Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) What Did You Do To Your Morgan Today?

Nice work Colin. Dont forget Motofest in Tuncurry set for Sunday, June 11th
There will be a good few Morgan Cars turning up....

Weather cleared so went for a test drive about 20k. Definitely an improvement especially from the pan hard the rear felt a lot more stable when pushed into a corner. All is good in the land of MOG.

Just got home from a memorable Morgan experience. 2 miles from home the gas pedal linkage came apart. Called for a tow, but couldn't get an ETA. I decided to try limping home at idle speed. Managed to get her into 2nd gear for most of the drive. Only one moron honked at me. Happy to say the Morgan refuses to die!

I felt like I won the Indy 500 when I got into the garage. Will be an easy fix in the daylight.

While I have the interior out to install the new seats and refinish the dashboard, I pulled out the transmission and drive shaft covers. The parking brake lever is all buggered up so I took it out to clean it up and paint it. The screw that retains the pawl wouldn't budge, so I drilled it out and retapped the hole. Turned out that the screw was a 10-24 thread and I picked one up from the local hardware store. Paint tomorrow...

Edwin, I know that feeling well, as over the years I have made one or two journies like that, perhaps the longest and most memorable was in my first car a Frog eye Sprite AKA a 1959 Mk 1 Austin Healy Sprite that I rebuilt on a very tight budget..... The charging system failed and I had to drive across the city to get home by eeeking out the available voltage with minimum use of lighting indicators and all else electric... I almost made it... perhaps a mile and a half from home,.which equated to stripping out the dynamo and battery, leaving the car looking kinda vurnerable at the roadside.and carrying both home. Charged the battery overnight in my flat, the next morning, buying and fitting a new set of carbon brushes to the dynamo, carrying both back and fitting to the car.. It was a great feeling when I fired the old thing up and that little red light dimmed and went out..

I once had the clutch go on my S2A Land Rover on the outskirts of Olney. Getting in and out of first was interesting in traffic, but once I got the other side I managed the final 12 miles with a mixture of clutchless changes and lots of pre-planning at roundabout and junctions......

Reminds me of an occasion in the 70's driving one of the several S2A's the BBC used. Youthful over enthusiasm in West London traffic had me break a half shaft. It didn't take long to realise punching the yellow knob engaged FWD and off I went with even heavier steering and only front wheels been driven. I guess free-wheeling hubs were considered an unneccessary expense then otherwise would have had the ignominy of stepping outside in heavy traffic.

Same here .... after a failed UJ I pulled the rear prop-shaft out altogether, engaged 4WD and used my Series 2A for a couple of weeks in front-wheel drive until I got round to swapping the joint ... whatever their old-fashioned faults the old Landys take a lot of stopping if you have a little ingenuity.

K

Yeah, I once lunched the engine on my S3 109. Had it recovered back to my parents in Worcester, but getting an engine and having it fitted was 5X the price I could get it done back in Wales. My house mate Del came over in his old 110, with a one man tow and we set off for Tregaron. Just got to Leominster and the rear prop on the 110 died. Again, whipped it off and carried on the journey. Only hairy bit was having to reverse for a stick wagon on the mountains. However, with me sitting and steering in the 109 we managed it.

Using front wheel drive only in a 110 was a lot easier than a S2 or 3 - the front end used to get very bouncy on tarmac due to wind up!

It would seem we are of our time gentlemen, a time when machines were designed built and controlled by humans, and those of us with a degree of self reliance built in would ever make use of whatever skills or knowledge we had to assist us find a workable resolution to whatever automotive issue might crop up... I guess that sort of thinking along with the wonderful vintage appearance of a Morgan may have been key in attracting me to the marque... And it seems for those of us who have been involved with early Land Rovers, that there may be a strong Morgan linkage there too.. (-:

Today if a vehicle`s on board systems decide to halt progress, there may be a measure of self reliance that could overcome the situation, but I suspect that would be well beyond the capabilities of the majority of us baby boomers, more so a confirmed Luddite such as I .. (-:

It was some years back that I read of a high end vehicle barrelling down the outside lane of the m/way when everything shut down, leaving the vehicle and occupants stranded in a very dangerous position, no way the vehicle could be pushed to the side of the road, could be that it was stuck in drive (4WD) or that the handbrake had applied it`s self.. I know not. When the police arrived on scene even they could not get it to move, and it took a recovery vehicle to shift the vehicle. If I remember correctly I think the core cause of the vehicle`s failure was related to the battery..

I guess Edwin`s Indy 500 win would have been less likely in a far more modern machine... Great result EdWIN.. (-:

We enjoyed an almost Spring like day recently, though there is a gale currently blowing through today. Last year it seems we had really good weather in March in my part of the world, thus I am maintaing a weather eye for and sign of warmer days to think of taking the Mog for an MOT and returning it to road readiness in the hope I might be able to sample a bit of pseudo vintage motoring, minus all the "comforts" safety features and encumbrances that so many have become desirous or in need of......Myself included... Sigh..!