Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Photo Gallery New Cars with cracks in the Headlight cowls...

The attached photos were taken of the headlight cowls on a brand new 2013 +4 after the car was parked in the sun for an hour.

Both headlight cowls developed a split in the same place along the join to the body big enough to slide a credit card into. When we examined the car a few day later in the cool of the evening the crack had substantially closed. Morgan claim it is to do with heat and humidity – sounds reasonable.

There have been 3 new Morgans (+4, and Roadster) in Australia so far with the same problem.

No doubt heat is a major contributor but if this can happen on a mild autumn morning in Sydney, I hate to think what may happen when we get some real heat.

As the northern hemisphere moves into summer (hopefully soon) this may be a real watch point for all owners of new Morgan cars.

Has anyone had any experience with this?

This is a fairly old topic, but I have just noticed that my 2013 +4 has developed a crack in the nearside headlight cowl in exactly the same place as in the photograph.

This cracking may be due to heat in Australia but I doubt that this is the cause In Cambridgeshire in April!

Bad news. Sorry to hear that.

I read somewhere (presumably on here) that the factory are now fully welding the headlight cowl and no longer tack welding this.

Yes that is the case. This is an example of a production cost saving causing warranty issues.

Just check no one has nudged your front wing at the very front. The superform wings are very stiff and if bent in, say with a firm nudge from another vehicle, the stress can feed up to the join around the headlight cowl and crack the filler. It can also end up in a small outward kink in the top of the wheel arch lip. Its happened to my 4/4 and the rear wing of my Roadster.

Good point Jays. Certainly worth a thorough check of the affected guard for other damage.
It is a little concerning that this car was constructed around the same time as the problem cars here.
I understand the repairer of the Sydney vehicle identified the problem as simply poor build quality.

Scrambledsignals, keep us in touch with progress. With more than 14,200 views of this topic there is considerable interest in the outcome.
Hope this gets resolved soon.

Scrambledsignals, I hope this is all fixed now - did they need to weld and repair both sides?

another on here july 2013 + 4 nearside headlight cowl

Based on feed back I am now receiving this is not an uncommon problem.

The good news is Morgan appears to be bringing the cars back to the factory and repairing both sides under warranty.
One just hopes they can match the paint otherwise the bonnet at least will need to be resprayed.

Mutley, how did you go with the repair?