Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing A morning at Mulfab

I'm just back from a very interesting visit to Mulfab. I went down to take a Mondeo sump for modification. There's far too much going on there to relate here, but first a sump update.
Here are two Morgan sumps. The one on the left has had the milling completed, leaving a hole, and the sump plug boss has been repositioned. This is a Series 2 - no extra hole on the flange. The one on the right has had the plate welded in place.
The sump in the background is mine.


Here's a front view of the sump on the left.


This one is the competition version, which has an extended front well, giving extra capacity.


And this photo shows the standard front well shape on the sump behind for comparison.


Inside the Morgan sump.....
It's a much more robust casting - you can also see the cast groove in the flange, which takes a rubber/neoprene seal. The differences to the Mondeo will be obvious if you compare this photo with those on my sump thread. This baffle plate doesn't fit so well, so Peter has made a better one.... The U shaped hole lower left in the plate is the hole for the dipstick.


Here's the improved competition baffle plate - a lovely snug fit.


And here's the underside of the plate which has flanges to direct oil to the pick up.


The Morgan sump has a thicker flange than the Mondeo sump, to allow for the gasket groove. The difference in thickness is the thickness of the Mondeo sump metal gasket.

Moving on - The new designed front suspension is not yet installed. There's a fabricated front crossmember with double wishbones, coil overs and replacement steering rack. It replaces the cross tubes directly, but won't be ready for the Buxton event.
A new rear suspension is in development. Twin leading arms, coil over shockers and a rising rate linkage. It's lovely, but you'll have to wait a bit longer to see that!!!

Mulfabs website will be updated soon, so watch out for that. There's a lot more available than is on the current site.

While I was there I purchased the rear axle spacer blocks and front bearings. Two quick pictures follow, and more detail will follow when I have a bit more time. The rear axle spacer blocks come with thicker U bolts, lower plates, and upper shocker mounting extension bolts.
Must dash............




Thanks to Peter, and no connection............

A great set of photos Dave.

More questions than comments I'm afraid.

Is Mulfab exhibiting at Buxton then?

What is the Spacers set for?

Did Peter M say anything about needing to remark the Dipstick to compensate for the loss of oil depth with the sump modification?

A great post.

Hi Dave,
I've recently fitted the steering bearings to my '99 +4 - and what a difference they make! - which, in the end, wasn't too difficult a job to do. However, despite Peter telling me that muscle power alone would get the new springs to fit, my obviously weak and feeble arms couldn't manage it without resorting to the use of spring compressors.
Once I'd modified my old compressors (previously used on my Mk 2 Cortina 1600E McPherson struts back in the 70's) by shortening the tongues so that they would fit between the coils of the new springs, it made the job so much easier.
No doubt you've already seen it, but there's a very good article about the job on the gomog website, too.
By the way, are you entered in the Innovations section at Buxton with all your modifications? If so, I'll hopefully see you there as I'm displaying the 'Wells Wingliners'(A full set of DIY inner wingliners, with a total parts cost of £25.00. More details to follow...!)

Yes, I intend to be at the Innovations comp, so I'll look forward to meeting you there Sid.

Frank - Peter will be at Buxton. I think he's sharing a spot with MogRacing (or it might be Librands). I don't believe the spaces are very big this year by the way.
The rear axle spacer blocks are to reposition the axle 15mm further to the rear, to make a better line with the rear wing. The series 2 Roadster is much better already because the alignment was changed. But these U bolts and lower plate are much more robust than the originals, so worth considering if any work needs doing to the rear end.
Peter didn't talk about remarking the dipstick, but did say that the competition sump allows a lower level with equal or greater volume of oil.
The issue with the oil level is that if it's too high, on hard cornering, braking or acceleration, the crank can dip the big ends and froth the oil - and cause upward splashing of the cylinder bores - which can cause oil burn and at worst - damage the cats. So don't be tempted to overfill.

Peter also mentioned that there has been a tendancy for the fuel tanks on the competition Roadsters to split. This is put down to chassis flexing, so in theory this may happen to road cars over time. Obviously Mulfab do replacement tanks, and if I need one, that's where I'll be going. Removal of the tank requires the wooden floorboards to be taken off to allow the tank to be dropped down ...... which is a very time consuming job. It can be speeded up if a jig saw is used on the wood, but then you need new boards. I'm wondering if a flexible tank mounting could be made to absorb the flexing without stressing the tank. Flexing probably causes radiators to split, even though the rad is flexibly mounted anyway - so maybe it makes no difference.

Post Photobucket reboot from May 2010:

I'm just back from a very interesting visit to Mulfab. I went down to take a Mondeo sump for modification. There's far too much going on there to relate here, but first a sump update.
Here are two Morgan sumps. The one on the left has had the milling completed, leaving a hole, and the sump plug boss has been repositioned. This is a Series 2 - no extra hole on the flange. The one on the right has had the plate welded in place.
The sump in the background is mine.



Here's a front view of the sump on the left.



This one is the competition version, which has an extended front well, giving extra capacity.



And this photo shows the standard front well shape on the sump behind for comparison.



Inside the Morgan sump.....
It's a much more robust casting - you can also see the cast groove in the flange, which takes a rubber/neoprene seal. The differences to the Mondeo will be obvious if you compare this photo with those on my sump thread. This baffle plate doesn't fit so well, so Peter has made a better one.... The U shaped hole lower left in the plate is the hole for the dipstick.



Here's the improved competition baffle plate - a lovely snug fit.



And here's the underside of the plate which has flanges to direct oil to the pick up.



The Morgan sump has a thicker flange than the Mondeo sump, to allow for the gasket groove. The difference in thickness is the thickness of the Mondeo sump metal gasket.

Moving on - The new designed front suspension is not yet installed. There's a fabricated front crossmember with double wishbones, coil overs and replacement steering rack. It replaces the cross tubes directly, but won't be ready for the Buxton event.
A new rear suspension is in development. Twin leading arms, coil over shockers and a rising rate linkage. It's lovely, but you'll have to wait a bit longer to see that!!!

Mulfabs website will be updated soon, so watch out for that. There's a lot more available than is on the current site.

While I was there I purchased the rear axle spacer blocks and front bearings. Two quick pictures follow, and more detail will follow when I have a bit more time. The rear axle spacer blocks come with thicker U bolts, lower plates, and upper shocker mounting extension bolts.
Must dash............





Thanks to Peter, and no connection............

Hopefully there is otherwise everything will fall off