Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) A reflection on the first 12 months.....

Sorry for the waffly post, just thought it might be of some interest.

Had my '72 4/4 for 12 months now, and thought I'd reflect a little of the first 12 months. Covered about 7000miles (not entirely sure, as had many months without a working speedo, but have done an indicated 4700m keeping me under the insurance limit!).

Must say, she's more than lived up to my expectations - brilliant to drive, and love the camaraderie between fellow classic car enthusiast and Morgan owners (I've had old Land Rovers before but this is far better). She hasn't 'really' let me down, although the initial few months with the blocking idle jet were frustrating until I fitted my own uprated fuel filter, and it was infuriating trying to get a working speedo drive. Both of these are now working perfectly.

Over the months she's loosened up well - she had only done a few hundred miles in the previous 10 years so everything was a bit stuff/tight. Had a lovely 10 day camping trip to Dartmoor, the rear seat mods meant I could get all my kit in, and it was great fun 'pootling' round the countryside

I have a habit of getting old cars and bikes and 'altering' them to suit me better - I remember at the time saying that I was going to leave the Morgan as 'standard'. That didn't last long - I started to make a list of changes/improvements I've made so far:

Exterior:
Removed Badge Bar
Fitted Wipac Crystals with side light bulbs (LED)
Fitted LED bulbs to Wing side lights
Made brackets and fitted Front Halogen Spots
Clear lenses on Indicators
Fitted Twin Horns
10mm Wheel Spacers fitted
Brake Reaction Bars fitted
Fitted Convex door mirrors
Front AVO dampers fitted
Replaced Window mount rubbers
Rear Fog light and reverse light fitted, complete with brackets to make removal/replace of rear rack easier. Switches and warning lights on dash.
Fitted Bonnet Strap
Rear Number plate raised to stop grinding!

Engine Bay:
Removed Kingpin Oiler
New plug wires
Rocker Cover upgrade
Fixed radiator position and replaced bobbins
New bonnet beading and neoprene seal
New silicon radiator hoses.
Renovated Water Pump Bottle
De-rusted Battery/Scuttle Panel
Uprated Fuel Filter to stop repeated idle jet blockage
Removed rear Exhaust Silencer

Interior:
Fitted Librand Door stays
Fitted Side Screen Steadies
Led light upgrade for dash (apart from Ignition!)
Fitted left hand dead pedal
Fitting Smiths Clock
Replaced rear fuel hose.
New stainless gear knob
Fitted Map light
Fitted !4" and then13” Steering wheel (I'm a bit on the large side )
Replaced Indicator Stalk
Fixed Speedo drive problem and re-routed speedo cable
Removed Smiths heater and fitted an upgrade including Bowden controlled on/off switch
Seat re-padded and rear seats stitched .
Rear boards made for carrying luggage
Fitted two 12V sockets into glovebox

Still to come will be some home made 'Hood Swivels (not available for 4 seat)'. I have an electronic ignition module and new coil waiting to fit. Going to upgrade to rear AVO shocks and mounts. Clear lens for rear indicators are on their way, as is an electric fan. Also thinking about dropping the seat rails a couple of cms to give a bit more leg room under the wheel. Quite fancy a bigger bore exhaust too, but may get one made up rather than the Librands one, which is a bit steep at about £1K for an 'off the shelf' system.

Looking forward to the next 12 months

- excellent list of upgrades/improvements there TBM ( I thought it was just me that kept lists like that ).

It would be great to see some pictures of (some) the changes.....

James

I'll see what I can do - I have some already

Here's the heater upgrade:



The rear seats upgrade:



Clock and Indicator:



Rocker Cover and leads:

And my little camping trip - before the clear Indicator lens fitted:

I'd love to know more about your heater upgrade. Where did you get the unit? Does it retain the original heater matrix?

It's this one: https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/lightweight-compact-car-heater

I then researched the make (Kalori )and found they did a double vent front panel which was an additional £60. I wanted the ability to direct/close off heat if needed.

My Mog had the 'Smiths Fug stirrer' heater in the footwell. I completely removed this and associated 'plumbing'. Re plumbed in the new heater in the location pictured (I made the bracket from a chunk of aluminium I had in the shed - it is fixed with a couple of rivnuts to the gearbox cover).

Used one of these for the pipes through the bulkhead.

And fitted a bowden controlled bypass switch so I can turn off the heat flow if it gets too hot.

And a Bleed Valve

The fan is a three speed and I made a bracket on the steering column (opposite side to the choke, which has the rotary speed switch, and the bowden cable)

I think it would be possible to run it in series with an original heater (I did this once with a Land Rover, and fitted a second heater from a Mini in between the front seats). My main issue at the moment is getting enough heat into the matrix itself, as soon as I put the heater fan on, it's so efficient on the lowest setting it takes a lot of heat out of the engine - I'm going to get a higher degree setting thermostat, and hopefully the electric radiator fan will allow me to run at a slightly hotter temperature.

Well done , very intresting and a nice car .

Stefan

Nice work on the heater.

Note the steering wheel/access issues...are you aware you can get an offset steering wheel from the likes of Moto-Lita? Gives an extra inch but only draw back is that the eccentricity is more pronounced through your hands if you are tackling hairpin bends at speed.