MG TF 1500 Originality Guide: What a Correct Car Should Have

This is a guide to what a correct, original MG TF 1500 should have, area by area: the parts, finishes and details a knowledgeable buyer, restorer or judge looks at. It is a companion to two other pages. To confirm a car genuinely is a TF 1500, its numbers and matching-numbers status, see the identification guide; for what changed through production, see the production timeline. A caution throughout: these cars were hand-built, altered in detail through production, and have been maintained and restored for seventy years, so treat this as the general picture and check specifics for your car against its BMIHT Heritage Certificate and the T Register's registrar.

The engine: the XPEG

The defining correct feature is the engine. A genuine TF 1500 left Abingdon with the XPEG, of 1,466 cc (72 mm bore, 8.3:1 compression), giving 63 bhp at 5,000 rpm, and carrying the XPEG engine prefix, for example XPEG/524. The 1500 engine was marked simply XPEG/, not XPEG/TF/. The 1500 also has its own castings, and they are a reliable confirmation: the cylinder block carries the casting number AEF117, cast into the block, and the cylinder head carries AEF118, stamped into the head. A car badged “TF 1500” with an XPAG/TF engine either is not a genuine 1500 or has had a replacement fitted. The engine number appears on an octagonal plate low on the right front of the block, on the guarantee plate on the bulkhead, and stamped on the block plinth above that plate; for reading and matching those numbers, see the identification guide. What matters for originality here is that the engine is the right unit, correctly presented, with the correct manifolding, twin SU carburettors and air cleaner, and the ancillaries below.

Engine bay of a cream MG TF 1500 with the bonnet side up, showing the polished XPEG rocker cover, twin SU carburettors with pancake air cleaners and a Lucas battery — The XPEG installation with the bonnet side up: the polished rocker cover with its MG octagon, the twin SU carburettors and pancake air cleaners on the offside, the braided plumbing, and the battery in its box ahead of the bulkhead. A tidy, correctly presented bay of this sort tells you most of what you need before you start reading numbers.

Carburettors, air cleaner and fuel

The TF 1500 runs twin semi-downdraught SU carburettors, fed through the correct air cleaner, with an SU electric fuel pump. The carburettor type, its needles and springs, and the shape of the air cleaner are the things an originality-minded eye checks first, because they are so often changed for later or non-standard parts. The exact specification for your car is given in the workshop data and confirmed by the registrar; a departure here is one of the commonest.

Close-up of the twin SU carburettors with pancake air cleaners on a cream MG TF 1500 XPEG engine — The twin semi-downdraught SU carburettors close up, with their dashpot tops, the interconnecting throttle linkage and choke, and the pancake air cleaners on the intake side. Check that both dashpots match, that the linkage is the correct pattern, and that the air cleaners are the shape the factory fitted rather than later or open filters.

Ignition, dynamo and electrics

The TF is a 12-volt, positive-earth car with Lucas electrics. Correct details include the Lucas distributor, the Lucas dynamo (a generator, not an alternator) and its control box on the bulkhead, the ignition coil, and correct-pattern wiring. Electronic ignition, an alternator conversion or a change to negative earth are common and sensible improvements, but they are departures from standard that an originality assessment will note. The correct Lucas part numbers are in the workshop data.

Lucas distributor with grey plug leads on a cream MG TF 1500, the silver MG octagon badge visible on a nearby component — The distributor low on the offside of the block, with grey leads brought up through the cap and the braided sleeving that keeps them tidy. The silver MG octagon badge on a nearby component is a small but useful visual anchor. Note the plain rubber leads here in place of the acorn-nut pattern originally fitted, a small and easily reversed departure.

Ignition coil mounted on the inner wing of a cream MG TF 1500, with the Lucas fuse box and control box nearby — The ignition coil in its clamp on the inner wing, with the Lucas fuse box and control box nearby. Correct-pattern cloth-braided cable, sound terminal blocks and clean earths matter as much to an assessor as the parts themselves.

Lucas C39RV/2 dynamo casing on an MG TF 1500, stamped Made in England — The dynamo casing, stamped C39RV/2 and Made in England: a generator rather than an alternator, and the right unit for the car. Original stampings like this are the easiest way to tell a correct Lucas component from a modern replacement.

The dashboard and instruments

The TF's dashboard was new for the model and is one of its most distinctive features. The instruments are Smiths, in the MG octagonal theme, grouped ahead of the driver and in a central panel: speedometer, matching rev counter, and the minor gauges for oil pressure, water temperature, fuel and charge, with the correct switches and controls. The layout, the octagonal instrument surrounds and the finish of the dash are all things a correct car gets right; reproduction and later instruments exist, so the faces, bezels and lettering repay close inspection.

