Yeh! Peter Morgan only fitted front dampers to please the punters who just couldn't understand how it could work without them! The rebound spring, sliding column is a damped system. Take one of the dampers off and assess it by hand, no its not knackered, there is hardly any resistance in its travel at all, in or out! I wonder how many have been scrapped because they were deemed U/S, only to be replaced by the same functioning item, or as often seems to be something which happens now, one with the incorrect closed length and or open travel which doesn't accommodate the rebound drop and is in fact stopping the rebound travel of the suspension system from working as it was designed to operate as the damper bottoms out by being to short in travel before the spring can function!
If you don't believe me and you do go ahead and change them, remove them both and go for a drive. Not only will you not notice any difference but if your suspension is in good fettle it will probably feel more compliant!
Because the front suspension has been modified to fit shocks there is no way it will pass an MOT without them, obviously. But all laughing aside, shocks can only harden the standard front suspension and if any stiffer than almost no resistance can turn it into a suspension that creates a crashing front end. Finally, it is the springs that make or break a classic's front suspension. Progressive main springs will smooth the ride compliance greatly and a rebound spring with a load rating which matches them will complete it and in this situation the weak resisting dampers may remove the slight bounce this set up may induce, although this would hardly be noticeable in normal road driving.
If your suspension is well looked after, clean, un-worn and greased properly your car should drive as well as you would like it too, yes you can finesse it a bit but it will never return the cost or effort for such a small improvement. All those who come away after having front suspension mods carried out and singing their praises should have sorted their existing system out first! If you want a track car then that's another story but for road work with poor surfaces the standard suspension in good fettle is not bad!
The rear suspension does require shocks and here adjustable types are quite a good tuning option, especially if you change load weight regularly. If however you just generally go out as a single driver or with a partner you will find the optimum setting and probably leave it there.
Next I would consider bump stops ,as the suspension travel is quite small and a good thump from a pothole will see it bottoming out.
Rog ,who is on this site makes a superb example of these. Technically they are way more than just bump stops and are really progressive suspension assisters using a rubber cone system much like Sir Alec Issigonis' system which he invented for the early Mini. Ironically these were refitted to the later versions of the Mini too after many years of an hydro elastic system! They are simple to fit, very inexpensive for the quality of workmanship and fully adjustable to fit within an acceptable functional leaf spring flex. For me, these were the most ride revolutionising accessory I fitted to my car, coupled with cleaning the rear leaf springs and lubricating them properly. Does you car sag on one side? Clean and lubricate the leaf springs and this will most likely be the problem and not as you might be told..... you need new springs Sir!
If you drive your car hard around the twisty stuff and if feels that the rear end is moving to each side on hard cornering then a panhard rod will sort that out and keep the car tracking nicely around corners for you. This will be much cheaper than fitting a full five link rear end, after all they both keep the body positioned over the rear axle by removing lateral spring movement and although the 5 link system is excellent on the track, for the road the panhard rod is just fine and of course the 5 link system also relies on a panhard rod almost identical to the 5 link! with a saving of around 3.5K
Still, All joking aside, all that I have given my opinion on here is from experience fact. And probably the first thing is clean, check and service you suspension system correctly, you will be blown away by the difference it will make to your drive. Check your tyres, they might look new but could have degraded through age and will need replacing.
I think this is probably the main reason that Morgans change hands quite a bit, especially if not owned by an afficionado of Morgan's. The new owners excitement of acquiring what can often be a lifetimes dream tends to not initially notice a severe ride as they are told not to expect the finesse of their tin top but as they settle into ownership they start to feel uncomfortable especially as the ride starts to effect the handling and they get sick of fighting it up the roads! They put it away for winter and in the spring with high hopes lubricated with excitement it all comes back to them of how awful it drives, so they sell it. What a shame, Learn to do these basic things yourself and you will have a cracking car and remember, your car may have a modern drive train and electric's but the car is still much the same and needs the sort of attention they did in the 1950's, so start giving it that , learn how to do it yourself and happy motoring will follow! Morgan cars were originally designed for the owner driver to undertake this maintenance work easily at home with a few simple tools. Now go get it ready for summer!
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