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TC or TD engine?

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 10:15 am
by tedjan
Hello Group,
I am working on a 1954 TF which supposedly has a TC engine.The engine number is XPAG TC 10340 and is located on a gold octagon plate on the right front of the block.
According to Moss,TC engine plates are on the bell housing above the starter and TD plates are located where mine is.
Is there another way that I can confirm what engine I am working on?
Thank you.

Re: TC or TD engine?

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 10:39 am
by Steve Simmons
All TC engines had the plate on the bell housing, left rear of the engine. Another easy way to spot TC or TD is the drain tap, which was also on the center of the right side of the block whereas TD/TF placed it at the front of the right side.. If your tag is on a raised square area on the front right then it's definitely not a TC block. It may have come from a TC as a replacement engine, but was not originally fitted to one.
TC Engine Tag Location
TC Engine Tag Location
tcblock1.jpg (120.02 KiB) Viewed 2818 times
TC Drain Tap Location
TC Drain Tap Location
tcblock2.jpg (166.77 KiB) Viewed 2818 times

Re: TC or TD engine?

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2019 8:32 am
by tedjan
Thank you for that.Looks like I have a TD,tap and engine plate is on right side front.

Re: TC or TD engine?

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2019 11:11 am
by Tom Lange, MGT Repair
Steve is right about engine tag location. It does appear that someone has grafted the TC tag onto a later block.

Many - not all - later blocks had the engine number stamped on the block itself, across the top of the plinth. The digits are often painted over, but scraping may reveal them. There is no way to disguise that it is a later block.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair

Re: TC or TD engine?

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:39 pm
by frenchblatter
Another indication, if the sump hasn't been swapped over, is the TD has holes on both sides for the clutch rod, the TC hasn't as it's cable operated.

I have a friend in France who bought a TC from the US and the engine is a TD with a TC engine number.

Re: TC or TD engine?

Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 4:32 am
by Tom Lange, MGT Repair
Not quite, Thierry - the early TD used a cable clutch linkage that was replaced by rods; the remains of both the cable base and the pivot or fulcrum pins for the rods will be on either side of the sump.

The TC used a chain hooked directly between the pedal and clutch operating lever, so there will be no cable or fulcrum pins on a TC sump.

Chances are that if they installed a TD engine, they did it complete with the TD sump.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair

Re: TC or TD engine?

Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 10:30 am
by bloodysalmon
is the cylinder head different between the TC and TD and if so in what areas?

Re: TC or TD engine?

Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 10:51 am
by frenchblatter
Tom, well I was nearly right :)

Re: TC or TD engine?

Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 11:48 am
by Steve Simmons
There are a couple minor differences in heads. Early TD heads are the same as TC. Late TD heads changed from banana-shaped water holes to round ones, and went to a longer rocker shaft, but the heads are interchangeable. You just have to make sure you sue the proper head gasket, and assemble the rocker shaft correctly.

Re: TC or TD engine?

Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 2:59 pm
by Duncan M
Then there always that elusive block casting date.

Re: TC or TD engine?

Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 11:26 am
by bloodysalmon
Steve, you say that the head gasket on a TC and a TD are different. Assuming putting a TD gasket on a TD head is ok ... but what about a TC gasket on a TD head?
Why I ask is that this may be the answer to my water-leaking-head ... any logic in this you reckon?

Re: TC or TD engine?

Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 12:10 pm
by Steve Simmons
The gaskets are technically interchangeable. The only difference is the shape of the water holes. TC and early TD are oval, and everything after early TD is round. Some people have a strong belief in using an oval gasket when mixing round and oval blocks and heads. Whether it makes a difference or not is debatable, but either way I can't see this as being your issue, unfortunately.