abandoned the original knob switch but all wiring is in place should the future owner wish to revert to the original set up. I have a plate mounted under the drivers glove box which holds the heater toggle switch and heater valve cable. The new switch will be mounted there.


It's in the wrong format to post here but I would be happy to forward it to any one that is interested.

As a final note. This method can only be done on left hand drive TFs. It is possible to mount the new motor in place of the original and use the Midget clamping assembly by drilling new holes in the bulk head. This would allow the modification on right hand drive cars.

And finally ... what you get.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHsBcEnKOFQ&feature=g-upl&context=G20edd01AUAAAAAAAAAA

Since I have placed locking glove box covers on the car, the wiper knob access is limited. If you find that driving with the wipers on the windshield bothers you then you can rotate them down with the wiper knobs.

See you in the rain.
LaVerne

We drive our TF 12months a year as long as we do not have snow ir salt on the road.
Come winter, top is up, windows in and heater on. I took it our New Years day for a short spin.

How did this post get off track?
Colin Stafford TF6688

We only use our T type in the winter. It gets wet and muddy and generally used through any weather. There is no roof or sidescreens or heater so when it rains or snows we just put on our waterproofs. We take part in the ACTC trials championship which takes us all over England.
DM Gibson

I have Gordon's photo of driving his TD in the snow posted on my refrigator for a couple of years. I think it is totally neat and something I want to do with my TD

Cheers, David
David Honness

In all weathers? Are you kidding? I might get the car wet!

Matthew.

(Crossing Coopers Creek in central Australia)


Matthew Magilton

Matthew,
Yup,,, That's the puddle I was talking about in the other posting about stepping away from the running boards,,,,!!!!

SPW
STEVE WINCZE

my other favourite was heading out to Watkin's Glen the first fall i had the car and we left in the remnants of a hurricane.....


gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Matthew,
Love your pic's mate...poater child for "Drive em"!
Never been that deep in water ...real close in mud once though. On my way to a car show and cut through a field & creek ...I was the dirtest car there!
David Sheward

Matthew, did that last summer going to the Michigan GOF. Gets a bit of the oil off the bottom. We came whipping over a hill and right into to it. Lucky it was only a foot deep.
Colin Stafford TF6688

Another weather shot most of you have seen before. Quite difficult to find snow to drive through in this country. I felt like I was on the Monte Carlo rally.

Matthew.


Matthew Magilton

Reactivating for JB
MG LaVerne

Love the photos!

Looks like the Eisenhower tunnel entrance in one of them.
JE Carroll

Matthew - congratulations. A touch of the (US) north-east, and of Canada.

I imagine snow is quite rare there, but at least you don't have any road salt. An absolute killer for any car.

I used to drive my TC and later my TD, skiing in the Laurentian mountains - no heater - top down. Loved it. I'd get home "fresh air drunk"

I'd still do it if the roads weren't salted.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A Clark

I drive my TD periodically in the winter, as long as it's not raining as the top is always down. Have been caught in a few winter hail storms, brutal on the face.
John Quilter (TD8986)

Nice to see an old thread back to life.

Matthew, what happened to the front bumper in the picture with the snow?

Frank Cronin

I would not drive the MG here it Maine once the snow flies as they spray brine on the road as well as sand and salt!
J K Barter

Thanks LaVerne for reposting this thread on my behalf, although I just noticed it today. I am in the initial stages of installing a Spriget wiper motor in my TF, using the same procedure and parts that LaVerne has used. I have acquired a motor (thanks to Rich Ball and Bob Walker), but the larger internal wheel is marked "110", indicating the number of teeth. LaVerne suggested that I find one with a "105" wheel.

Here's our questions: 1. will a "110" result in too wide a sweep for the TF's window? 2. Can the "110" be exchanged for a "105"? And if yes to the second question, does anyone out there have a "105" wheel?

Photo attached for clarification -- John


John Brickell

JK, I spent two beautiful winters in Maine in a top down TR-4A. When I finally got back to SC I discovered that most of the chassis frame was just gone. I'd be happy if salt on the roads were just outlawed.

Jud
J K Chapin

Sin of it all is, cars are comparatively cheap to replace, but highway bridges are not! The salt chemicals do a nasty job on bridges and replacement is getting more costly every day at the tax payers expense! As we all know, bridges do collapse! PJ
Paul S Jennings

John B,
I think 110 refers to the included angle that the wiper blade makes on the screen and not the number of teeth on the gear. There may be no problem in using 110 rather than 105 but it should be easy to check before you mount the motor.
Max Irvine

You're right Max, it does indicate degrees, which I acknowledged on a later post. Using a protractor and determining a 110 degree sweep on the TF's windshield, I've concluded that I can stick with the 110 degree wheel and it should work just fine.

Thanks for the input -- John
John Brickell

In this era of environmental consciousness I have never understood how some states are able to continue to pollute the roadways with toxic salt. Most communities have storm drain warnings "no dumping, drains to streams and rivers" yet the same cities dump salt on the streets in the winter.
John Quilter (TD8986)

In my village, right on the Hudson river, we use copious amounts of salt in the winter. Then they plow the wet salt soaked slush up onto the sidewalk which then freezes into impenetrable ice blocks so you need a commercial sized sno blower to clean your 100ft. of sidewalk as mandated by law. Then they wonder why all the 100 year old maple trees which line the streets are dying. Go figure.
James Neel

I have driven a lot in the rain but I just don't bother with the wipers.I will try to get them working again but I think it might be a lost cause.
J.R. Jennings

This thread was discussed between 07/04/2012 and 09/09/2014

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