Not quite finished yet

For a long time, I hoped that the final step in the Morgan restoration is the upholstery. I was excited when I picked up the car yesterday evening. But as it turns out – I am done yet. Tonight, I just took a step back and compiled a list of issues and details that still need fixing.

I already posted pictures from my attempt to fix the passenger door. After going back and forth – the only option I see is the one I tried yesterday. And that is to add a shim between the hinge and the frame. This way the back part of the door moves up a bit – which should give the clearance required. But as seen on the pictures yesterday – I need to modify the dashboard and trim off about 3-4mm from the lower edge. otherwise, the front part of the door doesn’t fit.

Therefore, the Dashboard needs to come out away. I still need to correct a shape for the wiper stalk the steering column anyway. It will also help finding an issue with the dip beam – which worked a few weeks ago, but not anymore.
Footwell lightning and a Bluetooth receiver are new additions, which I added to the list tonight. The wooden steering wheel will be replaced by a slight smaller leather variant.

What I was able to fix tonight is a wrongly mounted tunnel. The way the upholstery shop screwed it down, it was touching the prop-shaft. But now the new carpets in the rear need to be changed again. It is a good question whose fault this is – but it doesn’t help – it just needs to be changed. Even worse: my foot is too wide for the accelerator pedal. What has changed? Well – up to date I never had any cover on the gearbox tunnel. With the new leather cover about 1cm of material is added. My shoe size is US 14 – which is something I cannot change. The only option I see is to create a bulge in the tunnel material and/or modify the leather cover. Annoying…..

A slightly longer test-drive revealed that removing the steering dampers was a bad idea. At a speed between 50 and 80km/h the entire front of the car feels a bit shaky and awkward. I will put the dampers back on and have the wheel alignment checked. Also, the tires are 10 years old and need to be replaced. I am thinking about fitting Maggie’s wire wheels with the Dunlop Sport Classic tires and getting new wheels that are easier to clean and Dunlop or Avon tires for the MGB.

New seat rails are also required. Currently I have 50x50mm steel rails which are screwed in from underneath the car. To get the clearance in the back required for the leaf spring covers – I need to switch to 60mm rails. All-in-all: a frustrating end to a frustrating day….