It has been a couple of weeks since I had the pleasure of spending 3 days with Phil Bleazey. I use my car for relatively long tours as well as for getting to work on a nice day and the summer pleasure runs. Most things on the car can be fixed by a mechanic if I run into trouble when out on one of my longer trips - I broke a valve spring on Portugal once. Morgan DHL’d one to me in 24 hours and a local mechanic installed it and I was on my way. However, failure of the Centa drive inserts would be pretty catastrophic and very likely bring a quick end to any tour. The possibility of simple replacement of the inserts was my main motivation for going with Phil’s solution. Any improvement in the way the car drives would be most welcome and a bonus.
I am no mechanic myself so I took up Phil’s offer to use his garage, tools and most importantly his expertise to undertake all 3 stages of his drivetrain kit. There is no way I would contemplate removing and refitting the engine on my own so knowing that Phil has removed and refitted his engine a number of times (seven times at the last count I think) was reassurance enough to give it a go.
The process was time-consuming and fiddly at times but between us we removed the engine without any major problems. We found a few differences between our cars (both 2013s) Phil’s bevel box mounting kit fitted without any problem and the Centa drive housing was dropped off at a local machine shop for modification.
There was a slight problem when fitting the bearing housing to the Centa rotor but Phil diagnosed the problem and modified the new bearing housing to overcome this. The kit otherwise fitted simply and we were ready to put the car back together again.
We collected the Centa drive housing with its new cut-out and reinstalled the engine. Overall the process was not as difficult as I was expecting but that is mainly due to the fact that Phil has worked out the easiest way to do most things. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a full 2 1/2 days work to carry out the whole process.
When finished,I had a practice changing out the new inserts. It’s a fiddly job but not too difficult. So long as you can get the car lifted high enough to get right under so you can see through the new cut-out, changing the inserts is less than an hours work - a massive improvement.
I had a good test drive and the drive train certainly felt more positive and direct. Low speed manoeuvring is easier and stop-start driving in traffic is smoother and less jerky. Generally the drivetrain is more consistent with no clunking either from the Centa drive or the bevel box.
My 120 mile drive home did however reveal a certain characteristic that I was uncomfortable with. The drive train was so direct and solid that you could feel each firing of the cylinders in your back. After some time at motorway speeds this becomes uncomfortable and quite tiring. I also had concerns regarding what this could be doing to the rest of the drive train.
I dropped Phil an e-mail knowing that he would have a think about what I had experienced on my way home. It didn’t take him long and he had a modified set of inserts in the post to me the next day. These inserts had an additional profile cut-out. I changed over the inserts and tried the car again.
I planned to do a little 10-minute drive out but I ended up being out for over an hour. There were no problems, I was just enjoying the drive and didn’t want to come straight back home. The revised inserts made a big difference. The positive feel is still there along with the improved pull-away but the harshness I was previously feeling has all but gone. I now feel I can drive the car pretty as I want to rather than having to drive a certain way to keep the car happy.
The total cost for the kit and the use of Phil’s garage is not inconsiderable but I am pleased with the results. The car drives better and a potential tour-stopping point of failure has been reduced to a potential inconvenience. The real proof will come next week when I go on my next long tour down to Sicily and back. At least I now know I can change the inserts if I do have any problems. I’ll let you know how I get on ( or keep an eye on RH03MOG.com).
I must finish by thanking Phil and Claire for their hospitality. They both made the whole experience a pleasure and Claire’s Little Crooked House is a lovely quirky home from home.
