Is that a serious question? Of course it happens at MMC. Its the result of traditional manufacturing processes that arent remotely to the same tolerances as modern car mass manufacture. The way of adjusting the door fit is standard - I've seen it done in the UK with crash repairs.
Individual MMC workers with experience will have developed their own ways of " making things fit". Its what you get when you buy "hand made".
Thanks for posting the link Richard, I am not on fleecebook..
A bit of a RANT loosely related
I knew someone who bought a new Lada a few years back and specified all the extras, part of which was a set of mudflaps..... All went well until he had a couple of backseat passengers, and on hearing a noise coming from the rear of the car he took it straight back to the dealership, who diagnosed the issue as being the mud flaps dragging on the road surface. Fixed while he waited... they just roughly, and I mean ROUGHLY cut a couple of inches off the bottom of the mudflaps... Apparently the owner was upset that they had hacked off the LADA designation highlighted along the bottom edge of the flaps and which he had paid extra for...
Yeah for sure it can be interesting to look back and remember the way things were done in the past, I bet Colin, AKA spanner juggler could tell a story or two of the practices at BL, more than a few which I came across myself over the years..(-:
I had spent a decade or more messing with my old Porsches, attracted to them not by their preponderance to rot as badly as any of BL`s finest up to circa 1977/8, but by the drive to improve, allied to their ever improving quality of their engineering. By the time Porsche had produced my last air cooled Porsche in the form of an 82 911 SC, I wondered how anyone could improve on that, but Porsche did and continued to do so for quite a few years more.. before VAG took control.
By the time I thought a Morgan might be just the ticket and having been one of the first few to beam up the then new web site at the beginnings of the MSCC DG, to ask "Which Morgan," followed by circa five years of learning from the many kind Morganeers who put up with my stupid questions, I think I was well enough informed as to the realities of the likely average output of the MMC in terms of quality control, but then I was desirous of a hand built car using traditional materials and skills... up to a point, and having a smattering of knowledge of matters electromechanical and the rate of change as ever more electronics were forced upon the MMC by way of legislation and general evolutionary processes causing occasional issues... It was enough to try to resolve simple wiring issues due to corrosion etc. etc.etc on simple wiring systems but multi plugs and sensors increasing connections and variations of intermittent faults... I could well do without that.
Having searched and failed to find a +8 project, the timing being entirely wrong. I was more than fortunate that Lorne the GoMoG webmaster and without being asked, found me a Morgan that Lorne determined I must buy. I had been prepared to buy an EFI +8 but Lorne had found a carb fed one, all be it with an electronic choke system which has served us wonderfully well and for over 20 years, all be it the whole car having been nut and bolt rebuilt by a professional and Morgan enthusiast, which encouraged me to take on trips abroad in time proving that a well sorted Trad Morgan can be a very reliable machine providing a degree of vintage style motoring without all the fuss and expense of a real vintage machine with 100MPH + performance, all be it that one has to get down and dirty to grease the front suspension every once in a while..(-:
I guess Peters issues with brake light indications and modules kinda underlines for me that keeping it simple was indeed the best route for me to find the ideal era of Morgan to own.. Being around in engineering when replacing components in circuit boards was becoming old hat and replacing complete boards became the standard "repair" process, and which evolved into manufacturers sealing of circuits in resin in order that any tec could not repair the circuit, and the boards in time evolved to become completely sealed modules ever increasing in dimensions and functionality, and when info requested as to the makeup of modules, the manufacturers standard avoidance was that of "intellectual copyright" and which was all too easily accepted by purchasing departments... All of which in many cases lead to ever less understanding of the full modus operandi of all sorts of kit, and replacement parts becoming ever larger and more expensive, while tecs who may think they are high tec when plugging up programmers to motor vehicles performance and to read off fault codes, may have little to no idea of any other way to effect a repair if no fault code is generated, other than them swapping parts till it appears to work again.... for it to fail once more, a day, weak or month later with the same issue...Sigh.
On the other hand as the owner of a modern sports car with all sorts of digital technology making instant decisions keeping me safe (ish) as I might be in the process of enjoying a bit of interesting road, for sure engineering of all types has advanced in ways I and many of my age could never have imagined.. My modern sports car is currently at the dealership for a scheduled MOT, brake fluid change, and to have a new battery fitted and coded in, who knows what the bill for that might be ..? Yeah changed days for me given I did all my own work for many a decade but then there is no stopping engineering evolution or the effects of the ageing process, just that some manufacturers may provide a bit more confidence in their manufacturing processes and quality control than others, no names no pack drill...?
