Workspace

Luckily, I was able to rent a bigger garage a couple month ago. It is roughly 5×5 meters but only has a single 2m width garage door on the left side. I used this space to restore a 1991 Mini Cooper (aka Miffi) last winter. This was followed by my first clutch change on my daughters’ 2003 Ford SteetKa (aka Liselotte). While both projects have been fun and ended successful – it took much longer than I originally expected.

With Miffi and Liselotte out of the way my kids decided to use the first sunny April weather. They set off to relocate the “Family Morgan” from my sister’s garage. In the middle of the Corona Lockdown this gave them something to do over the weekend.  I am still surprised and unsure how they managed this trip. The most obvious problem when they arrived was that coolant was leaking from multiple cracks in the hoses and the radiator. The worst crack was in the pipe directly behind the alternator.

On inspection the four spark plugs looked interesting: two of them were oily, one pitch black, one completely white. The other side of the engine was covered in oil. Although I am not entirely sure but it looked like it came out of the PCV valve. I already knew that the front suspension needed attention. Brakes, steering, dampers as well as the King pins are on the todo list. So the plan at this point was to remove the front, remove the suspension and engine. Since the Mini also must be parked in the garage it quickly put together a rolling jig. Yes – it is made of wood, but the Morgan just weighs around 800kg and it works just fine. This allows me to move the Morgan into the back corner of the garage – and can be pulled out when I need to work on it.