Hello Scott,
Good to hear that you are diving into the rebuild and that craftsman Jim
is has given you a hand. Having looked at the photos of your car on your
web site, I think I can offer some insight and maybe some left-over parts
since I have been restoring an early +4 four seater myself for years. My
project must be in the running for world's longest duration Morgan
restoration. Last year my wife and I prolonged the project further (but
boosted our enthusiasm) by buying a '57 4/4 that is basically a good
runner.
My 1954 +4 was rougher than your car appears to be, but at least what was
left of it was mostly original. After some dismantling and taking stock
of things, and as soon as I could afford it, I sent a long list of parts
needs to the Morgan factory. After a few faxes back and forth about
unavailable parts or items only available to a newer spec., we refined the
list and several months later my crate cleared customs in Albany, NY where
I lived at the time. Looking back at that start to the restoration, my
only regret is that I didn't buy more parts, especially a panelled body
tub.
While I hesitate to recommend anything other than supporting the excellent
services of the various US Morgan parts vendors, you need a large quantity
of parts and you are on a tight budget, so I suggest you look into a bulk
order from the factory. This way you'll spread the high cost of shipping
over lots of parts. There will be many services and parts that are not
available or practical to get from the factory, so you'll have plenty of
opportunities to support the US vendors.
Now some questions for you: Could your car be earlier than '56? It looks
like it has a folding windshield -- if its original, then the car would
have to be '54 or '55. The factory can tell you the build date given the
chassis number.
When you say front steering assembly, do you mean steering column/box or
front subframe or ???
I would think the front cone of a Moss box could be reproduced on a lathe
by a machine shop. The top cover should be the same as some Jaguar XK
boxes. I take it you have found a rear cover? That would be hardest part
to find, the rest can be assembled from Jaguar parts as I did when I found
that the original box had several rusty gears.
--Steve Manwell
Melrose, MA
Scott Seidler wrote:
> I forgot I need a 4 seater interior (front seats and back - in need of
> re-covering)
>
> --Scott
>
> Scott Seidler
> Senior Network Engineer
> Eastern DataComm
> 44 Commerce Way
> Hackensack, NJ 07601
>
> voice: 201-457-3311
> fax: 201-457-1811
>
> email: sseidler@easterndatacomm.com
> Web Site: http://home.att.net/~annie.seidler
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