Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) 5 speed box in a Kent engine car

Yep, mine reads 70 mph at 4000 rpm, on the Satnav. My speedo actually only says around 66mph - it's read slow (yes I know, they aren't allowed to underread, but I drive on the tacho anyway) since I bought the car 7.5 years ago. Maybe one day I'll have it recalibrated, but then I'll still be driving on the tacho as I won't believe the speeds it's reporting! I suspect the underread is due to lack of use for a number of years before my ownership...

I'm just in the process of completing a similar conversion to Martyn's old car (all be it using Zetec instead of the x-flow) but the answers will be the same:

First-off gearbox selection -
There are several variants of the Type-9, the Sierra V6 cars have a taller 1st gear but a long input shaft which will not be suitable for use with a x-flow without a bell-housing spacer which will stuff up the engine positioning/mounting brackets.

A standard type-9 1st will be very short as stated by others above and this can be seen if you have a chance to drive a CVH 4/4. However the Standard Type-9 is the correct length (casing) and a suitable bell-housing is easily sourced including alloy versions which are quite nice. All type-9's have a larger output shaft which means whilst you can re-use your prop you will need to change the gear-box end of the UJ to a larger one - again easily sourced and fitted.

Starting from the engine end of things. You can probably get away with using the same clutch, flywheel and starter. However you will best off replacing the slightly heath robinson clutch release mechanism for a concentric hydraulic one. To do this you can get a kit of parts from Retro-ford and using a brake master cylinder spacer (available from Morgans) you can mount this to the clutch pedal.

On the later chassis, you can lift out the gearbox and remove the mounting bracket from the chassis (it will need to be moved back - welding may be needed).

The gearbox cover may need some adjustment in terms of the location of the gear-stick - but I don't think much. Quaife do a decent cranked gearstick & quick shift so ditch the stock ford unit that has enough slop to do a good impression of a soup bowl.

Photo's for the above I can post as it's undertaken in the next week or so.

For you, the important consideration is that of the innards of the gearbox. Trans-X and Quaife do gear-kits or you can always have the V6 1st installed if the rest of the ratio's suit you (easily used calculator available from Gearboxman website).

For road use, a helical or semi-helical set is available, I can tell you now a 2.2:1 1st is too tall for all road going morgans and it's better off going for a 2.39:1 when using a 4.1:1 diff.

You'll need to find and source a suitable spedo drive. The quill drive that the type-9 units use is not easily sourced and it may be easier to retro-fit a hall effect sensor and pulse driven speedo (which will get rid of the spedo wander on older cars).

Upgrade options:
Depending on your budget and appetite (not for the faint hearted). You can take this upgrade some distance. At a base level both Quaife and Trans-x (now the same company as of a couple of months ago) do not just gear-kits but complete boxes off the shelf. The Quaife unit being the QBE13Z if you go onto their web-site. This however uses a steel maincase.

Heading further up the ladder you can get from Quaife a fully Alloy cased unit which is a lot lighter which is the QBE15Z both this and the 13Z are available in a variety of custom ratio's.

Right at the top of the ladder is the Quaife G50,55,60 which are either H pattern or sequential mechanical shift Type-9 replacements which Quaife have custom designed from scratch.

Other things to consider:
Ditching the standard flywheel and clutch. Both of these units in stock form are very heavy and if you ever calculate the rotating masses effect on the effective weight of the car, loosing the KG's off these components will make a massive difference in the experienced performance of your MOG!!!
A lightweight fly is easily sourced and there are many suppliers, HELIX, AP, Master Clutch, Mister Clutch etc. etc. who can supply lighter single plate clutch packages. You only need to install the correct amount of spacers to get the release bearing in the right place. Clarefull measurement and ordering from retro-ford/burton can get this sorted.


Hope this helps!

Graham
Not uncommon for old speedos to under-read as the magnet gets weaker with age. I successfully re-calibrated the one on the three wheeler, but it is so long since I had a 70s 4/4 speedo apart I could not say the bit that makes it easy to recalibrate at home is there.

Basically though, if the odometer reads true, use a drill you can lock a variable speed on, and find the speed of the drill that gives you a mile on the odometer per minute. Then at that setting, it's doing 60, and you adjust the magnet (a gap short on a 1930 Cooper Stewart) so that the needle reads a bit more than 60.

Time consuming but no special tools needed other than a large clock with a second hand.

No need to pay large sums of money!

Thanks Martyn.

The odometer is pretty accurate (assuming my Satnav is close!). One day, maybe. As the speedo is so far off to the left I pretty much ignore it anyway!

Nice write-up Andrew. I still fancy one of those sequential boxes... Bank manager wont!

Hi All, wow Thanks for all the responses. Plenty of info here to be getting on with. In answer to a few questions the car already has a balanced engine and lightened flywheel so its not acceleration I have issues with, just how hard it is revving at sensible motorway speeds. The 4000 rpm reads about 77mph but a) the needle wobbles a bit and b) I like pies. For that reason the car has a 12inch moto-lita fitted which perfectly covers alomst the entire tacho and speedo (I can see 0 to 35pmh only)so like Graham I drive the car on engine noise more than anything...

Thanks for all your responses. Its clearly feasible but needs a bit more investigating. It sounds to me like diff changes may be my better first port of call, or second if checking the speedo calibration is where to start.

On this point I note your response is about the Sierra type 9 box, but can anything be done about this on the four speed box the car has? The gears themselves are findable but the complete sloppiness of the box is a bit of a disappointing feature in my view. If there is a solution do you have to take the box out or can you do it in situ?

Not sure on what internal options you have, the quaife box has a much better quality shift than the stock ford unit. You may find a difference between the single and three rail ford boxes any they are easy to get hold of now.

From a shifter point of view only this may be an option:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Quaife-Rocket-...=item35bc4032f6

I'm in the midst of doing this conversion. I like the 4 speed Rocket box but the engine is revving too high at motorway speeds. I have looked at various options and rather than put in a concentric clutch slave cylinder I wanted to keep the arrangement with the slave cylinder on the outside of the bellhousing. I have sourced a new ali bellhousing to fit a Type 9 from RWD Motorsports which they have had cast with a bracket on the outside to mount the slave cylinder, its old school but I like it that way.I just need to source a rebuilt Type 9 but they seem fairly easy to obtain with the correct first motion shaft and with a taller first gear.

Given the standard bellhousing is cast iron, you should save a lot of weight in a good place.

A weight saving is often the cheapest and most reliable means of going faster...

Yes, when it appeared in a cardboard box at work, I thought it was something else as it is so light. Although not the primary reason for buying it, the lightness of the ali casting is a bonus. Need to split the Kent engine and the 4 speed box now to ensure everything will work.