Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Dash PCB-ectomy

Well, that 'future project' is now done. My PCB removal and dash rewire is complete. When I posted the above I had not quite finished. The SPOT switch and SPOT relay were left in limbo, unconnected. Now I’ve had a bit of time to finish the wiring and bolt on a pair of baby Wypacs.



All working


Some angle iron brackets





Whilst the car does have factory wiring in place for aftermarket lights, I’ve added a new fused circuit with some chunkier wires and a relay. Initially I had planned to repurpose the unused air con power circuit to power the lights, but luckily there was a surprise vacant slot in fuse holder. Strangely, according to the parts book circuit diagram this slot was already taken

Beware..


And this is how my fuse box was.


So a great opportunity to run a new feed from the 50A distribution post into the vacant slot, and a wire off out to the SPOT relay.


Finally, all the faffing around with bits of wire is over... Spot wires added to the chaos



And just for completeness, I’ve updates the wiring picture posted earlier to reflect these mods.



What next I wonder…

Brilliant Rog!

As time passes there will be more demand for an alternative to that dash module.

Great work

Thanks John

The beauty of this TM ‘open’ format is that these threads can evolve. Anybody can critique, debate, contribute and improve. It's a start.…

PS -That Roadster will be easy…

Brilliant! Your work is more valuable than you know. Frankly, you should be working at the Factory. I have only see this quality recently from the designers working for the ultimate MMC owners on their cars..

Moggers should have a different perspective of Morgans than the Factory has had since the advent of the Aero and subsequent models. In the generation before 2000, we all looked at our purchases as fledging classic collector cars. We were not owners as much as temporary caretakers for our Morgans before and after they were built. The MMC staff used to scratch, stamp or carve their mark on to odd places of the cars.

But to Peter Morgan's horror, the Factory began to create cars that cannot be repaired indefinitely into the future. They have rigid aluminum chassis, (unreparable if crashed and even replacement is a short term thing), access to many important components is very difficult (on some you must remove the wings to change the spark plugs!), many parts (brakes now and thermostatsl) are digitally controlled, making owner roadside fixes impossible...and so on. Most oddly, the Factory adopted PCBs, printed circuit boards, invented to save 100,000s of man hours for mega manufacturers, but no sense for a boutique manufacturer that does nt have the numbers to make such things practical.

PCBs etc. negate the wonderful diagnostic features and easy repairs occasioned by a fuse box. Leaves owners and their mechanics, high and dry..a heavy burden until addressed. They are suited to vehicles that will be scrapped in under 20 years. The average age of a trad Morgan is likely 40 years. This forum deals with mostly younger models than that. I would like THEM to last 80 more like others trads have, getting more valuable every year.. The most expensive trads on the market are from the 1960s. Why not yours 60 years from now?


With the understanding that my overwhelming impression is that I think your work is splendid... some mild suggestions which you can muse about. You have done 95% of the work, if you choose to do more, it.is easy. May I prepare a gomog article for your consideration and approval?. You can guide 1000s of owners and their mechanics a step towards longevity

1. In an.ideal world, each component should have its own designated fuse ..along with another fuse box for constantly battery powered stuff (clock, ECU (some of them) radio, alarm system) That would make the diagnostics simple and lower the average strength of your fuses. Most of my fuses are 5s, 7.5s at most 15s. This makes diagnostics easier, prevents a series of components from failing simultaneously and lowers the risk of fuse box/wire melting .The lovely work you have already done was much more difficult. I am rewiring my last Morgan. The MMC fuse box that I was sent is failing and my addons make the electrics less than I would wish. (we have much I common) I have no PCB of course, I am moving to one of the US made whole car wiring systems, extremely high quality, with no burning possibility. I will miss the Lucas colors but each wire is labelled. Likely a week's work (followed by years of debugging [wryly]) 28 fuses plus a small 6 fuse box for the battery wired stuff. I will use those tiny newer fuses to cut space needs in half

2. I kept my Morgans in two places. The UK and the Quebec Mountains. Both are areas vulnerable to fog. So I am not unfamiliar to spots and fogs. I used hang them off the pumper as well. *I use bumpers in front and the smaller classic original overriders in back. One car has the original cats-eye Marchals (sentimental value) and the other uses Lucas rear mounted lights. For these I have to blame my buddy John Worrall. He used to make/sell polished ss plinths for flashers and fog/spot lamps before he retired. Another option rather than fashioning bumper brackets.

gmg

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Great update Roger, having all the relays labelled too is very worthwhile

Thank you gomog but everything I have to offer is already here. What I've done is not a definitive solution and as said above, here the information can evolve as other contributors come and go.



Definitely, but best check which relay is which by the wire colours, rather than the diagram…

^ Agreed Roger, my Roadster carries specific reworked wiring diagrams, colour coded fuse layouts and relay labels, as the Factory ones are not spot on

Looking great Rog

Great work again Rog . Presumably the Spot relay coil wire running to pin 3 on the connector take its trigger from headlamp main beam via the Spot switch.