Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Servicing - Morgan Roadster Series 1 Update

Well, we're off on the second home service. I don't intend to repeat the items covered in my first service post last June, but there's plenty more to go at.
Mileage last year 13th June 2009 was 7,784
Mileage now 7th July 2010 is 11,132 - so I've done 3,348 miles in the year.

To start I did some routine stuff. First the Vaseline on the bonnet tapes. Grease will also work, but Vaseline is a bit cleaner to use. This is very worthwhile and allows the bonnet to flex without creaking.


Oil the bonnet catches. A spouted oil can is easier. Wipe off the excess.


Then the door locks. There's an old dodge for this. Insert the key horizontally, drip some oil in the key grooves, and it will wick into the lock.


With regard to the wing beading, some use oil dribbled into the joints. I prefer to use rust inhibiting wax. Spray into the lid, load up a small paintbrush........


Touch the beading, and the wax will flow into the join. This must be done twice - once above the beading and once below. It's remarkably effective, but a bit tedious. After a couple of days, any surplus wax can be wiped away with a cloth damped with white spirit or WD40.



So now I must wait until Saturday to continue. I'm leaving the gearbox oil in this year, but will change the diff oil again. The slight noise when reversing has disappeared since the last diff oil change - presumably the friction modifier has done it's stuff.
Having been underneath I noticed that the diff has put two kiss marks on my wooden toolbox. One is over the diff casing and the other is the breather. Both are just touching under hard acceleration and maximum deflection. I've added two small neoprene patches and I'll post a photo of them when access is easier. As a result of this I measured rear axle deflection from full rebound to full deflection. It's three and a quarter inches(8cm).

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

Dave,
Excellent stuff, I am hoping you will be covering your rear brake drums and cylinders in a future servicing post.

Saturday all being well Dave...........

Just finished dripping Tectyl into the wing beading.

Can I use this as evidence in my claim for the effect of 'Pothole deflection' Dave?

You don't know what it is for the front end as well, do you?

I also need to ask you how you get your photos to show in the post. Mine do sometimes but not in the Bike Pics posted earlier (copied and pasted from Photobucket)

You can't post a picture on a photo thread Frank. That's just how it is. Start a new thread and cross reference it.

I'll tell you what the front deflection is in November when I have it to bits...

The 3&1/4" deflection on the rear isn't relevant to what happend to you. I estimate the about 1" is taken up at the rear from full rebound to normal position, so actual compression from normal will be about 2&1/4".
I imagine the front will be very similar. Remember that the sump clearance at the low edge is also 3&1/4"

Dave, excuse my ignorance, but what is the significance of waxing the wingbeading? Is it to keep the beading pliable or prevent water getting into the joint?

Looking forward to the rest of the post when you get in from the garage!

It's to keep water out Pete. More important with steel wings, but I feel happier seeing it wick into the joins.It might also help to lubricate the movement. I'm just back in after spending most of the day finishing off. Just got to upload the photos, and away we go.

Sorry to perpetrate identity theft on Dave W ( and I'm sure his explanation will be much better than mine) but even with wings and body in alu, there can still be reactions caused by water damage and ingress. It often first manifests itself by a 'black' patch or line where panels meet and you will then see tracking underneath the paintwork much like a vein under the skin.
Using either a rust inhibiting wax or even WD- type sprays can help prevent this
On my car which itself is red, I have black beading so to retain the colour I also use something like Meguiars Tech Protect or Armour All to stop colour fade
regards,
GPS The same applies- perhaps more so- in the case of the tread rubbers because there you have differing metals in close proximity eg the retaining bolts which hold the mountings and go through the running board itself ( I think we have a post on this tread rubbers issue- by Ivo?)

It's been a full day today. I got started about 10, and finished at 5. I did take a break for lunch though............
Note that bleeding brakes is very time consuming. First I lifted the tool box out to access the axle filler plug, and using an adjustable spanner, removed it. Always remove the filler before the drain plug, just in case the drain plug sticks.


Next the drain plug was removed, and the oil caught in an ice cream container. There are more details on this job in my first service post last June. The axle drain plug is 15mm. and a ring spanner does the job.


I bled the rear brakes next, but jumping ahead, here's the way to refill the axle easily. Use a flexible tube on the funnel.


Next I used Uncle Phil's special tool. It really is great. No hammer is required.


Now it was time to remove the master cylinder cap and store it safely out of the way. Note that the brake fluid is a deep colour.


Then using the fluid transfer tool I emptied the master cylinder.


You can see here how clean the new fluid is.


I pushed the boat out and used this - Dot5.1 top spec. Sourced from Demon Tweeks.
It only took half a litre to do the whole job. Amazing.


I used a small lid to transfer the new fluid into the master cylinder.


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

I had to use a mirror to show the bleed nipple on the backplate. As usual it's small and hard to access. It was covered with a red plastic top hat cover. It's 5/16 AF and really needs an open ender. A ring spanner works but leaves little space for the bleed tube.


Here's the offside drum. Something of a puzzle with eight fasteners.


In order to investigate I removed them all!!


The large slotted setscrews seem to be there only to locate the drum, or maybe just to fill the holes. They are short, and come out easily, but do nothing. At the rear they are all centre punched three times, as if to retain them in the hub. But the drum can be rotated and removed easier with these four screws taken out.

The real fasteners are the bolts - 11mm socket takes care of them.

And here's the drum removed - offside.




The leading shoe is hardly worn, and it appears that the rear shoe does most of the work. I checked the wheel cylinder and it's free and not leaking, so all appears well. I cleaned up the inside, and the inside of the drum. There are some numbers on the shoes.
8231595 on the offside. Plus 90R/01074/805 8238357. One other number is too indistinct to read.
On the nearside the numbers are 8238357, then 90R/019.......indistinct, then 8231595.

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