Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Mr Bumble improvements - Phase 2

It's perfect John being partly retired, but I'm pushing the envelope with MrsW who is tolerating my away days in the garage.

However I've had two days at work, and tomorrow we're at MissW's in Derby, so I won't be back doing things until later Sunday pm.
My plan for then is "the dash". Sorting the revcounter, and taking the lower panel off to check underneath. There's an annoying creak from the nearside corner which Vaseline on the tapes hasn't cleared.
I've also just taken a punt on a steering column cowl off e-bay - it's Discovery and is basically what's on the Roadster, but with a slightly shorter tail (the bit which protrudes down the column).
So I'll be doing some feasibility to see if this will fit Bumble. I must say that out of the car it looks MASSIVE!
SiL has a Mk1 Golf Cabriolet in bits in his garage, but since he met & married MissW he hasn't got much done!

Post Photobucket Re-Boot from September 2013.

A more relaxing day today. First a look at that rear panel with the rough holes, both for the exhaust hanger, but only one needed on a 4 cylinder.
This is the offside:



Hard to say whether this is best left alone or 'fixed', So I shaped some 1mm aluminium, and painted it, then used double sided tape and we'll see how we go with it:
Offside



Nearside



Here's the later badge. I'm not keen, preferring the older badge, although this one is not flaking.



So here is the replacement - a bit pricy though.



Now this comes flat, so you have to apply a bit of force to get the right curvature. I used masking tape to protect it, and used the vice. So now it's curved. The washers and nylocs are from my stock.



It has a hollow back, so guess what?



The right hand hole has been slightly elongated.......



Hey presto - I like this a lot more.



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

Next I fitted some higher output headlamp bulbs. An offset screwdriver helps with this:



One screw and a twist is all it takes to remove the unit:



And I'm suffering whistling at moderate speed. This is often caused by air passing between the headlamp and the rim, although the Roadster doesn't do this.
So some self adhesive neoprene might just stop the whistle. We'll see.



Then I went back to the sidescreen seals and tried a bit harder. This is all about trial and error, but double sided tape allows endless retrys.





Next I fitted some hood swivels which I picked up from e-bay, but came from John Gills. I had to check Grahams car because the swivel threaded rod was far too long for a 2012 car, which only has a single frame at that end. Older Morgans have three frames to accommodate, which is why the threaded rod is so long. The photo which follows shows the original swivel. The black end is how much I had to cut from the swivel to get the right length:



And a dash clock................



And some painted drawing pins........



And that was all for today!!

Anyway....................
A quick shot of the hood with neoprene added.



Today has been spent on the front mudflaps. I found some stainless offcuts in my scrap bin, left over from the Roadster. This kept hacksawing to a minimum. I don't like working with stainless, it's like a difficult woman. Hard to knock into shape and doesn't bend easily, but is unmatchable when sorted.
I've used a slightly different approach this time, using washers and bent washers to locate on the wing stays. Interestingly these wing stays are horizontal along the length, but the Roadster stays twist through 45degrees, so doing the Roadster was harder to align.



Test fitted to nearside:





And offside - note proximity of exhaust.





The nearside is much easier, because there's no exhaust!
Here's the naked circuit board trial fitted.





And here it is glued and Dinitrolled on the back.



Corners can be rounded using a penny washer:



And here it is fitted:



The flash dilutes the colour - it's very black up there!



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

And now the test. All heat shielding was sourced from Agriemach. I had plenty in stock this time so no expense for once.
The exhaust is large diameter and close to the wing stay and mudflap.
First job was to measure up, do some cutting and fabricate a heat shield. This was a lot of faffing, but the bare skeleton looked like this - something from Wallace & Gromit in fact.
Thank goodmess for pop rivets!







Next job was to apply a layer of insulating weave to the rear, and secure with Reflect-a-Cool:
Not obvious in the photos, but the aluminium heat shield is also covered in reflective weave.









Once trial fitted again, I could fit and trim the neoprene flap:

Here are some fitted shots:







I've used a similar set up on the Roadster (both sides) for four years without a problem, so I'm confident that this will be OK.

Whether you go for flaps or wingliners, it's a job worth doing because the wings take a beating. You'll recall the lower edges of my rear wings were down to bare alloy and that's after 12,000 miles of normal use.