Morgan +4 Forum

I use originality as a template. I came to understand that I didn't buy my Morgans because I dislike vintage cars I can understand and fully interact with roadside. As soon as I realized (prodded by my originally disdainful snowmobiler wife) that a carefully tweaked and maintained Morgan can comport itself in a deliciously comfortable manner and become ultimately reliable, I became happy with originality. (wryly!)

My personal rule is simple. I will not do anything to my Morgans that cannot be reversed, by myself inside of my tiny Morgan garage,within 24 hours. Of course, as my skills and experience increased, that arena expanded. But by then..and to date, my goal became making the car simpler and more reliable..getting down to very essence of Morgan motoring, a reflection of the Golden Age of Automobiling. A little, light, open air car with a too big motor.


Neither am I. I have replaced every scrap of it in the interior of my cars. But our prejudices are not logical, they are merely prejudices. Finding uses for discarded plastic is far more important to the world than giving the MMC public money to buy back the Factory they lost (in the very needed residential area where children play) at a huge profit to the speculator/owner? Would not finding ways of using recycled plastic be smarter than robbing the planet of more huge trees..that, as we see, inevitably rot on our cars? Morgan is well-known enough to have its use of plastic in this fashion make a happy impact on plastic recycling perceptions, something we very much need. .


Not really. But they have other charms.

BTW. Back to the original (pun!) subject. I just ran across the PacMog advertisement for some of Bill Button's Morgans. This is totally unprodded by anyone, specifically Bill, but I am going to post it..breaking my own famous rules. It is germane here. You see Bill is not a garage queen person..which gives a buyer an open arena in that area. However, there is likely NOTHING Bill doesn't know mechanically and structurally about his own cars. He is amazingly candid. If one is looking into purchasing a Morgan, especially one from the glory days...I would look at these. Unlike others, his are an open book. (Sorry about embarrassing you Bill but I just got theMorgan Link this minute!)

gmg



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-02-26 11:23 AM by GoMoG.

Sorry I have been away skiing.
Thanks for all your info. I have already made my choice. A 1960 Plus4 with a rebuilt 2,2 Triumph Engine, and Moss gearbox and fairly new interior, but still with a very used dash and the beige instruments. Its been resprayed a few years back but I guess after 60 years it would have to have been.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! That should be an excellent choice. Loads of backup for that one and an amazingly reactive car. Simply stay off of restricted access highways. With Morgans the destination is not a priority, the drive is. Resist the temptation to alter it for the first year. Let IT tell you what it wants and then confer.

gmg

Oh no, only winding roads for me..�
Just hope I don’t discover any wooden horror stories.�

Congratulations and many miles of smiles ahead. Regarding wood horror stories, if you don't take the car apart, you can go many years without knowing what's underneath. If I didn't take the car apart to paint it, I never would have know the extent of the rot. Because the car drove well and was bags of fun. I'm slowly coming to the opinion the cars will continue to perform, even with wood issues. It's great to have piece of mind that all is well, but ignorance (for me) was bliss. I second Lorne's sage advice, drive for a while before you do anything. get it sorted and it will tell you what it needs. Best of luck......

Gary

Thanks again to both for the simple advise.
I am starting to wonder if there wouldn’t be a way to impregnate the wooden structure via injection or something as I believe it’s not so hard to get access to many areas. Also my thinking is if water got in to rot, then products can be gotten in too to some extent?
Has anybody attempted any in situ treatments?

