With respect, none of the following has been my experience with Monty, a Duratec Plus 4 that for the record must be pushing over 200hp now..
I see the light now! You are a racer! I know a lot of racers. I have enjoyed pit-crewing in the UK and many venues in NA. I lived near a world famous Circuit (we pronounce it Sir'Kwee) for 40 years. I even have an international
racer's license, though I leave the driving to stalwarts like yourself. I am at my happiest dealing with the cars, not the steering wheel.
But it is an axiom, that the very different environment for racer have makes their cars unsuitable templates for road going folk. Track surfaces are impossible smooth,
(though racers always complain about them) they have many safety features, the support network is only as far as the paddock. They are not beset with bumper to bumper traffic and their speed keeps up a constant high airflow. I could go on. A road going Morgan has to meet many more complex challenges. To nullify the effect of leaf springs by stiffening them to the point they act as anti-tramp is a no-no. At one point, 25 years ago, Rob Wells, still owner of Libra Motive, had Peter M. make clamps for Morgan leaf springs that achieved the same effect as your anti-tramp spings. Wives stopped riding with the husbands that had them installed.
I suspect this is because I chose quality BCC anti-tramp springs that are properly tempered in Sheffield,.
Yes. I had a long exchange with the owner.
Proper leaf springs have become a crisis in the Morgan world and I am constantly searching. I was most impressed with his enthusiasm and he was the only mog bloke able to tell, with justified pride, of the specific quality rating of the metal used, which has been the heart of the problems for the last 18 MMC years. But "anti-tramp" leaf springs are a elementary no-no for a road going Morgan. I have over 300 bhp and a lighter Morgan than your own and I use anti-tramp bars made and designed by the dear Peter Mulberry. They allow the leaf springs to function as Leaf Springs are supposed to. Our cars, having a 50-50 weight distribution, should have the same spring rate at the front coils springs and the rear leaf springs. But racers try all sorts of things, bless'em. I find that if a mod makes a racer feel more confident..they race better.
paired them with equally high quality Bilstein dampers from Dan White of SSL.
Yes I know of Dan White for many years. My dampers are from David Rutherford, made for my Morgan and its leaf springs,
which anyone can manage by describing their Morgan specifications to a knowledgeable Rutherford AVO person. BTW, AVO makes to Rutherford's specifications, not there own. He could have them made by anyone. The dampers sold by AVO to Morgan owners are not the same.
According to the regular experienced Morganeers I've engaged with at Prescott, I should expect my best time to fall to 57 seconds simply by losing the heavy passenger and spare wheel,
That is a mixed blessing. Losing a passenger and the spare wheel dramatically changes the balance dynamics of a Morganr, though you can learn to compensate. Losing the spare wheel also loses you all-important rear traction.
Not once have I suffered any 'so called' axle wind-up, and I would argue fitting a Panhard rod is actually a no-brainer as it only offers benefits
No you wouldn't have tramp with the springs you chose. Neither di the people who bought the Libra Motive anti-tramp devices. In the days even further back, 2-seater racers used to fit 4 seater 7 leaf springs. After trying everything out, I installed a Mulberry Panhard system..everything but the rod itself. Considering how simple the Morgan trad rear suspension is, one can stop unwanted lateral movement merely by adding something that prevents the leaf springs from moving sideways. Easier and safer.
https://www.gomog.com/allmorgan12.html#Alternative I have the impression that two topics are mixed up here. My point is that when the springs are brought to a greater distance from the axle by lowering blocks, the spring becomes more susceptible to twisting sideways to the vehicle, no matter how good the quality of the spring.
That is EXACTLY right!
However, I must also say that the lowering blocks in your photo are not as dramatically high as the ones in my 4/4 were. Mine were exactly as high as the ones in Lorne's photo in his web article. So of course I had a higher negative impact before removing them.
The picture I posted is from a Factory MMC 4/4 Runabout. (was that what it was called?) It was an attempt by the MMC to create an entry level Morgan and they left off the spare wheel. Sadly, the specification they used was from Richard Thorne, where Simon told me he had created it. He used the same leaf springs used on all other Morgans of the day, regardless of THEIR spare wheels and model. Probably, he was not given a choice. The rear end, of course, popped up high, so they brought it down with those lowering blocks. But that did not alter the fact that the leaf springs were for heavier cars. Back breaking. The only solution would have been to experiment with different springs rate to find a proper one or add a bag of sand at the very rear. (sigh) Some owners fit a spare wheel.
Forgive them.The company was going through hard times.
L
