MG- It's not just a car, it's an adventure.
Hang around any old car buff long enough, and you're sure to hear a range
of tales about how or where this car or that part was aquired, and the
trip home. It's part of what makes this hobby interesting. I've been
through this a few times already, like when I caught a ride to the
national Triumph convention in Kentucky a couple of years back, so I
could make a side trip to pick up a 64 MGB and drive it back after
spending a couple days sorting it out in the middle of hundreds of
Triumph die-hards. Or, the sub-freezing October night spent in the
trailer to pick up my Bugeye at the race track. One common thread of
these stories is that they usually involve the buyer, and maybe another
car nut dragged along for the ride, while family members remain safely at
home.
Well, Tilly and I have enjoyed our British cars for a long time now, but we
only used to need to fit the 2 of us into the available seats, along with
cramming luggage in where possible for longer trips. Even when Kim was born,
we could all fit in MGB GT, with a kid seat lashed in the small rear seat.
But, once there were 2 kids, we could no longer fit everyone in any of 2
seaters. The family Honda had became the choice, sometimes even for club
events, along with one of the roadsters. If we still wanted to obequitate in
something British, it was time to think about a proper saloon.
So anyhow, we've been poking about for such a beast for the last couple
years. The older Jags are nice, but good ones are pricey. An XJ isn't what we
wanted either. We considered a Sunbeam Imp- 4 seats, yes, but no thanks. We
saw a fairly nice '59 Ford Anglia that might have served the purpose, but
kept looking. Another car we considered, being MG fans after all, is the 50's
ZA/ZB Magnette. It's roomy, with 4 doors, classic styling, beautiful
woodwork, powered by the same 1500cc B-series engine as the MGA. After seeing
another MG'ers very clean original car a year back, we decided that one of
those would do fine. The problem was, that even tho twice as many were
produced as MG TF's, and many were imported, most have long since been sent
to the scrap yard, as they were "just old cars" at the time. They are now
quite scarce, especially here in the East. As our cars are for go, not show,
it need not be perfect, and even one with a dead engine would be fine, as
fitting the taller rear end gearing and larger 1800cc engine from an MGB
(from our stock) would make a much better modern road car. Even with the
purchase of a race car last year, which is still in the process of depleting
our funds, we've still been looking around.
Last year, Bill Sohl, nationally known Triumph afficinado, and past
president of the Vintage Triumph Register picked up a '58 MG ZB, of all
things. It was already fitted with an older MGB engine. I told him to let me
know when he was ready to sell it. Well, I don't know just how much grief
he's gotten from other Triumph owners, but this Spring he decided to sell the
MG, and pursue a family sized Triumph instead. That, combined with a moderate
income tax refund, was all we needed. When we first talked about it, the snow
was still too deep to find the car, much less get it running. But, the snow
finally did melt, and Bill got the chance to replace a missing exhaust
section, and get rid of some murky petrol. It was time. So, early on a sunny
Sunday at the end of April, I packed my tools, a set of points, and the
family (!), into the Honda and set off to New Jersey, in hopes of returning
with the MG.
Our route took us through Scranton Pennsylvania, known for steep hills that
go on for many miles. I pondered these hills, as we sat eating breakfast,
gazing down at the valley below. Would the old car be up for the return
trip, in the midst of the brisk, modern traffic? We arrived in New Jersey
around noon, with a 2 and 5 year old who had decided not to nap on this day.
Bill was tinkering with the MG, which wasn't running right. We installed a
new fuel filter, got gas,and went for a ride. Just down the road, it started
to sputter and backfire. We crept back in low gear. The brakes were pulling
heavily to one side. This didn't look good. We continued to tinker for the
next three hours. New points helped some. Adjusting the carbs helped some.
Pulled the brake drums, and corrected some assembly errors. By 4:00, it
seemed possibly roadable, and the kids were driving Tilly bonkers. We
decided to give it a try. After all of about 5 minutes to talk about each
others cars, we said our farewells, and hit the road, with one functioning
tail light.
Didn't get a half mile before it started misfiring again. Pulled into a
parking lot and tinkered, it's get a tad better, then worse again- I
finally decided to play with the timing, and ended up advancing it quite
a bit. It picked up, gained power, and ran mostly better. So, once
again,we hit the road.
Still had some misfiring, stopped at just about every rest stop to tweak
timing & carbs- ended up with even more advance, and it finally settled
down to running better, just as we started up the hill to Scranton. We
were cruising along comfortably with the traffic, the speedo reading about
60-65, and I began to relax a bit. Wrong! We got about half way up before
it overheated... Luckily, Bill had supplied me with a full jug of water.
Got it refilled, plus a quart of oil,and the temperature gauge started
reading closer to the middle, once the engine and oil cooled off. We had
probably started out a little low, and one of the radiator hoses turned
out to be a bit loose.
After that, it continued to run fairly well. When we stopped again, well
past Scranton, Tilly asked if I could slow down a bit, "70-75 is a little
faster than I care to drive". "Huh?" At first I said nah, no way, but after
I thought about it, I realized it must already have a 3.9 MGB rear end
rather than the stock ZB (4.55:1). This would yield a 14% change- A little
math shows that my speedo reading of 65 mph would yield a road speed of 74!
Yes, I can vouch that a Magnette (which only weighs about 2400 pounds) with
MGB drive line does indeed yield a fine car to drive in modern traffic.
We hit sprinkles about sundown (Do these dash lights work? hmm...), just as
it was time to stop for petrol. Only got a little wet, and with intermittant
wipers, started out again. Three cars worth of Police gathered in the next
town gave me a good look over, but must have been too busy to bother.
(Remember that tail light out? Whew.) After more showers, and flakey wipers,
and a non-functioning high beam switch, we finally we made it home an hour
after dark, in the middle of thunderstorms & a couple heavy downpours, which
proved that the old, dried window seals did very little, as the water ran
down the inside of the windscreen... Tilly reported that the kids had
finally dropped off to sleep, all of a half hour before home.
Maggie needs lots of care- every bit of the electrical system has been
PO'ed, the rubber is ancient, it burned 2 1/2 quarts of oil on the trip, and
body needs some help eventually. The Burl veneer dash needs refinishing, but
is salvageable, and the rest of interior needs work as well. Even in this
state, her classic styling shows through, and typical of any proper MG, she
got me home. She's there now, making new her friends at the SLCFWSC.
Stay tuned for part 2, where we swap the engine for one that has good
compression on all 4 cylinders!
________
/___ _ \ Roger Garnett (Roger-Garnett@cornell.edu)
/| || \ \ Agricultural Economics | "The South Lansing Centre
| |___|| _ | 3 Warren Hall | For Wayward Sports Cars"
| | \ | | | Cornell University | (Lansing, NY)
\| \ |__/ / Ithaca, N.Y. 14853-7801 | (607) 533-7735
\________/ (607) 255-2522 | Safety Fast!
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