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TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2019 11:13 pm
by Steve Simmons
The newest addition to my list of projects is TC9849 EXU. It hasn't seen the road in 40-50 years, and came to me disassembled down to the smallest nuts and bolts. The previous owner bought it this way 40 years ago. I plan to contact the owner before him and see what history I can find. In all those decades, it has never left the Los Angeles area. It still has its original engine which was reportedly rebuilt decades ago, but it's stuck at the moment so I will be opening it up to see what it will need other than new gaskets. My father has the crazy idea that he wants to daily drive this car, so it's my job to get it on the road before we're both dead.

How TC9849 was found after 40 years of storage...
How TC9849 was found after 40 years of storage
How TC9849 was found after 40 years of storage
tc9849-storage.jpg (68.64 KiB) Viewed 4382 times
Loaded up and ready for transport to its new home.
Loaded up and ready for transport to its new home
Loaded up and ready for transport to its new home
tc9849-transport.jpg (75.96 KiB) Viewed 4382 times
Unloaded with my father at the wheel and me in the passenger seat.
Unloaded with my father at the wheel and me in the passenger seat.
Unloaded with my father at the wheel and me in the passenger seat.
tc9849-unloaded.jpg (56.48 KiB) Viewed 4382 times
It took three days to get all the parts sorted out. Fortunately it seems to be about 98% complete, but I can't understand why someone would disassemble the car so completely before starting work. I prefer to leave major sub-systems intact, and only disassemble when I'm ready to rebuild them. While sorting the parts I found a lot of great surprises, like brand new Phil Marino tapered axles and a brand new reproduction grill shell. Also perfect original headlamp lenses and tripod inserts. Lots of extra parts also, including NOS period aftermarket turn indicators, both 16" and 19" wheels and NOS Sears Allstate tires that are remarkably soft and perfect. Good for a show car, but I'll only be mounting them to roll the chassis around on when I get to that point.

Stats:
Car number: TC9849 EXU
Production date: 3 October 1949
Engine number: XPAG 10507
Casting date: 2 June 1949
Body number: 9440 A 39580 (unknown if original)
Color: Unknown, but shows signs of Regent Red, British Racing Green, Bright Red, Aqua, Clipper Blue, Sequoia Cream and Black.
Front axle ser#: 11404
Rear Axle ser#: 10607

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2019 11:28 am
by Steve Simmons
I started on the front end. After sand blasting the axle I had a bit of a surprise. A chunk of plastic-like filler popped out of one of the ends, and a metal-like filler has been applied all over the axle. It's in more places than the photos show, including along the bottom of the main upper ribs. I can't imagine what's going on here and hopefully there wasn't a bunch of crack repair done. The front of the axle has also been relieved for incorrectly-sized standoffs. It may be cheaper to find another axle than to have this one x-ray tested and aligned.

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2019 3:42 am
by stephen stierman
Steve, I have purchased a couple of Morgan project cars like that, totally disassembled. The owner has the best intentions, but after fooling around with the bits for several years, realizes he is in way over his head and things just sit for years. Not something to do if you lack the skill set, the money, or the ability to see a project through to the end. As you mention, the way to do a restoration is a sub set at a time, that way you at least have a chance of getting something productive done on the project and the task does not look so daunting.

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2019 6:30 pm
by Duncan M
Steve- Your car is 17 before mine. Also an EXU.

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 12:50 am
by Ray White
HI Steve. That looks like an interesting project. I don't think I would want to trust that axle so if you can source a better one at least it would give you peace of mind. I shall be following your progress.

Best of luck.

Ray.

P.S. I will not be drilling any holes in my chassis. :thumbs:

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2019 3:30 pm
by Steve Simmons
Duncan, I wonder if these two cars were on the line at the same time. When finished, we'll have to meet somewhere in the middle and line them up while leaving 16 car lengths between them. :) If yours was before this one instead of after, we could line it up now, this one entering the line as a frame and yours leaving the line completed.

Updates.....

The previous owner had already painted the frame, axles, brake plates and some other parts with a beautiful professional coating. Unfortunately after 30 years it has become scratched and scuffed, and I prefer using something more durable on these parts anyway. Plus I wasn't entirely happy with the junk left inside the box section of the frame that should have been cleaned out before painting. I found a twig in there with primer on it. Inexcusable.

So while I'm waiting for the alignment shop to clear their frame table so I can bring the chassis in, I've continued sand blasting parts. More surprises as I cleared away the paint. It was hiding a nice little crack in the axle tower that should have been spotted and repaired before painting. This is the first step in failure of the tower, which ultimately results in the car dropping down onto the tire with its full weight, usually while at speed. I know THREE people personally here in So Cal who this has happened to in the past three years. One escaped relatively unscathed. The other two both lost their differentials and a tire. One of them also bent other parts.

Please everyone, check your axle towers for cracks!

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2019 4:41 pm
by Duncan M
The casting date on my engine (10536) is "8 D9" or 8 April '49. Interesting 2 month spread for cars likely on the assembly line at the same time or one day apart.

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2019 10:02 am
by Mark McCombs
Steve-
What a great project!

Are you sourcing a tub or rebuilding the original?

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2019 11:24 am
by Steve Simmons
The tub is a mixed bag. The upper wood is pretty good but the lower wood is rotten. The car came with all the repair pieces necessary to fix the tub but I'll be honest, a woodworker I am not. The chassis is a ton of fun for me but everything that sits on top is not something I'm looking forward to. I will likely repair the tub, but with help. Here is the body in my storage shed. You can kind of make out the good and bad bits.

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2019 12:08 pm
by Ray White
The scuttle top looks good. That is one of the few parts I was able save from the body of my car. I have spent a lifetime trying to salvage timber framed bodywork on coach built cars but it needs to have integrity. In my opinion, patching up may look O.K. but often lacks the strength that a new frame can impart.

