Armando's alarm about fitting the "wedge" air filter reminds me of my
investigation of this dilemma which included trips from sea to shining sea.
[BTW, I can't fit one of these to my 63 DHC nor can another
Massachusetts compadre to his 58 - insufficient clearance.] I have seen
various solutions to this problem, including making a spacer out of shoe
leather that extends the bonnet stop and pushes the bonnet out enough
to clear the thing! It seems to be largely a matter of which manifold and
carb setup is on a given car, i.e., there are "short" throat manifolds and
"long", the SUs perhaps as well. [I believe this is the real determinant,
once you start looking closely the length difference is obvious.] Jim
Taylor, a SoCal owner, was unable to refit his filter after his car was
restored! Some folks have been able to get the clearance by grinding
down the manifold face and/or using a thinner spacer/gasket between
the carbs and the manifold. Cars that are ostensibly the same year and
model will have different clearances under the bonnet [every Morgan a
unique construction!]. Bottom line for me was a big maybe, not enough to
put up the $$.
Armand, I'll bet there are a number of folks stateside who have
one of these puppies laying around [including my friend up here] who'd
by willing to let you have a trial fit/conditional sale just for the cost of the
shipping. Or, I know Penny Bates at Olde World Restorations has/had at
least one of these, although possibly pricier than Melvyn's, even w/
shipping from the UK. Of course, unless you're a high mileage driver in a
grotty part of the country, you could just guts it out like most of us! Good
luck!
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