Category: British

Brian Howlett of British Frame & Engine is the go-to source for all things Triumph powered. For this 1955 Morgan (powered by a Triumph 2.1L inline-four) we are currently rebuilding, he provided us with an outline and the appropriate parts to rebuild the engine to “fast road” specs. While the block is at the machine shop, we started machining a few pounds out of the stock flywheel and adapting a custom clutch.

Taking just a little bit of weight from the outer surfaces of the stock flywheel on the Lodge and Shipley lathe.

The clutch conversion consists of an MGB pressure plate and a TR6 disc. Surprisingly, we were able to center the pressure plate within .005″ in the lathe, we then transferred then marked the pins for the locating holes for reference. Then moved this operation over to the Bridgeport for drilling/tapping. 

Pre-setup photo. The big 4-flute end mill was not used. Here is the flywheel on the rotary table ready to be dialed in and drilled.

Since this a not a full race engine, we re-used the factory crankshaft. It was sent out for grinding and nitride treatment.

United. The drive bolts securing the flywheel to the crankshaft were enlarged to 7/16″, and we also installed a new ring gear. The crank, flywheel, and pressure plate will now go out for dynamic balancing, along with the nose pulley, pistons, and rods.

Torque tube repair and throwout bearing fabrication in the next installment.

With the frame straight – or, as straight as it going to be after at least one accident and years of abuse – we are moving on to getting the front end level.

One of the captive nuts fell out of place on the driver’s side lever-action shock mount. ugh.

Flat on top.

The passenger side wheelhouse supposedly made contact with a tree decades ago, and subsequently had some hasty repairs and welds holding it in place. A new section was required.

The wheelhouse repair section.

Nasty MIG welds filled up this front mounting flange. So we removed it and welded on a new piece, and then finished out the welds.

Closer to being welded back in.

With the wheelhouses mounted, I was able to locate a new radiator support. Here it is being leveled out. Crooked cars always feel like a test!

Moving onto the aluminum shroud. This one looks to be a replacement, but it still had plenty of dings, and as far as I can tell, the factory made little to no effort to finish out their welds.

We recently signed on to restore the chassis and driveline for this 1957 Morgan Plus 4, which is said to have raced around the East Coast in during the 1960s and 1970s. Right now the car is entirely apart and we are focusing on getting parts ordered and everything over the machinist.

As found. Photo courtesy of the owner.

Teardown.

Ouch. In addition to this burnt valve, we also found a few bent pushrods.

Here is a 1957 Morgan Plus 4 drivetrain. It consists of a 2.1-liter Standard inline-four, torque tube, and a 4-speed Moss gearbox. We will pull the cylinder liners and studs this week, then the bare block is off to the hot tank. It looks like the bellhousing needs some welding repair, and we will see what’s going on with the Moss box during disassembly.

The first Morgan Plus 4s use the same 2.1-liter OHV inline-four found in Triumph TR2-4 sports cars. This engine utilizes a (very heavy) cast-iron block with a 3-bearing crankshaft and press-in cylinder liners. The liner puller being used is a simple homemade piece that I’ve adapted to a slew of different engines over the years. The preferred tool for head stud removal is a standard pipe wrench. Since the 60+ year old head studs will be upgraded – it does not matter if we up the shank. Lots of penetrating oil applied over the course of a few days, as well as a little heat may be required to remove the stubborn ones.

Why you should always pull your liners during a rebuild.

The bare block. Off to be hot tanked, pressure tested, and line honed.

This project update is long overdue and we’ve made quite a bit of progress on the chassis and inner panels. The last installment showed the chassis be sandblasted. Like many old cars, this one lived a rough life and some serious accident damage was apparent on the passenger side. Enough damage to necessitate straightening and a major realignment. 

Instead of placing the car back in the rotisserie, we secured it to a chassis jig constructed from 2″x5″ steel tube. Custom fixtures were fabricated to locate the rear axle, frame rails, front suspension turrets.

This fixture locates the nose of each frame rail. The 5/8″ solid rods will slide into the holes for the front bumper mounts to keep each frame rail level and parallel.

The second part of the front alignment fixture locates each suspension turret in relation to the rear axle.

Checking straightness of the replacement frame sections with the Stanley laser level.

These four pieces locate the lower control arm mounts through the while keeping them parallel, and the correct distance apart.

The aforementioned control arm mount fixture.

A quick mockup of the control arms, lever-action shock, and spindles.

Double-checking the camber and caster before everything is welded in permanently. The factory calls for 1 degree +. However, it is common to set camber at negative .5-1 degrees, which is better suited for modern radial tires

With these chassis repairs squared away, I’ve been able to move forward with fitting replacement floor pans, footwells, and a scuttle plate.

To be continued.