Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Low mileage cars

So whilst it is nice to see a low mileage Morgan, most usually due to the low mileage have not had the annual services performed and you can find gaps of many years with no routine maintenance being done at all. So you can get the build up of sludge from lack of use in radiators, engine etc

I've had a couple of very low mileage Morgans with excellent service history, and without question you may experience some recommissioning costs, eg exhaust baffles broke off inside due to condensation in the exhaust, the king pins had to be stripped and rebuilt as they had bands of corrosion from sitting which caused stiction in the movement. Suspension in general may be less compliant as they have usually sat in a static position for some time and settled and can start to weep. Then you tend to find leaks appear as the cars are used eg radiators, engine gaskets, water hoses etc. Water bottles and the washer lines clog up with gunge from lack of use, which if the water line pops off the washer jet nipple can lead to a wet cabin and if it spills onto the a PCB then potentially more trouble, Then there are potential electrical gremlins, brake lights, earth issues and of course the rear brake cylinders can fail/require attention.

I have enjoyed both of my low mileage Morgans but the first 6 months or so of bringing them back into use can be a little frustrating and expensive. Having said that I've had well used Morgans with good service history where eg the spark plugs or filters hadn't been changed, the spark plugs were rusted in place one broke in half when being removed and caused an massive problem to remove the rest from the cylinder head. The wire wheels had not been off for years and became almost impossible to undo. And this was a car with the same main dealer annual service history from new.