Classic & Sports Car UK – September 2019

OUR CLASSICS

194 Classic & Sports Car September 2019

WhenI rolledtheMagnetteoff

a trailerat theHeritageSkillsAcad-

emylatelastyear,trainingdirector

SteveBeaumontaskedmewhat

I washopingtoachievefromlend-

ingthecarforhisapprenticesto

practice on. The answer was

simple:“Ijustwanttodriveit

home.”Theonlyquestionwasif

it wouldmakeit,aftermorethan

threelongyearsofftheroad...

Butfirst,let’srewindto wherewe

leftthestory.Thecarhadbeentest

firedbeforeI paidit a visitatthe

BicesterHeritageSundayScram-

blein April,andI wasfinallyableto

getbehindthewheelandimagine

drivingit again,butI couldn’ttake

it fora runbecausethebrakeswere

stillawaitingbleeding(Ihadn’t

suppliedsufficientbleednipples).

A callto MagnettepartsguruPeter

Martinhadthebitswingingtheir

waytoOxfordshire,andappren-

ticesJamieBassom(whosedayjob

is at JimStokesWorkshops,noless)

andLewisRevellgavethebrakes

a bleedandfulladjustment.

Studentsfromthesamegroup

alsorenewedtheMG’sleakywater

pumpandthermostatgasketswith

handmadereplacementsbefore

mixingupfreshantifreezethen

pressure-testing the system.

Unfortunately,oneofthestudson

thethermostathousingcameout

withthenut,andthethreadswere

notinthebestorder,sotheywere

refurbishedandnewboltswentin.

UnderthewatchfuleyeofBob

Johnson,a servicewasnextwith

freshoil,a newfilteranda rocker-

covergasket.Duringthisprocess,

Revellspottedanoddomission:the

housingwasmissingthespacerit

needsfortheelementtositon–

whichmeantthatthefilterwasn’t

doingmuch.Fortunately,oneof

theapprenticeshadbeenworking

onconvertingtheoil-filterhous-

ingsonsomeearlyTalbots,and

discoveredthatthefilterelement

supportshehadbeenusingfitted

perfectly.Problemsolved!

It’sembarrassingto discoverhow

manyofthebasicsonmycarwere

awry,andthecarburettorswereno

exception– settofullrichonone,

fullleanontheother.Happilyfor

me,it turnsoutthatcoursetutor

JohnsonissomethingofanSU

whisperer,andwiththeaidofhis

old balancingtoolhehadthe

Magnette’sB-seriespurringnear-

silentlyattickover,andrevving

morecleanlythaneverbefore.

Afterthattherewasanelectrical

inspection– thestickytrafficator

RUNBYAlastairClements

OWNEDSINCEJanuary 2010

PREVIOUSREPORTMay

MG MAGNETTE ZB

Adam Dale/Emma Smith show off the MG Back behind the wheel at Sunday Scramble

Jamie Bassom sorted thermostat housing

Tutor Bob Johnson (far

left) with the Group 2

block of apprentices, one

of the teams that put in

many hours bringing the

Magnette back to life

Shakedown test around

Bicester Heritage proved

the MG was in rude health,

but the M40 lay ahead