Projects 1958 MG Magnette build

I wanted a break from the re-assembly, so the engine was torn down for rebuild. The crank only needed a polish, .020 pistons, rebuilt the head with stellite valves and manganese guides, new stock cam and lifters, refurbished or replaced all the wear items, etc. The valvegear was especially bad, so they got new bushings and a surfacing.

 

Dropped it back in the car. Time to measure for the Ford T5 installation! The Magnette gearbox will be cut in half, the front half turning into the custom bellhousing.

 

Ok, Through this whole thread I have been trying to figure out your angle here. What part of this project is traditional hotrod or custom? What are you doing to this car beside restoring a British orphan? Is a 392 Chrysler hemi going in it? Are you chopping the top? Are you shaving doorhandles. Are you making it a drag car? Nothing about this thread indicates your a hotrodder.(Which is kinda necessary on this site) By the way, Get your Dad a cheeseburger and fries or something. He looks faminshed.(just kidding) I can appreciate quality work like the next guy, but are you really on the right site for this? Just saying what a whole bunch of guys like me are thinking.( I know I have been on here long enough)The work your doing looks nice and clean for sure but I'm not sure it's what this site was intended for.

 

This one of the finest fabrication threads ever. It belongs here as it shows how we can repair our rust buckets. I am a subscriber!!

 

LUCAS!! AHHH!!!! lol... nice.. not really sure thats a car for here.. but thats some impressive work.. I swear they used battery acid as seam sealer in those cars......

 

I see all the skills of hot rodding being used in this build and find it a damn sight more positive than 'do these whitewalls make my ass look big' and other such drivel that infests the HAMB nowadays. Sure I would have liked to see the Tiger engine installed but I'm okay with this - maybe some of you should be a little less intolerant and respect the work being done here.

BTW this is a MG Magnette ZA (small back window). The ZB had a larger rear window - we had both models when I was a kid.

 

Ford T5 from a Thunderbird TurboCoupe has ratios that will match up nice with the 4.30 rear and the 165R15 tires. The beginning stages of the bellhousing fabrication.




















Thanks again for welcoming me here. More tomorrow!

 

this is a great thread, taking an old 50's rust bucket and bringing it back to life yourself is as traditional as it gets, besides he's just getting into the cool stuff like cutting a very rare transmission in half and attaching it to another.

 

Cool. This car will be a pretty lil' ol' goer.

 

You know. The more people that get into the Hamb the more confused it becomes. Yes, The guy can do rust repair. Yes, the guy can make parts pretty. Ok, the guy took one part, a T-5 tranny and added it to the mix. Big deal. Show me something besides pretty pictures that shows me he is a hotrodder. I'm not getting it. Ya, it a 58 blah,blah,blah rare weird fourdoor such and such, Big whoop. Some of you guys are so tolerant your boring. Think about it Homer. Is this really a hotrod? Look at the mission statement of this board. I have read it and been here since the very beginning. I don't know it all but I know enough to know this ain't no hotrod or custom.

 

where did you find the lucas wires, and are the center caps on the wheels original?

 

some of us appreciate the work that goes into bringing back a car most people would scrap, there are an awful lot of fabricators on here, and people who appreciate the work he's doing. this thread is not going to bring the HAMB crashing down, it's an old 50's 4 banger MG, it's a cool car, A lot of people seem to be enjoying reading this thread, so let it be. it's in the projects section, if you don't like it look at a different project. He's building a driver, not a pebble beach car, and no one even knows yet exactly what his plans even are

 

I was hesitant to post this thread, knowing I can't call it a traditional rod or custom. I just got tired of lurking every day and not contributing. I know the car I'm working on isn't "right" for the board but I do think that I'm building it with the same spirit. I would understand if the moderators took the thread down, but I hope they don't... I like hanging out here.

Weasel, you're thinking of the ZB Varitone - that had the big rear window. The small window was continued in the base model ZB.

lostforawhile, the battery is a single unit, mounted on the firewall. The MGA and MGB had twin 6-volts straddling the driveshaft behind the seats. The ignition wire is solid core copper, from Moss Motors. The wire ends are NOS from eBay. The hubcaps and beauty rings are original, the blue wheels are not!

 

One more thread, preparing a template for the rear face of the bellhousing, cutting off the throwout bearing shaft and changing to different hardware for clearance, and finally comparing the old case to the new T5 to show the dimensional similarities.