Gary R.
I’ve just realised that you were in fact the author of a post regards wood repairs with modern products.
So ref my point regards adding preservatives in situ seems like you have been experimenting. ? �

Tony,

I would recommend you review my thread called "Wood Replacement" for a more complete picture. To address your question for a good preservative I used a product by the Min-Wax company called "Wood Restorer", also know as Wood Hardener. You just paint this product onto the wood and it cures in about 24-48 hours. It really does seem to harden the wood and restores some integrity to old wood. Now for dry rot I used a product called "Git Rot", which I had to get on Amazon as no retailers near me carried it. It can be had in most marine supply stores because it was developed for boats originally. To get a good result from this product you must have wood fiber in the area. If you have a dry rot hole, as I did, you will need to fill the hole with a wood replacement piece. To use this product you drill a number of holes in and around the rotted area. Be very careful when drilling directly into the rot because if you are too aggressive it just kinda blows apart. If you have fiber then this product does work very well. it is a two part mix and once mixed you have about 30 minutes to inject the area before it starts to go off. It cures in about 48 hours and you can then treat the area as solid wood, sand, screw or paint.

Now having said all that, if your car feels reasonably tight with no apparent or obvious weakness, you're probably go to go. The "B" pillar, rockers and rear wood piece that runs across from frame rail to frame rail was where I had the rot and although the rockers themselves are not structural the sill board is. I do believe these little time machines can just keep running if you don't screw them up.

Hope that helps,

Gary

Gary yes I did follow you thread.
Good for everyone that you laid it out again though.
May need to find alternatives in Europe though.
I don’t intend to do anything but drive her for the first few months as she will still need some tuning in on the new engine after which I will try to learn more about the wood aspect.
Don’t get her for around another 4 weeks anyway.

Four weeks more waiting, perfect timing for the spring driving season. I am anxious too, it's been in the high 30's the last couple of week-ends and driving with the top down has been a little 'nippy'. The car you bought is it a home market car originally or a left hooker from somewhere else?

The car is a left hooker, came 3 years ago from PA USA, its looks quite nice having being repainted same original colour and having had a new interior a few years back, in UK had a rebuilt TR4 engine swap and the Moss gearbox rebuilt by a Moss specialist I am now shipping it to my holiday home in Italy. I am swapping it with its current owner a motoring journalist for another car I have a rare micro car. I own a TR5 for 30 years and other cars so understand things generally, not too worried about the mechanicals, just a bit about the wood but its presumably ok. So I am not at all new to classics but just new to Morgans. April I will start driving. I would hope that after near 60 years its pretty sorted but know it never ends hahahaha.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2019-02-27 09:54 AM by Rem18.

The reason I asked was because, by reputation, the home market cars suffer from the weather and many of the other markets have drier weather. Not sure Pennsylvania is a lot better than the UK. Of course, at the age of these cars it probably makes little difference where they have spent their time. It's more about how they were taken care of, maintained and used. I understand you have had and have other collector cars, but really there is nothing that compares to a Morgan. Especially the TR engined ones or the +8's because they have power other similar built or looking cars never had. MG T series cars and HRG's come readily to mind. The MGTC was even more primitive than the Morgans with a solid front axle and the TD's and TF's although slightly more modern had less power. I've owned a number of TC's, my first car, and I do love them, but there is something about Morgan's that's unique. I wish you all the best and hope you check in here often.

Gary

Haha pity about the space though as with a 6cyl PI engine the Morgan would have been a flyer already in the 1960’s.
If it wasn’t sacrilege I would stick a supercharger on the Morgan as it wouldn’t add weight.
I am sure I will enjoy it for its own merits, speed isnt everything. I own a prototype road going turbo powered f3 car that was the first road car with a composite chassis (even before MacLaren) but I am sure the Morgan will make me feel like it’s going faster than the prototype haha
Ps I think the car was from a Virginia not PA US geography is not my forte... �



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2019-02-27 01:51 PM by Rem18.

Virginia's better than PA, considerably less salt on the road in the winter so that's probably a plus. As to your road going F3, wow, that's got to be wild. You are right about the Morgan feeling faster than it is. Actually, that is one of the things that I like about them, I can get a thrill at 45 MPH I couldn't get in Porsche at three time that speed. I like the idea of a supercharger if it could be made to fit. I had a TC with a Shorrock Blower and although the added speed was not really that great, the sound was amazing.

Yes sound has its advantages and a blower is the kind of modification that’s reversible �