Dave Wellings - Roadster S1 Spark Plug Inspection

I've been putting this job off....................

On the S1 Roadster, the three nearside plugs are under the air filter box, and easy to get at.........…

The three offside plugs are under the inlet manifold, which must be moved out of the way for access.

I've had my Roadster for ten years now, and on the basis that modern plugs last 30-60,000 miles, I didn't worry too much.

A couple of weeks ago at BHM I asked Keith what his view was on this. He prefers to take them out for an inspection, in order to know that they will come out...........

Sometimes on Plus 4's with exposed plugs, the corrosion can make the plugs very hard to remove, and may in really bad cases, require the head off and an insert fitted.

So that's the background to this job, at 20,004 miles......

This is the nearside with the air filter removed, and the inlet manifold visible at the top. Three of the inlet manifold fasteners are visible just above the coolant pipe.



This is looking directly down the first plug hole, with the plug visible. It was surprisingly clean inside.



It's a long way down and this is a long socket extension.

I secured the socket to the extension using electrical tape. 

The last thing you need is to lose the socket down that hole.

The first plug as it came out. Surprisingly clean.



Number two.



Number three.

The inlet manifiold is secured by six long setscrews, and two short ones. 

Looking down on the engine from the offside, this is where they are located. 

The one extreme left is buried at the rear of the engine and initially caught me out.

I disconnected a couple of breather pipes (top left) and was able to lift the manifold just enough......….

Continued....................>>

This side needed a slightly shorter socket extension. Access is tight.

Plug number four (blurred image!!)



Five.



Six.

I cleaned the plugs, but left the gap well alone. I made sure that the threads were clean and refitted with a smear of coppaslip.

I also smeared Coppaslip on the manifold setscrews. 

Keith advised me that the manifold gasket is usually OK to re-use. 

If you wanted to change the gasket you may have to liberate the inlet manifold some more to get enough room to change it.

The plug caps come off with a sharpish tug, and relocate with a muffled "pop".

And that was it. An afternoon's work, and the Roadster fired up straight away as usual...….

The original plugs are now rare, and you are likely to get the AGSF32 plug which is hotter, but recommended for the 2.5V6 Fords.

Search the ST220 forum for chapter and verse.

However the NGK equivalent (not sure if this is equivalent to the 22 or the 32), is PTR6F-13. 

That's what I'll probably go for when I change.

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Comment from TM Member - I have just placed an eBay order: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290238629046 

Details:

The order contains the following items: 

NGK_7569_SB - Ford Mondeo 3.0 v6 ST220 NGK PLATINUM SPARK PLUGS x6

Shipping
Total cost is GBP 29.99 + shipping 4.45. This seems ok to me but the NGK part number is completely different from the NGK part number you suggested above..

I fitted NGK Iridium ITR6F13 to my S1 at 40k miles and was amazed at how good the previous set looked when removed, clean as a whistle, and minimal gap increase of perhaps just a couple of thou

I've always been a fan of NGK plugs, never had quality issues

https://www.sparkplugs.co.uk/ngk-spark-plug-ptr6f-13

Its the same...…

Dave Wellings - The Wolf Performance/BHM skid plate

I purchased one at Blenheim from BHM. Excellent quality as you would expect from Cain!

It should have been a half hour job, but you know how these things pan out........................…

Nice etched logo which I have fitted facing forward, and it comes with two allen headed countersunk machine screws and a drill bit........

What could possibly go wrong.

I don't have a G clamp small enough to hold the piece, but cable ties are good enough!

Get it level!!

Obviously the Morgan needs lifting quite a way. Even so I had to take some covers off the pit to get the drill in position.

The cross-member is thick and so takes time to drill through. If you wish to protect the gearbox casing, insert either a piece of wood, or metal above the cross-member to take the force out of the drill as it comes through.

On the second hole, just at the point of penetration, the bit stuck, and the end broke off...... Not a disaster as I have other drills, but access was tight, and my affliction of positional vertigo makes it quite hard to move about under the Morgan without the world spinning.................

Then more trouble loomed. I dropped one of the machine screws into the pit, and it did one of those trans-dimensional shifts. It vanished......... Half an hour later and losing patience I had to give up. It had gone................

A quick message to the Cain-meister, and a replacement was in the post.........   

So today I finished the half hour job........

The quality is superb. Yes I could have made one, but it wouldn't have been as good as this.

