How NOT to build a TD

By Bob Hughes

This project started more than 20 years ago. A buddy of mine wanted a TD so bad that he decided to build one, a piece at a time. Then he got lucky and found a complete car that needed paint. I made the mistake of agreeing to paint that car for the TD parts he had, which weren’t all that many. He got his completed car and I got a project. I had a set of frame rails, a steering rack, and the cowl. The rest had to be found or made. The parts for this car, eventually named Phoebe, came from all over the West Coast, as I found them at swap meets, or made them as required.

I encountered a reoccurring problem that others in the hobby may be familiar with: in order to fabricate my car I had to work on everyone else’s car to get enough money to do my own.

The frame for the car that the body was to reside on was another opportunity to spend money. It was just a frame with a right-hand drive steering rack. Nothing else. At about this time, I was outed. I realized that I was a closet street rodder, without a V8. But the conundrum was, that I really loved my British cars. (I have an MGA, and an MGB GT.) It was also about this time that I was seriously snubbed by a rather famous MG guru who asked, “What are you going to do for a drive train?” My innocent response was that since I had priced a rebuildable TD drive train for about $5k, I had made the decision to use an MGB drivetrain, as it could be had for a tenth the cost. That was the end of that conversation.

I realized two things: One, some people really cherish their LBCs in original condition. Two, some people really cherish their LBCs, but done the way they want them. My stance is obviously with the second group. This where I began to understand that I was going to upset about half or more of the MG community. But not being totally irresponsible, I embraced the doctors creed of “Do no harm” in my construction. Everything that has been done to the car can be unbolted, and returned to original if one wanted to.

Since I was going to use an MGB drivetrain, I needed brakes, figuring that if it was going to go faster, it ought to stop faster. The front suspension is MGB with sway bar, disc brakes, and wire wheels. Most all of that fit, with little alteration. Out back, the differential is MGB (banjo style) with wire wheels. Gotta have those wires, as no responsible MG builder would do it any other way, right? The transmission is MGB also. The engine is mounted to the frame using adapter mounts, I fabricated to be bolted in (do no harm). This combination should go down the highway with most of the law abiding traffic without fear of being run down from behind. Up here in the Northwest, we have to drive a minimum of 300 miles to get to the next MG cult gathering.

The engine is MGB that’s been warmed over with a hotter cam, bored out with high compression pistons, balanced, decked, and fitted with a Weber 45 DCOE carburetor. In order to get the carb to fit I had to create some new bonnet side panels, (do no harm) and then devise a way to fasten it all down. I used the MG latching mechanism, with some special brackets to get it locked down. But then, the street rodder came out, and I had to have a leather strap over the bonnet to hold everything together too. This only took a year or so to accomplish, not too bad.

Then there was the roll bar. I figured that if it was going to be a racer poseur, it had to have one. Not having a hoop to fit a TD, I built my own out of a bar I got in exchange for some other work I did restoring an MGA for someone else. Along the line I found two Brooklands wind screens at a swap meet for $5. They were taped together and labeled “side glass?”. Obviously, that street rodder had not a clue what they were. I didn’t dicker; I just paid the five dollars, and danced back to our trailer. Those wind screens fit into my racer theme beautifully.

The interior is made of aluminum panels with a bead rolled into the edges for stiffness. The seats are modified MGB seats with side bolsters to keep your posterior centered. Seat belts are race oriented. They are 5-point belts that attach to the roll bar and the floor, and have a quick release buckle. No doing face plants on the dash here.

Then paint came into play. For years the car was bare metal, then spot primed. Then one summer I was invited to a car show where they wanted a car under construction. This was a no brainer, mine fit that description. We gave it a coat of metal etching primer, and for the first time in 20 years or so it was all the same color again, albeit an olive drab green. Then it struck! Wouldn’t an officer from the Great War desire to be transported in a sports car rather than a clunky Wolsley or worse? So we had to put a white star on the doors to let all know they were in the presence of greatness. Later, at the car show I heard people wondering, “Did they really make staff cars that small?” Now, after much body work, and a few more years, Phoebe has a new Cobalt blue and cream livery with gold pin striping.