Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 My Car is Ready with some Production Changes

Mine is one of the US cars. Sand with tan leather. It's supposed to have a lugage rack installed.

Very pleased to hear about the chassis changes allowing the pedals to go about 2" further forward. I have delayed build of my 3 wheeler as the dealer I ordered through, Ledgerwood, said that this was one of the modifications to be incorporated soon but wasn't sure exactly when. I found on the demo that my knees hit the steering wheel when I tried to operate the pedals. No one else seems to have mentioned this as a problem and I was begining to think it was me, I'm just under 6ft tall. Asbojon let me try his 3 wheeler for size when I saw him at the M20 services near the Channel Tunnel on the way to the Le mans Classic, thanks. It was just the same as Ledgerwoods demo.

My order was conditional to leg room/pedal box issue being sorted, so good news. The order was placed in January and was due to be built this year in week 50 but is now due sometime in the first half of next year...... Still plenty of time to think about colours and spec. Well it would only have sat frustratingly in the garage over the winter.

Good to hear about the extended legroom....we fixed ours with a 50mm spacer between the wheel and the boss...both of us 36inch inside leg and it is now fine for long runs.

The replacement gearbox is indeed a transformation! Ours was done a few weeks ago.

Less recent use of our 3W as the owner is in a wheelchair after a big dog knocked her off her bike and she cannot get in....much frustration for her as I took the 3W for a run in the sunshine yesterday!!

I'm sure we all wish for a speedy recovery!

After 270 miles my bevel box is pretty quiet up to about 40 mph, but gets noticeably noisier when in 4th and 5th gears. May be getting quieter, not yet especially obvious.

I also have a chattering squeak that comes and goes. Could this be the belt (which seems a tad tight perhaps)?

There's also a fairly loud zizzing coming from the gearlever at about 2700 rpm onwards (and I haven't yet gone above 3600 rpm) - is this a feature or is something loose - I don't think the gearchange is as snicky as I remember the test car's being...

With the new steering set-up there's still plenty of kick-back but it's acceptable and not bothering me. But I've also noticed the car wanders quite badly at about 60 mph plus - and is pretty upset by side winds as a result.

Intercom isn't working - anyone else got this - how does it switch on (I've plugged in the ear phones in both sockets but nothing happens)?

Otherwise car feels good and is great fun. Will be good to get these things sorted and I may try to get the nearside exhaust dropped a tad - it's getting clonked by the steering arm on big bumps. Offside clearance is greater.

It's definitely a Morgan!!

Caterham are having a load of problems with diffs. at the moment. Because there are no more of the old Sierra diffs available new, they had a batch made up which were very very noisy, they then decided to use a BMW Diff unit, but needed a diff. carrier to fit it into the chassis, trouble was that this carrier has been badly designed and is hitting the DeDion tube, on which the back brake line is run........... There are some pretty unhappy Caterham owners out there at the moment!

Back to Morgans' new parts, does anyone know if the Spax shockers and new rack are a cure for the violent steering kickback through the wheel? I'm wondering if the original shockers had faulty or even, no, rebound setting, causing the wheel to shudder on rebound, with the steering wheel taking the brunt of the movement?

Can only give my personal driving experiences so far with 440 miles on the clock and new steering rack and Spax shocks front and rear, with no back to back compared to earlier setup, but here goes...

Ride is still busy but fairly good and seems pretty well controlled. Steering feedback/kickback is still plenty evident but suits the nature of the car and - to my personal feel - is definitely ok. Car is still a really positive drive as you'd hope, and you need to hold on tight, but at low to medium speeds it's fine.

But... big bumps at speed on a country lane can cause a much bigger shock than on most cars, and will be unexpected to many (non Mog?) drivers, and this can cause a significant bump-steer so you need to be awake (not difficult in a 3W!). I've found that a nervousness sets in between 60 and 70 mph and the car feels as though it wants to oversteer which is quite disconcerting and I've not yet exceeded about 70mph. I still want to see if toe in/out settings can help with this, so at present the car is ok but you wouldn't want to attempt vmax runs!!

Loving it, though - every mile is a giggle and the experience is intense... like it should be.

My rear wheel is not central and that seems to be par for the course - would love to know why???

Great write up, I suspect a pretty accurate summary. A hugely fun toy....

Could the wheel not be central for drive train reasons? No idea.

I'm sorry Wiscos, I really can't agree that the steering is fine and suits the nature of the car, you say:-

"Ride is still busy but fairly good and seems pretty well controlled. Steering feedback/kickback is still plenty evident but suits the nature of the car and - to my personal feel - is definitely ok. Car is still a really positive drive as you'd hope, and you need to hold on tight, but at low to medium speeds it's fine."

I would agree entirely with that summation, except that I really don't think it suits the nature of the car, it IS the nature of the car, but shouldn't be. My other car is a Caterham Seven, and when I get in that after the M3W the steering is just SO much better, there is no kickback but plenty of feedback, even on bumpy B roads and the car can be placed accurately on any corner to any part of the road. This is not something which can be said for the Mog, it is just a matter aiming in the general direction of the bit of road you want and hoping you'll end up near it.

You then go on to accurately say:-

"But... big bumps at speed on a country lane can cause a much bigger shock than on most cars, and will be unexpected to many (non Mog?) drivers, and this can cause a significant bump-steer so you need to be awake (not difficult in a 3W!). I've found that a nervousness sets in between 60 and 70 mph and the car feels as though it wants to oversteer which is quite disconcerting and I've not yet exceeded about 70mph"

Well, I can assure you that it will get up to over 90 quickly and easily, and with the characteristics you mention, I feel that this is really dangerous. I understand why the steering geometry is compromised, with the rack having to be above the bellhousing etc etc, but I would really like to see the factory work hard to eliminate the bump steer and feed back issues, for safety reasons as much as for a more pleasurable drive. I'm quite disappointed that the mods. that have been made so far have failed to get to the bottom of the issues.

"I still want to see if toe in/out settings can help with this, so at present the car is ok but you wouldn't want to attempt vmax runs!!"

I have experimented with different settings and it seems to make little difference to the problem, but I would be interested to hear the results of any experience you have of this.

It is a fine, fun car to drive, but I feel, at present it is spoiled by poor steering, and I don't think that because "they all do that" is a good enough excuse, especially in these days of computer aided design.

If owners complained to the factory a bit more, instead of accepting things, it just might get some results.
A shame really.

How much of this is affected by the choice of traditional looking narrow tyres driven by a powerplant that would drive much wider and more modern tyres? (Such as fitted to a 4/4 for example)