The wife and I rescued a 1953 MG TD for a friend of ours as part of a divorce in order to dispose of (sell) it for her. The friend now lives in Texas and the car is now in our garage in Shalimar, FL.
Apparently the battery died in 1983 and the (now ex) husband parked it in the garage. My wife and I went up to Crestview and put it on a trailer and brought it home, via a short stop to clean it up. It was covered with 35 years of garage dust along with a few mud dauber nests.
Looking for advice on where to research what the value of this thing might be.
I need to pull the plugs and squirt some marvel mystery oil in the cylinders and then ,after some period of time, use the hand crank to see if the engine will roll over.
It seems to be in reasonable shape otherwise for a 65 year old car. Don't see any serious rust, no dents, etc.
Very simple looking car that looks like it comes apart pretty easily. Its all just bolted together.
Would be a good restoration project for someone with the time and money. I don't have the time and don't need to spend the money.

Sorry about the run on paragraph, I promise when I typed it I had indents in.

Make sure you get some of this:

Here you go:

Hagerty Car Valuation Tools

Also suggest Hemmings.com, search for MG TD's and see what value people are asking for "project cars".

IF you put a battery in it for any reason check first. It might be positive ground, the Brits were famous for that.

Take previous comments about the electrical system to heart. At one ignorant point in my life, a friend of mine and I went halfsies on a Sunbeam.
It would discharge sparks from under the dash as you were going down the road. Which was precursor to a total system failure and sometimes a small fire. I believe it was the only car I have ever had that actually hated me. Lucas parts are spawn of the devil!

^^^ Ah, Joseph Lucas, the Prince of Darkness. Can't beat those Lucas electrics! But I still love British motorcycles and sports cars.

Old and original car might be a six volt system too.
Nice condition but not running for years maybe a 6–$12000 car. They are not that rare.

Check out the New England MG T Register - They have a chapter in Orlando. See the site - might contact the Chapter President and see what information he/she can provide. https://www.nemgtr.org/

Memories... I helped my cousin recover one from a pasture in western NY State many long years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by amals:
^^^ Ah, Joseph Lucas, the Prince of Darkness. Can't beat those Lucas electrics!

My first car was a 1953 MG-TD.
 
Lucas, the original anti-theft device.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Take previous comments about the electrical system to heart. At one ignorant point in my life, a friend of mine and I went halfsies on a Sunbeam.
It would discharge sparks from under the dash as you were going down the road. Which was precursor to a total system failure and sometimes a small fire. I believe it was the only car I have ever had that actually hated me. Lucas parts are spawn of the devil!

We used to say "Lucas hates motorcyclists" for good reason. I still have fond BSA memories of going into a corner on I-96 at about 75 or so and losing all my lighting. Headlight switch fell apart. M-76 outside of West Branch and the ammeter going open circuit and killing all electrical power to the bike. That one took me a while to figure it out. Or smoking the lighting circuit of the bike outside Ypsilanti late one night and having to make a cheater harness to get home at 2 A.M. in a apartment parking lot. Those and many more stories.

I stayed away from British cars but almost fell under the siren song of a late 50's Triumph a friend was selling. I came back to my senses though after helping fix wiring issues on it.

Speaking of Sunbeam, If someone offers to sell you an Alpine, ask "is it a Tiger"? If it isn't, run fast, run far!

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:

quote:

Originally posted by amals:
^^^ Ah, Joseph Lucas, the Prince of Darkness. Can't beat those Lucas electrics!

My first car was a 1953 MG-TD.
 
Lucas, the original anti-theft device.

Lol. Hadn't heard that one.

Another benefit of an old British car, your garage floor will never rust.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
Here you go:

Hagerty Car Valuation Tools

Also suggest Hemmings.com, search for MG TD's and see what value people are asking for "project cars".

I'm not sure you can search Hemmings for completed sales,
however Hemmings would be about the best to get some good references

Classic British vehicles--passion and penance.

"A Gentleman does not operate a motorcar after dark."

- Sir Joseph Lucas


Lucas Three Position Switch: Off Dim Flicker

The only Lucas product that doesn't suck: Vacuum cleaner.

Isn't Lucas why the English drink their beer warm?

Beware of the "Tin Worm". Rust.