Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Ash dieback

It’ll go the way of double glazing, UPVC wood-a-like

It does look a bit plopped on on the 6.

A bonded chassis can be made to tight tolerances. This would enable some parts to be made to similar tolerances and easily fitted on. If expensive tooling to preform parts to the required tolerances is accessed then the “hand built” skilled bits can be reduced. By how much is the question.
Body panels is the obvious target as they could be bought in from Superform/ pressings suppliers BUT the necessary tooling is expensive.
The Trad steel chassis route with large ash add ons is not condusive to this. A lot (most) of the wood parts would need replacing by metal to give the tolerance needed for repetitive bolt on assembly without carpentry/panel beating.
“No two Morgans are identical” is true due to humans adding small differences.
How much hand building would be removed is open for debate, especially the costs incurred.

I have to say that 90% minimum of the reason I want my Morgan (in one single weeks time in case I haven’t mentioned it before) is because of, yes, the look n style, but significantly because it was hand built with wood. And it is is mine and only mine and no one has a car like mine. If not for that (and I don’t care if anyone I drive past knows it or not), I would not have decided pre-John HJ that I MUST have a Morgan. I so hope they don’t drop the wood regardless of inefficiency or practicality..but then I’m an old fart before my time.
HB

Define " hand built".

. Build by a craft man.

I wouldn’t be surprised if, in terms of cubic feet quantity, there is more wood in the plus 6 than in a trad. There are some hefty pieces in the sills, quarter panels and at the rear end for additional crash protection.

Howard why ask someone who has been in Morgan ownership for over 40 yrs to define hand built youv'e been on the forum as a non owner for a long time why do you bother.

Em

Em, we need Howard on the forum for novalty value.

I know Howard has got up my nose in my previous incarnation as “Jays”but my reincarnation is chilled and as a fellow non Morgan owner I rather like his “other world” approach 🤪

I knew when I mentioned replacing ash with a composite that it would cause a few to respond in the way they did. Owning my Trads the ash frame and hand beaten panels was an important part of the character of the car and in my view was part of what defined Morgan. When I worked as a tour guide at the factory, the wood shop and tin shop were my favourite parts of the factory and during tours I’d often spend time in them with the guys.

But I would look at the Aero bodies and wonder really why they needed the wood frame. Superformed alloy inner frame would have been a better way to go although for the volumes sold it would have been costly.
Now that Morgan has a new owner I am sure that their expectation will be to develop the factory to ramp up volumes. Trads apart ...and I don’t know how long the old chassis can continue...the new chassis cars would suit a better frame that is quicker to construct , be more accurate and lead to better working efficiencies. The wood shop would be a bottleneck for much higher volumes as indeed would the tin shop.

I think if Charles hadn’t rather cocked up his role in the company, his vision for Morgan coming into the next decade would have been to have dropped the classic Trad and moved to alloy chassis alloy superformed body cars like the straight six Eva GT and I bet no ash frame!

May be that the 4/4 if produced any longer what I hope would become the car with the longest production time of all of the range.