Hi David, et. al.,
The following is cut and pasted from a response from Dave DuBois. Perhaps
it's what you would have found in the UKBBS Archive.
******************************************
Bud,
I think that everyone who has ever restored a TD has run into your dilemma,
however, you have the support in correctly - the narrow flange forward or toward
the bumper. Below is a quote from the BBS archive regarding the support:
"I just happen to have the radiator off of my car now. Regarding the front and
back of the radiator mount: The front has a rounded curve with an approximately
1 1/2" radius around the crank hole whereas the back is a longer sweep without
much curve.. I don't know how clear that is. However, the best way to tell which
was the bracket goes is to look at the two holes where the studs from the
radiator drop through. these holes are closer to the rear (toward the fire wall)
than they are to the front. If you put the bracket on backwards your hood won't
fit properly."
***********************************************
Maybe there is no 'Correct' way and the offset was/is used for bonnet fitting.
Thanks for the response.
Bud Krueger
52TD (small flange toward bumper)
David C Littlefield wrote:
> >
> >Had the same problem. IMHO the wide V goes closest to the engine; the
> >shorter, rounded one is forward.
> >
> >Even though I made notes before I removed mine and saw what I thought
> >were the marks in the original paint, I had second thoughts when I
> started to
> >put the thing back together.
> >
> >The problem was that the owners manual (and the workshop manual) has a
> >drawing of the steering rack ( in the part discussing lubrication) with
> the oil
> >nipple. The front flange of the radiator mounting plate does look like
> the wide V
> >forward to me.
>
> You can add the Parts Book to that list. I have an original parts book
> with the large fold-out illustrations, and it is very obvious that the
> wide V is shown forward. Ditto the Moss catalog illustration, FWIW.
>
> >However, later in the steering gear section, there is a photo
> >which shows the rack being removed. What you see is the aft part of the
> radiator
> >mounting plate and it is clearly a wide V.
>
> Unfortunately, in that picture, a license plate backing is obscuring the
> front of the piece to confirm that the narrow V is forward. It is
> possible that the shop manual, etc., all used a very early version of the
> TD (perhaps even a prototype?) and that particular part may not have been
> made the same way on production cars.
>
> >Why the radiator mounting holes are not in the middle
> >of the bar is another question for which I have no answer.
>
> This question came up somewhere else, perhaps the MG Enthusiast's BBS
> (can't search the archives right now). The offset makes a difference
> when it comes to installing the bonnet. Someone was having problems
> lining up his bonnet and he was informed that he had this piece
> backwards. I don't remember all the ins and outs of the discussion, but
> the result was that I installed mine with the big V forward. I have a
> late TD parts car, which may or may not have been messed with, that has
> the small V forward and the bonnet seems to fit fine! I hope we can
> resolve this before I get to the point of installing the radiator on my
> restoration! Maybe the factory used this as a fitting device and
> switched it back and forth depending upon how the bonnet would line up on
> a particular car.
>
> David Littlefield
> Houston, TX
> '62 MGA MkII
> '51 MGTD
> '88 Jaguar XJ-S
>
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