Well, things are never quite as they seem, are they?  Miss Daisy arrived in not quite the excellent state of health that was reported.  There's a bit more rust, and a bit more work to do, than we knew about.  I can't really complain, because I expected as much.  It's always a bit of a letdown, though.

Here is a picture as she arrived (a bit dirty from travel...) (October 1999)

And the work begins.  First off free up the rear brakes (hung up from disuse),...
then attend to that leaky gas tank.  A little fiberglass, a little etching, and a little gas tank sealer and paint later...

...and the son-of a gun is still leaking.  ARGGGGH!

By the way, if you ever are in doubt as to whether the gas tank in a Magnette is leaking, (strong gasoline smell in the interior), pull up the rear seat bottom.  If it is leaking, you'll likely find anything from dampness to actual puddles of gasoline.

Great.  So now what?  Well, the Lord does provide.  Chris literally tripped over a replacement tank at the British Car show at Easton (here in Columbus).  (We do mean literally, I still have a scar on my shin!)  The tank cost us $30, that plus an external clean-up and a quick order to Bill Hirsch later...

Voila!  Non-leaking gas tank!

Here's the odd part.  It's not a Z Magnette tank, that we can tell.  It is shaped precisely like a Z Magnette tank, but the pick-up for the fuel pump is a banjo fitting.  That goes to a tube that runs straight down to the bottom of the tank, where it slips inside a fuel filter/brass plug that screws into the tank from the bottom.  The tank we took out has a tube brazed in that just angles down into the bottom of the tank.  However, the Magnette body has a clearance hole that allows for the filter/plug to be removed from underneath the car while the tank is in place.  Curiouser and curiouser.  If any of you folks can tell me what this tank originally came from, let us know.  The mystery is killing us!

Here's the new tank, happily ensconced in its new home.  If you look closely, you can see the banjo fitting on top, with the compression union I used to attach the line from the banjo to the existing line to the fuel pump.  Everything seems to be working fine.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Other things to attend to:
Driver's side door latch is a bit unreliable, and the driver's window is plain out of it's tracks...  DONE!

Some DPO wired the reversing light in parallel with the license plate lamps.  (Not too many suspects, Marcy's the third owner, and I know SHE didn't do it!)  DONE!

Once those things are attended to, Miss Daisy will hit the road briefly, if only to warm things up properly before an oil change and lube job.  Then it's a bath and nap time until spring, while various other mechanical systems and cosmetic items are attended to and seat belts (reproductions of period aftermarket items) are installed.

Winter, 1999/2000

Well, in addition to the trials and tribulations of the gas tank, we ended up redoing the front suspension bushings and the brakes.  I don't have too many pictures of the front suspension work that came out (still getting used to a new camera).  We decided to go with Superflex Polyurethane bushings, both for longevity and handling.  Having had some experience with them, we'd do it again without hesitation.  The ride does not suffer at all, and the handling is much more "taut" than a friend's restored Magnette with rubber bushings.
 

Well, the Steering is working out much better with the new bushings, but stopping is still a problem.  The right front grabs,and the left front doesn't do much at all!  Looks like it's time for new brakes...