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2019 8:06 am
by stephen stierman
TC2911 had mostly rotten timbers other than the door frames that were very good and just a few others. If you can save the front scuttle timber that has holes drilled for the firewall location it will be helpful when you start putting things back together again. I also suggest building a new tub on the chassis with running gear installed sitting on its wheels to compensate for any slight "sagging" of the chassis. I find the goal to be essentially to get the doors to shut properly and line up pretty well. Any shimming that you need to do is fair to achieve this since you aren't building a coffee table.
2woodjpg.jpg
2woodjpg.jpg (26.78 KiB) Viewed 4222 times

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 8:00 pm
by Steve Simmons
Finally got the frame aligned and stripped. It looks like the car may have been in an accident at some point during its life, which may explain why it was taken apart after only 30 years or so. The frame needed a lot of tweaking, mostly in the front. The tips were both tweaked, there was a slight bow in the right hand rail around the middle of the car, and the frame was a bit diamond. With the paint off, you can see where someone did some ugly repair work up front. I'll be fixing that. There is more work to do before painting but it's close.

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 6:25 am
by timberstone
Are you thinking about doing any frame reinforcement with welding and plates in places that are suggested by Mike Sherrell in "TC's Forever"?

Regrets that we did not do those welding modifications for Boxley's frame, when it was apart for sandblasting and powder coating, even though there had been no previous damage anywhere. Now think that it would be a good preventive measure if we ever get back around to it.

Octagonally yours,
Boxley (Robert and MGTC0820)

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 11:26 am
by Steve Simmons
Since this is a late TC, it already has the factory reinforcement behind the box section. I don't recall any other recommended reinforcements but the frame looks pretty good overall so I don't think I will take it any farther.

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 10:25 pm
by Steve Simmons
So it's been a while since I updated the post. There are more detailed descriptions in the write-ups I did for TC Motoring Guild's newsletters. They can be found at the following links:

http://www.tcmotoringguild.org/chassis/ ... hassis.pdf
http://www.tcmotoringguild.org/chassis/ ... hassis.pdf

While sorting some parts, I cleaned up the brake drums and measured them for wear. They measured brand new so I blasted and painted them.
TC Brake Drums
TC Brake Drums
drums.jpg (39.4 KiB) Viewed 2872 times

Next I tackled the frame. There were a couple welds to be done, so once finished with that I applied two coats of POR15 followed by a top coat of POR Chassis Black.
Welding TC Frame
Welding TC Frame
Welding-LH-FT.jpg (59.38 KiB) Viewed 2872 times
TC Frame Painted
TC Frame Painted
frame-painted.jpg (58.62 KiB) Viewed 2872 times
TC Frame Painted Closeup
TC Frame Painted Closeup
frame-painted-rear.jpg (61.03 KiB) Viewed 2872 times

I decided to have the spindles replaced with new for safety.
New TC Spindles
New TC Spindles
tc-spindles.jpg (51.51 KiB) Viewed 2872 times

The axle was checked for alignment, and measured perfect. So it and some other parts were also coated.
Measuring TC Axle
Measuring TC Axle
axle-measuring.jpg (44.1 KiB) Viewed 2872 times
TC Front End Parts Painting
TC Front End Parts Painting
front-end-parts.jpg (80.7 KiB) Viewed 2872 times

While this was going on, I stripped the best one of the five wheels so see what I had. Unfortunately there were some cracks, stuck spokes, etc and even the best wheel isn't perfectly straight. The splines are all good so I could repair and rebuild but it may make more sense to replace. I'll think more on that.
TC Wheels
TC Wheels
tc-wheels.jpg (67.64 KiB) Viewed 2872 times
TC Wheel Cracks
TC Wheel Cracks
tc-wheel-cracks.jpg (47.62 KiB) Viewed 2872 times

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 10:35 pm
by Steve Simmons
The knuckles needed new bushings of course. I made a special tool from steel rod to press bushings in and out which works much better than the usual generic bushing tools. See the following newsletter for an article with far more detail:

http://www.tcmotoringguild.org/chassis/20MayChassis.pdf

Bushing press tool
Bushing press tool
bushing-tool.jpg (40.51 KiB) Viewed 2871 times
Pressing King Pin Bushings
Pressing King Pin Bushings
pressing-bushings.jpg (40.49 KiB) Viewed 2871 times

The bushings were then reamed to size and the spindles assembled to the axle. The cotter holes were cleaned up to get burrs and paint out of them.
Reaming King Pin Bushings
Reaming King Pin Bushings
reaming-bushings.jpg (57.15 KiB) Viewed 2871 times
King Pin Bushings
King Pin Bushings
kingpin-bushings.jpg (42.21 KiB) Viewed 2871 times
Cleaning cotter hole
Cleaning cotter hole
reaming-axle.jpg (38.66 KiB) Viewed 2871 times
Front knuckle assembled
Front knuckle assembled
front-knuckle.jpg (41.44 KiB) Viewed 2871 times

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2020 10:38 pm
by Franz Tenbrock
perfect, wonderful
:thumbs:

i will not take off all parts of the chassis on my ya, it runs perfect before, so i only will clean all parts and paint it black,
your way is much better :bow:

what is your profession ?

Re: TC9849 EXU Restoration

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 8:51 am
by Steve Simmons
I agree with your method Franz! I would never take a car apart unless absolutely necessary. I prefer driving them to restoring.

Unfortunately my profession has nothing to do with working on cars. So I have to figure things out as I go along. But I've owned and driven MGs and other old cars my entire life, so I've had plenty of time to figure out how NOT to do something.