That Was Then...

Sorry for my long absence but I've been busy with work and restoring the Morgan Plus 4. As always, when you start a body off restoration, you discover everything about a car's history.

In the Morgan's case, it was pretty much as expected except for a case of chassis "kick-up" which is common in well used Mogs. Amazingly, the body panels were entirely rust-free and all original. That made me feel great. I found evidence of the original factory color red as well as navy blue and yellow although it looks like those colors were part of some trial and error at the factory. The chassis and wood repairs were made by my local Morgan authorized dealer in Copake, NY. They did a great job and yes, it was more than twice the cost anticipated.

I spent months cleaning and polishing all of the bits that came off to insure a quick re-assembly. The body panels were stripped, primed and ready for paint in 6 weeks time. By early May, it was at The Hot Rod Shop in New Milford, CT ready for paint. I really sweated the color selection. The Morgan factory build sheet said red so red it would be. But what shade of red? I searched and decided on the perfect color; Ferrari Rosso Barchetta fit the bill perfectly.

By mid-June, the parts and chassis were back in my garage and assembly began earnestly. It went together very nicely as my instructions to not straighten any of the original bends in the sheet metal were followed.

After a flurry of last minute parts orders the car was ready for a test drive. We discovered that the carbs were pitifully out of synch causing stalling and hot start issues.

With a little effort and faith plus proper timing set, that as resolved itself nicely. My first long trip was to a Hemmings car show at Lime Rock Park. That's 25 of the most beautiful miles in Northern Connecticut. I am really lucky to live here full time! No problems yet but it is an English sports car so I joined AAA.