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

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Modified bellows.

DB

Forgot to state that it is a Jack Knight steering rack.

DB

Interesting find DB. Have just checked on my 2018 Roadster and it has a similar discrepancy between thickness of mounting blocks front and rear The thicker ones are both abutting the mounting surface to the rear i.e. the rack is as far forward as possible. Particularly important they are the same thickness each side though as the semi-circular clamping surface will not be parallel with rack body otherwise, so could distort it or slip!

I'm with you on that one, retaining the king pin setup requiring regular greasing after the removal of the top oil, was IMHO a retrograde step. Accepting that as soon as you used the hot oil it washed out any remnant of grease, it still kept the king pins lubricated.

Back in the 90's I had my Kent 4/4 kingpins rebuilt prior to a continental tour, fully greased up I decided not to use the oiler button. on the mechanics advice.Within a 1000 miles I had to get the king pins regreased, after another 700 miles I gave up on just relying on the grease and started to use the oiler every 150 to 200 miles,I had no further issues with the king pin lubrication. Bring back the top oiler, why have to carry a grease gun with you on longer journeys.

I removed my oiler system 60,000 miles ago when I fitted hard chrome kingpins. I grease the bottom nipples only, and do them about every 1000 to 1500 miles. I'm thinking of stripping them down this winter to check for signs of wear, I might even bung in a new set of bushes, not that they are needed now, but because by the time they might need doing I could well be too old to do it.

If they are worn Tim and wheel bearings are adjusted properly you will feel any play by grasping tyre at 12 and 6 o'clock and pulling back and forwards, with wheel off ground of course. If there is play and you are unsure where it's coming from a second person can do the pulling whilst you shine powerful light on stub axle. Bear in mind any play will probably be worse with suspension loaded.

If kingpin is worn a short term cure can be acheived by twisting same through 180° since wear usually takes place more on one side than the other. Slackening kingpin top bolt and bottom nut a little then re-tightening each in turn should allow kingpin to be twisted in-situ, which can be monitored by angle of top grease nipple when fully tightened.

B3MOG, yes I have seen this before as well. Don't know whether it happens because only one bellow was changed and it was reinstalled incorrectly or that its assumed that they are identical halves. Clearly misaligns the rack though.

Brake reaction bars
New adjustable AVO's all round
New discs and pads
New mulfab alloy radiator
Replaced the walnut dash with the original leather covered dash that I spec'd when it was ordered but was replaced with wood by the second owner.

After being out of my ownership for 17 years, and although being in generally really good order, a few upgrades and a bit of tlc were needed.


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Yep, that's how I know they are currently fine. My point is that they've been fine for over 10 years, but might not last another 10. Stripping them and inspecting them would give me the opportunity to replace the bushes anyway so I can be sure they'll last me out rather than having to knuckle down and do it when I'm a doddery old fart.

If on the other hand I strip them out and they still pass the 'only just drop through with a coat of oil' test, I'll probably leave them be.

If you are intent on stripping front suspension Tim (which I found a fulfilling experience) and are planning on changing the stub axle bushes anyway I would highly recommend changing to hard chrome (Mulfab) kingpins as well given the work involved. You then have a reference to ream new bronze bushes to. Cain supplied and reamed mine to high tolerance whilst I watched.

I'm told with regular greasing you can then expect 80-100,000 miles life. Certainly don't expect to touch mine again.

ETA: Apologies just noticed you already have hard chrome kingpins fitted and given the mileage on them without any noticeable play the advice I was given on longevity doesn't seem far astray. If you are stripping the front anyway though my advice would remain.