Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) 4/4 Kent xflow bonnet clearance?

Kerry, that's interesting. All I knew was that the competition model had twin Webers, mine has (actually Dellortos) so I'd always assumed it was standard. You are correct that there are no cutouts anywhere for the carbs. I'll admit I hadn't heard of the conversion and tuning manifold until Arwyn mentioned it earlier, I shall have to investigate.

I bought my 4/4 from Richard Thorne in 2007. The previous owner had it from new but unfortunately, the car came with no history.

Thanks for the information.

I don't think it's original either Ian. It might be a good idea to mention it to your insurance company just in case.

Just to clear things up as there seems to be a bit of confusion going on here. This is based on the long term ownership of a 1971 4/4 1600 Competition model which was bought new by my father.

a) Twin 40 carbs were never offered as a factory extra

b) Competition models had the 1600 Cross flow GT spec engines, with a single downdraft twin choke Weber 32/36 DGV and a tubular exhaust manifold. The non Coomp models had Fords VV carb and a cast manifold.

c) Conversion and Tuning were a firm specialising in aftermarket tuning parts based in Tulse Hill/Brixton area of South London

Arwyn

Thanks, Arwyn for the explanation and apologies to John for diverting his original topic.

To be fair I think everyone else knew what they were talking about, any confusion was mine! I have a lot of Morgan books including the Brooklands Books "Morgan Four Workshop Manual" which has a fully illustrated section on the double-choke downdraught Weber. How on earth I've owned the car for 12 years without realising my set up was special is a something of an embarrassment.

I may have tracked down a contact address for the original owner, I shall ask if he can shed light on when the conversion was done.

I totally agree on the 4/4 competition leaving the factory with the single twin choke Weber carb.

When I rebuilt my car, with the new tub from the factory, the original bonnet never fitted quite as well as I had hoped.

To rectify this, I took the car up to the factory to have a new bonnet made on the car.

As I always found the twin choke Weber with a performance filter quite a tight fit under the bonnet of the 2 seater, I had the factory move the louvre vents over slightly to help with clearance.

This may well be causing ructions among the purists, but as it was a bespoke modification by the skilled hands of the factory craftsmen, I don't feel too bad about it!

You have a hard time being a purist with Morgans, I don't think anyone knows what a pure one looks like!

I can't tell from your picture how many louvres you've got, the answer to that will definitely spark a debate.

An update on the above. The original owner has very kindly replied to my letter and, intriguingly, was as surprised as me! He says this is how it was when he bought it new in 1980. There is no mention of twin carbs on the chassis record so it couldn't have been a factory option. Therefore, if it definitely wasn't standard fitment at that time, the conversion must have been done before selling by the dealer - I & J MacDonald of County Durham.

Just to confirm, as others already knew, the manifold is stamped with the "Conversion & Tuning" logo.

Hi Ian, I would be forever in debt to you if you could get a horizontal dimension for the conversion and tuning manifold. I'm in regional Australia, so I was hoping to ensure the dellortos fit with the manifold I was looking at prior to ordering!

Cheers
Lachy

Thread deviation, apologies to OP,

Just that I have great affection for side-draught Webers since I first saw them on a Lotus Cortina when it was a new car, and then had the good fortune to own a couple of sixties Elans so equipped, it has been some time since I messed with a Weber, though remember well that they were not bolted tight to the manifold, in that they had Thakarey (sp?) washers under the carb to manifold nuts, there was a required gap betwixt the coils of the washers to be measured with a feeler gauge, seemingly to reduce fuel frothing. Just curious to know if Dellorto`s had a similar mounting system...?

They did indeed and the rubbers were the size of thermostat housings, there' s nothing like the sound of a set of webbers howling through a welsh forest first thing in the morning. I would have it as a ringtone if i could. Em