mg td thermostat

How long have you owned that MG TD and do you drive it often?

I don’t remember what year we got it. Technically, it’s my wife’s; I don’t own it, she does. That’s true of a lot of our cars. She’s owned it about 20 years now, maybe. With it being inoperative/restoration in progress the first 6 years. She bought it in not bad but very barn worn shape from some widow she new. I don’t drive it often for two reasons. The pedals are really offset a lot, and I am tall. This means it’s uncomfortable to drive for long distances. Your legs are kind of pointed in, (I’m told the real D-type Jaguars are bad like this too.) when you drive it, ok around town, not so great on a 4 hour drive. I think I’ve put maybe a thousand miles on it and she has done maybe 3 times that. 2. It’s really not geared for highway speeds…or even outskirts of town speeds. I could fix this fairly easily by fitting an MGA ring and pinion. However, my wife is big on originality and it’s her choice/ her car. She prefers it the way it left Abingdon. (This is why it doesn’t have wire wheels. The ash frame is mostly original with the exception of the left hand main rail, rocker, and door frame. The paint is obviously modern and incorrect. The black Mohair hood [convertible top to us colonials that can’t seem to use proper English terms for English cars] came from Brown and Gammons. The radiator cap with thermostat in it is aftermarket, and must have if you drive it any distance, as far a I am concerned.) As much as I dislike driving it for more than 40 minutes, there’s something comforting or almost religious about peering under the bonnet and staring at the XPAG engine, you see the beginning of the road for four cylinder sportscars in America. It’s like your MGB’s granddad; you see what the marque evolved from. Thus, the TD is not for sale or trade. (My nephew literally has dibs on it over my/ after my dead body. We don’t really own it; we’re just maintaining it for the next caretaker.) Hindsight being 20/20, we’d have been happier with a 1600 MGA, and it would have been a better fit. “Better fit” meaning I’d drive the shit outta it. The wife and I weren’t blessed with children so we drive around in/collect what would have been their college fund. I prefer taking one of the MGBs for driving; to me it’s comfortable. The split bumper has about 250k miles, 200k of those put on by the wife and I. The ‘72 is down for paint and light restoration, again I really like these cars so they get driven more. For me the MGB for all of it’s quirks, is possibly my favorite sportscar of all time. I’m looking for front wings for the ’64 to finish the body shell restoration. The wife prefers taking one of the Triumph TR-7s. (I know they are the most hated of the little british cars; but, the wife and I love driving them.) If you want to collect British cars MG is a great marque to start with. But, that is just my opinion and opinions about little british cars are like eyeballs and a$$holes, everybody has a few. For years the grand slam for collectors was to have the MGB (Mk1 pull handle of course), an MGA, a TD or TC, and of course the MGC (believe it or not the running C has always proven to be the more elusive bird, though pricing doesn’t reflect this). Now It seems to be a TD, ZB Magnette, an MGA, and any MGB, perhaps because the C is very hard to come by in the states. Funny though, as I always thought the Magnette rare as hens’ teeth I think the 1100 with hydrolastic suspension is also worthy of collecting too. Some people like trying to get the run on modern midgets: 948, 1098, 1275(RWA of course), and a 1500. My personal plan is MGBs: a 64 pull handle, a split bumper with o/d hopped up a bit, a ’72 in bone stock form running correct replica original tyres (there cars are wild fun/frightening on the original profile tyres), a 70’s era with the fiberglass speedster parts converted to rover V8 (because beating up on fake cobras that cost 6 times more is fun!), and an LE. Yes, I have a lot of opinions when it comes to British cars. God help my wife if I hit the Megamillions this evening; she’ll become a british car widow, as I “collect” every british car I ever wanted and a building big enough to hold them. God can save the queen; I’ll take care of the British car!