Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Performance upgrades for 3.7

Looking for some advice on performance upgrades. What are the most cost effective power improvements? What about the ARV6? Any elements that can be used?

Oh to have some unrestricted roads and feel the need to make the 3.7 litre Roadster even faster

Tell me what you want in a pm. I can offer what ever your budget allows my friend

Usual upgrades on engines eg , throttle bodies , bespoke manifold and exhaust system , high lift pistons , cast rods , racing spec internal parts , balancing , race spec valves .....

I recommend Sabine Schmitz

Milt,

Sabine schmitz would certainly be the most effective performance upgrade. But I guess she is not always available.
I never experienced a 3.7 Roadster. She should be sufficient power wise. I have a 2010 3.0 Roadster Sport. The power is nice and before I would upgrade the power I enhanced the drivability. Do you have installed upgrades with regards to this topic? I would do that first. Do you have added brake reaction bars? My Roadster has added those plus a second anti tramp bar and a panhard rod. I found that the smooth ride was gone somehow and my wife got a back pain. So I removed the panhard rod. Now it is excellent. A panhard rod comes with disatvantages and now again I habe more feel what the rear is doing despite the lateral movement of the axle. The suspension is very smooth now. But the other alternations which I keep are very valuable. The brake reaction bars make the front stiffer which enhances the overall handling. The second anti tramp bar is a must to let her cope the performance of a 3.7 engine. There was a video last year published on TM where a German guy showed the movement of the cardan without a second anti tramp bar. Shocking up and down movements... Regarding the lateral rear axle movement I will try teflon parts between the frame and the rear springs to avoid this movements as an alternative to the panhard rod.

After all this explanations my qoustion is if your chassis is up to date with the power the 3.7 delivers? As you are located in Cologne PM me and you can try my 3.0 Roadster before you are only focused on performance tuning.

My goal would be to make the engine lighter, not stronger in first place.

If only we all had unlimited budgets. As the previous quotes suggest it would wise to address other areas before unleashing a possible 450bhp as has been done in USA. First would be brakes, and suspension improvements to handle more power, this would degrade the comfort of the ride. Careful consideration as to whether the chassis would need strengthening would be another consideration. There have been very powerful Morgans in the past but with stiffened chassis. Drivability would need to be considered, in my opinion the car could quickly turn into a impractical beast much beyond 350bhp for general road use, on a track it would be a different matter.

I agree 100% with Heinz and for fast road use would spend money on Brian's rear end before adding more power.

On Aldermog I have Suplex at the front, with brake reaction bars, one anti tramp/radius arm at the back, but a second one is in the plan, plus Rutherford AVOs set at the softish end of the adjustment scale at the back. With the rear tires at 23psi, front at 21psi it is good, but could be better.

Brian may have opened Pandora's box...

Interestingly I was advised by both Tim and I think Williams not to fit a Panhard rod unless I was going to do hill climbs and track events. Tim said it degraded ride and improved grip and control.

Interesting comment about the Panhard rod and I think I'll take mine off to see what the improvement to the ride is.
I'm not sure about the need for a second anti tramp bar....I've done some pretty hot blooded starts at Shelsley and Prescott and its not been a big problem and for normal driving on the road it's not something I need.

I can recommend an upgrade to the brakes on the pre Caparo calliper models, especially if you are upping the power significantly.

If you talk with people who want handling improvement, then the accepted pillar of wisdom is brake reaction bars up front is a must for better control under braking, and a panhard rod for rear end stability helping in cornering. This is what I did on Rosie and it was an immediate improvement, the panhard rod had little impact on comfort ride IMHO. I did not fit anti-tramp bars as I did not want to stiffen the rear end, and they have the biggest impact on comfort. However an anti-tramp bar will improve rear end stability even when the car is already moving and being accelerating hard as it stabilises the axle and impedes wind up on the leaf springs, as the famous YouTube video clearly shows.

The alternative would be to take an independent rear suspension setup like that use in Jaguars, mk2s, xj's and e-types, and build a frame welded to the chassis to fix it too, no sure that it's is achievable and I am sure someone would have done it by now.