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MG TD TF 1500 - Head lamp question

Once again, please pardon the newbie question. The head lamps on the TD that I will be getting are painted all the way to the glass. When examining pictures of restored TDs with painted head lamps, there seems to be a chrome rim next to the glass. Which is correct. I suspect that mine is the result of an over zelous painter. Thanks
D P Earles

D.P. The removable rims are chrome plated. They are readily avasilable from many sources.
Sandy Sanders
Hudson Florida
conrad sanders

The shells were painted on some, chrome on others. The actual dates of the changes are a bit fuzzy?
gordon lawson - TD 27667

DP -

I think one of the things you're going to find as a newbie is that there are no hard an fast rules regarding what item belongs on what year car. This is very common with cars produced in that era. A change may have been made from chrome plated headlights to painted, but, a few months later some chrome ones show up in a parts bin and on they go! I have seen cars with painted headlight buckets and chrome bezels, chrome buckets and chrome bezels (mine - made Feb. 1951), and painted buckets and painted bezels. I believe (though don't have the photo) that I have seen period photos with painted bezels, but my memory is hazy.

Generally, I think you'll find that if you do whatever makes you the happiest, you can't go wrong. Regardless of what you do, how much you try to be accurate, there will always be some "expert" to tell you that it's wrong. I know, happened to me many times, even though I knew for a fact the "expert" was wrong on what he was criticizing. Not worth the effort to correct him.

Have fun, do what makes you happy, and, above all, utilize this forum frequently. These guys (and gals) really know their stuff!!

Larry Thompson
'51 TD
Larry Thompson

Hey DP!

This brings up some interesting questions that have to be answered as you consider what you want to do with your TD.

1. Do you want a '100 pt.' perfect example absent even the imperfections which the factory introduced as it was building the car?

2. Do you want a really fine accurate example which looks show room new? (keeping in mind that importers sometimes changed things in the show room if it would sell the car faster, i.e. heaters, paint jobs, accessories)

3. Do you want a very nice rolling example of a two year old car, not perfect, but very servicable, reliable and beautiful?

4. Do you want to take your car completely apart and do it all in steps, taking a year or more to complete the process?

5. Do you want to restore as you go, driving between major rebuilds (such as driveline, suspension, body and paint, interior)

You get the point. Choosing your end goal and your method of getting there will help you figure out what kind of car you are restoring.

Warmly,
dave
D. A. Braun

DP,
For my restorations I wanted a good driver so my approach was to make all repairs as origional as I could but not get crazy with trying to be absolutely correct. As you have probably already found out there is rarely an absolute correct way of doing something. The most important is to have fun and do not let the car become a chore. Have a good day.

John
54 mgtf
60 MG Coupe
62 MG Roadster
John Progess

This thread was discussed on 21/07/2005

MG TD TF 1500 index

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