Noted Exceptions to Production Data

MGTD's 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 insure 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 inlcude 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. 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.	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
No rear reflectors on TD bumpers	Round reflectors on rear bumper	23,000 to 24,000 NA Export?	TDs 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 Volks air cleaners or not?

Page last updated on November 9, 2006