Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Mr Bumble - the engine cover.

Dave, it looks good, you always do a lovely job, but two things cross my mind, have you considered the effect of the shield reflecting heat back on the head, this could effect the performance if it was severe. Also how far is the shield from the bonnet if it gets really hot it might radiate too much heat onto the paint .

Dave I am pleased you are not a doctor ( mine ) I would come in with man flue and get carried out with one of your new inventions on my body

I hate to think where he would have used the neoprene

Adrian, I won't know the answer to that until summer! After running to normal temp, only the centre section was hot to the touch. I considered painting the underside matt black, and may do that eventually. The peak heat under there is the 'top hose' stainless pipe and that's further away from the cam covers. There's plenty of room between the cover and bonnets, and while moving I don't think it will be a problem at all. The Plus 4 is well cooled and others have made engine covers - in fact there may be photos on here. I may just do a search..........

Very nice! I want one too. Water down the spark plug wells is no good.

Harald

With the exhaust wrap on the exhaust pipes I can actually touch the exhaust tubes under the bonnet without getting scalded (provided they are dry ) I can't say the same for the top water tube. You could cook an egg on it!

Dave what about getting it ceramic coated so it reflects and does not absorb heat and thus does not transfer it to the bonnet, you could get it done in a fetching shade of yellow

I'll see how it goes. I could use Reflect-a-Cool, but the heat is probably better left to radiate through it. There's no risk to the bonnet it's too far away. (Not a Plus 8 you know)

Now signing off until Wednesday.
Dartmouth beckons, and my mother's 87th birthday celebrations.

I first thought I should start a new thread so as not to intrude on the fantastic DaveW - Mr Bumble series but this is about my attempt at an engine cover so I thought I would toss it in here.

My 2011 4/4 engine bay always looked rather dreary and like DaveW I was not keen on the water accumulating on the cam cover. I began with a cardboard template then an aluminium sheet mock-up to be sure of fit and presentation.

I fired the final design off to a friendly stainless steel man who laser cut the cover and laser etched my chosen text on a .9mm single sheet. The whole lot came back as flat pieces which included the pre drilled mounting brackets. I bent the cover and brackets to fit the required curves. The mounting brackets used the existing bolts around the cam cover to firmly fix the engine cover plate. Light weight aluminium mesh was etch primed and sprayed flat black to make the vents that are held in place with a heat resistant glue.

I have now put on quite a few Ks with no sign of heat build up or vibration. The unit was designed to be light weight and sits about 50 mm over the cam cover to allow good air flow.

I made no provision for the oil filler cap as I am happy to undo the two extra bolts and remove the cover at service time.

So far I am happy with the form and function of the cover but will be keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge during the Australian summer just in case.

Really enjoyed this little project!

Oz,

you should market that, it looks more professional than something the factory would sell...

Just add the cut out for the oil filler....
I'd suggest about £95.00 would have a load of people, and some dealers, offering it.

Would I buy one? No, I have a Roadster and it doesn't have the "wet plug syndrome"...
But if you think the under bonnet of your car is messy and confused take a look at a Roadster, RHS is worse than LHS.