Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Aero 8, 2012< Plus 8, SuperSports, Coupe & Aeromax GTN #11 - Progress, pics and updates

I thought I would start a new thread to keep a little track on bits and pieces for the GTN, I have a few little jobs to do and hopefully with some time off over Christmas I will get some of them done!

First of all was to have a custom soft-top cover made. I had one made for my previous Aero by my local dealer and it was perfect for storing the soft-top.
The GTN came with a a soft-top from the factory with the car, and believe it or not this was still in brand-new condition having never been fitted.. it was still in its original packaging!

So I popped the soft-top in yesterday and by this afternoon it was ready to collect, and put away for storage.

The unused soft-top:



The storage bag:


Next job will be making a list of bits and pieces to do, she is good enough to become concours - although I won't be going that far as I do want to drive it.. but there are some bits I can improve - such as new wipers, one of the lights is not correct and I have a new unit and so on. I want to get her as clean as a new car, without losing the originality - i.e. I won't be stripping it down unnecessarily.

Also on the to do list is to give it a really thorough clean, polish, treat the leather etc.

What are the wipers of choice??

Mine don’t push hard enough down on the screen

I bought new ones from the factory, they were not cheap... seem to do the job though.

Time for an update!

So as promised over Christmas I spent some time treating the leather and deep cleaning the interior, not that it needed it but a special car deserves special treatment - and it is always best to look after the proper leather we get in a Morgan as it keeps it in better condition.

First off a general vacuum and clean of the leather.


Original mats never used, another set was made and kept over the top!


For those interested, I follow Shaun's advice from Allon White Morgan (he is the top trim specialist), and use the same products he does, as demonstrated on his various talks over the years. For cleaning the leather:


Now the scary part, the glovebox foam mat had some small bite marks out of it, and I had my suspicions a mouse had gotten in when it was stored under the previous selling dealer/owner, I was correct as when the floor mats where removed I saw evidence in a bundle of seed pods grouped together in a corner by the seat..
So to be thorough I stripped out the interior, seats and all the carpets. You can imagine my relief when I found there was no damage whatsoever to anything! I imagine a door was left open whilst it was charging or something and the little fellow got in for a few hours and just chewed the foam mat in the glovebox and started to make a nest but got no further.

Another bonus was I found 10 pence!

Now I actually viewed this car previously when it was for sale 4 years ago and the foam was not sitting correctly then and looking like it could do with replacing, so I count myself really rather lucky as it needed doing anyway. So that was ripped out and a template made to take to Shaun, currently comtemplating whether I get a small leather insert made that is perhaps embroidered or something else - so watch this space..

Seats out:




Having the seats out however was a bit of a bonus, as it meant I could properly gain access to all the leather for cleaning/feeding, as well as the carpets. So a few hours wiping down and vacuuming followed:



Looking at the drivers seat a couple of the leather clips were missing:


And a few of the caps had fallen off the seat bolts, both of which I will sort after treating the leather.

So onto the leather feeding, again as per Shaun's wisdom I used Connolly hide feed - which is for proper leather. It has to be applied with heat, so I heated up the garage to approximately 25c and used a hair dryer to assist in the application/s, before letting it rest overnight and giving a final heat/buff. It is really hard work, and took hours and hours - but definately worth it.


I also polished any chrome parts, such as the seat belt anchors and bolts whilst I had good access. In all honesty it didn't take much, just a very quick application and wipe off with some autosol. For the bolts a cotton bud helps get into the dirty centres.



The results with the carpets going back in:

I took the drivers seat to Shaun, and he kindly refitted the missing clips and tucked the leather ends back in, he was also able to check the leather and told me I had done a good job and the leather was perfectly fed - so I will take that!


I refitted the seat bolt caps that had fallen off previously. Then it was time to get the seats back in:



Footwell got a quick wipe but not much, its absolutely mint..


Finally, tucked up for bed!


A lot of hard work but worth it in the end, I also gave the glass a clean - wiped down the Carbon and the dials etc.

Few more bits still to do, such as sorting the glovebox mat and then a few door seals need refreshing - but that is enough for now.

Those underseat retaining clips are truly horrible things to deal with. I think there's a special tool, but without that they are finger and screwdriver challenging.

Shaun popped them both on in I kid you not, about 5 seconds flat. That was by hand!

Master craftsman at work.

- looks absolutely lovely Nick; I am a bit of a sucker for Carbon Fibre......

Interesting to see the audio speakers on the rear bulkhead ; I fitted two to my S1 in this location (after much deliberation!).

It was a bit 'heart in mouth' time cutting the holes plus, access from the boot is a

Keep the pictures coming.....

James

Thanks James, I have to admit I was suprised by how different it felt sitting inside it and reversing it off the trailor when it arrived - it feels a very different animal no part helped by all the carbon, certainly felt special.

Yes I noticed the speakers years ago when I viewed it the first time, I had actually bought speakers for the rear of the old Aero but never got around to fitting them - funny that they are standard fitment on the GTN!

I would quite like to get cleaning the underside, but I need to find somewhere I can borrow a ramp for the day..