WIRING

I'm about finished up with wiring. I have converted to 12Volts and an alternator. Since I am starting from scratch with wiring I followed the basic Morgan plan and modified it to my needs. I added a fuse box and a ground bus. I used cloth covered wires and found some cloth tape to wrap the wires into a loom.

GOOD NEWS maybe

It's all back together. I found nothing wrong inside the engine. All dimensions are within spec, on the tight side. The cam journals are the only thing that is at max spec.

Oil pressure is still 5# at idle when hot and 20-25# at 35 MPH. Not great but... A friend that races one of these has the same oil pressure and his car runs great so I'll just drive it and see what it does long term. 

Next is to finish up the wiring and get the car registered. More on that later.

BAD NEWS

 I am pulling the engine. The test drives showed low oil pressure and a very tight engine. I drained the oil after 10 miles of driving and it was black!! I dropped the pan and there was a thick black sludge in the bottom of the pan with sparkles. Not good. Better to do it now and maybe save some parts. It's all stripped down and I'll pull it out in the morning. I'll report back on what I find.

TEST DRIVE

I got it together enough to crank up and drive. Great day!! Please excuse my edit booboo.

Still lots of wiring to do and install of lights. I'll be able to get it registered and tagged then.

SIMON SAYS "TAKE A GIANT STEP"

Yesterday and today it finally all came together. The back body got sanded and buffed, near side door installed and the windscreen installed. Wow, I have a car now. Some simple wiring, some antifreeze and a steering wheel and it's time for a test drive. Oh, and a drivers door.

Speaking of doors. During a past restoration the doors must have been refitted on the badly sagging chassis. When I screwed on the passenger door the latch didn't reach the catch with the new flat chassis. I added a 1/16" shim behind the top hinge to pivot the door down and back. It just does catch now but I'll try shimming the catch or move the latch to get a better bite.

FUEL TANK

The tank looked nice on the outside but it had a couple of leaks along the front edge (usual spot). Looking inside with a borescope I could see the rust and decided to do a seal job on it. I chose the KBS brand sealer kit and it looks like it worked just great. Took 3 days to do the cleaning, etching and sealing with waiting to dry time. The sealer takes 4 days to dry so it's a week long job.

BONNET FINISHED

A big day today. I got the bonnet all buffed up and installed.