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MG TD TF 1500 - Paint color under scuttle and in footwell?

What color is the metal under the scuttle and in the footwell (backside of firewall, etc...) supposed to be? My car has been repainted twice before it got to me, so I'm guessing the battleship gray that's under there doesn't go with the current burgundy, or the original cream.

I assume body color, but you never know till you ask.
Stan Griffis

Stan, the color under the scuttle and the footwell are both body color as is the areas under the fenders. This came form several areas of research, mainly the NEMGTR and the Germans book. Ive stuck my neck ut according to my findings however you do not say which car you have. I am referring to TD. The TC is different and I am not sure how all of it goes.
Ellis CalineEl@aol.com
Ellis Carlton

TF is also different. The little bit of the underside of the scuttle that you can see above the dash is painted either dash color or interior color, I forget which. Since my dash is the same color as my interior, its not a significant difference on my car.
Mark B.

The color of the underside of the scuttle in the TF is covered in 'The Original MG-TF' site, on the finishes page:

http://www.mgcars.org.uk/mgtf/mgtf_finishes.htm

Quote: The underside of the scuttle (touching the top of the dash) was sprayed to match the dash. This was done before the dash was put in.
Mark B.

I have asked this question before concerning the firewall color. My 53 TD has been in my family since 1962. When it was purchased it was definately not restored, being just a nine year, somewhat abused car. My car is red. Both sides of the firewall are painted a kind of gray color that has a slight tinge of green. I believe this to be original. There are no signs of red on it except for obvious red overspray from an early 70's repaint. This goes against commmon opinion but there you go. Some have suggested that it might be oxidized silver streak gray or even that I may have one of the CKD cars. I do not know how to tell if either of these options is correct. Is there anyone out there that has a similar firewall?
As a foot note the firewall is looking very old and shabby now. It is due for a repaint. I will be painting it red. I am not meaning to give in to conventional wisdom, I just think it will look better.
Tim
TIM MAYOR

Mark......FYI.....Our car has never been repainted and the underscuttle is same as body color, whereas the dash is much brighter orangey red. Body color is Autumn Red. I can send you pix if yopu would like.
Glad to see you are one of the "original" guys still around.
colin stafford

WHAT!!?!!

I've heard the 'paint under the scuttle' story from a couple of sources. Both on 'the original MG TF' website and from Bill Jones, who runs a restoration shop in La Grange, TX.

However, there is a good probability you are right, Tony. Many of the details about these cars are unknown or controversial after these many years. I have a suspicion that some of these details were not totally consistent from the factory. The fellow who was doing the under scuttle spray may have taken a vacation or moved on to another job for at least part of the production run.

>Glad to see you are one of the "original" guys still around.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but I am striving to bring my car back close to original spec. It's not a religious thing, I just would like to see the car that way. It's a task made more difficult by the fact that the car has been apart more than once, and some of the parts are missing, incorrect replacements, or installed wrongly. I don't have a 'correct' TF nearby for reference, so I end up asking a lot of questions on this board. I hope you [collectively] don't mind. Every couple of months, I travel to La Grange (1 hr drive) and take some pictures of the T-series cars that Mr. Jones has in his shop.

I'll probably bend from originality a little in some ways. For example, I'm fairly sure that the dash in my car was originally red, but I'm putting in a greeen interior and painting the dash green. I believe from what I've read that this color combination was originally available, even though it probably wasn't what was on my car.

The exterior will be black, and that is original according to the car #.

I'm having fun with the restoration project, but at times it can be overwhelming.
Mark B.

>However, there is a good probability you are right, Tony.

That didn't come out the way I meant to say it.

Of course you're right, Tony. It's possible that both stories are correct, as I said before. In any case, I've already painted part of the underside of my scuttle green to match my dash.
Mark B.

Some of these color differences in underdash etc. are not locked in stone. I am sure that small changes in production or what the sprayer wanted to do that day had a lot of influence. Best not to loose too much sleep on this one :-)

Chris
Chris Couper

This thread was discussed between 16/09/2003 and 18/09/2003

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