Our Morgan Radiator by John Leonard
Standard Morgan Factory Radiator
"It turns out that the sides of the factory radiator are made of some kind of structural plastic which had failed".
On a recent trip to France in in No.002 we suffered a radiator failure.
Every morning of our trip I had religiously checked under the bonnet for any signs of a problem, including the coolant level.
When we left our hotel on the day the radiator failed the coolant level was normal and looked clean.
The first I knew that there was anything wrong, some sixty or so miles into our days journey, was when I checked the rear view mirror and noticed a haze behind us.
The haze soon turned into a white cloud so I stopped the car immediately.
When I had stopped, but before I had managed to turn the engine off, coolant was blown out through the bonnet louvres by the fan.
As I stood beside the car, coolant was being dumped all over the road leaving
me in no doubt that there had been a serious failure of either a hose or the radiator itself.
I lifted both sides of the bonnet but was unable to see the cause of the problem, all hoses looking ok so far as I could see.
Long story short, the car was recovered to a nearby garage where they poured water into the system only to see it run out underneath as fast as they were pouring it in.
Using an inspection light we could just make out the water exiting where the bottom hose enters the rad.
The car was repatriated by the AA, who did an amazing job of getting us and the car home, to Melvyn Rutter’s garage where, delving deeper, they discovered that the spigot on the rad to which the lower hose is attached had just sheared off and was still in situ, inside the hose with the jubilee clip still attached.
It turns out that the sides of the factory radiator are made of some kind of structural plastic which had failed.
Close up of the Broken Spigot
Broken Piece of Spigot
Close up of the Broken Spigot with Radiator Laid Flat
It seems that my experience is not unique, Melvyn described to me how the
radiator on their hire car, a +4 I believe, had had the spigot for the top hose shear off
in the same way only the week before.
Hence the reason for this report, I thought others may be interested to see what
happened so that they are aware of the problem. My car has only just completed
6000 miles.
I elected to fit a Mulfab, aluminum radiator rather than the factory one, both
for it’s better strength and it’s 40% greater cooling area, something I would have
appreciated while driving around the foothills of the Pyrenees in temperatures
of 80 degrees F!
Johns' New Mulfab Alloy Radiator Installed Showing the New Cross Tie Bar.
John's Roadster 100 Radiator fitted using the original Cross Bar Location with Plastic Inner Cowl Removed.
Frank's Roadster 100 Mulfab Radiator which has had the Tie Bar moved back to allow the Inner Plastic Cowl to be Retained.
The Retained Inner Cowl is showing here with the New Radiator touching its rear edges.
I turned the Horns to the inside to allow the fitting of my new Lower Valance tie bars.
The Tie Bar of another Member, Klaus's self fitted radiator.
Here you can see the amount that Frank's Tie Bar has been relocated towards the engine.
Here is a photo of Frank's lower Support Bracket, which you will see later, is totally different to John's early Mulfab Radiator.
Here you can see the Clearance at the top of Frank's Radiator, which when compared to Johns' in the first photo would suggest that the dimensions have also been modified over time.
Frank's top support bearing.
This photo was taken much later after fitting the Remote Greasing kit and trying to preposition the Air intake tube.
This photo was taken much later after fitting the Remote Greasing kit and trying to preposition the Air intake tube.
Two views of the Radiator Top Support Bracket fitting onto the Tie Bar Bracket
The New Offside Support Bracket on Johns car which are totally different to Frank's later model.
The New Nearside Support Bracket on John's Car.
The Lower Pipe Connection on John's car
Frank's Radiator Lower Protrusion.
These Notes were provided by Frank for use by another owner.
I noticed that on my fitting, a new Inner Top Cross Tie Bar had been supplied with the parts ( which also includes the fixing position for the top lug ) .
This bar has been fitted slightly further back than the original location.
You can also see that on both examples in my photos, the Top Lug fitting is at the extreme setting towards the engine to provide the extra space required for the extra thickness of the radiator.
I have noticed that one or two other owners with Aluminium Radiators do not have the plastic inner cowl fitted, the one that is located behind the grill.
The New Radiator is probably deeper than the original?
I wondered if the plastic cowl had been left out to allow the original Tie Bar location to be used so I imagine that you will have to deal with that choice.
1. Leave the Tie Bar where it is but remove the Plastic Inner Cowl.
2. Retain the Valance and move the Tie bar back to allow the Rad to just touch the Inner Cowl.
3. Resize the depth of the Plastic Cowl to allow the extra depth to fit with the original Tie Bar Location.
Before fitting my Valance I sprayed this silver lower Tank area with grey 'road chip
paint' which helped to disguise it.
John's Bottom Tank of New Radiator. This appears to be quite a bit lower than Frank's
I took the photo from ground level looking upwards, the radiator looks much more exposed than it really is from this angle.
John's Lower Valance with Grill sold by Wolf Performance
John's Valance Painted
Frank's Valence from Williams Morgan fitted by himself with a tight curvature to maintain ground clearance.
Another Owner's 'Williams Morgan Valance' fitted at Williams.
John Leonard
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Member Willie Austin sent in the following comments after fitting his own replacement Radiator:
Having just fitted the Sifab rad to #21, I didn’t bother refitting the front scoop.
Car was jacked as high as I could and decent axle stands brought the job to my level.
Front wheels off to allow light and ready access to inner wings; number plate box, inner wing spacer with horns attached, grill and front cowl all removed to a safe distance.
Probably good to take photos of each stage to aid rebuild.
The new rad was tight fitting to the front inner wings and I used some thick rubber door seal as padding to ensure there was no chafing should the two surfaces meet.
I found that it was worth some time ‘fettling’ the new top tie bar, to ensure the front wings were properly aligned, before refitting the front cowl, grill and number plate mount.
The new rad is much larger and efficient; however, it extends some 2” below the old one.
As others before, I have fitted a short valance between the front over-riders; this was a Stubbie with GT air vent from Wolf Performance, which looks quite ‘sexy’!
This requires the horns to be moved above the wing spacer to which the number plate box fits; you may also need to re position the over-riders by adjusting the position of their securing ‘U’ bolts.
Terrific upgrade to the Mogster!
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Member R. Nick Taylor sent in the following comments and photographs:
No cowl fitted
I have fitted aluminium plate (off cut from tool tray) to protect the radiator from stones, as the matrix looked vulnerable.
I Left air gaps around to avoid.
Overheating Works OK.
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