Mog Rod

Got a whole lot done today (and the past few nights). The dash has been removed, and the stubborn heater control button was finally disconnected from the dash, along with the horn button. On a whim, I wired the horn button to the horn and tested that setup on the Bronco’s battery, and low and behold it worked… so that’ll be one more thing carried over. The steering wheel came off and was set aside as well.

The two big-ticket items for the day were to get the dash frame supported, and to remove the steering gear / column. The dash frame was starting to sag and fall apart since it’s so rotted at its base on the passenger side, and disconnecting it from the firewall didn’t help any. I dug up a strip of wood, cut it to various sizes, and with the pneumatic staple gun did my best to support the frame in every way necessary. It seems pretty stable now, but I sure as hell wouldn’t lean on it.

The steering gear and column had to come out since it’s all one unit, and would prevent me from removing the firewall. The gearbox took a bit of wrenching, but came apart rather easily all things considered. The collar on the shaft that bolts up to the firewall had already been disconnected from the firewall earlier, but the bolts holding the two halves together weren’t coming off any time soon. I ended up loosening them enough so that I could coat the shaft in WD-40 and slide it down far enough to remove the whole assembly. From here, I’ll likely continue removing items from the firewall until I can remove it and study its setup.

Started pulling more stuff out. Got the windshield wiper assembly off the top of the firewall, and after looking it over, I’ll likely order a similar setup instead of trying something different. I moved on to pulling back the main wiring from the dash to the back and from the main harness to the battery, which exposed just how rotten the wood is all down the passenger side. I moved on to the removing some of the electricals from the firewall, including the voltage regulator and the main distribution block. After that, I started removing the clamp around the steering shaft and a few other small items. There’s still a number of things inside and out that need to be removed, and that’ll be next up.

After a rather frustrating day at work with many setbacks on projects, I felt like I had to get something done today… so I went after the Morgan. I finished off removing the heater system which I’d started on a few nights back; finishing it meant using the nut splitter and breaking the last nut holding it in place, It dropped out, and after labeling the wires coming off it, it got put aside.

Next up was the windshield wiper motor. This had three bolts coming up from the driver’s footwell, which was a bit of a pain with panelling and wires in the way. Bit of wrenching and a few scrapes later and it was loose, I’ll worry about disconnecting it and pulling it free another night.

Dug into the Morgan some more this afternoon, pulled off the glove box, the framework for the convertible roof, and started removing the firewall. The latter’s held down by a number of other parts that’ll have to be removed first. The toolbox I removed Saturday and the frame and glove box I removed today will be going to the powdercoating shop on Monday.

One amusing note, I pulled off the horn, and on a whim, wired it up so I could test it with the battery on our ’68 Ford Bronco. Amazingly, it honked right away, and quite strongly too. For an item that’s been sitting around for ~30 years in all kinds of weather and conditions, it worked, and that means it’s carrying over to the finished car. I’ve uploaded a video of it and will post it below.

After much fighting with a number of bolts that just refused to come loose (until I persuaded them with a drill), I’ve managed to remove the “toolbox” that sits up on the dash under the hood (bonnet). This will go off to get media blasted and get a protective base coat, though whether it will return to the car in its current form is to be decided. I may make a duplicate of it with a closed top, with the intention of making it the hiding place for all the electronics that’ll be carried over from the Solstice. Time will tell what happens to it, but one way or another, it’s shape will remain.

Pulled together the stuff that needs bodywork and needs to get cleaned up, sending it off to Spray Technology to get media blasted and a rust inhibitting primer.

Minor update, got the driver side fender support off tonight. This side proved to be a lot easier, about half the bolts running along the bottom didn’t have nuts on them and the rest came apart relatively easily. At some point I somehow managed to gouge off a rather large chunk of flesh off my left middle finger knuckle… with how rusty this car is, it’s probably prudent of me to check up on when my last tetanus shot was. I may upload some shots of the support later, if nothing else for reference of what the driver’s side of the engine bay looks like exposed.

Took to wrenching off one of the the two fender supports this evening. I probably used half a can of WD-40 to clear off all the gunk on the nuts and bolts. For the most part getting everying off wasn’t too difficult, even in the tight spaces. Not too much to say about it, but looking at everything kinda has me eager to get to the reassembly point in the project, mainly cause I’m looking forward to making everything look really professional with the wiring and hoses and whatnot.