Jeff,
I just completed a MAJOR renovation of my '69 4/4 including replacement of
the chassis, valences and a lot of wood. The original chassis cracked
through on both sides just in front of the doors. Also the back end of the
valences by the fire wall rusted through as did the bottom of the firewall
itself. Of course the locus of chassis/valence rust was accompanied by dry
rot of the nearby frame members. Lastly several of the cross members were
similarly afflicked. This all made for a disaster waiting to happen. The
fellow restoring the car used a factory chassis augmented by strengthening at
several points. He also sent it out for a proper powder coating as the
factory one is at best "iffy." I will ask him as to what the mods were.
Richard
'69 4/4 with new chassis
In a message dated 8/27/02 2:57:07 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
webster@buyclassiccars.com writes:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I will soon begin the restoration of my 1958 Morgan and was
> wondering about a couple of things.
>
>
> Where do most of you find you've had problems with the chassis,
> i.e.: Cracks, rust etc?
>
> Secondly, I know you can buy chassis from the factory that are
> 'strengthened' - I believe that they put 'gussets' between the
> main chassis rails and the cross sections, but I don't know which
> ones and if that's all they do - Has anyone had this done?
>
>
> I can tell you on my two Morgan's that they have had chassis
> problems in three areas;
>
> 1) Stress cracks on the chassis rail directly beneath the doors -
> in one case it cracked right through on BOTH sides so if it
> weren't for the doors, the car would almost have broken in two!
>
> 2) Stress cracks on the chassis in the rear where the chassis
> dips down beneath the axle. Again theses cracks almost go through
> the entire frame rail and screw up the handling as it affects the
> other end of the chassis where the rear leaf spring attaches
>
> 3) The biggest rust problems have been behind the plate where the
> rear lever-arm shocks attach, as well as the underside of the
> chassis cross section boxes.
>
>
> I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
>
>
>
> Jeff Webster
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