Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Classic/Traditional Cars - Underwing Protection

This one crept up on me out of the blue. Last Saturday I picked up a small impact star on the front nearside wing. I thought I'd got this covered with my mudflaps/protectors, but clearly not. This caused me to look under the wing and the impact was aft of the factory fitted protector. I also found a crack in the protector aligned across the width, and part of the protector had slightly come away from the wing. You may recall that Frank had a problem (similar but worse) with Lellow.

Here's the crack:


So I pondered 'a solution'. I wanted to extend the protector, and secure the crack. It happened that I'd been doing some work outside with Wickes high tack flashing strip.

This stuff looks like lead flashing, but is actually a tarred aluminium 'foil' with an element of plastic about it. I knew it had one hell of a grab, as I've been using it outside on a bit of building fettling. So the only problem was to get the wing clean so that it would stick. The next photo shows what you can achieve with a white spirit soaked rag and a bit of elbow grease. This is bare aluminium, and the impact scars are self-evident.


It isn't wide enough, so two strips are necessary......


But then I'm thinking that the heat from the exhaust might soften the adhesive and it might just come off. So I dug out my Reflect-a-Cool reflective foil, and applied that over the top. I was so enthused by this, that I've extended the foil over the Catalysts, but there's still scope for extending this a bit further forward. I'd been considering a 'cat' heat shield for a while, but hadn't realised that it would be quite so easy to clean off the underwing area.


You can see the extent of the shield so far on this photo:

More on this will follow........

Moving on.......
Where the steering column universal joint is located close to the exhaust manifold, the heat sink can dry out the grease over time. This is a problem on the MGBV8.

The Morgan is similar when fitted with a Vee engine.
This box under the offside front wing covers a universal joint, but doesn't protect it from the heat. It's not quite as close as it looks here, but close enough.



It's quite a simple job to clean the box off with the trusty white spirit, make a brown paper template and apply Reflect-a-Cool.


Here's a picture of the universal joint inside the box, and visible is my neoprene weather seal, which featured in one of my early posts.


I decided that it would help to line the bottom of the box with some insulated foil, so I cleaned out the grit, and made a rectangle which is stuck inside with aerosol adhesive.


This shows how close the manifold is inside the engine bay, and I'm pondering an internal shield, but it's complicated by having to be clear of the steering column. So for now, that's all.

Another excellent topic Dave - a great idea using the Wicks Flashing as well for the under wing protection!

One of those strange coincidences Frank - it's been in the garage for months, but I did some work with it last week - and it hit me...........

Final stage - over the cats:
This is how easy white spirit takes off the wax......


Fully cleaned off:


And with Reflect-a-Cool added.


This is looking rearwards down the offside - 'mudflap' on the left.


And the nearside. Lets hope it sticks OK.

It seems to give a nice finish as well Dave. It reminds me a little of that thick adhesive under bonnet insulation that BMC used to use (without the alloy surface, which adds that touch of 'class').

Post Photobucket reboot from May 2010:

This one crept up on me out of the blue. Last Saturday I picked up a small impact star on the front nearside wing. I thought I'd got this covered with my mudflaps/protectors, but clearly not. This caused me to look under the wing and the impact was aft of the factory fitted protector. I also found a crack in the protector aligned across the width, and part of the protector had slightly come away from the wing. You may recall that Frank had a problem (similar but worse) with Lellow.

Here's the crack:



So I pondered 'a solution'. thinking I wanted to extend the protector, and secure the crack. It happened that I'd been doing some work outside with Wickes high tack flashing strip.



This stuff looks like lead flashing, but is actually a tarred aluminium 'foil' with an element of plastic about it. I knew it had one hell of a grab, as I've been using it outside on a bit of building fettling. So the only problem was to get the wing clean so that it would stick. The next photo shows what you can achieve with a white spirit soaked rag and a bit of elbow grease. This is bare aluminium, and the impact scars are self-evident.



It isn't wide enough, so two strips are necessary......



But then I'm thinking that the heat from the exhaust might soften the adhesive and it might just come off. So I dug out my Reflect-a-Cool reflective foil, and applied that over the top. I was so enthused by this, that I've extended the foil over the Catalysts, but there's still scope for extending this a bit further forward. I'd been considering a 'cat' heat shield for a while, but hadn't realised that it would be quite so easy to clean off the underwing area.



You can see the extent of the shield so far on this photo:



More on this will follow.......

Post Photobucket reboot from May 2010: Continued.....

Moving on.......
Where the steering column universal joint is located close to the exhaust manifold, the heat sink can dry out the grease over time. This is a problem on the MGBV8.



The Morgan is similar when fitted with a Vee engine, and right hand drive four cylinder cars with the Duratec engine.
This box under the offside front wing covers a universal joint, but doesn't protect it from the heat. It's not quite as close as it looks here, but close enough.
It's quite a simple job to clean the box off with the trusty white spirit, make a brown paper template and apply Reflect-a-Cool.



Here's a picture of the universal joint inside the box, and visible is my neoprene weather seal, which featured in one of my early posts.





I decided that it would help to line the bottom of the box with some insulated foil, so I cleaned out the grit, and made a rectangle which is stuck inside with aerosol adhesive.



This shows how close the manifold is inside the engine bay, and I'm pondering an internal shield, but it's complicated by having to be clear of the steering column. So for now, that's all.

More to follow >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Post Photobucket reboot from May 2010: Continued..........

Final stage - over the cats:
This is how easy white spirit takes off the wax......



Fully cleaned off:



And with Reflect-a-Cool added.



This is looking rearwards down the offside - 'mudflap' on the left.



And the nearside. Lets hope it sticks OK.



2017 Note: The later Dinitrol 4941 black wax will not come off as easily as the earlier honey coloured wax.

Was looking up underwing protection as I have a few star spots from stones on my rear wing, expect my gravel drive doesn’t help.

Is the above hi tack flashing strip still the best option or is there something similar people have found which is better?

Many thanks
Will

This old post has a link to a Word document explaining how to fabricate under-wing liners https://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/132229/re-make-inner-wing-shields#Post132229
The previous owner of my car made some from Correx (the stuff that Estate Agents' boards are made from) and they have worked well for me over the past 5 years.

Nine years on it has stayed stuck and no stars, so I'll take that as a success.

Just think how much faster it would be without half a roll of roofing felt on it

Neither of my Four have ever got a star mark but they have all received the spray on black crap which has done a good job over the 30 years.
I do worry about the weight gain though.

I am a bit anal about picking stones out of the tyres though.

I keep a roll of flashing strip ready in the garage but so far have avoided needing to use it. This by touching up with underseal the factory protective material as it chips off and using same to stick loose edges back to bodywork. I know what a job it will be cleaning wings prior to fitting the flashing so admit to putting off the job as long as possible

Richard, Chapman practised the very opposite so not much rubbed off on you from Hethel

If you're really worried about flashband adding a few ounces and spoiling your power to weight ratio, just go for a drive on your own

Always solo Jon she likes the roof back and aircon on full in her GTI - she has tried the 4 Morgan’s but not impressed with the discomfort or noise.
To be fair her Polo GTI with Golf p//u and 205bhp does 150 and 0 to 60 in a tad over 6secs and she returns around 28mpg so she enjoys it alright.

My car of choice if ground is to be covered rapidly as the power/brakes and suspension are perfectly matched.

You are right about the weight though and at 17and a 1/2 stone I know where the work is needed - I said in passing to the good lady that it must be twice her weight and oh dear did I get that wrong so she is under 8 I was informed robustly..

When I borrowed it for our Gaydon meet up I got 43mpg at legal cruising which I thought good for the older emission regulations turbo power unit.