Noted Exceptions to Production Data

MGTDs were one of the last cars manufactured by Nuffield prior to the change over when incorporated with BMC. Up to that point few records on individual cars were kept and the production information is not as complete as on even the MGTF and later models. The information quoted in the production section is the best there is available but cannot be considered absolute. There may have been exceptions to this data. In this section I offer you reported deviations to what is generally accepted as a production fact. These elements are generally unsubstantiated by any known factory data although some attempt has been made to ensure that they are true by myself or the reporting party. You decide for yourself if these deviations are factory originated or just a normal modification of that particular cars history.

If you would like to include your own observation to this table then please contact me here with the details. Try to supply the information that is outlined in the table for completeness.

Accepted Standard	Exception	Car Number	Comments
Round stoplamp mounts in rear fender at serial number 21303.	Rectangular stoplamps with round hole (53) fenders.	19629	Fenders were never replaced per original owner. Both fenders matched and were factory painted the same color as the rest of the car. It appears that the factory ran out of 52 fenders before they decided to make the switch to round taillights. I have seen two others cars around the same production number that had the same fenders. Chris Couper, CA. US.
Fender piping matched body color and was unpainted for all cars.	A black car with red piping that shows no evidence of being originally red.	3376	My car is in the process of a complete restoration and the car appears to have been painted black from the factory, and in fact has been painted black eight times in its life. The piping located between the running boards looks like it was the original and has been painted over each time the car was painted. Under all that paint the color of the vinyl was "red". Is it possible that a black car with a red interior was also given red piping to set it off? My car has been in storage since 1976 and although some changes have been made, much of it is still the original (even if it takes a little scrapping to get there) and the beading material is the same as found on these early cars (mine is a 1950). The other possibility is that the car was red from the factory although the only evidence of red on the car was the bit of paint left on the radiator slats that a previous owner was unable to scrape off.
Pierced wheels at serial number 501.	Solid wheels	1034	Practically all text books state that starting at car 5xx, solid wheels were replaces (sic) by pierced wheels. I don't believe this is correct. My car is TD 1034, March 1950 and has solid wheels - to my great pleasure. Also some years ago I saw an issue of Safety Fast with a picture of TD 1275 (if I remember correctly) also with solid wheels.
Pierced wheels at serial number 501.	Slotted Wheels	741	My TD is 0741 (Feb. '50 ?) it too has slotted wheels (even the spare). Michael Derrick
Pierced wheels at serial number 501	Slotted Wheels	426	This car has slotted wheels. Dave Robbins
Pierced wheels at serial number 501.	Solid wheels	2154	I was just browsing through an old "Thoroughbred and Classic cars" magazine dated July 1993 and on page 20 they relate about the discovery of a TD that was bought new and taken to Africa by its owner and then shortly after sent back to Belgium to be stored and remained there untouched until 1989. The picture of this 28,000km car, along with the serial number #2154 of this car show it to be an early 1950 model. The interesting thing to note from the picture is the solid disk wheels. Brian Smith, Campbell River.
Pierced wheels at serial number 501.	Solid wheels	0533	My TD is 0533 and it has solid wheels as does the spare. Rob Silverman.
Pierced wheels at serial number 501.	Solid wheels	0552	I have owned my TD chassis 0552 (reg DTK 146 8/2/1950) since 1973 and knew the car before that. It has always had solid wheels. In 1976 I visited the the first owner from new and he confirmed it had solid wheels on delivery from the agents. The question arose as he recalled preferring the slotted later wheels when he saw them but was out of luck. Jonathan Butler
Pierced wheels at serial number 501.	Solid wheels	0999	This TD does have solid wheels. JW Wagner, Georgia, USA.
