Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Cam timing belt thickness

The cam belt doesn't wear like the tread on a tyre but the condition does deteriorate. They get cracks in the surface and go a bit raggy. They are not particularly difficult to replace but are always easier to replace in your garage with all the tools rather than the side of the road. If you have any doubt about the cam belt before its 30,000 mile life expires, change it.

Mine is approaching 30,000 miles as it failed at 19,000 miles and was replaced and I am now on track to hit 47,000 miles tomorrow. That gives me a 2,000 mile window with which to play. I already have the 3/16" metal dowels (old drill bits!) with which to replace said belt in a timely manner.

The spacer kit installed at the very beginning of the new belt's life has really helped! Giving the entire case a chance to vent heat and remain cool while running is a big bonus.

So I have a bit of time with which to order a new spare 'just in case'!

I admit that these kind of things get to become annoying after awhile. I did buy a British hand-built barely street legal race car. WTF was I expecting?!

😂😂👍

" I did buy a British hand-built barely street legal race car. WTF was I expecting?!"

Yup, that´s why I still smile every time I see it. No regrets, believe it or not.

ok
I am in the middle of changing the belt for the first time and having trouble fitting the new one , words of wisdom / encouragement appreciated !
To recap, I have the timing pins in , the crank pulley at FTDC mark , the right hand idler removed , the tension taken off to max and the old belt slipped off a treat.

Easy job I thought !

Tried fitting the new one and cant get enough slack to get it on past two pulleys. Part number on new belt matches old belt part number.

Have removed the left hand idler as well with no joy.
Belt is oriented so the writing is readable from the front of the car.
I can get the belt timing marks on the belt with the timing marks on two pulleys lined up, but no matter which order I thread it on cant get the third to line up.
I realise I probably have slipped a tooth somewhere , but cant see it.

I think the issue is around the crank pulley, which has a high lip, to the right hand cam pulley. I always seem to have about 1/4" movement in the belt at this point, which doesnt leave enough for the left hand belt timing mark to reach the timing mark on the left cam pulley, but I could be wrong.

Can someone who has done this advise the order they threaded the new belt on , and roughly how much tension they had between the pulleys at this point, what pulley order they threaded it , and any other advice !

Many thanks

It can be a bit tight! No real pearls of wisdom, but the pulleys can be jiggled slightly clockwise & anti-clockwise, even with the pins in place. There is also a little wriggle room with the crank pulley. You will probably find that once it's all alligned, it will slip on relatively easily.

Of course, you may have received a 'bad' new belt. Have you tried refitting the old belt? Also, have you overlayed the old belt loose over the new belt to compare sizes? Might lead somewhere?

Good luck!

Last time I did it, the car was on a flat surface and in 2nd or 3rd gear. The cambelt would just not go until someone had the bright idea of nudging the car back and forth which in turn turned the crank just a bit so that it slipped right on.

I had issues with the locks pins kept jumping out so I had to be really really careful. I ended up lifting the rocker on the valve that was down and it was really really easy to do. Take the rocker cover off and slacken off the rocker arm so the pushrod isn't forced against the cam lob then to all stays where you put it. I also put a spanner around the flat on the tensor and turned it to take the tension off the belt. If you put the end of the spanner on the end of the trolley jack you can lift the end to get the tension off and still have 2 hands for the belt. Then the job was easy!Hope that helps...

I have changed 2 cam belts, both were a bit of a fiddle but do eventually slide on, put on over the crank pulley first and it should be able to go over the others, make sure the tension is taken off the tensioner, I used an open ended spanner and then tied it up to the headlight bracket to keep the tension off whilst fitting the belt.

I found the easy way was to loosen off the rocker as per previous post.
This allowed enough wiggle to get belt on. Prior to that it was not working for me.
Also used pegs to hold the belt onto the sprockets and maintain the alignment of the marks on belt and sprocket. Without this they would jump a tooth easily. Leaves you with two hands to muscle on the belt. Also used jack to hold tensioner spanner
Also first time got the cam sprocket 180deg out! Wondered why it wouldn't fire!
With head off could follow the valve movements to ensure we were on the right TDC.
Patience will prevail, along with some very colourful words