John-
Thanks for sharing this all-Morgan experience with us!! Wonder what the
loud "BANG" was? Grade-5 bolts and locknuts sound like a good solution no
matter what the original trouble turns out to be!
I was Mogging down the highway one day and was passed by a person who
persuaded me to gas it hard and catch up with her (for reasons which will
remain obscure to the list). As I passed the 85 mph point, the cockpit was
suddenly filled with loud banging, popping, horrifying engine noises. I
just KNEW that when I got stopped and popped the hood I would be greeted by
the raw end of a connecting rod leering at me out of the side of the little
Ford block.
In fact, the first exhaust connection (clamp) below the header had come
loose, and the tailpipe was trailing 6 feet out behind the car. The
combination of this thing scraping on the highway, combined with a 2-3/4"
open exhaust with no baffles (well, just the exhaust valves) 3 feet from my
ear, had created this cacaphony, which was easily fixed, although I never
caught up with my intended goal.
Hope you're back on the road soon! Just OWNING a Morgan is more fun than
DRIVING any other kind of car.....repeat 20
times......ommmmmmmmm.......ommmmmmmmm.......
Lannis
-----Original Message-----
From: HOOGLY@aol.com <HOOGLY@aol.com>
To: <morgans@autox.team.net>
Date: Saturday, June 24, 2000 7:13 PM
Subject: Why I didn't make it to Mid-Ohio this year
>I had been looking forward to this thing since my first trip last year.
What
>a great event. The organizers even put a picture of a Morgan +4 on the
front
>page of the literature so I knew this would be a memorable day. I got out
of
>bed at 5.30am. My wife was in South Carolina and the dog was at the
>neighbors so this was going to be a great weekend. The trip is about 160
>miles for me from Cincinnati. 10 rolls of film and my 300mm lens would
make
>some great action shots not to mention being able to up close to such
exotic
>machinery.
>Shrugging off any suggestion from the British car club about caravanning
>(Real men drive Morgans) I set off alone.
> Anyway 48 miles out I was cruising up Interstste 71 with the sun shining
and
>not a care in the world when I was jolted out of my euphoria by the
loudest
>bang I've heard in a long time. Assuming that the truck I had just passed
>had blown a tire, I just carried on. (At this point you will realize that
I
>am a mechanically challenged novice when it comes to ancient British
>machinery).
> At this point the ammeter started to gyrate wildly so I thought perhaps
that
>the generator had fallen off or maybe even the battery (off that shelf
>underneath the boot out of sight out of mind). This could well be another
>separate incident to be reckoned with at some future time.
> I paid no attention and dismissed the whole incident from my mind as being
>of no importance. I was going to have a good day. After about another 20
>miles I knew it was time for coffee so pulled off. Coming off the exit
ramp
>and putting my left foot down where the clutch used to be, I realized
>something was wrong.
>A very friendly passing motorist helped me push the car to the nearest
>refuge, a truck stop.
> My head is wider than the ground clearance on a Morgan so I couldn't get
>underneath and didn't really know what was under there. The Walmart jack I
>carry with me does not instill confidence to actually use it and certainly
>not in an application like this. I always carry with me a Morgan Spares
>catalogue with those splendid exploded diagrams and there right on page 25
>was the clutch linkage. It didn't look too complicated but I couldn't get
to
>it. Even thought of taking the floorboards up. After eliminating all of
the
>immediate options (Yeah, I know a guy down the road who can fix your car) I
>decided on the last resort.
> A cell phone and a paid up AAA membership.
>The guy showed up about an hour later with a flat bed. He knew that knock
off
>wheels would wind off if towed backwards - "I towed a Morgan only last
week"
>I also remembered that Fred Sisson told us never to tow a Morgan from the
>front because it lifts half the Moss box internals above the oil level ( or
>something like that) and preservation of Moss boxes is more important than
>Stradivarius violins.
>Anyway to cut a long story short the Morgan was back in My driveway five
>hours after I had originally started.
>Now, being able to get it up on stands (getting underneath still makes me
>nervous) I realized that all that was needed was a grade 5 half inch bolt
>which I got from the local hardware store together with a couple of lock
>nuts. Whatever was there before has now gone so somebody tell me if I have
>over simplified the remedy.
>Look forwad to making it next year.
>
>John Rogers (whose Morgan experiences are more perilous than day trading
>internet stocks which I also enjoy)
>
>
>
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