I probably won't fit one to my Roadster because the sump is much lower than this, but a worthwhile addition for 4/4 and Plus 4.
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P.S. 
I noticed that Dave has either not been supplied with, or not used the correct Countersunk Bolts. This leaves his Bolt Heads exposed and reduces the ground clearance?





Another Car with the Correct Countersunk Bolts fitted
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Note from Designer & Manufacturer, Cain Poulton of Wolf.

Extreme Rock Crawling can be akin to the local high street pillow humps, speed humps, Steel Ferry ramps or just the plain old Stately Home entrance gates!

In the development process, the Prototype was made of 5mm thick T7075 aluminium and is a clone of the 3mm Stainless steel Rub plate on sale now.

The Prototype is still on the Wolf Cafe Race protecting the delicate brake pipe and curved part of the chassis that hangs low, it does show the scars of time with signs of deforming and deep scraping from all the EXTREME ROCK CRAWLING ON THE HIGH STREET AND NATIONAL TRUST STATELY HOMES!

After of some 7000miles of product testing we moved to Stainless Steel, to provide a product that will have long durability for our customers and not a throw away product that needs replacing.

There are a lot of damaged chassis, scraped, dented with galvanise removed at point of impact. 

The Rub Plate is as small as possible not to increase the possible contact area of the chassis with a folded leading edge front and rear to help stop a Mog getting hung up. 

Anything larger in width would increase the the forces transferred to the chassis crossmember as it would act as a leaver.

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Cain

Dave Wellings - Fitting a Panhard Rod

This turned out to be my last job of 2018. I'd been putting it off for all sorts of reasons, but yesterday came the right combination of available time, and warmish weather.

So, Panhard Rods are available now from a number of sources. This one is from SSL. Some rods secure to the leaf spring by a saddle clamp. This one uses a replacement lower plate for the U bolts. 

http://www.suspensionsupplies.co.uk/products/4593177137

Depending on model and year of Morgan the Panhard rod may need to be designed so as to avoid the fuel outlet pipe from the fuel tank. 

Typically changes whether it is designed to be mounted to the left side, or right side, of the chassis.

And here it is. This is one of the early production versions.
This is the orientation on the car, which is just visible.

My first job was to remove the old U bolt plate. The nuts came off easily.

I did consider taking a leaf out, (both sides!) but in the end took the lazy option.
I locked the spring in place by inserting wooden blocks between spring and chassis while I did this. 

The centre hole on the plate wasn't big enough to fit over the leaf spring through bolt nut, but some drill and file action fixed that.

This is the old plate. Notice how its (cut) asymmetrical, chassis to the right.

Next I clamped the cross-member in place........taking care to get it straight!!!

When aligned I drilled the eight holes.....I bought some special drills for this, and they were very impressive.................

I cleaned up the surroundings and applied some galvanising primer to the holes. When dry I bolted the cross-member up and coated the threads with ACF50.

I fitted the rod to the crossmember.............

Later I would have liked to have tried it in the lower of the two holes, but the floor timber gets in the way and needs cutting slightly for clearance. 

By that time I'd had enough so maybe that's something for another time.

At this point I discovered that I should have put the bolt in at the other end from below..............
But I also discovered this clearance issue on full rebound. 

Note that my Roadster has six leaves. More current cars with four leaves means an increase in the clearance here of the thickness of two leaves.

I also tested clearance on my Plus 4, but with the fuel tank protruding further forward by a significant amount, I'm not comfortable with the clearance I have, so for now I'm not doing this job on the Plus 4. Remember that every Morgan will vary slightly!!!!

So I had to drop the cross-member to get the bolt in (no way the nut will fit below) and I also cut away half the bolt head. 

Now its OK. It's feeler gauge clearance but it's clearance. I've fed this back to Peter B.

An alternative fix here would be to space the crossmember down a few mm, or file away a section of the cross-member.

I sprayed the whole thing with Tectyl 506 when completed.

This is clearance at static height.

Finally I checked for sideways movement between static height and full rebound using a straight edge, and there's no sideways movement. 

This took about five hours at a leisurely pace.

I'll report back after a test drive.

P.S. 

Those wheel supports, Seen on the left here, came from some spare timber I had laying around. I made four and they can be used like that for maximum lift or on their sides for a bit lower.

I use either a pair (front or rear) or all four........

They are invaluable!

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