MGTextDB8nn=8n`8n…CdataMGTD(@´@¡@•@ Ú@ Ó@ ï@ @ @ A@ O@ Y@ i@ “@ °@ ¹@ É@ Ø@ ë@@A@h@Ž@ž@°@¾@Ë@a1The original MGTD was first produced in late 1949 and had it's formal introduction in January of 1950. There were a total of four model years; 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1953. The first model set the stage for what the MGTD was. Because of the short amount of time from the inception of the MGTD to the delivery of the first cars, not everything was quite as the MG Car Company would have liked it. In fact they were still making MGTC's on the production line when the first MGTD's were produced. Other models were also being made on the same assembly line at the same time. This says something of the flexibility of the Abingdon work crews and factory.a2Most changes to these early MGTD's were unnoticeable from the untrained eye. One exception to this was the change from solid wheels to slotted wheels. Still steal and not wire, but a change nothing else. Most of this seems to be precipitated from the fact that the brakes were fading due to poor cooling. Another change was to stiffen the body by adding an internal under firewall tubular frame. It helped but the MGTD body bucket still seems to flex quite a bit when pressed into corners.b1The TD II (not to be confused with the MGTD Mark II) was essentially more refinements done to the car by the factory. Minor changes to the engine generated the need to create a new engine type, the XPAG/TD2. This in turn caused them to designate these cars as TD2's, although even their marketing materials never really mentioned this change. There really weren't any model years for the MGTD, as changes were introduced subtly. The biggest changes occurred during the 1953 model year as sales of the MGTD started to fall in favor of cars like the TR2 and Healey 100. In 1953 MG introduced round taillamps (not sure what the feature of these were), turn signals, a three bow top or hood, and moved the windscreen wiper motor central for safety reasons.c1In the middle of 1950 model year the MG Car Company began factory producing some special MGTD's known as the Mark II. These cars were essentially regular MGTD's that had been given some extra factory accessories and tuning. There was not an exact list of these features, and in fact over the production of the MGTD the features of the Mark II would change. It was also possible at the time to buy everything for a regular MGTD that the Mark II model offered. Some of the changes were to increase the base horsepower of the engine from 54 bhp to 57 bhp, larger tires, additional Andrex friction shocks front and back, higher rear end ratios, dual fuel pumps, and larger carburetors. Most of the features of the Mark II were a part of the staged tuning that was described in various publications and offered as a factory tuning manual.c2From all these changes it appeared that little changed in how the car actually handled. Many folks opted to buy a regular MGTD and go through a series of Stage Tunings to increase the performance of the MGTD well above what the Mark II achieved.d1Ring-type tappet spannerd10Two tire leversd11Tire valve spannerd12Distributor feeler and screwdriverd13Tire pumpd14Crankd15Screwdriverd16Set of box spanners and tommy bar (3)d17Set of open spanners (3)d18Jackd19Jack handled2Wheel braced20Lug nut wrenchd21Hand starter crank (stored on seat back)d22Optional Lockheed brake bleeder tubed3Ring spanner for cylinder head nutsd4Tappet feeler gauge (.019 or .012)d5¾ lb. Hammerd6Pair of pliersd7Grease gund8Tool rolld9Adjustable spanner (monkey wrench)