Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Aero 8, 2012< Plus 8, SuperSports, Coupe & Aeromax Aero platform for all Morgans ?

Officially the Lotus chassis cant be repaired iif bent - something to do with the epoxy glue and rivets rather than the ally. I guess MMC say the same. But Lotus racers repair them, welding in new bits rather than metal bashing things straight. I guess another issue might be the unavailability as spares of the extruded or cast sections so maybe its only the flat bits that can be put back right.

I did try and nail this issue down when I had the Elise which I wanted to use on hill climbs, but I failed to get a complete picture.

Repairs will depend on the extent of the damage. If, with a bolt on crumple zone, damage is confined to that part only and not transferred through then it is feasible. However, a check on a jig would be the final yes/no.
A monocoque based car can carry damage through causing twisting etc that may not be repairable, despite modern jigs and pulling systems.
Rivets/bonding effectively create a single monocoque so a bolt on junction would be needed to stand a chance of limiting damage transfer.
Years ago I was helping my dad repair a Renault. New wing, bonnet, windscreen. Final job was putting the new screen in. It kept popping out. After 3 attempts dad stepped back to look at the car. He discovered the whole car had a twist. The metal was thin and a " simple" front quarter ding resulted in a right-off. The insurers insisted on jigging it and had to agree the damage as he told them.
If a car is valuable enough then a jig/resetting job is cost effective. There are specialists who do it. Modern jigs use lasers etc to help with measurements enabling resetting to within small tolerances acceptable to manufacturers.
Would a Morgan fall into the value category to be repaired?

As I understand it modern cars are becoming more likely to get written off as even a minor low speed crash can result in the front end being crumpled to no return. So it then is either a new body shell and swap everything over or crush it as not cost effective.

To second Adrian's view, a personal experience.

My son drives a Focus ST. In the gales earlier this year he had the door pulled out of his hands by a gale force gust. Is swung back and creased the edge of the wing. Seemed to be superficial damage.

The body shop said that it may well be a write-off because IF the section that the door is bolted to had been deformed it cannot be straightened. Why? The use of high strength steel in this part means that any deformation substantially reduces the strength of the part and Ford requires any damage in that area must be a write off.

Fortunately it was within specification, just. So a new (second hand) door and a new wing plus respray and all was well.

BUT as car body shells become increasingly complex mixes of different steels, aluminium and even carbon fibre they are, effectively, not repairable. Only minor, almost cosmetic, damage can be repaired.

So, we have lighter, stronger, more fuel efficient car bodies. the downside is that most cannot be repaired, so many, many more write-offs.

A Morgan Trad is, in comparison, easy to repair.

I was talking to a bodyshop paint man recently and he said the later jags are impossible to spray properly as once theyve been driven the panels are all rippled. "Just look down the side of any jag" he said. Made me think of my mog wings which do suffer from stone bumping.
Nick

Modern cars are increasingly been viewed as disposable commodities, with the maximum opportunities to recycle when finished with.

The days of the home restorer are becoming so much harder as increasingly specialist companies blossom to assist.

I guess it's just the snapshot in time thing again, as many view fuel injection and electronics as the work of the Devil, and yet the younger generations will be brought up alongside the new technologies.

Whether writing off cars as too costly to repair is seen as 'A Bad Thing' is subjective and financially viable insurance claims will reflect that. If cars are too complicated to repair, and unless the costs of replacement are kept low, then premiums rise, punters walk away and car sales suffer.

It'll be interesting to watch when hybrids and electric cars become more common..

Writing off nearly new cars can't be green. In an ideal world, manufacturers would provide a new panelled & painted and glazed shell that everything else could be refitted to. Obviously car makers have no incentive to do this because they want to sell complete cars. But the cost of writing off in bourne by us all in rising insurance costs.

Cars are now like everything else - progress is so fast that last years technology is obsolete this year.

Inevitably, I guess the labour costs to swap everything over is such a key component to the overall cost as it must cost much more to do in a body shop than on the production line and so not economic to do.

With all this talk of repairing vehicles, if anyone is feeling brave here's a Morgan ARP4 that is up for auction! Hope it hasn't been posted elsewhere on the site...

That's the most important thing Perry, that steering wheel does look bent though. Does anyone know if everyone got out unhurt?