Bob:
When I was adding Scarlet's rear seat recently I was horrified at one point
by the lack of stiffness. I has the frame that supports the boot tray out
and leanned over the rear of the car hand felt everything move. My first
thought was that I must have something wrong and started looking for missing
screws and bolts or bad wood. Finding neither I put my new frame and the
new bulkhead in place. I tried moving things again and was amazed to find
the thing to be very solid.
Scarlet is not a DHC, and I have no knowledge of DHC design, but the
principle I was trying to point out was that all the parts work together to
form a solid (or as solid as a Morgan gets) unit.
I would also suspect that you are right about the ears. Scarlet has
something similar and they function in the same manner.
Steve Bauserman
67 Morgan 4/4 (Scarlet)
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-morgans@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-morgans@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Bob Nogueira
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 1998 9:01 PM
To: aMORGANS@autox.team.net
Subject: Gaps
-- [ From: Bob Nogueira * EMC.Ver #3.1a ] --
Okay folks another question, With the aide of info from Bill and Gerry I am
progressing on the doors for the Drophead. Here's my problem:
With the with the wood about completed I decided to check to see how
critical it was to install the engine and transmission to minimize the
chassis flex. (The Drophead doors fit inside the opening rather than
overlapping the body so the Chassis flex will effect the door gaps ). I
fixed a rod between the door opening and loaded 540 lbs into the passenger
area to simulate two people and the some of the weight of the engine and
transmission .
Well the results show the opening closing up by 3/32 of an inch at the top
of the door. Given the 1/8th to 3/16 inch gap thisdoes not appear to me to
be very good . (at 340 llbs the opening closed up about 1/16 ). Given the
rather flexible nature of the Morgan , what normally keeps the doors edge
from hitting the body when goin over dips or jacking up the car ?
While having the engine installed might stiffen things up a bit, given the
rubber mounts I doubt it.
The chassis is in excellent condition and the body tub is rock solid so I
don't see a problem there.
I figure I must be missing something . It seems to me that all Dropheads
would have chipped paint around the door edges ( not to mention doors which
would not open ) if that amount of flex was normal .
Any Drophead owners out there who can shed some light on this situation?
Also the ears on my door latches are broken off. How important are theses
ears which grab the striker plates? Is this what stops the door skin from
hitting the body?
Bob Nogueira
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