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Welcome Mike from NZ , good questions you pose here and it makes me wonder if putting your old Plus 8 in the care of one of your specialists to turn it into the car you need may be a good way to go (power steering etc) I recall my sister in one of those coats in the sixties .

Is there a section advertising people who offer rebuilding services, or specialist upholsterers etc. In the old days people from the factory even ‘moonlighted’ their skills learnt at the factory.some even advertised in the club mag.
Any assistance or direction on this aspect from forum would be much appreciated.

Waikiore - currently on TV is a program showing wonderful NZ homes ! We did not see any Morgans on a 4 week trip in 2018 but lots of quality English sports cars, all in great condition.
They matched the beauty of your country. Oh and the roads, so quiet and easy driving even in a motorhome.
Best from ‘Grey Nomad’ Michael

MorganMike, welcome to TM. There are a number of specialist around the UK who can rebuild your Morgan. Your are correct that Mr Rutter will do all the jobs that your MOG requires. A person who can repair/replace your leather work is a chat who lives near the factory. His name is Dave Kriesel. He can also put you in touch with someone who can rebuild you a body if you need it. Currently the prices for old MOGs and Classic cars in general have dropped, a buyers market. If i was to buy a older MOG today it would either be a Rover Plus 8 or a Ford Kent Crossflow 4/4. The reason is both engines are easy to work on and you can get parts very easy. Ford sold 10 million crossflow engines in various cars over the years. As you state you already have a Plus 8 so Mr Rutter will exchange it for you for another MOG if that the route you decide to take. But since you have a 1970s Plus 8 with paperwork from Peter Morgan i would get it rebuilt. Power steering can be put in.
Like others on the site have said, it will be interesting following the path that your next Morgan adventure takes you!

Welcome to TM. A very interesting post, whilst you do indicate your Morgan needs work you haven't quite expanded on the extent of the work whether it's structural or just cosmetic or a mixture of both.

As it seems you enjoyed all weather open top Morganeering so has your Morgan suffered from eg water ingress, exposure to road salt if so, what is the state of the frame and chassis, which may assist in which direction to point you, does the engine still run etc or are you maybe looking for an just an interior refresh, maybe put in power steering and a deep service and re-commissioning of the car.

I presume and I hope you will forgive my directness, its a short door Morgan, which I have enjoyed in my youth but they represent a very different challenge some 30 or 40 years on as one becomes less elastic and supple in one's joints......can you still get in and out of it ok?

I wish you well with what ever direction you take, I think quite a few on TM would relish the opportunity of still owning a 70's Plus 8 from new.

Welcome Mike, I think an 2023/2024 PlusFour with Nitron upgrade thick your boxes! Hello from The Netherlands

Fantastic responses guys and lots to think about .
John Harris - loved your comment re getting in the plus 8. A direct comment that I would expect from a northerner , albeit from up market Lytham St Annes to a ‘Sandgrownun’ from a few miles north of you ! I could have used BlackpoolBoy but I left for university and never went back to live . Driving down the prom, along seven miles of golden sands hood down, obviously are happy memories . Also I had a new full knee replacement last week, so it will be an another week or so before I try to get in the car....

I did think the Ash, Ali body would be OK but now worried about the chassis aspect mentioned above . . Thankfully it was the red plus 8 that did the seaside salty runs, the black one didn't.
Assume the Morgan Club is still going & this more modern form of communication immediacy supplements it. I will Google it.
More advice still welcomed. Best Michael

That made me smile, I'm a blow in, born and bred in the Black Country ( you can't get further from the sea in the UK) moved up here nearly 40 years ago, love the place. Don't mind being considered a northern, we consider anything south of Watford Gap as southerners. Mind you old habits die hard, I can still enjoy chewing on a bit of coal for breakfast.,

Interesting that you mention Blackpool and the Fylde the salty sea air is renown for convalescing but not so kind to metal etc. Unfortunately Blackpool has suffered much in the last 20 to 30 years with the falling holiday trade, not at its best at the moment but hopefully the regeneration plans will bring prosperity back into the area.

