The reassuring answer to “can you still get parts?” is yes — a T-Type is better supported than most cars of its age, and you can build most of the mechanical side of a TC, TD or TF from current catalogue stock. The useful answer is more specific: some parts are made new every year, some only exist rebuilt on exchange, and some will only ever be found used and restored.
Work out what to verify before you order
Tell it what car you have and what you are working on, and it will list the numbers to quote, the reference sources that hold the authoritative part number, and the specification traps for that area. It deliberately does not give you a part number: on these cars the number depends on your car’s own build, and only the manual, the catalogue and the old part can settle it.
Submit part details
Photograph a marking, get a verification checklist
Upload a clear photograph of the casting mark, stamping or service number — and anything you can already read — and you will get back what the marking appears to say, what the part probably is, and the checks to make before you order. It never quotes a part number it cannot stand behind: the authoritative number always comes from the Workshop Manual, the factory Parts List or the supplier’s own catalogue.
How parts supply actually works
There are four tiers, and knowing which tier a part sits in tells you how long the job will take and how much of it is a phone call rather than a search.
Still made new. Service and rebuild items with steady demand: gaskets, bearings, brake and clutch friction parts, carburettor internals, hood and trim sets, wiring harnesses, tyres. Ordered today, fitted this weekend.
Remanufactured or exchange. Complete assemblies that are rebuilt rather than cast afresh — fuel pumps, dynamos, starters, water pumps, brake cylinders, steering boxes. You usually pay a core charge and send the old unit back, so do not throw away a tired original before the new one arrives.
Made to pattern by a specialist. Not stock, but obtainable: ash frame timbers, hand-made panels, brake-pipe sets, re-sleeved cylinders, relined shoes, rebuilt instruments, trued wire wheels. This is where the club supplier lists below earn their keep.
Used only. Castings and pressings nobody is going to remake for a car built in the tens of thousands: blocks, heads, cranks, drums, some brightwork and small trim castings. Register classifieds, autojumbles and the specialists who hold secondhand stock are the route, and patience is part of the price.
What is available, area by area
Availability below is the general picture across TA–TF. The TA and TB — with the MPJG engine, cork clutch and much smaller production numbers — are consistently the hardest to feed; TC, TD and TF are much easier. Always confirm a part against your own car’s chassis and engine numbers before ordering, because several components changed mid-production.
Engine & cooling
| Part | Supply | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gaskets, seals, pistons, bearings, valves, timing chain | Still made new | The XPAG/XPEG service items are the best-supported parts on the car — the mainstream catalogues carry them as stock lines. |
| Water pump, oil pump, dynamo, starter | Remanufactured / exchange | Usually sold rebuilt or on exchange, with your old unit as the core. Expect to send the original back. |
| Cylinder head, block, crankshaft | Used or restored original | Cast originals, sourced secondhand and reconditioned. Cracked or over-skimmed XPAG heads are the classic reason for a long search. |
| Radiator core, header tank | Mixed — varies by part | Recoring an original shell is normally better value — and more correct — than hunting a new-old-stock unit. |
Fuel & ignition
| Part | Supply | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SU carburettor jets, needles, floats, spindles, gaskets | Still made new | Fully supported. Complete rebuild kits for the H-type carburettors are off-the-shelf items. |
| SU electric fuel pump | Remanufactured / exchange | Rebuild kits (diaphragm and points) are current, and rebuilt pumps are widely sold. Solid-state replacement innards exist if you accept the departure from original. |
| Distributor, cap, points, condenser, rotor | Still made new | Service parts are current; the distributor body itself is usually rebuilt rather than replaced. |
| Fuel tank | Mixed — varies by part | New tanks come and go by model. Specialist fabricators repair or make them to pattern, which is often the realistic route. |
Brakes, clutch & running gear
| Part | Supply | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wheel cylinders, master cylinder, hoses, shoes, linings | Still made new | Well supported. Copper brake-pipe sets are made to pattern per model. |
| Brake drums | Used or restored original | Sourced secondhand and skimmed. Relining and stainless re-sleeving of cylinders are standard specialist services in the UK. |
