Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - How many pre 2014 without chassis cracks?

I’ve read a lot about the chassis defects of the pre 2014 cars. And through my work as an engineering planner I know the importance of weld technique and post weld heat treatment to give reliable results. I understand morgan changed design and materials in 2014. But I’m wondering how many cars like my 2012 have not had an issue? Is it a given that it will crack? Or were some more prone to it because of how the weld went on the day.
So if you still run an original 2012-14 chassis please let me know.

Mine is a 2012 and has no cracks after about 55000 miles...it is on its fourth chassis though.

Perhaps this is the engine that theyshould have chosen:

Bad punctuation, sorry. I meant load spreading brackets, glued on with PU adhesive. 😊 No doubt not bouncing the tanks up and down quite so harshly with better shocks will help preserve them as well but the extra brackets seem to fix the problem 🤞.

I can give you about another 8 chassis replacement pre 2014 M3W's out of our small Talk Morgan community, without too much research, plus a few more early cars that have been offered for sale with post 2014 chassis fitted. The TM and MTWC "known" M3W's probably number less than 200, so out of the approximately 2500 M3W's that were produced, we only "know" of under 10% at best and many of them will be post 2014 spec chassis cars. The reality is that the figures don't look quite so rosey if you look at the "known" pre 2014 cars and how many of them we know have had replacement chassis.

I assume that the other 90% of owners, that we don't know about, either have no issues with their M3W's and it's only us on TM that have problems (unlikely), they don't actually drive their M3W's and just look at them (more likely), or have just pushed them to the back of the garage (I have met a few who have done this). If you don't drive them, they will certainly not have any problems, just sitting there looking pretty. The chassis will never crack. Some of these "perfect" low mileage early cars appear for sale occasionally and can be a bargain if the potential cost is factored in.

I cannot say how many cars had replacement chassis fitted by Morgan but I can say that they perfected the replacement down to 2 men in under two days. Plenty of practise to get that proficient I would say.

Ignorance can be bliss but you have made the effort to find out about this before buying, to your credit. It is a lottery and you may get many years of trouble free use from your 2012 M3W, as many have. I would just use it and enjoy it but be aware of where they can crack and check it frequently, for your own safety. If it does crack then it can be repaired, maybe not easily or cheaply but it can be done.

I would add that being aware that the S&S is a torque monster and treat it accordingly. At start up it goes from zero to 100 foot pounds and that wacks the front frame in a big way. There is no way around it. I totally agree with planenut that if it doesn't get driven it won't break. Mine finally went when three cracks at the front developed. It started with one but it then cascaded like dominoes. At start up that engine is trying to leave the building. I'm more than convinced that the start cycle is the culprit as just running the engine at normal revs smooths the vibrations down to something reasonable. Driving the car, even with potholes will not introduce the forces necessary to crack the chassis compared to the start cycle.

Yes, there were Ohlins fitted long before the cracks showed up.
These shocks give a big improvement in comfort and handling but I’m in doubt if it helps to prevent a cracked chassis.
This month we will get our car back from M3W Services France after the chassis improvements.
I will ask them for some pictures to give you an idea of how they solve this problem.

It looks like all pre 2014 specification chassis will eventually crack in the upper forward chassis tubes, no matter what shock absorbers you have. Better quality ones may possibly make things last a little longer but as there is no definite life for these chassis it would be hard to tell. If you fit a nice set of shock absorbers, the car will ride better but you still need to be keeping a close eye of those chassis tubes.

You can sort the fuel tank cracking issue by simply fitting the extra load spreading glue on brackets, as detailed on this forum.

Garden art?? We are wondering how to use our original silencers in a sculpture having had the Garage 56 ones for several years!

I think you can do a pretty good inspection of the upper tubes with a mirror on a stick and a strong light. That said you do need to have a good idea of what you are looking for and exactly where. There are some good photos on this forum of fractured chassis tubes but they do start small. I think they probably propagate quite quickly, so not many photos of the crack starting and that also suggests you maybe need to be looking fairly frequently.

This is one of the few early crack photos I know of. Its near the back bracket of the upper wishbone aft mount, just to give anyone an idea of where to check.

I think your find that the welded A frame tubes where they meet the chassis cross tube are not fully welded under the body section - this was my reason for asking MMC - and the lack of paperwork to you outlining this work possibly explains the complete denial by MMC of any structural welding being carried out