As usual Luddite, I know exactly where you are coming from. The progress from understandable and repairable to black box has been inexorable but then so has the improvement in reliability. And not only in cars. I remember the times when colour TVs were new and the only sensible way to have one was to rent it thanks to lack of reliability and frequency of repairs. Contrast that to today when you buy one, expect it to work 100% for years and when it doesnt you junk it and move on.
Cars are similar. One DIY wiring repair excepted my last Merc saloon ran for 12 years and 150k miles without fault. Its still going now according to the DVLA but I got bored and changed it for another Merc with room for Woofta. I prefer that disposeable and reliable approach to the issues that we used to have with rust, dodgy electrical circuits, generators, brakes and clutches.That I cannot tinker with the ECU as I used to have to tinker with plugs and points worries me not at all. I dont want to get out and get under, not least because its ever more difficult to get upright again!
Very happy to read that Peter`s brake light warning issue is now resolved. There is no doubt that modern vehicles are complex beyond belief, and unnecessarily so for those of us who were well used to using hard won skills enough to be tad more involved in the process of enjoying our sports cars, but then as we age I guess the on board decision making to keep us that little bit safer and provide occasional reminders should our skill level not be quite as sharp as it once was, might just be thought of as an advantage on occasion..thinking along the lines of Bing bong, getting rather close to something, indicated in green red and amber dependant on proximity and to what corner, or check fuel level etc.etc.etc.Hmm..?
Put my P car in for a MOT, scheduled brake fluid change, and as a precautionary measure to have it`s 10 year old AGM battery replaced and coded in, a one day dealership process, finished off with a complimentary wash and interior fresh up having been through a Direct Dialogue Bay session, no doubt as part of the battery coding, accompanied with a print out of a circa 50 point checklist where assessments are made on each point on the list and are ticked off as either green amber or red and rounded off with tread depth across each tyre and brake pad friction material thickness measurements. The bill came to £615. Admittedly I imagine the tasks were pretty straight forward, and part of a well practised routine, which is quite a bit different from tracing an intermittent fault such as Peter experienced on a digitally controlled electrical circuit, and which can eat up quite a few expensive hours of time, if not longer..Unfortunately. Had I not taken the opportunity to check that all the brake bleeding nipples were capable of being released (two per caliper) the bill had potential to be considerably increased, apparently the norm at the dealership is to replace the whole caliper and it`s holding bolts if a bleed nipple shears off which may not be uncommon in out of initial guarantee period machinery..?
Another real world example, my good lady`s 4x4 JLR would not carry out the usual locking sequence which includes folding the mirrors and flashing the indicators sounding beeps etc.etc.etc. all via the fob, and had to be locked and unlocked with the key having to remove a cover from the door handle and partly disassemble the fob.... Things used to be so much simpler...! With a bit of research it seems there may be a bit of a known fault across JLR production where the drivers door lock might be suspect, and which turned out to be the case requiring the whole sealed plastic lock mechanism to be replaced... Not only that but as part of a apre Covid maintenance programme it seems JLR required that the power steering rack be replaced and each of the brake flexy hoses too..All done FOC on a car that has never been off road and with circa 25k miles on the clock, while in for it`s five year check up and service. The whole experience from the agents was felt not well handled and were it not for questioning the need for the rack and brake flexible hoses replacement I had the feeling they would have added that cost to the bill... all of which was a very different experience from the P car operation... which seems a pity.
Another issues with the JLR is that a chromed plastic speaker grill mounted in the rear passenger door, had it`s grill damaged (don`t ask) approx 100mm in diameter, estimate repair cost not including labour..? Just south of £1k. Apparently the whole door card has to be replaced as the plastic grill is not available as a separate item.
With vehicles being assembled robotically it seems ever more components are clicked or glued together for ease of assembly, sealed for life and ultimately not designed to be repaired but replaced as a unit which is all somewhat frustrating for an old geezer who was brought up by parents of the make do and mend society, who were rather more self sufficient than the expectations of younger folk..? Given all that surrounds us today and looking forward... I suspect some back tracking and sharpening up on make do and mend might be on the cards... I pity those in place now trying to repair kit without the knowledge of it`s components basic function or design principals involved in the entirety of its assembly, and who are used to replacing ever larger multifunctional assemblies, perhaps a tad like the door lock mechanism on the JLR ...?
In times past I would use a bit of heat around the area of the caliper to coax a seized brake nipple to release as opposed to risking breaking it off flush with the caliper by being too forceful, Though on the bright red and decoratively marque identified callipers... not really an option without a lot of extra effort to restore finishes... Though apparently there are ultrasonic means of attempting to release seized brake nipples available these days which saves the decorative paintwork etc. all prior to drilling and old fashioned engineering processes..? I guess it is all just part of the evolutionary process, as is becoming a grumpy old man