| Clutch plate and cover | Mixed — varies by part | TB-onward XPAG clutches are catalogued. The TA's cork-insert clutch is the awkward one and is a specialist-only job. |
| Kingpins, bushes, shackle pins, springs, dampers | Still made new | Suspension and steering rebuild parts are made new; steering-box internals are more often reconditioned. |
Electrics
| Part | Supply | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wiring harness | Still made new | Cloth-braided harnesses are made to original pattern for each model — one of the genuinely easy wins in a restoration. |
| Control box (RB106/2 or earlier CVC), dynamo | Remanufactured / exchange | Reconditioned units and repro control boxes circulate; originals can usually be reset rather than replaced. |
| Lamps, switches, horn, instruments | Mixed — varies by part | Popular items are reproduced. Correct-dial instruments are more often restored than bought new — instrument restorers are a trade in their own right. |
Body, chassis & trim
| Part | Supply | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ash frame timbers | Still made new | Cut to pattern by coachbuilders and body specialists rather than sold as a boxed kit. Sections can be let in; a full reframe is a big job. |
| Wings, bonnet, panels | Mixed — varies by part | Reproduction panels exist for the popular models; hand-made panels from a metalworker are the alternative and often the better fit. |
| Hood, sidescreens, tonneau, carpets, seat covers | Still made new | Trim is well served — full hood and interior sets are made to pattern in the correct materials. |
| Chrome brightwork — bumpers, over-riders, rims | Used or restored original | Almost always originals, re-plated. See the chrome guide for when polishing stops being enough. |
| Badges, scuttle plates, small castings | Mixed — varies by part | Reproduced in batches; some are one-off runs by clubs and dry up between production runs. |
Wheels & tyres
| Part | Supply | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wire wheels, hubs, splines, spokes | Still made new | New wire wheels are made in the correct sizes, and rebuilding/truing an original rim is a standard specialist service. |
| Tyres | Still made new | Period-pattern crossply and radial covers in T-Type sizes are current production from the classic tyre makers. |
UK suppliers
Between them these cover almost everything a running car needs. Prices and stock move, so it is worth checking two before committing on anything substantial — and worth asking rather than assuming, because the specialists hold far more than their websites list.
London, Bradford, Bristol, Paris
The broadest general catalogue for T-Types alongside the rest of the British classic range. First stop for mechanical service parts, trim and consumables.
Swavesey, Cambridgeshire
The MG Owners' Club's own parts arm, with dedicated TD/TF sections. Useful for mechanical and trim parts, and club members get preferential pricing.
Alcester, near Stratford-upon-Avon
New and secondhand pre-war MMM and early T-Type spares — engine, chassis, body, electrics, instruments, wheels. The place to ask for TA/TB parts nobody else lists; much of the stock is not on the website.
Crawley, West Sussex
Illustrated T-Type parts catalogue and stock across the range; also useful as a reference for identifying what a part actually is.
Germany, ships to UK/EU
Deep T-Type stock and a genuinely good free 392-page illustrated TA–TF catalogue, which is worth having on the bench whoever you buy from.
US suppliers
Most TCs and TDs went to North America when new, so US supply is genuinely good and there is rarely any need to import from Britain for routine work. Buying domestically also avoids the shipping, duty and VAT arithmetic that makes a cheap UK part expensive by the time it lands.
Goleta, California
The mainstream US catalogue with dedicated TC/TD/TF sections — mechanical, electrical, trim and hardware, with US-domestic shipping and returns.
Walpole, New Hampshire
A T-Series specialist rather than a general catalogue, and long regarded on the US forums as the deeper source for T-Type-specific and used parts.
United States
Grew out of a TC restoration and concentrates on correct, hard-to-find detail parts — the sort of items the big catalogues do not carry.
Club and register lists — the specialist route
When a part is not in any catalogue, the answer is almost always a small specialist rather than a bigger catalogue. These directories are how you find them.
The MG T Society — suppliers directory
A long, categorised list by area (body, brakes/clutch, engine, electrics, trim) including small one-man specialists — brake and clutch relining, cylinder re-sleeving, drum skimming, pattern brake-pipe sets, hand-made bodies and panels. The single most useful page on the internet for a part you cannot find in a catalogue.
