Hooley, Tim T <Tim.Hooley@gs.com> writes
>There were a couple of points in your mail which were of interest to me as
>someone who lives in central London and drives a 1986 fiat-engined +4.
>I have often seen mentioned that "Morgans built before 1986 may have very
>little protection against rust or rot" - why is this?
Morgans have always been built to a price and sometimes the price can be
really nasty after a few years. Prior to 1986 the car was sprayed with
the wings on and the chassis and other metal work would be lucky to be
painted with black paint applied with a hairy brush. The join between
the wing and the body would only be sealed by a thin skin of paint and
very quickly water would penetrate and start the rusting process.
Up to '86, many specialists would expect to do a 'restoration' to a car
every ten years, as the wings would rust, the paint bubble and the
chassis rust and fret with stress. Remember even underseal was an extra-
and that was the nasty bitumastic stuff.
>Do you know what MMC started to do in 1986 and, more importantly for me,
>when they started to do it...?
Post October 1986, (according to John Worrell, Original Morgan, Bay View
Books, ISBN 1-870979-29-X, GBP19.95), cars were painted wings off in ICI
two-pack, most structural bits were powder coated and the chassis could
optionally be galvanised. The woodwork would also be dipped in Cuprisol
to reduce rotting. The car would then get its wings later with piping
between wing and body. This date is also given in Morgan, The Cars and
the Factory, John Tipler, Crowood Auto Classic, ISBN 1-852237-50-3,
GBP19.95.
The easiest way to tell is to look at the join between wing and body and
see if the piping has been painted over, if so the car is pre-change, if
not either the car has been re-done or it is post change.
>Also, you mentioned that "after 40-50k miles will start to loosen up panel
>wise unless looked after."
>
>Well, my car has 43k miles and so I am really keen to know what looking
>after I should be doing (other than the regular greasing, etc. that I do) -
>do you mean 'looking after' by driving carefully over potholes (far too many
>in London!!), or do you mean I should go around the car tightening things
>up....?
As the chassis flexes and the body moves fittings and some panels will
work loose. Go round the car every service and tighten everything in
sight. Most cars will shake something off- if not you're probably not
driving hard enough! My car likes to shake off its exhaust mountings and
oil filler cap. If everything is kept tight things like the door hinge
holes, exhaust downpipe bracket and engine mount holes won't enlarge. I
regularly loose the 2BA nuts and bolts that hold the wings on!
The way the trim is assembled doesn't help, the wadding on the sills can
hold water against the woodwork and accelerate rot, so carefully drying
the car out helps as well.
This together with preventive maintenance, like waxoyl on the chassis,
regular greasing etc. will keep the car better longer.
--
Jeremy Edwards
1972 Morgan 4/4 2 str
Melton Mowbray, England
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