Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Trying to start it for the first time (in 15 years

Agree with TBM ..... easy start should give you something whatever the state of the carb (provided the choke or throttle plates are opening and aren't completely blocking the intake) .... seems odd if you have spark ..... has the engine been stripped and rebuilt or is it as it was when it ran 15 years ago? .... can you look down the oil filler and see the cam turning when the engine is cranked (if you haven't already confirmed this elsewhere)


K

Please don’t shoot me for saying this but whilst you’ve got the right firing order have you got the right direction of rotation of the distributor and are you sure “one” goes to the plug nearest the radiator.
Sometimes the simple things get missed

Thanks you for all the continued great advice and feedback - I hope that one day I'll be a useful contributor to the site.

I'm happy to consider even the 'simplest' suggestions and I'll follow every one of the steps you have all suggested including checking the rotation of the distributor , nothing could upset my sensibilities on this .

I don't think the car was touched after it was last parked (and 15 years is probably conservative, based on when the previous owner's most recent sticker tags on his other vehicles)

TBM - I think this is a motorcarft carb - only based on the fact that all other pieces I've identified are Motorcraft - can't really see any distinguishing features.


If any of you ever find yourself in California I'd be delighted to show you around in the Morgan - assuming it's working by then and I totally agree, I'm 'almost' looking forward to breaking down and delving into my piles of spare parts to get it running again

Look like a Weber 32/36 DGV (Manual Choke). The screw at the bottom is the idle air/fuel mixture. It should have an idle jet top right (facing the carb from the wing) and another on the opposite side. These are easy to pop out and clean.

However on yours I think the engine side one has been replaced with the fuel cut off solenoid (the part with the blue/yellow wire). Would be worth checking that it's working OK (or remove it and replace with a standard idle jet = you'll need the idle jet 55 or 50, jet holder and O ring)

Be lovely to pop over to California one day (my Grandad would have built some of the ash frame on yours)

Success !

The engine sounds wonderful - thank you everyone, it really helped keep me engaged and motivated.

I'm quite a bit embarrassed to admit what the final piece was , but to save somebody else's embarrassment I'd better share.

Guten (Simon) was correct. I had the leads in the 1, 2, 4, 3 order but the mirror image of how they should be placed. This page from the Rebuilding and Tuning Ford's Kent Crossflow Engine" set me straight .


Once again , your support and encouragement and suggestions were hugely appreciated.

TBM - that's fascinating to hear about your grandfather building the ash frame ! That's really wonderful

I'm sure you're aware of this video - is he in this. As my car was 1974 and this piece was filmed in 1975 I'm guessing that some of the people shown here may have worked on it.

The good new is that the frame seems to be in remarkably good shape, particularly considering how active the termite community is over here.

Brilliant news that she's running!

The weber carb is fairly easy to set up - Weber Carb

Yes- seen that video, he was there at the time (retired later that year) but escaped being on film!

YOU are already a useful contributor to this site, your questions and step by step attempts to fire the old thing up are now part of a worthwhile record that will exist as long as does this site...(-:

Congratulations on getting the old Mog running, hopefully the clutch is not stuck and that you can engage gears OK, checked/changed all the fluids, and that the brakes work as they should and that you have a grease gun to hand and made good use of it.. With any luck the dry climate will have saved you many of the usual lay up issues... BUT you know where to come for help should you need it... (-:

Hope jumping through the legal hoops to register it is easier than it was to get it fired up...

Brilliant! Well done sticking with it.
Regards
Simon

I've been a bit quiet on the subject recently, kids are off school in the US, so my hands are full .

I did want to say thank you to everyone (again) and share this movie clip of the Morgan running for the first time as many of you contributed to making this happen.

I know I've got many happy hours of restoration ahead of me, but it's clearly worth it !


(the head gear came with the car so it seemed appropriate that I should wear it)