Rebuilding TC5560

[Herman 5560]

Some 2 years ago I manged to find a TC on Gumtree. It turned out to be a joint purchase between two elderly gentlemen and as one of them passed away the car came up for sale.

The car was up in Pretoria about 1200Km from Port Elizabeth where I stay. Photoes was sent and assurance was given that this is a complete and unrestored car. So I made the transfer and arranged for a transport company to go and collect the car without seeing it in real life.

Well it arrived in Uitenhage about 40km from Port Elizabeth and after a new battery and pumping one of the wheels she fired up and a friend drove it to my house me riding shotgun armed with a tow rope. He manged a respectable 50Km/h using most of the double lane of the free way.

His experience was that the steering needs about half a turn before and direction change was experienced and he would have braked better by jumping out and pulling the car to a halt. On closer inspection under proper light the panels turned out to be pretty straight but every one was a different shade of red. A quick respray should solve that problem?????

Once I started researching how a TC should look and what to look out for I found that I had what appears to be 2 TD tail lights fitted and no "D" style tail light as it is suppose to have.

Also the dash had lost its power supply terminals as well as the cables for starting, choke (under the dash now) and idling. There was also no place for the key in the headlight switch. There was a normal aftermarket ignition barrel fitted. There was a push switch connected to a remote solenoid to start the car. Needless to say that by now I was less than impressed with the gentleman that assured me this was an original unrestored vehicle.

[Herman 5560]

I was still only going to do a quick respray and would correct things as I found them and as I reared more about these cars. Then the first gremlin crept in. The starter refused to swing and after a few diagnostic tests I concluded that it was the starter. So to cut a long story short I could not het the starter off without removing the exhaust, then I could not get the exhaust off without removing the steering box, Then I could not het the steering box off without removing the fender and so it carried on till 8 hours later the starter was out as well as the complete car stripped. This would facilitate the spray job as well as fixing the rear fenders to their original glory. I would also replace the well part its safety state steering box for a more modern Nissan unit. A common substitute it is, I found out in the Net. The body parts were all taken to my usual spray painter and he assured me he could fix and repair everything.....as long as I do not rush him. He had just sprayed my Birkin that I had completed building. By the way I have built 3x "7" style cars thus far and has a Exoskeleton build happening in parallel.

[Herman 5560]

More things turned out to be wrong, the carpeting was something out of somebodies dog kennel, the rubber gearbox cover was missing and a huge fabricated ali tunnel was in its place, clearly 2 old gentlemen s handywork after the original item broke. The wiring was all done with 5 core trailer wire and the exhaust was a dangling unit WELDED to the handbrake tube!!!!
I have ordered all the rubber bushes and have installed them all. I ended up ordering the correct bump stops I asked about in an earlier mail.
Also the side screen box does not exists. Thankfully SteveW is busy with a restoration in that area so I am following him to see how one builds the box and its covers. I have a copy of TCs Forever, but not always as clear as a couple of color pics can be. For example I started fabricating the master cylinder heatshield only to have no idea of how to fit it??
I am missing the bull horn bracket, can anybody give me the dimensions of the section of steel that is used. It looks like a piece of half round, but is it solid, a pipe that is squashed flat on one side or a pipe cut in half?
Forgot to mention the wrong steering wheel

[Herman 5560]

My Pic of the dash did not seem to load.

[frenchblatter]

Herman, a quick look at my rebuild blog may help. Not sure "quick" is the correct term though.

www.frenchblat.com MG TC (bottom left) and read on (well look at the pictures).

The TD rear lights was a common mod in the 60s. I think the tunnel looks OK, not original but looks good. The original parts are all available from the usual suspects.

[Herman 5560]

I am only about 10% through your thread. Amazing how similar we do things. I also had a Landrover only a V8 Pick Up and then a Birkin which is the SA version of a Caterham. As I was reading the strip down I was thinking why does he not have a compressor and use a impact wrench to take it apart.
You also started off with TD tail lights and an incorrect 3 spoke steering. Exchange rate and distance to the UK just forces me to do a lot more fabrication instead of just buying the correct item. That is why I will have to manufacture the bullhorn bracket. Same with the seat bases and seat adjusters I am still going to ask the forum for detailed pics and dimensions so I can manufacture instead of buying. Will buy the stuff like the correct ignition/headlight switch. Even the 3 cables can be made up her locally if I know the specifications.

Spray painter stripped parts to bare metal so I desided a black car with red leather seats is what I want.

[SteveW]

I am missing the bull horn bracket, can anybody give me the dimensions of the section of steel that is used. It looks like a piece of half round, but is it solid, a pipe that is squashed flat on one side or a pipe cut in half?

I Herman, I've sent you an e-mail with a couple of photos with all the dimensions marked. Hopefully these got through to you as the file sizes were quite large.

[Herman 5560]

After 2 years and I dred to know how many hours TC5560's body has her final coat of paint. But I must confess I told Zane at Bouchers Bodyworks to take his time and use the car when he is running low on work for the shop. Great to see how busy he has been over the last 2 years. They did discover a lot of rot and ended up removing the complete rear section and replaced the B Post timber with some "better than Mine" timber Uncle Kenny guided me to. Uncle Kenny who also kindly borrowed me his copy of TC's Forever was not happy with me wanting to do a quick and dirty repaint and get the car back onto the road mentality. He is the proud owner of a 1949 Beige TC that he personally did a full restore including the timber.