Direct view of the MG TF 1500 dashboard with three octagonal Smiths instrument pods: tachometer, central combined gauge and speedometer — The central panel: three octagonal Smiths dials, with the tachometer to the left, the combined fuel, oil pressure, water temperature and ammeter gauge in the middle, and the speedometer to the right. The octagonal bezels, the dial faces and the small toggle switches either side are the details to study, since reproduction faces and later instruments are common.

Interior view of an MG TF 1500 looking through the wooden-rimmed steering wheel at the octagonal Smiths instruments — From the driver's seat. The dash panel and octagonal instrument surrounds are as the factory arranged them, but the wood-rimmed, drilled-spoke wheel is an aftermarket replacement for the original three-spoke banjo wheel: a comfortable and very common change, and one an originality judge would note straight away.

Seats, trim and interior

The TF introduced individual seat backs in place of the TD's bench-style backrest, trimmed in leather. Originality here is about the seat pattern and material, the door trims and cappings, the carpet, the correct colour combination for the car's trim code, and the correct steering wheel. Interiors are frequently retrimmed, so a correct interior is one whose materials, colours and pattern match what the factory fitted, as recorded on the Heritage Certificate.

Wide interior view of a cream MG TF 1500 from the passenger side, showing maroon leather seats, the dashboard and the gear lever — From the passenger side: the two separate seat backs are the TF change from the TD, and the maroon leather, matching door trims and dashboard surround show how the trim colour carries right through the car. The lap belts and fire extinguisher are usable-classic additions rather than original equipment.

Wide view of the MG TF 1500 cockpit from the driver's door, showing the maroon leather individual seats and dashboard layout — From the driver's door: the individual maroon leather seat backs, dashboard layout and door trim are visible. Interiors are the most frequently retrimmed part of any T-type, so compare the pattern and colour with the trim code on the Heritage Certificate rather than with other cars.

Badges, grille and external details

Externally, the TF 1500's identifying details are the two small cream-background enamel “TF 1500” motifs on the bonnet sides, just behind the forward bonnet-release buttons, and two rear reflectors, neither of which the 1250 carried. Beyond those, the correct T-Series details are the raked grille with its octagon badge, the headlamps faired into the wings, the dummy radiator filler cap, the fold-flat windscreen, and the correct bumpers and overriders. Reproduction badges and motifs are common, so their enamel, colour and mounting are worth a look.

Front view of a cream MG TF 1500 chrome radiator grille with the MG octagon badge and two auxiliary fog lamps — The raked grille seen from the front: chrome slats, the octagon badge at the top of the shell, and a pair of auxiliary fog lamps mounted on the bumper bar. The club badges below the grille are an owner's addition, not factory fitment, and would be lifted off for a strictly original presentation.

Wheels, hubs and tyres

A TF 1500 left the factory on either bolt-on steel disc wheels or centre-lock wire wheels, with the correct octagon-centred hub caps or knock-off spinners, and crossply tyres of the correct size. Later radial tyres and non-standard wheels are usual on a used car; for originality, the wheel type, the hub-cap or spinner pattern and the tyre type are the points of interest.

Close-up of a chrome centre-lock wire wheel on a cream MG TF 1500, with the octagon-eared knock-off spinner marked Undo and Right Side — A close-up of the centre-lock wire wheel and octagon-eared knock-off spinner, marked “Right Side” and “Undo”. The spinner ears carry the MG octagon logo, and the wire spokes are laced to a chrome rim. This is the pattern a correct TF 1500 wire wheel should wear; steel disc wheels are the alternative factory fit, with a different octagon-centred hub cap.

Paint and factory colours

The TF 1500 was offered in a range of factory colours and trim combinations. The one correct for a given car is not a matter of taste but of record: the original body colour and trim are recorded on the car's Heritage Certificate and encoded on its data plates. A repaint in a colour the car never wore, however well done, is a departure from originality, so start from the Heritage Certificate colour, not the colour the car happens to wear now.

What ‘correct’ really means

A caution to close on. These cars were hand-built, altered in detail through production, and have been serviced, repaired and restored for seventy years. Almost no survivor is correct in every particular, and many sensible improvements make a car more usable at the cost of strict originality. None of that makes a car wrong; it makes it a used classic. Originality is a spectrum, and the authorities on where a given car sits are its BMIHT Heritage Certificate and the T Register's TF registrar, not any single web page. Use this guide as the map, and those sources as the arbiters.

To confirm a car is a genuine 1500, see Identifying a genuine TF 1500. For what changed through production, see MG TF production changes. For the model overview see the MG TF 1500 and the MG TF model reference. For the engine family behind it, see the XPAG engine hub. See also the companion MG TC originality guide. Corrections and additions from owners are welcome.