5. The refurbishing of the retained componentry continues (front suspension next!), replacements are sourced for items too worn, unrefurbishable and simply unwanted.

6. December 19th, 2006. It's a good day! Something I had been very concerned about, a full chassis examination, happened early this morning in Market Drayton.

The flexing Morgan chassis (aka frames) are wear parts. Though they will normally last 20+ years, this is not a rule, and they CAN last less. Our UK Mog comes from an era which is post-cuprinol, so I did not worry on the wood, but it is from the era of pre-galvanizing frames and had never been heavily undercoated (one of the reasons I bought it).

It has been gone over with a fine tooth-comb and it is solid as Gibraltar!

The frame is shot-blasted, sanded smoth and flat,  primed, sealed and painted.

N.B. Sheet steel panels are sand blasted only if they are very rusty, BUT you have to have find somebody who is really good and have a lot of faith in them, as the heat generated during blasting can easily destroy the panels. DO NOT DO IT UNLESS YOU REALLY TRUST THE OPERATOR!!

6. All mild steel parts are inspected as they are stripped and then immediately primed. The priming is necessary even if they are to be modified or repaired as air quickly rusts absolutely bare steel within hours ...especially in England.
 

7. The wood, now exposed, also looks good. Cuprinol does work! However, even Cuprinol loses its effect over a long period and since the disassembly allows access, Kevin will take the opportunity to refresh the wood with another cuprinol coat and muchly lengthen the protection it affords for the future.

8. The wings, cowl and bonnet have returned from the stripper. The closeup look at the stripped parts show a sad story. There are far from perfect. There are holes at the wing lamps. Not uncommonly, the stress at this point has been too much for the wing. However, a real expert can fix this as good as new by welding in fresh metal aluminum. See picture.  A section is cut out and replaced, then ground and sanded to leave the repair imperceptible.

The damage goes further though. The pre-Superform alloy wings (1960s to 1998) were/are made by a company called Vintage Wing and Radiator. These are made by metal beating and use an alloy soft enough to be susceptible to this. To stiffen the edge of the wings, a steel wire was used and the edge rolled around it. Over time, there is a hostile electrolytic reaction between the two metals and edge of wings rot. If it is caught in time, the edge can be "unrolled", the wire removed, the cavity cleaned out thoroughly and the wire replaced with non-reactive compounds that will prevent the two metals from reacting with each other.

This is where only the best of experts can advise you. Kevin considers the wings for a day or two and regretfully reports that he cannot absolutely guarantee that a repair will last more than 2-5 years in British weather. That counsel, from that source, is enough for me. I am looking for a "forever" car and though a future wing replacement is nowhere as onerous a task as restoration. I make a decision to consider other options.

Vintage Wing & Radiator still supply the older Morgan wings through the MCC and to the market directly in both alloy and steel. (Steel wings may rust but there are always repairable as they will not rot in the same way the Vintage alloy wings will.).  The wait is three weeks. However, the Vintage wings are made as they always were. As they are beaten to shape. This means that much filler and preparation time will be necessary to make them smooth and consistent. As well, they still use the steel stiffening wire on a roll edge and will not change even on request. A few years will create the same problem unless we open up the edge and treat the wire in hope of slowing the inevitable process.  Lastly, the soft Vintage alloy wings are susceptible to road damage and star fractures.

Superform wings are formed by suctioning heat-softened alloy sheets onto a Morgan wing mold. This makes their consistency and surface finish near perfect. As it is heat not hammering that forms the wing, the alloy used is far harder than that used by Vintage Wing & Rad and the Superforms are far more damage and stone resistant than the earlier wings. The edge is not rolled but rather formed by a molding which is epoxied on. (In the earlier Superform days, this epoxy and MMC paint process could cause a reaction appearing as bubbling around the edge.)

Superform wings are more expensive than Vintage wings but that difference is easily made up in a saving on restorer preparation time and cost. They are better lighter product. However, though Superform wings are regularly supplied to the Factory but Plus 8 wings (front) have gone the way of the Plus 8 and are stocked now only when ordered. A call to the MMC Parts Departments finds some angels and a stock set is available that day! We buy them.

N.B. It has been noted by many that the rot with the older Vintage Wing & Rad wings can likely be cured by cutting out the rolled edge and steel wire and using a Superform wing moulding to refinish the edge. This would save 100s of Morgan wings. However, we were informed by the MMC that Superform sadly refuses to supply them (or anyone else) this molding by itself.

In sum, I no longer believe that earlier alloy winged Morgans shuld merit a premium in the buying price over steel. Steel wings last longer, are considerably more impact resistant and can always be repaired if they rust. Early alloy wings come with their rot pre-determined and impossible to repair, are very suceptible to impact leading to paint stars and cracks.