Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Wing Replacement - The Saga Begins

Tim, don't forget to wear a face mask. Evil stuff when cutting with a grinder.

Here is an idea. Not sure it is a good one. Lay a long batten on the crown of the wing and draw a line (felt pen). Then do the same on the old wing. At stations (every 6" or so) measure the old wing from the line to inner edge and transfer this measurement to new wing. Use a carpenters square to get the measurement from the reference line to edge. A boat shop could probably make a long batten that would be flexible and straight.

Tip - get some pattern paper on a role and make a template.

Might be a good idea, but how does one establish a reference point on a rounded item? Maybe establish the reference point as I suggested and then use the pattern paper to get the shape You must cut.

Not really viable for a front wing but when I did my front spoiler all those years ago a papier mache mould made the fitting easy.

In this case I think I would get some stiff card from an art shop and make a simple template to fit the body.Then transfer the template to the wing but deliberately leaving an extra inch.

Then trial fit and slowly remove the edge until it's right.

Still think a reference line is needed. But how to establish an accurate reference line?????? Well "Cocktail Hour starts soon on the Pacific Coast of USA. I will give this some deep thought. (grin)

Well Cocktail Hour is over and I had a good sleep. Beginning to like the pattern idea. Light cardboard. Hopefully the new wings are the same as the old wings. Probably not. I have a headache! Think I will go back to bed.

Tracing the outline of the old wing onto cardboard and then cutting out the shape to make a template to trace it onto the new wing is an easy task.

But: the challenge is where to tape the template onto the new wing? Not only is the new wing wider than the old, but I also want to adjust the finished width to add in an extra 6mm or so.

So Button's cunning plan of establishing a datum line down the wing is a good one. I can then work off that to establish a reference from which I can displace the template by a consistent amount.

The last challenge is to ensure that the datum line is in the same relative position on both wings.

That's where Simon's recommendation of using the 3D printer to make a jig comes in.

Here's the plan:

1. Print out a simple pantograph that holds a pen at an adjustable distance from a base edge
2. Put a stripe of masking tape down the old wing where I want the datum line to go
3. Run the pantograph base down the outer edge of the wing, marking the datum line along the masking tape at a fixed distance from the outer edge.
3. Tape a strip of heavyweight paper with the edge aligned to the datum line on the old wing
4. Trace out the inner edge of the old wing onto the paper
6. Cut along the profile line to provide a template
7. Run the pantograph along the new wing to replicate datum line on the old wing
8. Adjust the pantograph to add the extra width
I want and run another datum line down the new wing
9. Use the new datum line as a base line for the template and transfer the required profile to the new wing
10. Take my trusty disc cutter and trim off the unwanted bit of wing

Hopefully I won't require step 11

11. Ring up Sid Watson and ask him to make me another wing

More news at the weekend, I have to do some actual work for a few days...

When I purchased 4 new steel wings from the factory for my 4/4.

I didn't realise they would require so much work to fit.

I made templates up out of hardboard, laid these on the new "full" wings and used a hand held nibbler to remove the excess metal.

Important to leave enough metal on the front wings to roll the edges flush over the inner wing.

The great thing is you can trim small amounts off until you get the perfect fit, not a job to rush!

Good luck.

A useful tip I found when fitting new alloy wings recently. I'm useless at using tin snips, but found that a big sheet of insulation foam - the stuff about 6 cm thick laid down on the garage floor supported the wing edge. A double thickness could be used when necessary. A metal blade in the jigsaw then cuts through the supported metal and insulation foam. I found I could remove a mm at a time very accurately even over long distances.
Before rolling the edge over the inner wing, anneal the aluminium by scribbling magic marker on the area and heating with a blowlamp until the scribble disappears. A lot easier than using soap to get the temperature correct.