Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Dave's How To: Workshop Notes - Early Days.

Great stuff as ever Dave.

Good work Dave and lots of useful tips too, cheers

Very interesting Dave - a great 'how to' guide on 'micro fettling' if I can describe it like that.
I didn't know the GB flags were mostly sick-on. I don't relish any kind of drilling on the bodywork, and I am sure few others do...
You have spurred me into buying a pair to put on Archie and fly the flag proudly !

...using your precise 'how to' guide to get them straight and true.

Glenn - I maintain a no drilling credential unless absolutely necessary. It's very unusual for any of my mods to include drilling - I always use existing holes when possible, or use double sided tape.
There are two sizes of Union Flag by the way. The ones I use on the bulkhead are the 'large' size, and come with pretend screws each side. So I cut the tabs and screws off with a hacksaw and file the edge smooth. Although this exposes the brass, when polished it's a shiny as the chrome finish so doesn't show.

HJ - maybe not really 'issues' as such and not affecting all Trads, but my experiences are hard won over the last eight years of ownership, plus judging a large number of Morgans at the MOG event. While it's true that the factory should do the detailing to stop the paint abrasions, it's slow work. What's taken me three days so far could probably be done in half that time, and they have the leather to do the bonnet corners, but it's probably seen as unnecessary, even though it should be done for the price. The paint protection film additions I've made could also be done but it's small areas and very time consuming.
The first time I noticed that the side-screens were marking the paint on my Roadster I was horrified! Fortunately along the bottoms of the doors there's absolutely no rubbing. But I've judged cars at the MOG event where the rubbing is into the aluminium, and it's not easy to adjust the doors or bonnets.

Oh and I have to also add that there are many improvements in quality and design over even the 2012 car. The chafing spots under the bonnet all seem to have been eliminated and the easy up has a much improved set of seals, so all very positive.

As another aside, the potential buyer for Mr Bumble at BHM has not taken up the offer, so Bumble is awaiting a new home.
For the record, the extras are as follows.............
Inner neoprene lining to Cowl.
Mesh grille.
Twin horns.
Aluminium undertray between cross-tube & engine.
Aluminium undertray between over-rider brackets.
Aluminium lower valance, painted yellow.
Front brake reaction bars.
AVO dampers all round.
Greenstuff brake pads.
Hard chrome kingpins & spiral grooved bushes.
Mulfab steering bearings.
Rebound spring gaiters – leather inners, mohair outers.
Four seater spec leaf springs, lubricated and protected with Denso tape.
Exhaust skid plates to mounting brackets.
Heat shield to catalytic converter.
Heat shield to fuel pipes under offside running board.
Mudflaps/wing protectors to all four wings.
Lower rear panel edge cover plates – aluminium – painted yellow.
Leather & neoprene bonnet corner buffers.
K&N air filter in standard filter box.
Leather & neoprene heater box seal.
Blanking plugs and drain tubes to heater box.
Bespoke engine cover in aluminium, including front cover.
Heatshield for brake master cylinder, and valance blanking plate.
Heat shield and water seal on ECU box.
Yellow tape trim to sidescreen frames.
Door hinge screws capped on doors and A post.
Crosshead screws capped on sidescreens.
Heart of England stainless steel door mirrors & bases.
Leather trim to rear edges of doors.
Heart of England B post trim protectors - Stainless.
Mohair liners to inside of sidescreens.
Small rear view mirror & Clock.
Crossmember covers – Stainless with Morgan wings.
Anti chafe protection – bulkhead to doors (leather); threshold panels (foil); B posts (Clear Film).
Leather steering column surround.
Tinted perspex sun visors.
Seat height spacers in wood.
Bespoke quarter tonneau cover and stick.
Lever hood tensioners.
Extra neoprene hood seals.
Extra neoprene sidescreen seals.
Extra neoprene A post seals.
Aluminium tool tray.
Bespoke tax disc.

Pedal rubbers look a bit dirty Dave...sort it!
How are you getting on with the new dash?
Nick

I cleaned the rubbers after taking the photos That's Malvern workshop floor grime. I actually like the new dash. Through the Dartford tunnel with the lights on, the numbers are yellow. That's a nice touch. MrsW idly pondered if matching dials to paint was an option.

Excellent news on both counts.
Nick

Well I've just had a couple more days fighting with the seats, but more of that in a minute.

First the rear valance. It has a cut out at each end where the exhaust bracket locates. This is much neater than in 2012:
This is the side which doesn't get used on a Plus 4.


Obviously I don't like a cut out, and on Bumble I added some aluminium covers. They don't have to be too fancy because they are well hidden.
This is the shaped aluminium.


Now painted. The drawing pins are for later use!


And fitted with DST. The other side will follow but with the exhaust bracket it gets cut out with a hacksaw by the look so needs a bit more work.


I use the painted drawing pins with the points cut off and stuck with double sided tape here, after fixing the cross-head screws with Loctite:


And so to the seats. I like to fit wooden spacers, to accept the protruding nut and to lift the seat a fraction. These are only a half inch. I made them up well in advance, only to discover that the Sports seats have the protruding nuts in a slightly different place, which meant more work.
The seat can be lifted and tucked, reclined, into this position. Safer than lifting it out. The protruding silver nuts are evident.


This was the carpet - still showing footprints from the factory.


The carpet will stick to the floor under the runners so I add some gaffer tape to protect the pile.


The carpet is tacked to the floor, I expect so that when the seat mounting holes are drilled it doesn't move.
The floor needed a good vac and I gave it a coat of Danish oil.


Much better now!


This is the spacer, before I discovered that the hole for the protruding nut was in the wrong place......


In the end I made up a couple of new spacers, and used two of my originals. The red arrow shows where the protruding nut lies with standard recliners, and the new holes show where the sports seat protruding nuts are.........


This is the passenger side completed with the HoE cross-member cover. I've touched up some chips in the chassis paint and given it a coat of Tectyl 506 under this cover.


While I was on this side, I added a rubber seal at the battery base - visible here. It stops road dirt splashing up.


Another mod is to add some camping mat to the inside of the cover - insulation and keeps the road dirt out.
You can also see the battery conditioner cable work in progress.....


And here it's all back together.


More to follow................

The driver's side was much the same:
You also have to disconnect the seat belt sensor, wire which is fiddly.



But it all looks much better when back together. Fitting seat spacers means that longer bolts are needed, and even with my extensive stock of different lengths, I still had to order some extra bolts. They are UNF, and the rears are much longer as they pass through the cross-member which takes the seat belts and rear suspension front spring mounts. At the front, the first pair of mounting bolts pass through the cross-member, and the second pair just go through the wooden floor. Sometimes they can be difficult to locate and today they put up a bit of a fight.



But now this part of the fettle is complete. Time for a glass.