well, the V8 is a bit agricultural and very American as that's where its from of course however, the Eales modified engine will be a whole lot better, his work on the V8 engine was excellent. On the whole the engines are bomb proof and if you get a wrong-un then it's likely to be because of poor servicing and too long between oil changes which these engines will just not tolerate. Oil is the cheapest repair you can make to this engine and look to change it annually or every 5000 miles whatever anyone tells you! Engines treated like this can achieve star-ship mileages. In the motor trade if a car fitted with a V8 of the Buick variety had dirty oil you wouldn't touch it because quite frankly these engines die when treated like that.
In the Morgan the V8 is quite a lump, not because the engine is particularly heavy, actually its surprisingly light for it's size but the gearbox is huge and of the land Rover fitment.
Those who love the V8's won't consider anything else and if it's the sound you love then it's the car for you but you need to drive a few different variants before you part with the folding first! As it all depends on what you want to do in your car. Try the plus 4, It's no slouch! and if you want to chase around A and B roads it might be a better bet. Then there's the 4/4, Your money will go further here and a good late model with the superb later Ford engines with VVT are just heaven in and around the countryside and feel very light to drive and you won't spend too much in the garage on fuel, service or repair. The plus 8 was superseded by the Roadster, V6 and smaller but far more power and fast too. Best way to describe it is as a fast GT which drives like a plus 4 but comfortably eats the miles even on motorways
. The V8's in my opinion feel heavy to drive and they really do have a lot of torque available from almost no revs at all and this can make them a bit of a handful in anything but dry conditions and an Eales modified 3.9lt with a probably lightened fly wheel might be even more twitchy!
so the advice to 'try it first' is good. See how it feels and think about wet roads if its in the dry! If its a track day car you're after, well that's another thing altogether!
Above all, don't be in a rush. The car as they say will find you. Take a trip out to one of the big main dealers and drive some, Find what you really want for your Morgan. You can then start your search for the car that'll be resting in your garage!
