Well, I’ve almost got the Morgan +4 down to its rather aged and victimized elements, and the picture is not particularly rosy, though we’ll make it right in the end. I feel only mildly foolish for buying a car needed complete restoration which was billed as a decent driving car, but such are the perils of buying sight-unseen!
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This car is a bit tougher than I hoped (or paid for, really). But it will come together. The entire right side of the car shows various amounts of poorly repaired accident damage, and I’ll be putting that right. I have a new chassis on order, this one is both in tough shape on the side you’re looking at and cracked on the other side.
I guess it’s like building a bridge: You can support the weight from below, or suspend the weight from above.
There is a huge chunk of that rear cover missing. What violence happened that led to that? That much force within the car and the whole thing would be splinters. I suspect it was dropped from a bench (or something like that).
On the plus side, the ’55 Morgan does seem pretty solid, for Morgan values of solid. The car is amazingly, amusingly simple–the top frame is comical. I rather like the whole thing.
Having not learned my lesson last time ’round, I have bought another car sight-unseen from across the country, though this one seems to not be a project. (Cue ominous music.) This is my 1955 Morgan +4, which will be picked up soon and hopefully will be here in The Soggiest State in the next couple of weeks.
Photo is from the seller’s website, I will post a full report once the car has arrived.
The E-Type has found a new home, and I hope the new owner gets a lot of enjoyment out of it! It’s a bittersweet moment, but unfortunately the car had to go as the hole dug getting it finished really needs to be filled in.
Here, the hardtop is in place, but said hardtop needs to be completed–the new owner will be completing that part of the restoration themselves. Depending on how much is left in the “car kitty” once all of the smoke clears, hopefully a new “inmate” here at Rusty Keep will appear soon!
Drove the E-Type yesterday!
Aside from putting the window seals on the driver’s side and buying another front trim strip to replace the one I just ruined (because, surprise, surprise, it doesn’t fit quite right and kinked while I was adjusting it), the top is mostly done.
I guess I’m getting closer to being done. At this point, it’s waiting for the rear bumpers to get back from the chrome shop, refinishing the top frame (and installing the top), and finishing the dash top.
The dash, sigh–at this point, for expediency’s sake, I’m leaning strongly towards just using the normal replacements readily available, rather than trying to replicate the early car’s thinner dash, much as I’d like to. This car has pretty much soured me on using professionals for much of anything, and I don’t have a good plan for producing a good early dash replica with the means I have available here.
This car will be on the market soon(ish), and if you’re interested, drop me a line. It’s a good 1- to 2+ car using Hagerty’s value guide. It’s a lovely old thing, just wish I could afford to keep it.
What would take a pro a couple of afternoons has taken me a month of spare time, but I have most of the interior installed. I only have a few very minor visible mistakes–and I think they’ll be fairly invisible once the seats are in.