MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - YT VS TD

I have had the opportunity to work on a 1949 MGYT. Same engine and transmission as the TD (The YT has a longer bent shift lever). The frame and suspension are also very similar to the TD.

It has the same chronometric speedo and tach as the TC and early TD.

But that is about where the similarities end.

IMHO, the YT was a much better built and designed car. It has larger temp and oil pressure gauges, including an actual fuel gauge. It has a turn signal system, a floor mounted dip switch, a horn button in the center of the steering wheel (the wheel itself is the same although the color is gray.)

The doors on the YT have a significantly better latching system built into the door instead of being bolted on the inside.

Although the windshield is similar to the TD, with the same wiper system, the rear view mirror mounts on the top frame of the windshield, instead of on the cowl.

The YT has single slave cylinders on each wheel whereas the TD has a dual system on the front. But the slave cylinders are significantly larger on the YT, and they are steel VS aluminum.

The brake drums on the YT are also interesting. They are a one piece design, but they screw on to the axle with three slotted countersunk screws. Remove the screws and the drum pops off both the front and the rear axle. It makes brake work very easy. The brake drums on the YT also weigh a lot less than the TD.

The YT also has a hydraulic jacking system that can raise the front, rear or both sets of wheels.

If I did not know the TD followed the YT production, I would have said the YT was build after the T series due to the better systems on it.

I know the YT is a heavier car and reasonably underpowered, that is why MG added the second carb from the single carb used in the YA/B.

I am assuming this was not an inexpensive car to build and MG just decided they had to make a less expensive car to sell overseas.

Why they did things like remove the fuel gauge, change the horn from the center of the steering wheel to the dash, and remove the turn signals, and add a simpler (but IMHO, a much inferior door latching system) is an interesting question.
Bruce Cunha

Bruce, you forgot to mention - the 1 1/4 litre MG (now known as the Y type) was conceived pre war (1939) with the independent front suspension which continued in the TD through to the MGB.

Whereas the T types had wooden sub frames, the Y types were mostly steel, only timber is the floor and in the YT a piece across the middle of the doors.

The front brake slave cylinders are 1" dia, like the TC.

Stuart Duncan

The YT also wasn't built to be a sports car. It was for the man who wanted a family car but didn't want a saloon. It was designed at the same time the SA, WA and VA were in production and these were high end luxury vehicles, designed to compete directly with Jaguar and Bentley. So it's natural that styling cues and mechanical features might be copied, albeit to a much lower budget.

The TD came in at a time when things were being scaled down rather than up as they were in the 30's. Fuel and temperature gauges cost money, and one piece cast brake drums and hubs were much cheaper to produce than splined hubs. Plus, the average sports car driver was used to a bare-bones approach. The YT did get a few things that the Saloon versions didn't, like a tachometer and chronometric instruments.

I had a YB for several years and it was a very well built car for the price point. But it was certainly slow compared to a T-Series, and that says something!
Steve Simmons

I agree Steve, it just seems interesting that if you had production for things like a better door latch system, why not incorporate it into the new TD? Same with the fuel gauge. You have a working float and gauge, why not just add it to the TD?

Then there is the Turn Signal, the TC and the Y series had them, but they did not add them to the TD until later in production. Same with the floor dip switch. They added it later in TD production.

It would be really interesting to see why these decisions were made. I have to believe cost was a good part of it.

Bruce Cunha

TC only had turn indicators on the EXU model for NA. I'm not sure how that affected the price but surely it added something. Home market cars never had them. As for door latches, the Y-Type had a much more substantial door. I don't think you could put that latch onto a T-Series without redesigning the door and pillar. Could be wrong though. But I hear what you're saying.
Steve Simmons

Stuart Duncan, in my YT, the door is framed in wood, including a piece across the middle. Only steel is the skin

Joe Hine
Joseph D Hine

This thread was discussed between 27/05/2023 and 29/05/2023

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG TD TF 1500 BBS is active now.