Whilst this is my 5th Morgan I'd been out of them for decades, so post Covid we said lets do it again and so we did. I then unfortunately hurt my back a couple years ago and had to let my Roadster 4 seater go, the higher seating position just put too much pressure on my back when dipping the clutch. Thought that might be it, but I could get in a 2 seater with its lower seating position.
I fractured my elbow in June a week later Sue fractured her ankle, a right pair with only 3 good arms and legs between us. As soon as we could both drive again we said b8gger this lot for a lark and got another Morgan, a 2 seater enjoying every minute, despite the occasional hiccup. Still not a pretty sight getting in and out but its improving with practice

I hope everything works out ok with the car and especially the knee.

The earlier Original Plus 8's will outlive the recent renditions as they were a Class leader in their day and are still easily maintained at home and a superfluity of spares, and specialist for diffs, gearboxes and engines if needed.

Still plenty quick enough for me and more than copes with the present traffic, a few surprises too among the new amorphous boxes.

A raw car to thoroughly enjoy it assaults every sense especially with a Librands Sport dual system The aroma of hot oily metal and warm leather finds me lingering in the garage after a run.

They will outlast the CX and Aero platforms of that I'm sure.
That is why we have a member on here that imported a total wreck of a 1970 narrow body Plus 8 on carbs of course back from the Bahamas to rebuild.

Brian (Aeroman) also had an early one totally rebuilt at the factory recently, he also had SP2 built to his spec there a totally different but stunning beast

Good luck with your choices.

That is interesting - how much was a factory rebuild , although it is about what they find.
I loved the power of both plus eights, yes I did lose the back end on occasions and especial once when having been told how to grass track in a race, just did the opposite and weaved my way in alternating side movements for 50 yards or even 100 before throttling off. Most embarrassing . I have recently spotted my car at an event at Phoenix Motors. I was Googling a pic to show someone abroad who did not know what a Morgan was and there it was first car in a line.

Unfortunately it’s my clutch leg that got a new knee but whilst it feels amazing after so few days, I remember the clutch being heavy. In fact after years of London driving my Achilles tendon hurt with some manuals so we went automatic over the last 15/20 years.That was was why an auto was my initial thought on a new Morgan …….The cost is way to high for me to see as value ( northern Lancashire lad but with Yorkshire values) but I cannot take it with me and a shroud does not have pockets.
Hiring abroad I usually get a manual car but a heavy clutch is something I have to consider .

The old Buick/Rover +8 engine (seem to think it was a Buick ) was mighty fast and especially when we put one it in a speedboat normally taking 65 HP outboard - water skiing with no skis anyone ! Those days were fun but I now hate tinkering. We even lifted the engine out of the +4 on the roadside using rope our necks and shoulders as we then did not have a garage Those days now well behind me. Enjoyable, fun but very reliable motoring is what I need from a Morgan . We recently holidayed on a Croatian Island (went by several car ferries) which had 75 inhabitants and few tourists, certainly no garage, all the other cars without numberplates which seemed odd until after a few days & lots of drinks the locals laughed at me non are insured, taxed etc The water police come every 2 or 3 weeks and all the cars move to private land.


Finally I think I saw a post from a guy in NZ from Kati Kati or pus*y p***y we called it when spending a day in its local nudist camp …….sorry if that is too much information and mildly against any forum rules ?? BUT hey I will learn . Cheers Michael

There is a Mazda 5 speed gearbox conversion. I'm not sure how that may effect the clutch weight but maybe someone on here may have experience of the conversion and the relative benefits. I converted a TR7 V8 (Rover/Buick) into an auto for Sue to drive, we used to barrel it down Clifton Drive on the way into Blackpool, before they put traffic calming measures in.

https://www.vitesse-ltd.com/product...-kit-morgan-plus8?variant=21482028138579

Converting a Morgan Plus 8 into auto by A J Barnard Engineering
https://ajbengineering.com/portfolio/morgan-8-automatic-conversion/