Winter Storage Cradle
William Bremer
Cape Elizabeth, ME
As a resident of New England, I must store my 1951 MG TD for the winter. Last winter (my first with a TD), I wanted to "fit" the TD as a third car in my heated two car garage so that I could work on it from time to time. As an ex-sailboater, I thought of building a "winter cradle" for the TD that would (1) keep the tires off the ground, (2) support the car on its suspension (not its frame), and (3) allow me to easily move the TD against a garage wall (still leaving room for the other two cars) without having to actually maneuver the car with its own steering.
The biggest problem was finding swivel casters of sufficient load capacity to support the car. According to my research, the TD weighs approximately 2100 lbs, with a 49%/51% front/rear split.
Therefore, I needed castors of well over 500 lb weight capacity. My local hardware store was able to obtain four Faultless 1400-6 swivel casters, each with a 650 lb capacity, which I bolted to a wood frame made from two 2" x 4" x 8' and one 2" x 8" x 8", and assembled as shown in the drawing, using (16) 2 1/2" bolts with washers and nuts to mount the casters and (8) 3 1/2" bolts to mount the 2 x 4s. As with any construction project, it is necessary to think through the process especially if a reader might want to modify dimensions, etc. to fit another car. I suggest that measurements be done relative to the centerline of the cradle.
I used the cradle successfully last winter, but it is important to note that I jacked the car up on one side in order to slide the cradle underneath and clear the exhaust system. The rear suspension u-bolts rest on the rear wood "cross-member" of the cradle, and I placed small wood wedges under the front coil spring pan (taking care to clear the grease fitting) to ensure space between the front tires and the ground. The positioning of the two 2" x 4" x 8' boards allows a hydraulic jack to be placed under the frame rails on either side to jack the car up, as you can't use the MG's own jack. (Smaller diameter casters would have allowed the cradle to slide cleanly under the car; however, I was unable to find smaller casters of adequate weight capacity.)
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