Winter road salt is ruinous to a T-Type, so most owners lay the car up until spring. Done well, it comes out ready to enjoy; done carelessly, damp gets to work on the one thing that costs most to put right — the ash frame. Here is how to store an MG T-Series properly.
Why a T-Type especially fears damp
The T-Series body is built the traditional way: an ash (wood) frame clothed in steel panels, all mounted on a separate steel chassis. So damp storage threatens the car on two fronts at once:
- Rot in the ash frame — the timber absorbs moisture and, left damp for months, can soften and rot. On a T-Type this is the most expensive thing the car can hide, because putting it right means dismantling bodywork.
- Rust in the steel — the panels, chassis and fittings corrode in the same damp that rots the wood. The ash frame and steel panels have to be kept sound together.
So for a T-Type the most important storage decision is where: a dry, ventilated space, ideally with a dehumidifier, does more to preserve the car than anything else you can do.
The salt question
Winter grit and salt attack the underside, the chrome and the steel. The safe course is to lay the car up for the salted months; if you must drive, choose dry, salt-free days and wash the car — underside included — thoroughly afterwards.
Laying it up — the checklist
An afternoon''s work before the frosts:
- Clean and dry it first, then wax the paint and chrome. Storing it dirty or damp traps moisture against the steel and under the cover.
- Store the hood and trim dry. A damp folded hood grows mould over a winter; make sure the cockpit is bone dry before you cover it.
- Change the oil and filter. Old oil holds combustion acids that corrode the XPAG or XPEG internals over months of standing. Run the engine afterwards to circulate fresh oil.
- Sort the fuel. Ethanol petrol (E10, and even E5) absorbs moisture and degrades over a few months, gumming the SU carburettors. Either fill the tank and add a storage or anti-ethanol stabiliser (running the engine so it reaches the carbs), or use ethanol-free fuel; some owners drain the float chambers.
- Check the antifreeze protects to the coldest night — a weak mix risks a cracked block. A hydrometer shows the freezing point.
- Battery on a conditioner — disconnect it or, better, keep it on a trickle charger so it does not discharge, sulphate or freeze.
- Handbrake OFF, chocks on. Left on, it can seize; leave the car in gear with wheel chocks instead.
- Tyres to the maximum recommended pressure to resist flat spots, or the car on axle stands to relieve the tyres and bearings.
- Damp control inside — silica gel or dehumidifier bags in the cockpit, and a breathable cover, never a plastic sheet that traps condensation.
- Keep mice out — a plug in the exhaust and over the air intake.
During the winter
Whether to start a stored car periodically is much debated. The honest answer: a brief cold start that never reaches full temperature is arguably worse than leaving it alone, because it adds condensation and unburnt fuel to the oil without burning them off. Better to either leave the car properly prepared and untouched, or — on a dry, salt-free day — take it out and warm it fully to temperature, working the brakes, clutch and steering, before storing it again. Cars that sit dead still all winter are the ones that need the most work come spring. Rolling the car a few inches now and then also stops the brakes sticking.
Waking it in spring
Reverse the process: check the fluids and levels, look over the brakes and the fuel lines (ethanol can perish old rubber over a winter), reconnect the battery, set the tyre pressures, and before the first start consider cranking with the ignition off to build oil pressure. Then pick a dry, salt-free day for the first run of the year.