Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Built in Repair-ability

Only problem there is that the supplier to Morgan (or any other company) may have gone out of business and one cannot get details of part manufacture - S1 Roadster behind dash circuit board springs to mind.
There must be companies who could replicate the board, but the price would be pretty high for the few that may be required. I'm afraid my knowledge of modern components (and difficulty in repair of multi-layer boards) just isn't up to it...

BTW - like the new Avatar!

It always amazes me the amount of specialists that pop up on programmes such as Wheeler Dealers, Car SOS and the like. Small garden shed operations that specialise in fixing bits and pieces from circuit boards to wooden wheels.

Problem with these places are they are usually excellent at their job, but not very tech savvy, so internet presence is minimal and it's all done in the good old fashioned 'word of mouth'.

Often their knowledge can be applied to other stuff, if you get the chance to find them and have the conversation "you know you can fix 'A', can you have a look at my 'B' and see if you can fix that"

Yes, always a problem finding them Phil, as you say.
I did discover a relatively local company when I was looking to buy an XK-8 and finding there can be problems behind the dash with some of the electronics. They did Jag and another manufacturer, (name gone in mists of time !).
But, for the expected low volume, is it worth their time/effort...

Yeah, I used to have a Hyundai Coupe, and there was an inherent problem with the ECU/PCB that often started with a indicator problem and progressed to failure. There was a bloke in a garage in Brum who could fix them and all associated programming. I imagine he could turn to others (if he could be bothered and there was the volume).

A bit of a ramble, as one might expect from a Luddite on this sort of topic...

I suspect that the evolution in our expectations has lead us to where we find ourselves today in terms of the "advance " from the make do and mend generation to have become the throw away society, the latter maintaining momentum in the all important money go round on which it seems our financial structure may be entirely dependant. It also seems that any slow down in that fast rotating wheel of fortune creates the more heavily in debt to drop out first, be they giant companies or mere individuals....? If that could be the case then it seems Covid may have created a degree of slow down, or as yet a partial re-set, with more to come, causing many to re-assess personal priorities, even to the extent that making do and mending seem to be a worthwhile objective once again...?

I think it might have been Peter who some time back typed of a degree of frustration relative to the unnecessary complexity designed into modern motor cars, additionally, which if it fails can cause a fault light to appear on the dash, and which may cause the vehicle to fail it`s annual roadworthiness test..?

Unnecessary complexity...? For sure in a bid to reduce pollution and increase efficiency the ICE has had to depend upon technologies never imagined but a few years back, however it seems the digital age has created the opportunity to overload vehicles with functionality that is not entirely necessary in terms of personal transportation, and when it comes to choosing personal transport perhaps the purchaser of a Trad Morgan can manage without the on-dashboard display log fire effect or the selective f*rty cushion effect available for any seat to keep the child in us amused for a few seconds in a Tesla..? OK, OK, so not all technology is just as frivolous, what about the auto throttle blip built in to some sports cars when down shifting using the flappy paddles when sport mode is selected, and which may be used to imitate the old heel and and toe footwork (rev matching) that we once felt obliged to learn if one hoped to overcome reluctance of some old manual gearboxes to allow us to drop down through the gears at speed.....?

It seems we Baby Boomers (BB`s) may have become all too accustomed to the advance of modernity in our mundanemobiles, to the extent that Morgan`s age old manufacturing standards and designs have been forced to evolve to match our own ageing process too..? I suspect had you turned up at Pickersleigh Road, in the sixties or seventies and asked to have air-con or an auto-box fitted to our new Morgan, Peter may have suggested you might find the type of car you desire more in the shape of a Jaguar or similar, as it seems young blades of that era were in search of a more involving sports car driving experience, right down to the level of involvement in rolling their sleeves up and getting mechanically involved in the greasy bits, whether that be financially motivated to keep things affordable, or just to service a built in desire..?

Fortunately for us BB`s life seemed to ever improve if we put some effort into the process ourselves and as we aged there were ever more opportunities presented as we entered the easy money years, when it seems perhaps many thought they deserved more than we or the country could afford..? It may also be that in time many BB`s were downsized or delayered with a golden handshake and final salary pension schemes, and those younger who were left behind had to accept lesser contracts etc.etc.etc...?

No matter (?), we had accumulated a degree of wealth, real or imagined, and may have "invested" a degree of that wealth in a Classic Car, pushing values ever skyward, and as we aged further still, perhaps a mix of our stiffening physical structure increased waistlines, we were in search of ever less involvement in the actual driving effort, more comfort and a bit of bling thrown in too...?

Again if I am in any way near the mark, then it seems us BB`s fuelled the evolution in not only the the trad look alike CX, but the whole Retro Classic Scene..? I suspect it seems likely that again it may only really be the BB`s and fortunate few well healed younger folk who have classic vehicle design tastes who might maintain the "market" in Classic autotoys, though I do wonder how long for, given the tastes of the young seem unlikely to match those which motivated their baby boomer parents or grandparents, as we all begin to loose our grip on the perch...? I suspect a Retro Classic in the eyes of the young may be a McRray era WRC style Scooby or Evo updated to incorporate whatever technotoys they consider to be must haves in personalised transport...?

I guess it is just down to demographics given not only the size of the baby boomer population compared to those which follow on, but the financial evolution that took place in our time which created many markets and subsequent evaluations thereof, which may in time become a tad more akin to that which existed in the fifties and sixties and still exist in whatever memory we have managed to retain..?

I leave it to you to determine the investment potential in any 90`s onward "Classic car" equipped with power this that and the other, digitally controlled fuelling etc. Right at this moment in time the carburettor fed Classics seem to have potential to be a bit like cockroaches relative to their survivability, at least in terms of my expected lifetime of driving ability, if not a while longer...?

For sure there will no doubt be fuel issues as there ever has been, thinking back to the loss of 101 octane, and removal of led, and now Bio-fuel complexity with E5 being the only option for many Classics. It seems possible that E5 may introduce issues in seldom used machines or those stored over Winter....Then of course dependant on the rate of growth of prioritisation in the green agenda, if one is seen to be running a Classic, one could perhaps become a bit of a social pariah, like smoking in a restaurant etc.etc.etc...? How that plays out in time may not matter to the majority of us BB`s other than perhaps the imagined investment value we may have hoped to pass on in time with minimal taxation... Hmm..?

But then what do I know...? More than happy to read alternative thinking.... Perhaps I`m just suffering lockdown fever...

I read that as you are going soft in old age......

Thanks for taking the time to reply Alistair, I suspect you are entirely correct, but it seems that I may not be alone in terms of the evolving desires of maturing Morganeers as suggested in my ramble above....?