[Zmagnette] Road-Wandering Magnette

Steve skirby210 at cox.net
Sun May 11 21:50:27 MDT 2014


Well, once again I’ll dangle my  toe into the pond, with the caveat that I have yet to restore a Magnette.  But, I have done other cars and English cars, FWIW.  This sounds to me like what this wonderful old English mechanic (Mr. Tolley) described to me as “rear end steering”.  Sounds goofy, eh?  I first discovered this phenomenon when I restored our GT.  I replaced and rebuilt EVERYthing.  A complete nut and bolt restoration.  Yet, after a few trial runs, I think I have exactly what you are describing.

What “Mr. Tolley” told me, then showed me, was that a lot of the rear rubber suspension bits, particularly the U bolts on the spring shackles, had settled, and were pretty dang loose.  We jacked the car up, and discovered that virtually every nut or bolt having to do with rubber or similar bushes/pads, etc. needed tightening up quite a bit.  I was blown away that the U bolt nuts were actually so loose I could tighten them with my fingers.  I KNOW I tightened all that stuff, to what seemed like “normal” tightness.  

So, we did all that, took the car out for a test drive, and all was well, and has remained fine ever since.

What he explained is that the entire rear axle becomes loose to some degree, and acts as a rear steering wheel—fighting what you are trying to do with the steering wheel.

Won’t cost much to check this out!

#2SteveK

From: Allen Bachelder 
Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2014 8:36 PM
To: zmagnette 
Subject: [Zmagnette] Road-Wandering Magnette

Well, Gang, we had a nice outing in "Geraldine" on Saturday - about 150 miles without any problems.  Except... an ongoing problem - exacerbated by some stiff crosswinds: it tends to wander. I feel a bit of slop while trying to correct - resulting in over-correction.  I totally rebuilt the front end a year ago this past winter and had it properly aligned.  It does not pull at all in either direction. The steering feels completely neutral.  I neglected to check my tyre inflation before setting out, but what would be the recommended tyre pressures on a Magnette. Tyres are 165/80R15 Nexen SB-80s.  I had them set to 32# all way 'round. ' Wonder if they would do better at around 28# in front.  I have yet to replace the rear bushes and shox, and I'm thinking there could be enough slop in the rear bushes to affect steering - but if so, would I not also experience torque-steering?  There is none. I mean NONE.   

All this leaves only the steering rack.  I already replaced the tie rod ends, and there is no slop in the king pins.  Any ideas?  My plan is to go from easiest to hardest: (1) - set front tyres at 28#. (2) rebush rear-end and replace rear shox, while making sure U-bolts are t-i-g-h-t. (3) Rebuild/replace steering rack. I believe I can get a rebuilt rack from Lou for £250 + core, which means I ship a steering rack round trip across the pond. At current exchange rate the £250 turns into about $422.00 US plus lots 'n' lots of shipping.  What are my domestic alternatives?  What's involved in rebuilding a steering rack anyway?

Thanks in advance, guys!
Allen

**************************************************************** 
Allen & Florrie Bachelder       =iii=<
Spring Creek Home for Wayward MGs
'57 ZB, '65 B, '69 C/GT, '73 B/GT
North Street, MI 48049, USA
http://www.mgexperience.net/member/bachldrs
NAMGAR GT39 - REGISTER TODAY!
http://www.namgar.com/events/article/gt-39_ottawa_ontario/gt-39_get_ready_for_a_whole_lot_of_fun

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