Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Bonnet fit

I give up, if people can not accept that things are right then that may be ok for some, but not for me and some others on this forum. As for manufacturing well i do not work on cars any more but as a company director over production and technical development then i know all about manufacturing, mass production, batch production and hand made one off production. All that said i do live in the past when hand made realy did stand for Great British Quality. A 4/4 is about as basic as it is when it comes down to car production, gone are even the days when the wings and cowl are hand rolled.
As for Bentley prices, oh gosh they have gone up in price since i had my Bentley. I do stand corrected on that one.
To finish off then my input on this, how many people can put their hands up and say the Morgan quality is as it should be as this is what it is realy all about. If no one says anything then nothing will get done to improve things

I had a new Bentley recently and it cost £100k more than my new Morgan Roadster. It was finished very well though.

When I sold it, with under 5,000 miles on the clock, it lost more than a brand new +4 costs. But I guess that's another story.

Bentley, Rolls and Aston (and others) are all made in extremely similar ways to Morgan... Pre-formed panels arrive and are hand finished and painted etc etc. leather is worked by hand... I watched my Vanquish being made and it was very similar to seeing my Roadster being made. But the Morgan is a fraction of the the cost.

There are some quality issues hither and thither, and Morgan should tighten up in a few areas. But I certainly wouldn't damn the brand for the odd bonnet out of alignment. Nor would I venture to suggest that only northerners notice such things.

Oh well, I have been reading this with a certain amount of interest and it finally got too much for me. I don't have a bee in my bonnet on this issue but I do agree there can be some quality control issues. Fortunatly mine have been fairly small and promply attended to.

To return to the issue of bonnets, ones with motors under them - not bees, I have never noticed any problems with fit from a visual point of view. Bear in mind that a gap of 15mm or so under the bottom edge is a design feature, not a fault.

I do, however have a point, where the RH bonnet curves over the scuttle, that the paint is rubbing despite the glued on material cushion. The other point that rubs is the centre fold down, at the hinge, rubs on the top of the aircleaner box. It has been given more clearance now but still touches on occasion.

First time I have read this thread , interesting I put a furrow tape around the bulk head to stop the nails scratching the paint on the bonnet burried in the furrow . Also around the cowl so the bonnet was a bad fit , but it did not bother me ( the worlds most fussy it has to be perfect mog owner ) . Now its being sprayed I am doing it again on the bulk head but single tape on the cowl . Cant see what all the fuss is about. One tip I did hear in a slight front bump with a bonnet strap the bonnet does not spring up and the two front wings along with the bonnet etc get damaged . Without a strap the bonnet springs up and all is ok . Its a 1930s looking car not 2013 . I am from the frozen North more things to worry about than my mog looking like what other people want as long as I am happy with it dont care what others think .

Yes, mass produced, but the prewar handmade 2CV prototypes had equally good panel fit.

Oh dear.....this has developed into a slanging match albeit rather one sided. North v South....I wonder where the Midlands sit in this....oh yes....that's where the factory is!

My view is that if you have such a hang up over things like bonnet fit, you should just walk away from the Morgan marque and look for something else....they aren't the car for you. The rest of us buy our Morgans and enjoy their quirkiness ... It's our money after all and a lot of us are pretty discerning in our choice of cars as can be evidenced on this forum. Ok, there are quality control issues at times and the Factory really should do something there...perhaps they are.

I can't see many people disagreeing with this, as there is always room for improvement and we would all like to see that happening (and I don't think it is unique to Morgan either).

This forum in particular has always voiced its issues and concerns in a generally reasonable and professional manner and I really do hope that MMC read and take note.

As I wrote earlier, apart from the quality of some of the factory fitted components, such as dampers and brake pads, I am happy with the build quality of my Plus 4. However, a bonnet fit like the one shown in Richard's photo below, I would not accept on any car, cheap or expensive.



It looks like a loose bonnet hinge, so it is presumeably easy to fix.

Harald

I don't disagree, I personally may not have noticed it, but once I did it would have bugged me, so I would go back to my dealer and ask him to put it right.

I think the big bugbear (for me) was saying that our cars are the equivalent of Bentleys and that we should expect Bentley quality. That is not true (IMHO and as I've pointed out above) and unrealistic.

I have been having similar discussions and debates with the TVR affecianados who are now excited at the prospect of a new TVR at a reasonable price point. You can't compete with Porsche for quality and product at the same price point (or even double!) because the design and legislation costs are simply huge and can only be made reasonable by very large numbers, which neither TVR or Morgan can or will produce. How close you can get, is of course another debate and one we will always have and talk about. As is quality control which in many cases is a somewhat different situation.

I fully agree. Morgan is a low cost sports car. If you look at man-hours per car, a Morgan offers increadible value for money. I just expect quality on the same level as other low cost cars.

Harald