T-Series & Prewar Forum

Looking for some opinions here.

So who do you think, [from experience] makes the best fitting timber parts? [in the states]

99% of mine came from Moss, [which I read somewhere come from Hudson] and to be honest the fit from one piece to the next is pretty dismal.

I figured some "fitting" would be required and had no illusions they would "snap" together but these are pretty far off. Actually, really far off. Seems as if whoever is making these use a pattern but never check to see if they actually fit to each other.
Unless, Moss has more than one supplier, which I suspect may be the issue.

Too much wood where it shouldn't be and not enough wood where it should be. The former is fixable, the latter is what's a real pain.

Obviously I hate to buy parts twice but the time and energy spent making these fit might be better spent on other parts of the project.

Thanks for your input,
robj



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-10 12:22 PM by robj48.

No one?

rj

Craig Seabrook, .Novelty Ohio, The Whitworth Shop, the BEST. I have used his TC wood on TC8654EXU and all fits well. Hope he still makes TC woof, Bob grunauMG@gmail.com

Craig is no longer in the "wood" business.

Try:

Steve Cannon
Classic Wood 1006 Raleigh St, Greensboro, NC 27405,
336-691-1344

Andrew Denton – Ash Frames – UK
57 Main Road, Drax, Selby
North Yorkshire, YO8 8NT 01757 617455
www.mgashframes.co.uk

Hutson Motor Co. Ltd. – UK
https://www.hutsonmoco.co.uk/mgt

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Jim
53TD/28423

Bob, I thought Craig stopped making timbers several years ago? And yes his were the best from any US supplier. I would guess Hutson in the UK would be next. But there was also another UK wood wright making timbers. But the name escapes me. Might do an internet search for MG timber suppliers UK

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Bill Chasser
TD-4834
TD-5779
TD/c-8151
TD/c-16920
TD-19408
TD-24060

TF-8200



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-19 07:10 PM by TD4834.

HTTP://WWW.MGASHFRAMES.CO.UK/#!/PRODUCTS

Hello, Bill,

Isn't this the one?
I wrote it down.

Thierry

Thierry. Yes that’s the one I was thinking of. Thanks

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Bill Chasser
TD-4834
TD-5779
TD/c-8151
TD/c-16920
TD-19408
TD-24060

TF-8200

The rumours and lies about Craig SeabrooK and The Whitworth Shop being out of business are UNTRUE. Craig is alive and well and continues to make TA/TB/TC body wood sticks and dash boards as required. Perhaps the rumour started when Fred Kuntz retired and complete bodies are no longer supplied. Just talked to Craig, all is well. Bob Grunau

I recently communicated with Craig as well, [this week].

He still has all the patterns and continues to make timber parts. He's just not pushing them. Possibly as he supplies the timbers that FTFU sells. [I don't know if he's the only supplier to them or if there are others.]
I placed an order with him for the particular parts I need and they are shipping this coming week.

He said his partner and another employee have retired and it appears he's thinking about it as well, just not right now. Hopefully someone with his talent will take over his business when that day comes.

robj

have you thought of making these yourself?

If the old sections are available, with a bandsaw and some basic woodworking tools its not too difficult , and a hell of a lot cheaper.
Also very satisfying.
I managed to make all the pieces for my TD restoration.

Mike

Mike

Hey Mike,

Yes, I have tools and some skills...and I thought about it. For about a minute. To be honest, Craig's prices are pretty good and at 72 I'm trying not to make this a 10 year project, if you catch my drift.
Please post some photos of your progress. All information is helpful.

Thanks,
robj

Bob thank you for the update on Craig. I knew the shop was still open but I did buy timbers for dad’s TD/c 5-6 years ago from Craig. At that time he said he was not going to continue making timbers. He made production runs sporadically during the year but was not a full time operation eas my understanding at that time. If Craig is still making timbers he is absolutely my first recommendation. Buy directly from him to save on mark up costs from third party vendors.

---

Bill Chasser
TD-4834
TD-5779
TD/c-8151
TD/c-16920
TD-19408
TD-24060

TF-8200

I stand corrected, should have gone directly to the source.

Jim

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Jim
53TD/28423

I ended up needing some door timbers. I wrote to Craig Seabrook to have them added to my order for tub parts. He had all but 2 so as he is a supplier to FTFU, I sent an inquiry to them;

"A quick question; Do you only get timbers from Craig Seabrook or do you have other vendors?"

Doug's, [quick] reply;I have different suppliers depending on the specific piece as all of this is hand made. Also, pieces may vary in quality and availability.

What are you looking for? Doug

To which I replied, [get your coffee...]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I understand all the timbers are handmade and as such will require some fitting.
I initially thought I could get away with replacing one Main Rail and the Hinge and Latch Pillars which I bought from you.

This ended up being a bit problematic as my tub appears to be an older restoration with some parts being "homemade" which didn't fit to newly made parts very well at all.

I ended up making the [rash?] decision to build a new tub. I ordered all the remaining tub parts from Moss, based mostly on price [possibly a bad decision but it may have made no difference in the end]

Anyway, the fit of the rear tub parts from Moss to your parts was pretty bad. And even the fit of the Moss parts to each other wasn't great by any stretch. I had no expectations these would "snap together" but they were honestly pretty far off.

No reflection on what you sell or what Moss sells as I'll explain below. Basically too much wood where it shouldn't be and not enough wood where it should be. The former is not a big issue but the latter is a bit of a pain.

In view of this I posted on "TACB" and the "MG Experience" a query as to "who makes the best fitting timbers?" From the responses it appears no one is terribly happy with fitment but Craig Seabrook's name came up more than once. Some said he was no longer making timbers, some saiid he sold the patterns to you but timbers are not mentioned on his website.

I reached out to him directly and he suggested buying from you but said he is still making timbers and is also suppling timbers to you.

I've been giving the fitment issue a lot of thought. I can't imagine all of the patterns used by those making timbers are all exactly the same. The end result, a tub that the panels fit on may be the same, but where the timbers are joined to each other could differ slightly between suppliers, that being said, I would think that each supplier would endeavor to make certain their parts fit to each other.

I can see where fitment problems [fitting one piece to the next] could arise if [all] resellers are getting parts from different vendors and pulling pieces at random without regard to who has produced them. I can also see logistically this could be a real issue to accomplish from a resellers point of view. [Unless there was a marking system to denote the supplier, again somewhat problematic.]

As an experiment I ordered all new [rear] tub parts and door parts from Craig Seabrook, thus ensuring the parts were from the same manufacturer, figuring the Scuttle parts are quite a bit easier to modify.
I've haven't received the parts as of yet so I can't report on the results of my "experiment".

Craig had the door parts except for;
#6 Right Door Bottom Rail
#9 Right Door Hinge Pillar

If you have these available, is there anyway to determine if what you have were supplied by Craig as I'm hoping to continue with my "experiment".

Thanks for your time, and I apologize for this lengthy screed but I wanted to fully explain my thoughts.

Rob Jones
Fork, Md.

Awaiting his response,

robj

If Craig is making them again that is a departure from what HE told me about 5 years ago when I was doing dad’s TD/c. I had been buying timbers from him for his car and a third car in the wings. Craig told me at that time I needed to order up what I wanted because he was making one last run of timbers and he was no longer going to make them.

I’m certainly glad if he is continuing to make them. He was my go to guy for timbers.

---

Bill Chasser
TD-4834
TD-5779
TD/c-8151
TD/c-16920
TD-19408
TD-24060

TF-8200