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

I'm doing a few jobs to my Plus 8.... removed the rocker covers to be powder coated, the manifolds to be ceramic coated, 4 new shocks, fit a radiator mesh grille, fit an ITG cone air filter, replace the diff oil and a new set of 10mm ignition leads..... Can't wait to see how it looks when the covers and manifolds are re-fitted!

After a short drive in sunshine when I heard more rattles from the rear I decided to take out the plywood cover and look at the tool tray. Was shocked to see the state of it. Clearly the jack jumps around and the whole thing was not properly attached. Today I am going to use glass fibre matting to strengthen the shaped tray for the jack and then I am using a yoga mat to add a layer to the plywood. I will wrap the jack with some of the same and make an adjustment to the two swivels that hold them the plywood down. I hope that will silence everything. Incidentally was surprised to see yellow Spax adjustable shocks. Not sure if I should try different settings? Any thoughts??

I have a design for an ali tool tray. PM me your email & I'll forward it.
Make sure the tool tray is in the the right way around so the diff misses the jack.

Info on adjustable shocks here

Plus Four developed a slow puncture. Stainless wire wheels. Air is escaping from a spoke nipple ( behave yourselves!).
Phoned MMC servicing to get details of how the wheel is sealed. A layer of silicone is spread over the spoke area and smoothed so it resembles a rim band.
Got my trusted tyre shop to remove the tyre. Silicone layer visible as they described. Spotted a small break in the silicone matching the leaking nipple. A bit odd as to how it occured but no big deal. Advice from MMC was to reseal with silicone, let it set fully then refit the tyre. Mark the tyre/wheel to get it back on to minimise rebalancing. The silicone is black and luckily I have some to match.
So, I'll reseal with silicone and get the tyre refitted after 24 hours to allow curing of the repair. I did consider fitting a rim band as belt and braces but will just do a silicone repair first. Gomog has a section on sealing wires that shows this silicone method.
I'll take photos of the wheel for reference.

Very useful to know. How did you initially identify that the slow air loss was from a spoke nipple rather than a puncture in the tyre - removal of the wheel and immersion in water ?

Steps.....
Checked tyre but no damage seen.
Made up some soapy water. Poured into area where tyre meets rim. No bubbling.
Sprayed soapy water onto valve. No bubbling.
Sprayed spoke nipples. One showed bubbling so a leak.
1/4 turn tightening made it worse! Backed of 1/4 turn to original.
I've just resealed the small damaged area with matching black silicone, pushed into the tear and a layer spread over the area. Small matching dab put on at 180 deg opposite to help with balance but probably not necessary. Waiting 24hrs min for it to fully set.
Tyre was marked to be refitted as it was to aid balance so tomorrow/Friday I'll get it refitted. Photos to follow.

Photo of leak.

The resultant question would seem to be, why did the crack occur...? Expansion and contraction of a spoke relative to any difference in adjustment thereof between it and the others...or what..?

Spokes were "pinged" and all seemed ok, even the one where the tear is. Tyreis new with only 300 miles. No clues as to why it happened. Outside chance of a bump during new tyre fitting?
Time will tell.

Many thanks for taking the time to reply.... BTW, I have never run a car with spoked wheels, thus have no experience so related to share.. hopefully someone else might provide a suitable resolution..

Looking at the shape and sharp edges of the crack, it would seem that the sealer used was inflexible to some degree, and that perhaps another type of sealant might be more efective, perhaps from the boating world where sealant between the deck planks has to contend with both heat and cold and remains flexible...?
Just thinking in type... (-: