David L's MGTD Restoration Journal

Still trying to get the motor and transmission complete for mounting in the car. I don't really want to start putting bodywork together until after that is done.

In the meantime, I'm restoring the electrical related items as wiring is the next step after the drivetrain goes in.

I've refurbished the voltage regulator and the fuse block-- just cleaned them up, really. I've been zinc plating a lot of stuff and did the screw connectors in the regulator and the metal hoop that holds the top on, for example. Great way to go for a lot of these smaller pieces.

I got both horns operational with just some cleaning of the contacts and some of the moving parts. They were both filthy and a little rusty from sitting for almost 40 years. Turns out they are WT614 horns, rather than the WT618 found on most TD's. I also have one WT618 and unfortunately there aren't many interchangeable parts. The reproductions available look like the WT618. Although the reproductions can be had fairly cheaply, I really wanted to restore as much of the original parts as I could. In this case, I had to order new mounts from England for the horns as the old ones had been broken and repaired several times.

I bead blasted them and I'm still painting them. I'm using a high build automotive primer to fill in some of the pockmarks caused by the rust, wet sanding with 320 grit, then painting. Attached are a before pic and a pic of one of the horns after bead blasting.

Still got some painting and sanding to do to finish them.

The stainless steel gas cap was dented and scratched. I had to prise it apart to get underneath to knock out the dents. After I got them knocked out I sanded using progressive grits. The first pic shows before (hard to capture the dents in the pic) and the second shows sanding after 600 grit. Next step is 1500 grit then the buffer.

I've been wanting to start a build thread somewhere, but couldn't really find the right place, so thought I would try here.

Long story short, I bought this car as a basket case in the late 80's. I've since hauled it around the entire country, from Dallas to Chicago, to Houston, to Raleigh, to Houston again, along with about two cars' worth of parts. Over the years I've done bits and pieces-- the motor rebuild, the transmission rebuild at one of John Twist's seminars. The chassis powdercoated in the late 90's, etc., etc.

My father rebuilt the wooden tub using a Moss kit that came with the car originally and was probably purchased in the early 70's, when the car was first torn apart.

Dad also did a beautiful custom wood dash in Walnut burl and a wood steering wheel to match.

Current status is that all the body parts are painted, and, except for the tub, are awaiting assembly on the chassis.

My next step is finishing the engine assembly and getting it installed so I can do some more of the body assembly. I want to get the engine and transmission in before the floors and body work.