Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 More newby questions - sorry

Hello again,
My fascination with my M3W continues, I am really enjoying driving it & take every opportunity to get out in the fresh air and use it. I know its crazy - potentially a path littered with pitfalls and danger, but I just cant stop smiling. It really does bring back the spirit and enjoyment of 'raw' driving, something that has been engineered out of pretty much everything else out there.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings - back to the point.
There are a couple of maintenance issues I would like to address/investigate
1. The Bevel Box is original (top breather) and is noisy. I read from various posts that the situation can be improved with a correct drive belt tension.
I have checked the tension and it is very tight - I can barely twist it beyond say 20deg of movement. I think it should turn through about 90deg when twisted halfway along the bottom run? Is there a simple procedure for slackening and will this cause the belt to run off the pulley (original pulley with no flange to retain the belt)? Currently the belt runs just to the edge of the pulley.

Also, I would like to send a drive pulley to Super Max for coating, does anyone have a spare worn alum pulley that I can buy - or perhaps swap for mine after fitting the refurb Super Max one?

Finally - for the moment anyway, I've been looking at my oil tank, there isn't a dip stick or any way of measuring the volume of oil in the header tank. Is this correct? What procedure should I use?

Any pointers or guidance is greatly appreciated, from your previous suggestions I have already, sealed the back end and fitted a trailer mudguard, remounted the rectifier (no bobbins, just rubber spacers and a through bolt), changed to a longer VDO fuel sender, fitted a Willie & Max take along bag, steering wheel spacer & block of wood to raise the seat cushion. Still trying to find the money for the G56 stage 1.

Thanks again
Andrew

1. To alter the drive belt tension you have to move the rear wheel, there should be a set of instructions on how this is done in the handbook. Alignment of the wheel and the drive belt is critical to getting it to all run correctly. 20 deg is tight, about 45 - 60 is about right. If your car has the NVH kit fitted the belt should be on the tighter side or it may jump teeth, non NVH can run a bit slacker.

2. Try contacting "Bunny" about the rear sprocket, he has had one done recently and has all the information. He may have a spare sprocket as he had my old one to send off.

3. Has your oil tank got two tabs inside at different levels when you look in through the filler? If it has these are the high and low levels. Check the level a few minutes after running.

You have been busy with the mods, all good stuff. The G56 system is expensive but very good and worth it.

Planenut - thanks for your very quick response.
Car is a very early (chassis no.004) and doesn't have the NVH kit.
Bearing in mind I bought this car privately, I was given a set of loose papers(basic instructions) and service records - is this what you refer to as a handbook, or am I missing something else?

I will try to contact Bunny about the sprocket
No marks on or inside the tank - just checked the loose owners handbook and it says to read the dipstick (which doesn't exist) - will have to investigate further.

Once again thanks for your advice.
Regards
Andrew

ajms, One way you can be sure if there is no dip stick is to drain all the oil (by sucking it out rather than removing the hoses to the engine) don't forget the magnetic plug in the engine block-also install a new O ring (same as Harley) on the case plug. Then refill and run for a couple minutes and make your own dipstick out of a length of wire. This is crude but should work

For the oil level, as your car has no sign of any dipstick or level indicators, you may have to improvise a dipstick. The oil levels in the tank is approximately 90mm low and 110mm high, measured from the bottom of the tank through the filler.

Calum (Red Three) did a detailed set of instructions on TM for the removal and refit of the whole rear wheel and hub some time ago, you should be able to find it on a search. Possibly Morgan DSC would be able to provide you with a current handbook for the car, it has some useful information in it.

Hi Andrew
Here's the Dropbox link for the Wheel and Hub Change
It does sound like your belt is too tight and I would have doubts about the alignment; with the original hub and the single flange rear sprocket the belt should run with about 3mm hanging off the open side of the sprocket. I'm not saying it is a good arrangement but it is "as designed". With it adjusted so that the belt sits fully on the sprocket when at rest, it will tend to walk from side to side on acceleration and deceleration and will probably be scuffing the side of the tyre. Adjusting the tension and setting the alignment is pretty simple but it can be a bit of an exercise in frustration till you get the feel for it.

Thanks everyone for your detailed input - a bit more learning for me.
Still trying to locate a 'surplus' worn rear sprocket - Bunny doesn't have his any more.
Anybody else had one changed recently?
By the way - love your photos Calum (RedThree), fantastic car & scenery.

Thanks
Andrew