Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Exhaust modifications.

A slight segue here on exhaust. I wrapped the header pipes in DEI's Titanium wrap (a rock wool variant) and during that stint the bobbins failed on the right side and the strain of that took out the right header mount. Had it re-welded successfully then removed the wrap as it was failing on its own. The pipes look ghastly so I have wrapped them again using a white fiberglass 2" band. After the burn in it looks like a nice tan.

I have also installed the Muscle air cleaner which allows more air into the system. This all means that in an already lean burning engine I have introduced more air making it leaner and hotter and with the wrap the heat is contained in the pipes and more concentrated.

Where I live I will never have to have this hooked up to an emissions analyzer so I am seriously tempted to remove the catalytic converter and just leave the oxygen sensor on for show.

Should I get the a new chip to program a better fuel mix so as not to hit these temps and keep the engine happy? S&S had to do all this to make the engine US and EU compliant but I don't care...

I too was under the impression that the engine ran lean, hence the glowing hot exhausts and pinking at higher rpm. When I talked to the Garage 56 people, who did a lot of dyno runs on the standard and modified systems, they said it runs rich through most of the rev range and particularly higher rpm because of the restrictive exhaust and air filter of the standard system. As the ECU is not easily reprogramed they designed their Stage 1 system to take advantage of this rich mixture to make some extra power when the engine is allowed to breathe better.

Helping the engine with a better flowing air filter may improve things from a heat point, although the standard exhaust is probably the main problem. The G56 system is great and doesn't glow in the dark but it still burns you if you are careless, the wrap is a good safety idea. G56 exhausts retain the standard cats without problems by the way.

Interesting. Clarification helps. I'm using the wrap mostly for cosmetic reasons as the header pipes start bluing and getting funky very soon. Other thing of note is the protection they offer to the plastic bullets holding the turn signals. I've seen the pix of those melting and it's not pretty!

The G56 system may have to wait until next year. Driving season has about two more months then it goes back into the hole. Budgetary considerations also apply. Will look into the ECU chip options as well. Have heard rumors...

Anybody know of a Dyno run to compare the stock pipes with baffles removed vs the Garage 59 pipes?

Only the one that the G56 guys published but there's no reason to doubt that it is 100% valid. Indeed my seat-of-the-pants dyno confirms that it feels just like it looks!



And to the question above about Oxygen/Lambda sensors - they are not there SOLELY for the CAT, they are of course needed for the ECU/Fuel-injection system to work, just in case anyone had thought about removing them to save weight! A decat'd M3W will undoubtedly go a little better too, but will still need the lambdas regardless. Might struggle with a UK MoT, unless it really is seen as a Type-3 test, in which case you _might_ get away with it, but unlikely.

I havnt commented on my Morgan Stage 2 upgrade to date , mainly because I felt there was a fault above 5K revs such that there was a severe power loss at these high revs. Morgan repeatedly offered to help find a solution , but lifes to short ... and we are now at the end of the season.
Not wanting this to drift into next year I have paid for specialist tuning and a dyno test myself , conducted by Matts Machine Shop , result below.
The upshot is there is no fault. As shown by the audit trail the ECU provides, I seem to be repeatedly exceeding the soft rev limit , which cuts out one cylinder when exceeded. Interestingly there is also a hard cut off, set to a higher value , that ( I believe ) cuts both cylinders ... not had that yet thank goodness.

So down at Matts we fitted the std S&S roller rocker kit ( a no brainer of a mod - improved valve travel , more substantial rockers and I am experiencing a smoother engine as a result. ) , then did the dyno runs.

The main upshot of the dyno run was to prove there were no underlying faults , and to point the way forward for further improvements.
The tuning experts reported 'no faults' , and the guys who knew what they were doing were pleased with the relatively flat output over the rev range.

The dyno itself was capable of measuring BHP through the drivetrain, so it could give results at the engine flywheel and at the rear wheel. This let Matt ( who is a very experienced S&S tuner ) give comment on his area of expertise - the motor itself. Even with the Morgan stage 2 exhausts he believes more free flowing exhausts , ideally without the cats ( not a viable proposition to keep it road legal !! ) would be a simple and useful direction to take it for more power.

The 148 BHP at the flywheel / 110 at the wheel is about what they expected , the difference being losses in the drive train , which is the norm of about 20%. The useful rev range of 3 to 5K containing the highest power at the wheel is good to know.

I dont profess to be a tuning expert , but the way forward for me for more power is to reduce drive train friction and investigate alternative exhausts.

I am very happy with where these various mods have taken me , the car is not showing signs of destroying itself , though I have had of course faults other people have already had. It continues to be a pleasure to drive , and I look forward to further performance mods in future. The run back from Matts through South , Mid to North Wales and into Cheshire was totally brilliant

I highly recommend anyone interested in doing similar to speak to Matt , who is steeped in performance tuning , aimed at S&S technologies , and completely approachable , friendly and genuine sound chap.

Nice power curve must have felt good on the road