Dave---My good friend (who I have yet to meet)Machiel Kalf of the Netherlands told me in passing and just for the record that it was he who developed/introduced the chrome kingpin (for longevity of use?) so judging by your superb explantory handiwork we have something to thank him for. Keep up the good work.

PS
Simon gave me Machiel's contact details, and over Christmas Machiel made me one of his fantastic fully adjustable rear view mirrors----not cheap---but a real work of art with fantastic detail in the finish.

Sorry to go off at a tangent here.I know I'm being a churl and if that offends anyone, then I'm sorry but the question which keeps nagging at me is, is he also a talented design ENGINEER? (or if he's not, where is the engineering input comng from)From all my evidence ( which I admit isn't as extensive as a lot of othe people on this forum) it seems to be a case of 'This is how I want it to look' with not enough attention being paid to the actual realisation of how this will be achieved.

I give you two examples which we've talked about a lot lately:
(1)Why the H-D Engine in the three wheeler? Nobody seems to have got beyond the fact that it's good marketing move
(2) What about usng the Mazda MX5 box? best answer I could get was, ' we need to look further at that'
if you want further evidence, look no furhter than the projected supercharged Roadster project. if ever there was a 'let's make it up,as we go along' thing, then that was it.

The truth of the matter is ( and I make no comment on this either way) that MMC are getting perilously close to the point where a lack of R&D budget is going to catch up with them and bite them on the b*m!

Once again, sorry Dave for hijacking your thread

G

Dave, as usual an excellent post. I cant wait for stage 2.

Since we're at the intermission, here's a photo of the black paint. Nothing special, it's just satin black, sourced from Newark Autojumble. Six tins for a bargain price.
(Newark is an anagram of 'W*nker' by the way..... )
You'll feel obliged to check this out, and the A1 will never be the same again.


Here's the Ford bush extractor, which will form part of my bush installation tool.


Here's the top of the new kingpin, and you can see the groove, and the tiny hole, with some 3 in 1 running from it. This is no more than a couple of mm diameter.


I've looked again at the original kingpin, and the top hole appears to be blind, so the grease nipple was of no use. The point to take from this is that if you want to have a top nipple fitted, you should check with MMC that your pins have a drilling.

Later Mogs - '07? have an upper grease nipple, so the kingpins must be drilled. It seems that earlier cars with a single grease nipple depend on grease going in above the lower bush and working upwards into the upper bush. That being the case make sure you put plenty in, but watch the brake discs. In truth the upper bush is well protected and not subject to the level of force applied to the lower bush, so won't wear significantly if kept greased.

I'm hoping to crack on on Saturday, although MrsW has plans for the afternoon, and I might even get a few hours on Sunday when DocW has gone home. I may even be rash and take a day off work. Now I'm off the road, the weather has improved.

Does anyone know, whether the same Getrag-gearbox (see Dave's picture) is common to all Trads till today?

Since when is this gearbox in use?

In which cars else was/is the gearbox used?

Thanks, regards


Peter

The answer is no Peter. The Getrag was introduced with the Roadster in 2004. A Ford gearbox was used from the Series 2 Roadster with the Escape engine, but knowing Morgan, anything was possible at the change point. The +4 and 4/4 don't have the Getrag. That's as much as I know.

Now you knew that this would happen - Newmarket - Met W****r. What a place name for your inaugural Concours

Reminds me of that Yorkshire story about the Grandad taking his Grandson to the seaside - 'Nay Lad'!

Hello Dave, great pics and explanation as usual. If I knew how to add photos I would but anyway, I used 3 x 3/4" cargo webbing straps on my springs, inserted with the axle extended then jacked it up to compress it and tightened the straps up, undo everything and let the axle down again, spring should now be short enough for removal and refitting. Also, when fitting the bushes they were TIGHT (even after several hours in the freezer). I used 16mm stud bar with a specially turned bush, plenty of lubrication on the threads and it was still good excercise!
Regards

Here is Simons method


How to post a photograph (there are two methods): -
Method 1
Enter one of Galleries (denoted by a camera next to the forum picture and name)
Choose the New Image tab (below the main navigation menu at the top of the page and next to the Forum Options tab).
In the Subject box, type a subject
Into the Description area, add any information regarding the picture you wish.
Beside the text that reads Post Options you will see some text that reads Image Manager, click this text
A new pop-up window should open (the File Manager window), choose the Browse command and another window will open called Choose File; use this to find the photo you wish to add from your local hard drive or area network.
Once you have found it, press Open and the Choose File window should disappear, leaving you with the File Manager window open.
Now you MUST choose the Add File command, or your photo will not be uploaded to the site.
You can repeat this step as many times as the Gallery allows (most of the Galleries on Talk Morgan allow 5 photos per post).
Once you have added all the files you wish, add a File Caption in the text box (for example, John’s Morgan Plus 8).
Now click Done Adding Files which will return you to the main posting screen.
Press Submit and you have finished adding a photograph.
Congratulations! _________________________
Or Method 2
If you'd like to host photos off-site, you can do so using these directions: -
Upload them to:
http://www.photobucket.com
User: talkmorgan
Password: talkmorgan
Either make your own album, or if you'd rather, just upload them to the one you are brought to as soon as you log onto the site. From there, you need to paste the: -
[img]urllinktoyourpictureinphotobucket[/img]
...in your post text to make the picture appear

I'm impressed that you managed to get webbing between the spring and stub axle Simon.

Anyway - tonight I grabbed an hour in the garage and fitted the bushes.
Here's how it went:
This is one end of my special tool 'exploded view'. The socket is there to keep this end centred.


Here's the other end with the bush. I found that two MGB anti-roll bar bushes were a perfect fit inside the bush - again to keep it centred.


This is the non-business end assembled:


Business end assembled - but using the bush tool nut which has an integral washer........
The bush was just out of the freezer, and I'd played the blowlamp on the stub, just to get some warmth into it.


Here's the bush on the way in. Once it starts, it wasn't too bad, but very important to keep it square until it enters.


And with a bit more effort.......keep the threads lubricated, and I dripped 3in1 on the outside of the bush to assist.


This is the rod.....the extended nuts are 17mm, and the tool nut is 19mm. I also purchased some M12 rod in case the 10m wasn't good enough. If you don't have a tool to base this on, you'll need a couple of thick washers.


Lower bush fully in place......


Stub turned over to do the upper bush. This one went in easier.


Upper bush in place.


A good hours work, and was easier than I expected - but still very hard work. The bushes were a perfect fit over the kingpin before fitting, but once in place are distorted just enough to need reaming. So that's the next job, before reassembly of side 1 can begin. The stub will need another lick of paint. All this action tends to knock bits of paint off, and obviously I want it nice & shiny under there.