Maggie the MG ZA Magnette
As I’ve mentioned a couple of times in the Morris Minor project, that car was one of two Morris/ Nuffield derived vehicles which I bought as a job lot. The other was the 1955 MG Magnette you see here, and while it’s likely that the Minor will be sold when finished, the Magnette may well become a permanent part of the Simpson collection. Consequently, it now has a name; meet Maggie Magnette.
First registered by the County Borough of Bath on 8th April 1955, Maggie’s history is currently something of a mystery. I do, though, have the PRE-DVLA logbook with the last change of owner showing as in 1962, though the record of tax discs issued runs to 1968 when the practice of recording these ended. The DVLA V5C however gives a registration date of 1980, suggesting that the car was off the road by 1977, when the registration records for cars of this age were centralised. Unusually however for a Magnette, there doesn’t seem to be any trace whatsoever of this particular car in any club records, so if anyone does recognise it, I’d be very interested to hear from you.
Like the Minor, the Magnette had had a lot of work carried out in the past, but it needed finishing off. Additionally, some of the fitting-up which had been done looks to have been a bit rushed. There are also a couple of quite tricky jobs to do, but I’ll come back to that in a moment. Let’s start with the good bits. First, and probably most importantly, the shell seems to be rock solid. What’s more, the usual rot spots in the floors look to me to be 100% original; my gut feeling is that this car has spent a lot of its long life so far in storage. It’s had sills of course, along with some underbody members, but overall I’ve seen a lot worse.
The whole car has also been painted in what appears to be old-school cellulose, and while the finish isn’t perfect, it’s stuck on very well and there’s more than enough paint there for a bit of cutting back. Ironically, the Magnette also had the same driver’s door fit problem as the Minor Traveller. Thankfully though it was a lot, lot easier to sort on the Magnette. The problem was that the previous owner/ restorer had used a universaltype door draught seal which was stopping the door from sitting properly, and with the correct seal fitted, it was a simple matter to adjust it.
The interior is a mix of restored and original. The wood has been refurbished and looks good. The leather seats are definitely in need of treatment but can, I think, be improved significantly, although personally I rather like old leather that looks a bit, er, old. The front seats, however, appear to have either been fitted incorrectly or become misshapen; we will find out which in due course. The carpets too are original, and though a bit worn, in this case I think that originality outweighs them not being 100% perfect. There is, though, some evidence of water ingress, and the door draught seals, though new, were as I have explained incorrect.
The other thing that attracted me to FFB 124 is that it looks like someone has already spent
rather a lot on replacement parts. All four tyres are new, along with much of the braking system, including copper brake pipes. It also looks to have had all the suspension rebuilt, with lots of new-looking nuts and bolts everywhere, and the bumpers are also clearly recent replacements.
Most of the work needed is mechanical, and as those of you who also read MG Enthusiast will know, I’ve got a fair bit done already, though as always with projects it is sometimes a case of ‘one step forward, two steps back.’ When she arrived, Maggie was barely running at all, but a new set of correct spark plugs and HT leads had that sorted. Then we discovered some good news; I thought that the fuel tank’s refusal to take any petrol was down to a blockage, but it turned out to be full already, but the gauge had stuck on empty! The most expensive part I’ve needed so far was a new stainless-steel exhaust system, followed closely by a reconditioned clutch/brake master cylinder. Oh, and the radiator has been cleaned out and repaired by a local specialist.
Along with a bit more general fettling, two major jobs remain. Firstly, there’s a noise from either the clutch or the input side of the gearbox. I’d hoped that this was just down to lack of use, but it’s not going away, so the gearbox will have to come off for further investigation. The factory manual seems to say that the engine and box have to come out together, but looking at the car I really can’t see why this would be the case. It may, though, be easier to go down that route, as the other thing we’re going to have to tackle is a rewire, and I suspect the underbonnet wiring will be easier to do with the engine out of the way. The original loom is, quite simply, a total and utter mess with sections let in, various bits protected with insulating tape and some wiring that’s been replaced with household flex. The underdash wiring is a mess too.
So there's plenty to keep me occupied over the coming summer months, but all, I think, totally do-able. I’ll provide regular updates as and when there’s anything to add.