Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Cross head out of whack?

You need to remove bonnet, cowl, wings, inner wings and loosen radiator to remove the crosshead which is bolted in. You could probably get away with just undoing the inner wings to allow enough clearance for the removal of the crosshead as the inner wings have a lot of wiring and ancillaries attached to them.

Judging by progress photos on my car then
Cowl off
Rad off
King pins and front suspension off
I would guess the wings remain but in my case of course the near side was replaced.
I understood it bolts on

It's a bit of a pain to install because the "wings" that bolt the crosshead to the chassis will need to be sprung inwards to facilitate installation, it doesn't just "slot" into place.
Last one I did took two people and a ratchet strap to pull the "wings" together. It can be done with the fenders(wings) on, but easier with everything off. The steering box will also have to be unbolted and possibly slid rearward or removed.
because you're going to have to square it in the chassis and check and set the castor etc.

Once the crosshead is removed, check the chassis legs for square, especially if the car has had a shunt and bent the crosshead tubes.

Lots of fun!!!

Wish I lived near you, Nelson. I'd love to help out and gain some experience.

This parts image of recent Classics may help show how the crosshead bolts up to the chassis.

Nelson

You can replace the cross head / frame front without removing the wings , but the job is much easier with them out of the way . In my racing days we would replace on win a day , but it would be much longer working single handed of course.

As others have said there is quite a lot of parts that must be removed as they are attached to the various parts , but at least it is somewhat simpler on a 60s +4 then later models, be thankful for small mercies!

As well as the cowl , radiator , etc don't forget that the front brake lines run through each side , so be prepared to have to catch any fluid leaks as you don't want this ravaging the paintwork.

You may need to "ease" the front wings apart to get the frame front through, but this should be possible. Stop if in doubt as you don't want to crease them by pulling too hard. If this doesn't look possible then rather than remove the wings I would take an angle grinder to the top tube cut each side off (you are not going to re-use this frame front!) and then it will easily come out.

Keep asking questions as you go , good luck

Tim Ayres at New Elm is bringing Terry into our email conversation, so I’ll see what he thinks.

To Arwyns point about what’s in the tubes, now having read everything I can find on cross head repair, it seems a popular adjunct to ram a metal tube within the straightener cross tubes to give it added strength. Some mention solid rod. Mine looks like somebody welded something in there. The left side is relatively smooth but the right side looks like a bit of slag at the end. But it did hold until I opened the can of worms.

On my end I’m going to take a breather, clean up my work area, and level the car on the stands. Can’t measure anything with respect to plumb if it’s canted. Will also take out the oiler lines today.

So my frame is straight, level everywhere. That’s good news. Also ran the car a bit while on the stands. Makes me nervous but my stands are solid (massive truck stands actually) and it was good to get the engine working a bit. Made the car, and owner, happy.

I picked a spot at the center of a rear crossmember, where it was easy for me to clamp my tape measure.

Distance to lower flange rear bolt was 1/2” further on the left than it was on the right. So my lower cross tube on left is bent forward. The distance to the ground on lower plate from the rear bolt was 1/16” greater than the front bolt, so there’s rotation as well.

My upper flange- on the right it is equidistant from the lower plate bolts, makes sense, maintains the caster angle. The left not the same. The rear bolt distance was further - I don’t remember exactly but enough to magnify the trouble - explains why the pic with the king pin and oiler bolt only, shows them not parallel but rather pointing in opposite directions.

So do I try to repair an older repair that was either botched, or not botched but subsequently reinjured? I think no. The adventure continues, heading in the direction of cross head replacement. I’ll see what Terry Foxen says and go from there.

Can the interesting bits be un-brazed and reassembled on a couple of new tubes?

K

Is a good question but I imagine the tubes are welded to the wing section. Or else the thing would allow the tubes to slide, except that tension rod would be only thing preventing lateral motion. I think it’s welded as one piece. For me cutting out tubes only and welding back with the sheet metal portion left in situ, then re brazing old brackets, not worth it. Am thinking out with the bad, in with the new, as much work as it’s going to be. If I wanted maintenance free I’d have bought a new Subaru.