Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Centra Compensator falling apart.....

I've got 18" wheels with Avon AM26 Roadstar tyres. 130/80 I think

Great information - thanks for sharing.

Nice work Austin, thanks for the nice comment about my engine removal guide. Interesting to note that you got the bell housing bolts out without drilling the tunnel sides! Well done. One of the daunting things about the kits I am producing is how to supply a safe drilling tool - one doesn't want ones customers slicing into fuel and brake pipes with a hole saw. My engine is out again tomorrow ( 5th time ) to fit the pre production inserts in the Centa coupling, I will try your technique. My kits will come with an engine lifting bracket as well, why does the factory not pass them on? There must be a mountain of them somewhere!

The engine has been out, Centa rollers replaced and refitting finished today, not had a chance for a full road test yet but all seems to work as it should. My thanks to Andrew (Bunny), who came over and gave me a hand with it all and joined me at the bottom of the learning curve. It certainly helps to have another pair of hands, particularly with the getting the engine out and in. I may regret it but I left the clutch alone as it was working well and looked OK, plus I couldn't get the (expensive) parts quickly. It took us two fairly full days to complete the job.

Thanks also to Austin for all his Centa change information and Phil Bleazy for his comprehensive removal guide. The only thing I would mention is that a 5/16 W spanner is 15mm and that size is easier to get. I cut the holes in the footwell too and replaced the bellhousing bolts with Allen cap heads, good advice. There is a real mix of Metric and Unified nuts and bolts, so be careful to identify what goes were and which nuts go with which bolts.



Three of the rollers were complete with only small cuts in the ends but the other was in bits. Strange why only one should break up?

Well done that is a big job getting that all out and back together and great that another M3W mate helped you .

Wishing you many quiet (relative) miles.

Is it worth the factory seeing those worn rubbers or have we passed that point now ?

Well done.
But what does it drive like now , all good I hope ?
Notice much difference?

Well done to you both. Quite a learning curve but well worth it.

Makes you wonder how long the remaining rubbers would have lasted until complete failure and no drive.

Without tempting fate, all I can say is that my car has never run better since I replaced my rubbers and clutch

Well done Ian and Andrew

Glad it went OK and you and Andrew are now "The Crack Centa Repair Team".

The Centa compensator has a finite life.

It takes two days to replace and not every owner will want to tackle it themselves.

Is there any way of inspecting the coupling without serious dismantling ?

Have Morgan issued any instructions or service notes ?

How many miles have the failed couplings done ?

Have started the removal of my engine for the new Centa rollers. Spent a couple of hours yesterday and then spent this afternoon getting things disconnected and ready for lifting. Am now at the point where I need the engine crane to go forward. Ordered it on Tuesday 25th, paid for 24 hour delivery and it will probably be delivered tomorrow, the 31st, except I will be out most of the day working so probably won't get it till at least Tuesday. I blame the incompetent, useless bar-stewards I bought it from. Should have paid a little bit more and not wasted two days waiting for an urgent delivery.

Enough of grousing, here's some notes on the undoing of some of the fasteners that people have bee having fun with. With the right tools and a slow, relaxed approach none of them were very awkward (see above for source of the lack of time pressure) and don't worry I know some of them will be challenging to get back in.

Steering rack comfort kit bolts require a 12mm Hex (Allen) key (ideally a socket type with a big lever) and a 22mm spanner for the nut.

The bolts that hold the rack to the brackets are 7/16” UNF and require 5/8” or 16mm spanners and sockets. They feel like they are threaded into the rack housing but aren’t, it’s just a close clearance between the shank of the bolt and the hole in the aluminium housing combined with having been assembled dry making it all a bit tight and difficult to get the bolts out. The bolts don’t want to come out of the rack till it has been shifted sideways a couple of inches and space appears above them.

The brackets are secured with M12 Allen bolts so need a 10mm hex key and 19mm (or 3/4”) spanner. Once the bolts are out and the rack unbolted from them you can drift the bottom end up and backwards a bit with a plastic mallet and down and forward on the top end to free them. BTW; who thinks that non-removable rivetted on P-clips for the brake lines and Lambda sensors are a good idea? I’ll be drilling them out and just using figure-8 tie wraps instead on re-assembly.

Bell housing bolts. These are M10x1.5, most are flanged hex head bolts fitted from the rear (bell housing side) with a couple of Allen bolts on the underside too which are fitted from the front (compensator/engine side).
The Allen bolts just need an 8mm Allen key.
The hex head bolts have 15mm heads.
The bolt at the bottom is easy (assuming car is set up reasonably high for easy underside access.
The lower left-hand bolt is easily reached if you have a 15mm universal socket and a long (280mm) slender extension and a long ratchet to break the set without too much brute force being required. I used 3/8” drive tools, ½” drive tools are probably too bulky. A shallow socket plus a universal joint might work but the universal socket does!
The lower right-hand bolt can be reached using the same tools with an additional 150mm extension after releasing the fuel and brake lines from the plastic clips under the gear box.
The upper right-hand bolt can be reached from above with a combination spanner, or rather two combination spanners. I disconnected the wires from the +ve connection bolt to avoid damaging them first. There is very little room to swing the spanner and I found that I could only move the bolt through a very short arc so alternated between two 15mm rings from different makes till it was loose enough to get the universal socket on again, this time with a rotator ratchet (one with a bevel type drive through it so that once it is on the bolt you just rotate the handle to spin the socket.
The upper LH bolt is straightforward again using the universal socket and a couple of extensions running under the oil tank.
This was all with the engine still attached to its mounts.

Al M3Ws will of course use exactly the same fasteners and the same techniques will apply to all of them...Santa Claus exists...the cheque is in the post...etc.