[Herman 5560]

My door catches are pretty ugly looking black items. Does anybody have any idea why my car would be fitted with these units. They are a perfect pair. My car also did not have the part that goes into the A Post.

[Herman 5560]

Have been carting all the loose bits From Bouchers to my home every evening after work Amazing how big those front wings are. No wonder they are referred to as wings and not fenders.
But today is the day I am going to fetch the tub. I decided to put the chassis on my Car trailer and at Bouchers to place the tub on the chassis and bolt it down with the 6 main bolts. when I took the tub to Bouchers I used my little utility trailer and manager to crack the tub right in front of the B Post. I would hate this to happen to my newly painted tub. Also a lot easier to lift it onto the chassis with 4 people than here at home with 2.
I have been up since 5 as the excitement robbed me of my sleep. Fred (building a Lola T70 replica) will only be here at 9 to help me to load the chassis.
Worked till late last night to fabricate a bracket to fit a winch(that has been in the garage for more than a year) to the car trailer. Used to transport my Lotus7 to the race track and being Toyota powered it usually went onto the trailer on its own power. Could not resist to show her off here. !00% handbuilt. No Kit parts.

[Herman 5560]

Steves reply to the Bullhorn dimensions. He agreed that I can post, perhaps somebody else has the same problem and have to manufacture their own.

Steve's mail :-
As briefly mentioned in my earlier e-mail, the Bulls Horn is solid bar. The width of it is just over 1" (probably 1" without paint) and its thickness is just over 0.4" at the middle. From this you will gather that in cross section its a slightly squashed semi-circle, so I suppose half an ellipse.
I have attached a couple of photos that show the other dimensions. The 32 3/4" dimension means that its the same width as the diff cover frame (actually a fraction shorter to allow for some felt padding between the bulls horn and the inner wheel arch) and then the 'horn' bit straightens out again after 6 1/2". The curve is shaped to match the curve on the inner wheel arch and sits a fraction away from the arch to allow for felt padding (see TC Forever). The bulls horn has flat ends at 45 1/2" (page 177 in my copy of TC Forever, but confirmed by measurement of mine - not all of the TC forever measurements are right!) where it screws to the wood door pillar/wheel arch (two screws each side). The ends look to have been hammered flat whilst hot, so I would imagine that the whole thing has been bent and shaped in a forge.

I can not find that section of steel so opted to weld 2 pieces of 25 x 12 Flat bar together and then get it down to my machinist. He has to put it in a lathe (using a 4 jaw chuck) and turn it to a roughly 25mm bar that I will then split and end up with my 24 x 12 halfround section I will bend as per Steve's pics.

[Steve Simmons]

Those latches aren't original, but it isn't unusual to find makeshift items on these cars after so many years and owners. It's looking great, can't wait to see her on the road again!

[Herman 5560]

Back home with the tub after a 80Km round trip. Doors and front number plate panel in the back of my car

[Herman 5560]

Still managed to squeeze in some time to attach the 2 pieces of 25 x 12 flat bar together so I can get them to the machinist today. I could not find ant 25 x 12 so next best was 30 x 12. I drilled and tapped at the correct spacing as per the holes in my diff cover plate. Thought it would cause less warp age than welding them together also with it being 30 mm he would have ended up machining all the welding off and the 2 strips would fly around on the other side of the chuck.
Well with the GP in an hours time and a good old fashion South African BRAAI at 1, I recon not much is going to happen in the garage today.
Happy TCing to all that go and drive their TCs today

[SteveW]

I'm liking your approach to replacing the missing bulls horn and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished article. Of course, once its turned you will have enough material to make two, so you could even turn a profit!

[Don Walker]

Hi Herman, your rebuild is looking good and I think black is an excellent colour for a TC. Mine has beige interior and was restored some 25 years ago. It's rare that I have the top on as the weather in South Oz is normally fine.
Good luck, Don. TC 1736

[Herman 5560]

Thanks

Beautiful looking car and a very appropriate back ground.

That will definitely be my screen saver to inspire me when I am too lazy to get into the garage and senselessly surfing the net for info I do not even need

[frenchblatter]

If we're publishing pictures of Black TC's here's mine

[stephen stierman]

How about black and apple green?

[Herman 5560]

Gee, guys your cars are beautiful, makes me wounder about some of the posts of my car. Will have to be very careful of what I post.

Question...

My tub is bolted directly to the chassis mount at the A Post (Door lock area) and solid to the chassis at the side screen area, but I have about a 12mm Half an inch gap to the mount under the B Past (Door hinge) area. I have read that you should be able to insert spacers at the side screen area to close up your door gaps. Clearly I have no chance to ever do this. Could it be that my side screen box is too low??

I can not remember this gap when I took the car apart, but then it did have a chip board floor what was extremely badly swollen. Not sure if the floor was between the tub mounts and the chassis.

I have found TCs Forever "Floor Board Packing" on the cutting list. Where should these go?

Thanks to "Frenchblatter" ...your web site is invaluable.