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MG TD TF 1500 - Pad - Body Frame to Chassis

I know that this has been discussed many times. What is your preferred pad between the body frame and the chassis at the mounting points?

Looks like my TF-1500 had 1/8" cork. FYI - I have a new rubber pad that goes around the roll bar.

Thanks for your help,

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

I used the tappet cover material that I bought from Tom Lange. Worked great and will not trap water. I got a sheet of the material.

Tim
Timothy Burchfield

I used the variable thickness plastic shims used extensively by carpenters in construction for floor packing etc. It's important to be able to independently adjust the thickness at the various attachment points to ensure that the door sits perfectly in the opening. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Whatever you pick it needs to be:
* not absorb water
* not compress over time
* not deteriorate, rust or rot
* provide some level of shock absorption
* be available in different thicknesses

Some of the very dense plastics seem to be good as Peter states. I do not like the hard rubber as I think they can break down over time.
Christopher Couper

I used what Peter used, the plastic shims. Easy to adjust the thickness needed. I cut the shims in squares, the size of the mounting surface, drilled a hole in them and they worked very well. PJ
PJ Jennings

I had some of the builders' plastic shims left over from when I helped build my daughter's house but they were colour coded to their thickness in very bright colours. I am the last person to stick to originality but livid green, yellow and red were a little too much so I cut spacers from an old blaçk plastic 20/40 oil container. These passed all of the tests Chris suggests apart from various thicknesses but it is easy to make up shim packs and then add or remove one or two to set the doors.

Jan T
J Targosz

I don't think the plastic shims that carpenters us provide any shock absorption. They are hard plastic. Are we talking about the same product?

Tim

For some reason the picture didn't attach. I'll try again.
Timothy Burchfield

Are these the shims? The are too hard in my opinion.

Tim


Timothy Burchfield

How much shock absorption can you really expect from any shims? I used washers.....
J K Barter

I cut out squares from the sidewall of an old tire then ground them down to appropriate thickness. Have some cushion. Water resistant strong and have some compressibility.
J Cosin

The important issue for me was to have the doors fit the opening and to use a non compressible material so that the relationship of the tub to chassis didn't/wouldn't/couldn't change. Shock absorption wasn't a criterion, using a material that was non compressible was THE prime consideration. The springs and shock absorbers should be able to deal with road shocks. That is their function. The adjustment of the doors is so critical that even the thickness of the vinyl trim can throw the lock/striker relationship totally out of whack. Most of us who've been through this exercise would agree setting the doors is just about the most difficult task on these cars. Introducing compressible material into the mix is just asking for trouble IMHO. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Noted Peter. But I will say that the factory didn't use rigid material for mounting pads. My thought is once you have the body aligned correctly for good door fitment the non rigid shims, if they settle, will each settle the same amount and the body will retain its overall position. Mine has. The other factor in favor of using flexible body pads is noise transmission. Our non rigid bodies (the cars, not us) are susceptible to vibration and thus noise. Some people go to great length to insulate the bodies with sound deadening material. Having rigid non vibration absorbing body pads would negate some of those efforts. On the other hand, the two TDs I've disassembled had only one layer of pad material at the body mounting points. I wonder if the factory even used various thicknesses of material to align the doors. Perhaps the doors were easier to align on a brand new tub unlike our 50 plus years old bodies (the cars, not us) :-)

Regards

Tim
Timothy Burchfield

Lonnie,

I was given a red coloured Urethane type material by a friend many years ago and have used it for the mounts on both the TF 1250 and TF1500.
The TF 1250 was totally rebuilt some 15 years ago with no movement in door fits etc.

The Urethane is flexible but does not compress easily.

Rob Grantham
Rob Grantham

I use 5/16” steel fender washers with one neoprene washer. Not original, but works very well.
Be well,
David
D. Sander

So if you wanted to try and stay close to original and did not want cloth felt that would absorbe moisture, what would you use?

I was thinking about felt used for speakers. It is synthetic.

Understand the issue of rigidity, but figure soft material worked from the factory.
Bruce Cunha

Bruce, perhaps waterproof rug pads. They come in many colors and materials. Here's one example. https://www.wayfair.com/rugs/pdp/rugpadusa-spill-tech-scotchguard-3m-waterproof-with-advanced-repel-technology-rug-pad-rgus1014.html As far as rigidity goes I doubt you would find any car from the 40s and 50s that didn't have non rigid body mounts, Certainly no car since then has had rigid body mounting pads.

Regards

Tim
Timothy Burchfield

This thread was discussed between 09/05/2019 and 13/05/2019

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