You haven't provided any context to your questions, however, I'm going to assume you're inspecting a car with view to purchasing it?
1. Radiator expansion tank (clear plastic) shows full of brown stuff
* Needs a flush and coolant refresh, it sounds like it has been neglected, see here:
https://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/834133/12. Clutch biting right at top of pedal. Is it adjustable on that model does anyone know please? Or is it last legs.
* Look for the presence of a resevoir, if you find a clutch fluid resevoir it's hydraulic so self adjusting. If no clutch fluid resevoir can be found it may well be on a cable, so adjustable. However, either way if the bite point is right at the top of the pedal travell, I'd be testing the clutch carefully. Try pulling away in 2nd gear to see if it slips, also find a hill and get it into 3rd gear early, then floor it. One or other of these two tests will typically reveal if a clutch is on the way out.
3. Engine oil looked good, no white contamination.
* Sounds fine to me, smell the oil too, a petrol smell can inducate an incontinant injector
If I've assumed correctly and you're inspecting a car with view to purchasing it and if you are not especially mechanically minded, paying an experienced Morgan specialist to look it over could be worth considering? These are simple cars, but the front suspension is unique, and it is prone to wear. A full front suspension refurb with new kingpins etc could prove expensive, others on this forum are better to advise you on this aspect as I have a Mulfab front wishbone conversion that replaces the antiquated and wear prone sliding pillar design with a very different and largely maintenance-free arrangement.
From an engine perspective, the Ford Zetec is a robust and reliable unit with a cast iron block, an aluminium cylinder head and belt driven overhead camshafts, as with any engine you need to see proof it's had regular oil changes. Also look for evidence of a fairly recent cam belt change in the file of receipts, this should be changed every 100,000 miles or 8 years, whichever comes first. An all aluminium engine, and especially one with an aluminium head on an iron block like the Zetec needs regular coolant changes, ideally you want to see evidence the engine has enjoyed fresh quality coolant every 3 years as a miniumum or you run the risk of internal engine corrosion issues and water pump failure. Saying that, some modern coolant types like Prestone will last 10 years or 300,000 miles when used as a complete flush and fill.
Morgans often don't get driven much, a car that sits for long periods of time is to be treated with suspicion, inactivity is not a good thing because if you press a lightly used car into service it will nearly always it'll give you trouble untill you've gone through a season of snagging, and correcting the issues. Also, check the date on the tyres, the tyres may apear to have lots of tread left but if they're 5 years old or more they'll definitely still need replacing.
At the end of the day a Morgan is a very simple car making them easy for any competant mechanic to insect, maintain and fix. However, like any low volume hand made British sports car you need to be hands on, or prepared to pay a specialist to fix all the inevitable little niggles for you. Keep in mind it's a buyers market right now so don't feel under pressure to buy the first car you view. Look at a few within your budget, but don't let asking prices dictate what you view, subtract a good 10% from asking prices and view those cars too.
Sellers know the market is flat right now and buyers are thin on the ground, so they should be open to negociation, you may find you can get in a younger Morgan than you first thought possible with your budget. Finally, don't ignore higher milage cars thinking they'll be worn out, often a higher milage car will have seen more regular and consistant maintinance than a low milage example, the regularly used car will also very often have less faults than one that just been sat unused.
Wishing you all the best with your search, if you're patient I'm sure you'll find the right car
