TD Clutch Repair Misadventures

Guest post by David Capallo

In October 2022, John Twist visited me in Savannah, GA to replace the clutch on my 1951 MG TD. This was his second time visiting me in Savannah. I hosted him in 2021 when he repaired the front suspension on my TD. I was looking forward to working with John and learning from him for a second time on this clutch repair. We ordered the parts and went to work on the clutch early in the morning after he arrived in Savannah.

Everything started as planned. We removed the seats, carpets, floorboards, transmission tunnel, toe board, gearbox, and the old clutch. It should be mentioned that every floorboard bolt had to be loosened with a blow torch. The old clutch did not look bad – in fact it looked pretty good. The throw-out bearing also appeared to be in good shape.

We found that the first motion shaft bearing was destroyed with half the ball bearings missing. As it turned out, a couple of the parts we ordered were not correct and we needed a couple of parts we had
not anticipated. This meant waiting for overnight delivery and John’s extension of his expected length of stay was just beginning. During the wait time, John was able to solve and repair a problem with the car’s rear axle which had been causing an annoying “thump” every time I hit a bump in the road. He also
adjusted the brakes. I hosed out the chassis while the TD was disassembled.

When the needed parts arrived, we were ready to install the new clutch. We put everything back in, carefully reversing the sequence of taking it out. Happy to have the clutch replaced, and knowing that John was already away from home longer than planned, we took the car for a test drive. To our disappointment, the clutch was not working properly, and the gears would not shift.

After a day or two of trying some less invasive options, John determined that we had only one choice: to remove and inspect the clutch again and fix whatever else was wrong. Everything we had carefully and
originally replaced was removed again. After doing this, John determined that we needed a $2.37 part. The troublesome spot was the spigot bushing.

It was now Friday and we were trying to get the part delivered overnight. Saturday delivery doesn’t happen in my area with the major carriers. John made some calls and asked a friend to mail the part overnight via the postal service and it arrived on Saturday! Of course, we had to wait on the part and John’s time away from home just got longer. I was getting frustrated, but John assured me that this clutch would work properly.

After the bushing arrived on Saturday, we worked all day to put everything back together again. We took the car for a test drive and everything worked perfectly….good clutch, good brakes, smooth shifting.

John’s expertise in MG repairs is well known across the country through his website, YouTube videos, Zoom sessions , seminars, and helping people like me. I know he has taken out many gearboxes and replaced many clutches. But he did admit that this is one that he will not soon forget.

A lesser man might have bailed out and returned home to Michigan leaving me with a clutch that was not working properly. John did a heroic job of persevering and doing whatever it took to get the job done right. He has a tremendous work ethic and is a man of his word….qualities that seem to be less common these days. The only good thing about all the delays and long days of work is that we got to enjoy a lot of time and many meals together. Not only do I know John as an MG expert, but now consider him a good friend as well.