No rear reflectors on TD bumpers	Round reflectors on rear bumper	23,000 to 24,000 NA Export?	TD's beginning around chassis # 23,000 to 24,000 had round reflectors on the rear bumper inboard of the overiders. One can see this in photos of the '53 TDs coming off a ship and being stored before delivery to the dealers. My TD also had the original rear bumper with holes in both the bumper and backing bar. The backing bar is probably the one part which would survive till today.
.019 or .012	Valve clearance on the valve cover given as .015		I'm trying to find out what this means - an AEG122 cam?
Round tail light plinths		from 21303	Also note the differences between the round tail light plinths of the '53 TD versus the TF are not the same. The top center bar on the TD is flat and is as wide as 1/8 th of an inch running the full length of the plinth. The corresponding TF, the center bar rises to a point like the spline of a wire wheel hub and comes to a point where the glass lens is fixed. Not at all the same!!!
Bulge in hood sides on Mark IIs	No bulge in hood side panel		A friend bought a complete '53 Mk II TD in pieces. It was originally silver streak gray and did not have the bulge on the right hand bonnet side panel which leads me to the assumption of whether the later Mk IIs had the Volkes air cleaners or not?
Radiator grill painted to match interior color	Silver radiator grill slats	1369	I am still in contact with Col Rankin, the original owner, and I again talked to him this week regarding the radiator grill colour, and he is adamant that the grill was silver when it arrived from England and was not repainted by the distributor. The car was imported to Germany by J.A. Woodhouse in June of 1950.
No rear reflectors	Rear reflectors on the 1953 TDs	TD22xxx	North American late non Mk II TD's around this chassis number have appeared with reflectors according to Mike Walsh
Body plate on firewall	On underside of toolbox lid like the TF's	TD27xxx	North American late TD's around this chassis number have appeared with their body plates on the underside of the toolbox lid according to Mike Walsh
Painted headlamps on late cars	Chrome and riveted headlamps on late 53 cars	~25000 on	Chrome headlamps without the King of the Road medallion with large rivets instead of spot welds. Others have reported late 1953 cars with Chrome headlamps. TD24953 has painted headlamps.
FA lock cylinders on TD's	MRN cylinders on some early 1950's	TD 4224 & TD 4834	MRN locks were supposed to be phased out in 1948 and replaced with FA locks for the period 1950-1955 (TD and TF). Some early cars may have had MRN locks.
Slotted wheels	Solid Wheels on EXRK car	TD1865	A car originally exported to Sweden and now in the US. Owner claims car is very original in other ways.
One piece interior piping	Joints just below dash on both sides	TD23004	It is generally considered that all TD's had one continuous piece of interior piping. In this case two joints with an overlapping seam can be seen.
Tan leather not available in 1952	Tan leather in 1952 car	TD12789	Car was made in January of 1952 so it could be at the end of the beige interiors. Its an EXNA car.
5 Post Regulator	9 Post Regulator	TD/C 9606	Car has a 9 post regulator. The firewall only contains holes for this so it is definitely not a modification.
Smooth grain rexine	Leather grain rexine	Late 1950	Car has definate grain texture on the green interior
Body plate on firewall	On underside of toolbox lid like the TF's	TD26228	Timothy Burchfield
Body plate on firewall	On underside of toolbox lid like the TF's	TD27199	It was assumed to be only for NA cars but this car is a home market car with RHD.
Smoothly bent brake lines	Sharply bent brake lines	TD4136	Early TD's (before 1951) had very sharp bends in the brake lines. The remainder of production saw brake lines that appeared more hand bent with softer, less dramatic bends.
Black gear shift boot	Gear shift boot to match interior color	TD1250	Early cars appear to have the gear shift boot the color of the interior while most cars have a black leather gear shift boot.
Nuts on Studs for Starter Switch	Slotted bolts in sockets	TD1250	Not sure when the cut over to studs and nuts occured but it was probably in 1950.
Slotted head screws on floorboards	Phillips head screws on floorboards	TD29502	About the last 2 months of production.
Phillips Headed Dash Screws	Slotted Dash Screws	TD3905	The earliest TDs came with slotted screws.
Smaller front piping	Uniform sized piping on entire car	TD1250	This car has the same size piping on the front scuttle as on the wings. And the piping terminates at the scuttle sheet metal rather than descending down past the bumper bolts to the lower scuttle fastener.
Holes for radio bracket on back of toolbox	Slots instead of holes	TD28655	This is a very late 1953 EXL/NA car. I don't know if these slots continued in productions from this time but TFs have holes.

Page last modified: 2024/02/10