Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 New owner trying to understand what I've got

Hi

I am new to M3W (and Morgan) ownership and this forum. I have just bought a 2013 M3W and understand that I have got the bolt on chassis strengthening, the empire racing steering kit, the bevel box was replaced early on, steel rotor and cooling kit.

I test drove it on a cold day and then picked it up on a hot day with a 90 mile drive home and was a bit surprised by the noise level, so am trying to understand if I have the NVH kit and what design level of compensator I have got.

Can anyone advise me if there is an easy way of identifying these items without taking the thing apart, as I would just like to know what my starting point is.

Thanks

Martin

MJF, hello mate and welcome to the forum and M3W ownership.
As you have quite an early model, you should have all the upgrades but best to check.
Presumably you bought this from a dealer?

If you have an up to date service manual, it should all be logged.

What mileage do you have? This would be a good indicator as to whether it has been changed or not.

Early BBs were bolted directly to the chassis. Later ones had an isolation mod. This really does not make a lot of difference to the noise level. It just adds weight.
If you have a noisy Bevel Box it will very likely remain noisy.
However, different oils seam to have varying results regards noise. Miller oils EP 140 has a high recommendation. Scheduled oils changes help as well.
There is quite a lot of chatter here about it.

There is also a thread about sound insulation. This helps quite a lot to.

Have a look at Morgan customs.net. Emil has made several mods for the 3 wheeler.

Phil Bleazy has made his own BB kit with very good results.
These are available at a very competitive price.
Should you need one, and you are average with car repairs you could fit it yourself.

Best of luck.
John.

There's been a lot about the chassis problems (and fixes) on here over the years.

Am I right in thinking that the bolt-on chassis fix doesn't always solve the problem ?

Phil`s home page
All Phil`s upgrades are here.
John.

Hi John

Yes it was from a dealer and has about 10,000 miles on it, which I hoped would mean most of the issues were shaken out of it by now.

The service manual hasn't logged the changes, but they are all visible except for the compensator and the NVH kit.

It is hard for me to gauge whether the bevel box is noisier than most or just normal, whatever that means. Coming from using well developed modern cars it is a bit of a shock to hear this level of noise and not be initially concerned.

MJF welcome to TM. With the bevel box NVH kit if you havent got it its no loss, as said it just adds weight & makes BB oil changes harder. I'd be surprised if your compensator never had a grease nipple. Look underneath & you should see a hole (1 inch dia ?) with a boroscope you can look inside & look for the cylindrical rubbers on the Centa compensator. If no rubbers & it all looks mechanical you have the early HD type.
Here is the thread re sound proofing. If not done at least seal the gaps behind the seats to reduce noise & dust ingress.
http://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/174870/1
Do you not have any invoices for work done?

Hi Tim

Thanks for the input - I will have a look with a boroscope and see whats in there.

Mine has already got a good covering of dynamat, so probably can't improve much further using this.

The car had a good heap of invoices with it, but it is evident that some changes were made where invoices haven't been retained which is why I am trying to make sure I can identify all the relevant changes.

Thanks

Martin

MJF, the factory don't specify when changes have been adopted - take a look at the forum registration to see if the M3Ws known to the forum community which may help with its history. Here's some food for thought in the mean time.

IMHO the NVH kit was a complete waste of development time & has been responsible for generating more clunking noise on its own.

My bevel box has got slightly better with time & mileage plus using Millers oil has helped quieten the scream although its fickle.

The chassis change transformed the car.

The new 1.5mm exhausts have still had to be sleeved to prevent further cracking. (Stage one is my still preferred pipe)

The tail of the car needs a skid plate lower than the beaded tub skirt

Bump steer was removed with the chassis change.

Cockpit sealing needs to be done to prevent road dust & filth entering the cabin.

The rear axel adjusters bend on bumps generating drive-belt adjustment issues & require

Headlights are flimsy, position drift & won't tighten

Voltage regulators requently fail

I offered you some guidance on another thread based on my experience of just over six months' ownership of a 2016 model.

In addition to the items I mentioned on the other thread, I recall that I was advised by the Morgan agent in Southport to look for the following upgrades on pre-2014 vehicles:

Crankshaft pulley, timing cover spacers, offset rear hub, urban cooling kit, cam chest upgrade, and lower wishbone upgrade.

You mentioned that it seems more primitive than a modern car. It certainly is, and that's the fun of it. Things do go wrong, and it makes worrying noises sometimes, but driving it makes one feel good to be alive.

I gained a lot of knowledge from this site (particularly from Tim G - thanks) about prepping the vehicle, but I have found that the best tips have been to swap the standard battery for something more powerful: Planenut has a super thread on alternative parts; and to get a battery pack, which I have used on average once a month.

Quick tip re the compensator as an alternative to the boroscope - check you have an access hole about 1.5" diameter in the bell housing the compensator lives in ( mentioned previously ) underneath behind the engine at the lowest part - might need front wheels on ramps if you are not agile
If you do have this access , rub your find gently round the inside surface - if you have a centa compensator with rubber drive pieces at 10K miles there will be fine rubber dust in the crud on the end of your finger , unless it has had a recent exchange one fitted and they fitter did a good clean up job.
If there is rubber debris any larger than dust be careful how you go and assess future options - The default Morgan route would be to fit new rubbers, gaining access by taking the engine out or go the highly recommended Phil Bleazy route which gives you the future option of changing the compensator rubbers without taking the engine out - have to do it first time of course.

With the older units I would expect there to be just oil / grease in there.