So, with Alan C.'s comments on the ZB Magnette, I stirred aroung in my
laptop and found the following summary of the Texas side of the MAGGIE
that Jay got form me early this..? year.., or was it last year...HMMM
anyway, Alan, I sent you a note but think it may have bounced, if it did
let me know and I'll re-forward it too you...
so HERE Goes....
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STORY OF ANOTHER MAGGIE.....18 MONTHS LATER.....THAT'S NOW....!!
So a friend called me up one evening asking if I knew any volvo
wrecking yards that may have a silver fender for his wife's 240 DL
Volvo wagon, and a hood and ...etc....He rear ended someones' GMC
Jimmy...(in Houston..) and couldn't find any reasonable parts...SO.....
Out to the Volvo Specialists Yard (in Austin).....and as I leave,," By the
way, do you have any old English Cars around..? ", a common question of
mine, especially out there in low rust Texas country...
" well, yea we've got an ole Magnet,,,,Hmmm " A Magnet, I thought,
like, well, ....ahm, ", He responded quickly, an MG, its an MG
Magnet,,,,", Oh,,,ok I see, "A Magnette, (What a Difference Two
letters can make...!)...He followed with " We're anxious to move it
out of here, running out of valuable Volvo Space....."
So,,,,,,Took a look, not too bad, current owner, also owner of the
Volvo, shop/yard, said he'd gotten it from a customer who had found
it abandoned on some property he bought, Texas Ranch type property,
one presumes..., or I had anyway.......Said the customer wanted to
get it running but volvo guy said, yea,,,well an old car like this
that's been sitting so long could be like opening up a can-o-worms,
could be expensive.....well, original foster parent,...guy who got
it with his property, got cold feet and volvo mechanic got a fair
deal on an ole-classic...so five years later, volvo guy tired of
hauling this little orphan oround..........and in need of
additional yard sapce.....said he'd like to sell her. So I
mentioned SOL land and said I'd post news of Maggie and see if I
could help him roll her out-a-there to a good home......she sure
was cute....ok, WELL, DEAR..just another PROJECT>>>>ARGHHHH...NOT,
but,,,,welllllll
So, I let Ya'll know about her.......five responses in less than a
day, and not even two from the same state, so, I love rehabing ole
orphans, well, volvo guy and I made a deal, figure I could afford
to play around with her for a day or so, and try to get her running
to see what we've got here (collective SOL "we" here) before
passing her on to net land....at that time three other MGB's of
various stages of restoration were rapidly absorbing garage and
check book space.
With 5 of ya'll anxiously awaiting photo's and more info., I got
her running after the carbs got a overnight chem-tool bath, and
after the usual day of marvel oil in cylinders and spin-er on the
starter scenario etc...and the oops, too much marvel in the
cylinders and no plugs installed,,,gee spin her around on the
starter and....GUSH....oops red oil all over me, my '71 with nice
paint, garage...YYUK...oh well it all wipes up......so put plugs
in, wait a bit, Hmm running, well sure no key but gee try this
button on the dash...hmm IG light seems to be
on........VAROOOOOMMMMMM, and PURRRRR on just the first crank or
two....she purred quite nicely after a 25 year or so sleep. In the
trunk were two Texas license plates from '64 and '65, seems like
that may have been the last time she saw light-o-the -road....my
guess anyway...., judging by the fade to the paint, the crispiness
of the old red leather and the upturn of the dash veneer, and that
she stayed outside all these years in 100 degree sunny summers, it
seems accurate to guess, .....
well, no brakes but handbrake ahem, worked..!, yes and it is
british...well, so started her in first and poked on down driveway,
yank her out-o-gear and slam up the parking brake, stopped pheew,
just before entering the street,,,,,ok, try this in
reverse.....wow, what fun...ok so runs and ahm...drives..? well ok
ya'll understand, been there...la-dee-da..
SO......the most anxious interest in this maggie came from Jay
Nemeth-Johannes, in Colorado, and in a month's time, Jay showed up
with barrowed trailer behind barrowed van with barrowed friend and
lots of soda in the cooler, loaded her up, snapped photo's, dillied
about in a road daze, and headed back to WORK....SOL figure-a-
tively speaking that is,,,,
SO JAY.., this gets maggie to your side of the tail....and
trail...and as winter begins to dawn again for you, I have been
hearing from occasional net postings and comm's to me that she's
about out there on a regular basis, I have missed a couple of
months on the list with our move to Chapel Hill, but am now
back...with a new address....
STOP HERE>>>BATTERIES>>>GOOD NIGHT>>>
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Anyway, thought some of you would find the story fun, after-all, I did
promise this out a year+ ago.......
Well,
C-YA!
Jim Fink
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