1938 MG TA Special Project Update

Here is an update on my 1938 MG TA Special project with a quick walk-around to show some of the features. This car began as a vision to create a highly impractical street-legal race car. After 6 years of hard work, focused determination, tons of patience, and a great community of helpers, it's nearly ready to fire up for the first time so things are pretty exciting! I'll make another one detailing the engine and specs when I get it fired up!
Cheers!
Craig

[@johnkoury1116]

Craig, this is one of the most beautiful builds I have seen. I am starting a build on a 1928 Morgan but my next project is a 1937 MG Magnatte boat tail racer. I am debating the power plant choice however. I have a 4 cylinder MG motor and transmission however I may go with a supercharged Triumph 6 cylinder or possibly a Jaguar. Really awesome. I would love to see it in person someday. I am in Pennsylvania.

[@guillermogallego2300]

Wow! I have followed you on MG forums and it is great to see the car almost finished, congrats! Good to know that you have a 993 and a MG A like me, hope I can join you on the Q special.

[@ccootsona]

Thank you for the kind words. They are all great cars and i enjoy driving them, as long as the 993 doesn't learn to leak oil from the British cars! The MG TA special is almost fully sorted out now, just in time for winter rainy weather, so I look forward to some more sun when I can drive it again. We just have to finish upholstering the seats and then drive it to see what else needs attention. It's fun to show people what 1930's racing sports car technology looks like in real life, and not locked away in a museum.

[@tuisitala9068]

This is mechanical and aesthetic perfection.

[@ccootsona]

Thank you. That was the goal with this project. I wanted an authentic experience of interacting with a pre-war race car and the aesthetic elements were important to get right.

[@axiomist4488]

Beautiful car, I'd put stone-guards on the headlights, they look very sporty and cool. You did a very thorough and simple explanation of all the details . Thanks .

[@ccootsona]

Thank you. I have clear plastic guards over the lenses so they are nearly invisible unless you look for the thickness. I felt they looked a little better than all the mesh and protect against all sizes of stones.

[@mgtc7794]

Did you do the superb cording job on the springs and steering wheel? What an art!

[@ccootsona]

Yes, I learned that the fibers tear up your hands without gloves. The method is one wrap, tie a half hitch, pull hard back against the previous loop, and continue. It builds the knots up in a zig zag and prevents unwinding if a break occurs. I sealed it against decay with boiled linseed oil thinned with turpentine, a few drops of Japan hardener, and 3% clove/cinnamon oil as an antimircobial and to cover the awful terp smell.

[@frogman8591]

Thanks

[@blackvulcan100]

Wonderful, I owned a 1939 TA.

[@ficheye00]

Fantastic work Craig. Very inspiring. Can't wait to see it around town.

[@ccootsona]

Thanks! Stay tuned for the video of the first start!

[@carlkreienkamp2758]

I've never seen a cross flow head on a newer (t.c.,t.d. t.f.) M.G. Was the T.A. produced with one? Any info or links would be appreciated. Any info on your Special Project , ditto.

[@ccootsona]

Hello Karl, thank you for the kind remarks. Some small quantitiy of crossflow heads were produced decades ago for the XPAG engine but are impossible to find now. Recently, company in the Netherlands called Roelofs Race Service made a small batch on a CNC machine, one of which I purchased. It is set up to run unleaded fuel, larger TD2 style intake valve seats, and standard exhaust valves. Jan Roelofs was very helpful with setup and recommending springs and shims to get the rocker geometry correct. Intake and exhaust manifolds were made by Steve Baker's fabricators in the UK, and exhaust manifold modified by a local shop to clear the distributor. Roelofs site is here: www.raceservice.nl/index.html. For more detail on how I built the TA special and components, I started a thread on the MG Experience forums, which also includes helpful hints and photos from other members. www.mgexp.com/forum/t-series-and-prewar-forum.46/1938-mg-ta-special-build.3873130/

[@samsharp9377]

You're killin' me. Beautiful.

[@markneale9784]

Hi Craig can you please tell me where you brought the gauges …regards mark neale

[@ccootsona]

The 4 Q-type style gauges came from Patrick Henry who was located in Ireland at the time. He specializes in correct gauges for vintage MGs like the Q-type and K3. They were very reasonably priced. The tachometer face came from Steve Baker, and I used it to replace the face of a modern electronic tachometer (Autometer 1799 Old Tyme Tachometer) to look correct. I wanted an original chronometric Jaeger but I could not run a genrator due to the clearance of the side exit exhaust manifold. I had to run a mini-denso alternator with heat shielding. As such, I lost the ability to mechanically drive a tach. The original Q-types didn't have this problem because the overhead cam drove the tach. Such are the challenges of mixing body, engine, and exhaust types. The neat thing about the modern unit, is it runs off the ignition circuit input but when you turn off the motor, it displays the last registered RPM like the old chronometric tachs. It has the added benefit of smooth needle sweep when running compared to the jumpy old chronometrics. The amp meter came from Steve Baker and the 8-day wind-up clock came from a friend who recieved it from someone who took it off an airplane. Under the dash, I hid a Hobbs hour meter because there is no speedometer or odometer on the car. I can correlate hours with approximate miles from my GPS speedometer display on my phone.

[@ruudjacobs8360]

Beauty....but do i see it wrong? You leather belt is over the exhaust? Gr. Ruud

[@ccootsona]

Thank you,. Yes, you saw it correctly. At the time I filmed the video I still needed to make the metal rod that extended behind the exhaust pipe down to the chassis bracket. I finally found a photo of a Q-type racer and took dimensions from that.

[@ungurdani8346]

Salut my friend super car super video subscribe subscribe .

[@ungurdani8346]

Thanks my friend , subscribe subscribe ...