Talk Morgan Forums Community For Sale & Wanted CVH Engine

Following on from my earlier post ref buying a MOG.

A few of the cars for sale have the Ford CVH engine.

Although we had a XR3 in the late 80s which was good fun at the time, I know very little about these engines other than whats online.

Do they "suit" the 4/4? Or not???

Any thoughts or experience/s would be welcome.

Cheers

My car started life with a CVH engine. Not a bad engine, but not the best either. Very vulnerable oil sludge problems if the oil isn't changed regularly. On the upside they are very easy to work on and parts are cheap and readily obtainable. Also because of the age the emissions limits on them are pretty generous, so if tuning is your bag then there's loads of scope.

On balance I would say the Zetec engine was a huge improvement, and the Duratec better still.

I swapped mine for a Vauxhall Ecotec VVTi motor, which I think is the perfect engine that Morgan never fitted to a 4/4. Same power characteristics as a 4/4 Sport, but 165 bhp.

Personally Neil if your budget can get you there i'd go for a Duratec even with some mileage on it if its been looked after. The 4/4 I had as my first Morgan was a 1.8 and it was a cracker, admittedly it had Kent cams and throttle bodies but standard is good.

Our 1985 CVH engined car went very well. Worn carburettors can cause issues and you need to look carefully at the service history re Tim’s comments. Regular oil changes are essential and a recent cam belt change is a must. Parts availability is quite good too. Biggest plus is that there is little in the way of electronics to worry about. Economy is not that great - ours never did better than 27mpg but that might have been my right foot (current 4/4 1.6 Sigma is around 42-48mpg consistently).

Best to talk to Mike Duncan about a CVH what he does not know about them is not worth knowing . He used to race them .

Neil, my first Mog was a 1993 4/4 with the cvh efi version as in XR2i and XR3i Ford cars.
A good engine. A Mog is lighter than the Fords it was used in so performance is fine. The gearbox was a standard Ford Type9 (I believe if memory is correct).
Maintenance is straight forward. Apart from new plugs and leads regular oil change was the only thing needed. It had a cable clutch but conversion to hydraulic is possible.
As for driving.....about 110bhp so decent for the car. Not huge torque so if “getting a move on” gear changes/revs meant reading the road to suit. Pootling around was no problem at all. About 35/38 mpg ( sometimes lower ).
I did some runs with Roadsters and Plus8’s and kept up on a couple of occasions of enthusiastic driving!
Went to Windermere weekend and coped well with the long cruising. A nimble car on winding roads too, cornered well.
As with any car with a few years age I started some system overhauls. Fuel pump failed so replaced and tank drained, new flexi pipework, extra filter to protect new pump. Some wiring tidied up (bullet connectors replaced).
It had the rear lever arm rear dampers that were ok but if keeping the car long term I would have upgraded to the Rutherford system.
I changed to the Plus8 after testing one but would go back to the 4/4 without any worries.

Mike has been out of the Morgan scene for some time now, and is recuperating from an illness if I remember correctly.

I may be wrong but I don't think he ever raced a CVH engined 4/4, a twin Cam engined one in the 60s , a BDA in the 70s , but most of the time he campaigned +4s on the track , and his 3 wheeler.

Mike used to maintain our CVH engined car and JTLs advice is sound - if he is still active - he does still advertise in Miscellany IIRC.

Thanks guys - good advice. I think Mike is still trading - but he has moved from the original Garage. It was eventually sold for housing and I think Mike did pretty well from the sale.

One of those rare old school workers who just will not stop doing what he loves!

Yes Mike's has an add in the mag . I have had the mog down a good few times . It was Mike who changed it to a 2L etc etc and gave me a print out 125bhp at the wheels . Got a certificate off the boys in blue camera a few month ago after picking it up at Beamish Mog and my foot slipped as I went up a long rather steep bank cough cough . Got to go to a driving lesson this Friday . Must take some chocolate for the women Also a lot of help off the late Bill Blydenstein what a nice guy he was nothing a problem to him . But isn't that the way of most mog owners .