Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 More worries - cracked gas tank.

Very interesting - thanks for the tip.

I wonder what happens on a prolonged wet journey - and I have done a few of those. And more to the point what happens after - is the tension recovered when they dry out ?
Going to check my tank straps this weekend

I believe the strap is nylon, so it will not change dimension when it gets wet, but it will slip around more. So when you're tightening it up, it will pull up more evenly if it's wet / slippery - I believe this was the point 3Gs was making.

My understanding of the ‘wet strap’ method is that the fibers in the strap will slide on each other more easily when wet so the webbing fibers can stretch on the initial tensioning rather than work towards its stretched length during use. I don’t know what this strap is made out of but polyester would have been the better choice since it has less inherent stretch, is stronger, and more durable than nylon.

Getting the strap wet would be more important for nylon since it has about twice the stretch as polyester.

I don’t think a wet strap will tighten when it dries; the water only helps the weave settle into its longest sate quickly.

If you’ve ever sat in a hammock you sometimes hear a ‘creaking’ from the straps, this is the fibers settling into their stretched length without the water as lube….

Just check mine , its definetly slack - I can get a screw driver in one side and my finger in the other !
I have a very small crack on the slackest side , and nothing on the tighter side.
I am not to worried about the crack - its at the "keep an eye on it" stage.

What I am stuck on is the tightest side is at maximum adjustment already - the strap buckle and the post the screw goes through are in contact already. It must have been like this since manufacture - I have had the car from new and this area has never been looked at.

I could start putting spacers between the belt and the chassis , but that feels like a bodge. I need to in effect make the belt shorter , so I can back the adjuster up a bit , to then have some adjustment available to tighten it - hope that makes sense. Anyone any ideas ?

I did take some photos to help explain but they are too dark.

Perhaps you could make something like this in metal to take up some slack with thickness to suit.
https://www.mileskimball.com/buy-seat-belt-strap-adjuster-311034

I think a spacer between the strap & the chassis will be fine. That's what I plan to do when the time comes!

Thanks Andy - thats my plan A.
I spent an hour this afternoon unfastening the straps and cleaning it all up while I sized up my options.
I have noticed the threaded fastener at the end of the belt is pulled over at a strange angle as tension is applied. As another option I am considering fitting spacers to these fasteners to keep them at right angles to the chassis as tension is applied , so gaining a useful half inch or so.

Also the threaded section seems overly long ( about 3 inches ) when all it needs is about an inch. I wonder why they kept them overly long. Not really an issue , just took forever in the restricted space to spanner the nuts off!

I have repaired both of the fuel tank forward brackets using the Bunny repair scheme. Thought I should clean the lower brackets off and have a check of them as well. Found both sides cracked, although not as much as the forward ones. I have now done a similar repair to them. Worth a check of the brackets and belts if you are in that area. My M3W has done 21,000 miles and is 5 years old.

Good spot planenut. I'm ashamed to admit that I never thought to check the lower brackets. That will soon be rectified!