MG Car Club Triple-M and T Register
Register spares schemes, technical registrars and members who know who last made the part you need.
New England MG T Register (NEMGTR)
The US T-Type register: technical help, a spares network and members' classified advertisements.
Buying spares well
Quote your numbers. Give the supplier the chassis and engine number, not just the model. If you are not sure what yours mean, the chassis and engine identification guide explains the formats.
Keep the old part. It is your core for an exchange unit, your pattern for a hand-made replacement, and your proof of what was originally fitted.
Beware “fits all T-Types”. Brakes, cooling, wheels and electrics all changed across TA to TF, and the TF 1500 differs from the earlier TF. The TF 1500 originality reference covers those distinctions in detail.
Judge repro quality on the parts that matter. Reproduction is often excellent and sometimes better than original, but on brakes, steering and fuel components buy from a supplier who will stand behind the part rather than the cheapest listing.
Do not buy parts to fix a diagnosis you have not made. Charging and fuel faults in particular are usually adjustment or earth problems rather than failed components — start with the symptom-led diagnostics, the dynamo-not-charging guide or the SU flooding guide before you spend.
Parts identification and fitment FAQ
Ordering the right part for a T-Type means matching the part number, the model and the production date. These are the questions that come up most often before placing an order.
- How do I confirm a part will fit my MG T-Type before ordering?
- Always quote your chassis and engine numbers, and where possible the original part number. Never rely on the model name alone: brakes, wheels, cooling and electrics changed across TA–TF, and the TF 1500 differs from the standard TF. Cross-check the catalogue illustration against the old part you are replacing.
- Where do I find the correct part number for my car?
- Start with the workshop manual for your model and year. Parts catalogues from Moss, MGOC Spares, SC Parts and Limora list numbers by model and often by chassis range. Club registers and the MG T Society suppliers directory can confirm numbers for parts that are not in the mainstream catalogues.
- Why do suppliers ask for my chassis and engine numbers?
- Because MG made running changes during production. A TC built in 1946 can differ from a 1948 car, and the TF 1500 was not a clean cut-off at a single chassis number. The numbers tell the supplier which specification was fitted to your car.
- What does 'fits all T-Types' actually mean?
- Treat it with caution. It usually means the part fits several models, but rarely all five. A part that fits TC, TD and TF may not fit TA or TB; a part for XPAG engines will not fit an MPJG or XPEG. Read the small print and compare dimensions.
- Should I buy original used parts or new reproduction parts?
- For service and safety items — brakes, steering, fuel, electrics — buy new or remanufactured from a reputable supplier. For trim, brightwork and body castings, good used originals are often closer to correct than cheap reproductions, but may need restoration. Keep your old part as a pattern either way.
- How do I know whether an engine part is for an XPAG or an XPEG?
- Check the engine prefix stamped on the block. XPAG parts are for the 1,250 cc engine in TB, TC, TD and standard TF. XPEG parts are for the 1,466 cc engine in the TF 1500. Bore, piston, gasket and some timing-chain parts differ, so the prefix matters.
- What should I do if the catalogue part does not match what is on my car?
- Do not force it. Take clear photos and measurements of your original part and contact the supplier before fitting. A previous owner may have fitted a later or non-standard component. The old part is your best evidence of what was originally fitted.
- Can I return parts if they do not fit?
- Most suppliers accept returns of unused, unmarked parts within a stated period, but custom-made, cut, painted or electrical items often cannot be returned. Check the returns policy before ordering, and do not unwrap or fit a part until you are sure it is correct.
- How do I judge whether a secondhand part is worth buying?
- Ask for clear photos from every angle, measurements, and evidence of function. Castings should be free of cracks; brake and fuel components should not be seized or heavily corroded; electrical parts should have good threads and terminals. If the seller cannot answer technical questions, walk away.
- Why does the same part vary in price between suppliers?
- Price usually reflects country of manufacture, quality grade and whether the part is genuine, reproduction or pattern. For critical items, the cheapest listing is rarely the best value. Club forums and register recommendations are a good way to find which suppliers' parts fit and last.