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On the 19th of August Sue and I headed south to go see my now 2012 Plus 4 sport in red with tan interior, only 4700 miles and spent the last 5 years or so in storage. It was in pretty good shape, the inevitable marks from long term storage, had some paint at the front at some point. It had an excellent service record prior to going into storage but hadn't been serviced since 2019.......having said that at 3500 miles. Clearly the oil and filter had been changed more recently, checked the MOT history and that was completely clear no fails or advisories at any point. It needless to say hasn't been used so the engine on start up was a little tappetty, but that still persisted less so on warm up, More about that later.
It drove and rode amazingly well, the suspension was very compliant .Everything worked well, it needed new wipers, so they went and got some from Rutters, whilst I haggled a fair bit, as they clearly wanted rid of it as it was taken in part exchange and not their normal fare. So an amazing deal was struck and OZZY was ours.
It was a terrible journey back, weather was awful, my right arm had only just recovered from a fracture and it was Sue's first drive following her recovery from a fractured ankle, so a bit optimistic on both our parts, but it had to be done.
The first thing I did was book it in for a full service with Life's, changed and greased everything, car felt much better for it. Whilst the tappets had quietened down some what, still aware of them. We decided to leave them for now and see if use would quieten them down, it has helped but not enough so its something I'm going to get them adjusted during the winter.
Having had 3 x 4/4's the most powerful being the 1.8 Duratec in the 70th, I was pleasantly surprised by how much more poke and torque the 2 litre has by comparison, no where near the power of my Roadster but actually far more useable in everyday motoring as the Plus 4 performance envelope is well within the capabilities of the chassis, suspension and brakes. It's as chuckable as my 4/4's, slightly more cabin space and I'm not stirring the gearbox as much as I would be in the 4/4's. The steering is heavy at parking speeds, I notice it more so since my fractured elbow, so in time once the reliability has been sorted out and proven, power steering may be on the list. The Plus 4 gearbox is nicely weighted, slick and a joy to stir, a major departure from the gearbox in the 70th and the Roadster which on occasion detracted from the overall enjoyment of the car Also the dreaded rev hang I experienced in the 70th and Roadster is not a feature of the Plus 4 Sport.
It's had its Morgan moment leaving us stranded, thankfully a short taxi journey from home and a burnt out fuse holder the cause....but as a result the electrics have now all been checked out. I expected some problems as lack of use and particularly long term storage can create problems, as you bring a car back into use, as I found initially with my Roadster, which was also low mileage and stored for many years. I never seem to learn, but sometimes that allows you to put your hallmark on a low mileage car. Its had a couple of light parking incidents whilst outside the house, so I tend to leave on the driveway now.
The Plus 4 has taken me back to my very first experience of driving Morgan's when I acquired second hand the 1985 Sunday Times competition prize 4/4, a really nicely spec'd car also in red, that was very chuckable, decent ground clearance and compliant suspension and good fun. Needless to say a stereo and speakers will join us in the cockpit, I don't miss the music, but it keeps Sue happy, so I'll just switch off and enjoy the car.
I'm using the car far more, very much like my first 4 seater which was my daily hack...........I was thinking of Sorn it over winter, but I don't think so, if I only get a few short drives in a month, it will be worth it.
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