RACING RAD CAPS
Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2000 2:25 pm
There is an old British-made racing radiator cap which was sometimes
used on T-Type MGs. It is opened by pressing a thumb lever to the side
in a horizontal direction which first releases and then opens the cap in
one motion. It is somewhat smaller and different than the one being
reproduced today and sold by Abingdon, Moss, et al and is made entirely
of chromium plated brass. If you have ever seen one, you know the cap I
mean.
Back in the mid 1960s, I had unrestricted use of a very good machine
shop and I took advantage of that fact by producing a total of 30
replicas of an original cap, of that type, which I happened to own at
the time. I made patterns which I then sent out to be sandcast in
bronze. I then did all of the machining, fitting, and polishing myself
on all thirty caps and then sent them out for chromium plating before
final assembly. I still have all of the tooling and special jigs from
that project including a tap for the MG rad cap threads which I made
from scratch from tool steel. As I completed the caps, I stamped
numbers on the undersides of the main housings and on the undersides of
the covers from "1" to "30". Cap number "1" has been on my own car
since that time, caps number, "20", "24", and "30" reside in my garage
attic. (I've used them off and on for other cars that I have owned).
That leaves 26 caps that were sold off as a source of income and to help
keep my TC rolling.
I have often wondered what became of those 26 caps. If anyone out there
owns this type of cap, I wonder if they would mind popping it open to
have a look. If I remember correctly, the original cap had a British
patent number and date but mine would only have a large-ish number
between "2" and "29".
Thanks! Badger
used on T-Type MGs. It is opened by pressing a thumb lever to the side
in a horizontal direction which first releases and then opens the cap in
one motion. It is somewhat smaller and different than the one being
reproduced today and sold by Abingdon, Moss, et al and is made entirely
of chromium plated brass. If you have ever seen one, you know the cap I
mean.
Back in the mid 1960s, I had unrestricted use of a very good machine
shop and I took advantage of that fact by producing a total of 30
replicas of an original cap, of that type, which I happened to own at
the time. I made patterns which I then sent out to be sandcast in
bronze. I then did all of the machining, fitting, and polishing myself
on all thirty caps and then sent them out for chromium plating before
final assembly. I still have all of the tooling and special jigs from
that project including a tap for the MG rad cap threads which I made
from scratch from tool steel. As I completed the caps, I stamped
numbers on the undersides of the main housings and on the undersides of
the covers from "1" to "30". Cap number "1" has been on my own car
since that time, caps number, "20", "24", and "30" reside in my garage
attic. (I've used them off and on for other cars that I have owned).
That leaves 26 caps that were sold off as a source of income and to help
keep my TC rolling.
I have often wondered what became of those 26 caps. If anyone out there
owns this type of cap, I wonder if they would mind popping it open to
have a look. If I remember correctly, the original cap had a British
patent number and date but mine would only have a large-ish number
between "2" and "29".
Thanks! Badger