The T5 is the most blatant custom touch, many more small mods will come later on.

 

Good thread and very nice work...

 

Keep it coming. I too am into britsh cars (well, just about all kinds of cars) If ya get dumped here go to hotrodders.com and post this in the 'projects' section so I can follow the build there. I need to do similar sheetmetal work on one of my Morris Minors. What I like about this site is the skill level and knowledge of these guys but they can get their panties in a bunch if your not politically correct to the 'cause'. Sorry if I offend.

 

Nice job on the gearbox and rust repair. Now please - put that Tiger motor in there!

 

What a cool project! Kudos on the skills, time & effort.

 

in the immortal words of Johnny Cash:

great fix on that transmission.

 

Very talented. I've had a MGB, and 2 BGTs. Still have an E-type Jag. British stuff is fun, and I love that E-type as much as any car I've ever owned in my life, and while it's not HAMB material, you won't get it from me until you pry it from my cold dead hands.

Nice car, nice work, looks like fun. How about a nice sidedraft Weber? I had a 45DCOE on one of my BGTs. Man that was a fun car. Had a weber downdraft on the B.

Pete

 

I like this thread. Despite the fact that the MG is not a traditional rod, the skills exhibited here are very impressive and are certainly appropriate to anyone interested in restoring old iron, be it hot rod or otherwise.
I really like the lines on those old Brittish cars...but if it was mine I'd like to see a more powerful drivetrain.
Great documentary...one of the best! Thanks for posting.

 

I can dig it
Keep up the good work,, and throw the naysayers off track until the end

It drives em crazy...and its worth every second

 

My only concern so far would be if that motor has got the torque to pull all the gears in that T5. My warmed up 235ci six struggles with 5th in an '85 non-world-class t5 from a Camaro. I run 3.73 rear gears with 7.50x16s (the tyres are a bit too tall). Your tyre size and diff ratio will sure help. What are the gear ratios in that Ford 'bird T5?

Just a thought anyway and well done on an interesting thread and good skills!

Mark.

 

I looked at a 1959 english rover I have thought about making my next project. Amazing how this mg body design favors the 60 rover. You have great skills and this project is looking awesome. I will be checking back to see your progress. Good job!

 

I like it! Ah, Curbspeed, try to imagine it as a, say, 31 coup with a banger getting restored..only a little more curvy. Nice disc conversion and update with the urethane bushings. Also interesting to see how the rocker assembly was rebuilt. I've got an old F-head that needs the same. T-5 work... I like it!
Thanks:

 

Just my opinion but maybe you should have gone with a later five main "B" engine, would have given you a little more power. You could even go with a supercharger, I know you have a conection with Moss. Of course the the best engine swap for a British car like this would be a Buick/Olds/Rover aluminum V8 215 with a 300 crank (267ci) that might even make it acceptable here. Seriously you have done a great job so far.

 

Some tabs had to be welded to the bellhousing to mount to the T5. We made up a large steel ring to mount the whole assembly to to prevent warpage when welding the aluminum. After welding the tabs on the front face was cleaned up and the hole opened up for the front bearing retainer.

 

The gearbox will be running the stock MG front cover/throwout bearing assembly, so we had to make a bunch of mods to make it work. The inside of the MG front cover was opened up, and three different mounting studs were added to the T5 to properly secure the front cover. The Throwout arm is bolted to this so it needed to be strong.

 

This T5 is from a 4-cylinder Ford product, so it has a gearset that matches up well to the MG power levels with a 1st gear of 4.03. This gearbox also has a .86 5th gear which I think the 1500 will be able to pull OK. I changed the differential to a 4.3 from the 4.55, which should keep my revs in a very usable range. For example, The original setup gave 37mph at 3000RPM in 3rd gear with the 4.55. The T5 setup will give 36mph at 3000RPM in 3rd gear with the 4.3.

Magnette
3.640:1
2.214:1
1.374:1
1.000:0

T5
4.03:1
2.37:1
1.49:1
1.00:1
0.81:1

 

I too think this is a great thread. Great to see such outstanding metal and machine work. Welding too. You and your dad really have some great skills and talent. I'd like to see a 4 door Tiger also but the banger with the T5 is pretty cool.
Look forward to the rest of the build. Unique car.