Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Stage 1 Exhaust failure

Anyone with failed Stage-1 exhausts?

My 2017 has the factory-fitted Stage 1 kit. Unfortunately, both sides of the exhaust have cracked and the right side broken through. I noticed a rattle on the right side last fall before putting it away for the winter, but thought it was the heat shield. In getting it out this spring, was surprised to find the right side pipe totally broken through where the inlet pipe is welded to the muffler inlet. Not the weld, but the actual muffler metal has cracked and broken. On the left side, you can see cracks starting in the same place. All of 1500 miles on it...

I've reached out to the dealer, but as I'm now just out of warranty, I'm suspecting I will need to see my local exhaust wizard for some reinforcement and welding. Disappointed, as I hadn't heard of any issues with the Stage-1 pipes up to now.

Right side:
[img]http://photos.app.goo.gl/GcyEieRSfB6GGjEX6[/img]

Left side - can just see the cracks forming:
[img]http://photos.app.goo.gl/WqavvtgLzuz8UgBq6[/img]

and:
[img]http://photos.app.goo.gl/faCpZ8LCqppcJ5tG6[/img]

[help - what's the trick to have the images show up? When I try to edit, it says "HTML is disabled" so what am I doing wrong???]

There have been a lot of MMC Stage 1 exhaust system failures in exactly the same place, a common problem.

I've said it before and I say it again - the M3W isby far the most fun car I have ever driven, but the build quality is outrageous. Seems that MMC is using the customers as a test bench. I hope the new generation four-wheelers are not the same. It would be sad to read about the same amount of failures on these as I have read about the M3W on this forum. I wish all you M3W drivers the best of luck and happy driving.

Ouch. Clicking on you link ends up with Google wanting access *my* photos (on iOS) ... but TM needs a link ending in .jpg.

wow, is this exhaust cracking issue ever going to get resolved?

Have a look on historic posts for how people solved the problem.
My guess is some form of vibration damping is needed. Rubber doughnut fittings as also used for radiators not too tightly bolted might be a start. My four wheeler has them on the exhaust mounting brackets as standard. Cheap to replace when the rubber deteriorates.

Sorry to hear. We picked up our Morgan’s about the same time both with stage 1s so after reading your post I rushed into the garage. All good on my end fortunately as I have about 4K miles. This is the first stage 1 that I have heard of cracking. Not sure how close you are to Emil at custom Morgan but he is an expert welder.

Ken

Here's a link to a shared album that I believe works, in case you can't get to the individual pictures.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/54S9Abn3jQA6QyiEA

Ken, that's encouraging!

But take a close look at the pics of the left side. The cracks are just starting there - hard to see in the picture, but the hair-line tell-tale lines indicate metal fatigue that will eventually crack through.

I have a good exhaust guy who has done some nice custom work, so I think I'll take the pipes off and see what he can do with them. I'm not going to wait for Morgan to reply to the dealer, as otherwise I'll miss the entire summer driving season...

I've been involved with trying to re-weld and reinforce a Brooklands system, including fitting flexible joints. Even though we really thought that we had done enough to repair the boxes and deal with the inherrent weaknesses, they still cracked in service. The conclusion is that the original materials and construction methods are poor and repairs never hold up. Therefore my advice would be to go to your 'good exhaust guy' and have new boxes fabricated. In your shoes I would also be tempted to have flexi joints incorporated into the new boxes (à la Garage56). Belt and braces etc...