Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) What Ford 1600 kent engine upgrades do you have ?

I'm interested to know what engine upgrades members have made to their cars.

In light of the problems with current unleaded low octane fuel, fuel vapourisation problems, pinking etc.

I just want to end up with an an engine that will run nice, be economical, not overheat and not pink under load etc.

When I have it apart I was thinking of an unleaded head conversion, lowering the compression a little, maybe an electric fan and electronic ignition, although I have a fair stock of new ignition contact points etc. I only want to take it apart once.

Any personal recommendations welcome.

Electronic ignition is a good idea. Set once and forget it. No degradation over time as with points. The single best and cheapest thing you can do. I have converted all of my points distributors on everything.

Seconded the electronic ignition.

Woodstock runs a loony tunes crossflow (1828cc) so I'm way beyond simple tweaks. I do however wonder if it is really necessary to drop the compression - you'll lose power if you do.

Forgotten what make they are, but the stainless exhaust manifold that Harpers sell is a close replica of the older Janspeed system - nice straight pipes.

Electric fan. Good idea but make sure your radiator is a good one. To my mind the traditional Kenlowe takes a lot of beating. I was, and still am, suspicious of the type that clamp onto the radiator core. A trad Kenlowe will mount on the side panels in front of radiator nicely.

Unleaded head - total sense. While it'll take a while to get the money back (especially if you go for a flowed one) the fact you no longer need to dose with lead substitute must be a big one.

Modification though is a slippery slope!

Are you sure the pinking is not caused by ignition problems rather than the compression ratio. It could well be that tired springs on the distributor counterweights are causing the ignition timing to go to full advance at lower revs than it should. Try the electronic ignition system before thinking about reducing compression. If the engine is running at full advance at too low revs that could cause overheating too. if you are having fuel vaporisation problems you could insulate the fuel lines by covering them with a neoprene tube.
I would suggest getting the unleaded conversion, fitting electronic ignition and having the car properly tuned. I suspect it will then run much better and cooler and a good deal of the pinking problem will disappear. Naturally a decent fan will always help in hot weather.

I'm actualy starting a restoration on this car, it hasn't run for many years. I just want to plan out some of the sensible modifications that should be included.

Kenlowe fan, fitted by an earlier owner - must get a replacement temp sensor/relay. As Martyn stated: not mounted through radiator core.
Electronic dissie (321?) fitted a couple of years ago. K&N air filter.
Not sure whether the exhaust is to standard spec. It's a stainless one fitted a good number of years ago.
Still using lead substitute - one apllication per three tankfuls of go-juice. When it comes time for an engine rebuild valve seats will be changed and some gas flowing applied
On 95 unleaded I do not suffer with pinking - standard tune set-up.
Fuel pipes changed to cope with ethanol (or most of them anyway). Weber rebuilt with ethanol compatible seals.

Cheers,

Bored to 1700cc
Fast road cam
Big valve head
Twin Weber 40s
Facet fuel pump
Aldon electronic distributor
4 branch manifold
Kenlowe fan

Used mainly for continental touring. I shied away from the unleaded conversion when I did the head about ten years ago having heard horror stories of inserts coming adrift. Maybe they're better nowadays.

Against the pinking you can take the ignition back a little and use higher grade petrol. An electrical petrol pump should help against the fuel vapourisation. I would keep the standard fan which is adequate and troublefree. If you prefer torque to better acceleration leave the camshaft and carb alone. The best modification IMHO would be a 5 speed gearbox.

Frank

For sure electronic ignition. But retain the Lucas dissy. I would not waste any money on a Pertronix unit.

Go with a bigger Carb...Im assuming the engine still has the Weber down draught...

If the head is off, do the unleaded conversion. If you dont have to take it off, dont sweat it. Just run regular pump gas. The leaded heads will last for quite sometime before the ill effects of the unleaded fuel will manifest.

Or the you could do what I did, and just swap it out for a Cosworth BDR...LOL

Hi Leo
No engine swap in this car, I'm trying to keep it as original as possible. Would you have the original air filter assembly, this is missing.