Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) +4 GDI Air Temps

Have a re-read of my post Lorn, what I've already installed is very much a carefully curated and extremely well proven package of components designed to deliver 200hp+ on the 2.0 Duratec. The same approach has been used by a multitude of trusted tuning companies going back almost 20 years in the case of Mountune, all are highly experienced with this engine and all make 200hp + using the same package of components I've deployed on Monty.

The key three players being:

1. Mountune - MR200 kit (200hp +)

2. BBR - Super 200 kit (200hp +)

3. Caterham - 420R (210hp) - NB: The additional power Caterham claims here was largely the result of using a dry sump stystem that the MR200 & Super 200 did/do without

Morgan themselves also quoted 200hp for their 2012 Plus 4 Super Sport model that again followed the well trodden recipe I've simply replicated on my standard Plus 4, actually I was recently speaking with a French Super Sport owner over Facebook who was telling me he's unlocked his Omex ECU, other than the ITBs which don't actually offer any more outright airflow Monty's tuning package is identical. When tested his standard Super Sport did deliver the 200hp Morgan promised, however, what his tuner found was a dangerously lean calibration that was also also running a rather retarded ignition angle at the top the table. Morgan's original Super Sport Omex calibration was described buy the tuner as 'amateurish', and to support this once the fueling and ignition advance were corrected the car made a very healthy 212hp!

This is why I can say with complete confidence that Monty has the very real potential to deliver at least my prediction of 207hp at 7,250 rpm and 183 lb/ft of torque at 4,800 rpm, of course potential and reality are two very different things so I'm keen not to set myself up for a fall here

But lets not forget tuning the Duratec is an extremely well trodden path, it's also well known to be one of those very rare naturally aspirated engines that responds incredibly well to some very simple tuning mods, this is because Ford built it right in the first place, their cylinder head design being especially good.

The only company I haven't mentioned so far is Cosworth who created a run of dry sumped Duratecs with some light head work and forged internals that made 225hp, this engine was offered by Cosworth to whoever would take them. Morgan were just one customer who used Cosworth's tweaked Duratec in the ARP4, the forged internals certainly gave the engine strength and durability at high engine speeds but these components don't actually add any power as such, the light head work and a small gain from the dry sump lubrication (less drag on the crank) is what gave it roughly 20hp more.

Looking into the future for Monty I'm currently speaking with a very talented cylinder head porter who has lots of experience gas flowing the Duratec cylinder head, which for the record is actually an amazing design right out of the box. Just as Cosworth achieved, he's also telling me he can guarantee an additional 20hp if I have him gas flow Monty's head, and I'm 100% certain his well respected porting work will deliver just that. It's also well accepted the limit of the Duratec engine before forged internals are recommended is 235hp, so assuming I can indeed make 207 horsepower on the 27th the additional 20hp from a good hand ported cylinder head would leave me safely at 227hp.

But that's where my Monty tuning journey will have to stop!

Developing a viable and improved cold air intake has been on the agenda for some time.

No drilling into, cutting or irreversibly modifying existing components on the car was a prime consideration. Consequently if the mods were of no discernible benefit, all items could be removed and the intake returned to standard.

At speed, a strong flow of cool air enters the cowl grill and this was the favoured entry point. The louvres in the side of the bonnet were considered too small to be effective and fitting a large side intake cowl would involve cutting the bonnet. A low level front entry point was considered impractical due to the inner wing and the steering/suspension components obstructing a smooth duct passage.

A large touring plaque had previously been tied to the cowl front without adverse heating effects, and consequently an aluminium plate has now been fixed in front of the radiator to deflect cool air between the top of the radiator and the underside of the cowl. This cool air will be channelled into a duct leading to the air filter box. The greater the road speed, the greater the air box should become pressurised. So long as there is a fast air flow, the air in the duct should not heat up appreciably from the presence of the radiator and exhaust beneath. It may be necessary to vent the air box, but that is for the future.







Behind the cowl about 100mm beneath the top of the radiator on each side is an M6 inner wing fixing bolt. These bolts were used to secure aluminium brackets. A close fit to the side of the inner wing and a thin rubber pad acting as gasket prevents bracket rotation about the bolt. The brackets are curved to match the curvature of the inner wing. An aluminium deflector plate was then cut and secured to each bracket via a pair of M5 bolts at each side.


Two types of air duct intake will be assessed. One is a closed end tube with large side holes and the other is a tube cut at an angle to scoop air into the duct. A bespoke U- shaped duct bracket has been fabricated and fixed using the standard fixings. The duct has an aluminium ring at the air box end and is a push fit into both the air box spigot and the U-bracket. Entire duct removal takes no more than a few seconds.





Currently waiting for the weather to cheer up before road testing and a track day at the end of February should deliver a verdict on these mods.

Lovely work there Chris

Thank you for your reply Monteque. With respect, the point I was trying to make was that promised bhp gains often depend on other things being done AND that it would be marvelous for this community and others to know the effect of these changes individually. Decades ago, Luddite drilled into my head that one should never make more than one change at a time away from a working datum. I am infinitely lucky he did so. Methodology is more important than results.
It is sad, simple logic. The one does simultaneous changes, the less knowledge is gleaned from each one and the frustrarion risks increase factorially. For example, one change that goes awry means a quick return to the working model.Two change is a bit harder to return. Four changes means 1x2x3x4 or 24 different possible results. I realize that dyno time is costly, but a one-by-one approach is ultimately more instructive, worth the extra money, if only for posterity. Doing all at once does not underline the efficacy of any separately.

Think of it this way. The first time I tell someone that they must buy/install many things, they ALL ask me WHY for each and that is not unwise of them. You have an opportunity here to lead MANY car owners.

gmg (aka LornE)

P.S. GoMoG LAW of TRUST Trust no one but the relative differences on a rolling road dyno.

Chris,
That's top work. What type of flexible trunking you are using?
Some good ideas there I might copy.
Cheers
John.

It's just a bit of fettling & fine tuning

Hi Lorne,

While I did tune Monty in three key stages over a period of time (exhaust, inlet manifold, cams), it's not always practical to go to the rolling road to test each change. However, in very loose terms and based on everything known about tuning the Duratec (which is a lot), a 15 - 20hp gain can be expected from each stage.

I can also confirm that while the old school narrow band closed loop correction offered by the Visteon ECU will cope with the extra flow from a decent exhaust (stage 1) without any calibration work needed, that's its limit before you'll need to start making changes to its fuel tables. As soon as you move to stage 2 (ITBs or FF inlet manifold) you'll need to find a way to add more fuel to match all that additional air, if you don't the engine for sure will fall flat on its face!

There's nothing wrong with the Visteon as such, it's just tricky to tune, but I believe Rog has that one covered. However, I still think he'll find 185hp will prove to be it's limit, so while fine for stage 1 & 2 my guess is even the smartest tuner with the best software will struggle to take things further using the Visteon. My solution was to fit a stand alone ECU as I knew I would be taking Monty north of 200hp, at which point (stage 3 - cams) will reveal that the standard injectors are not really up to the job. If you stick with the standard injectors over 200hp you'll be pushing them over 80% duty, this is far from ideal because as soon as you get close to or into the 90% duty zone fuel injectors tend to become unstable. This instability could easily result in a momentary but dangerously lean condition under full load, and calibrating the old Visteon to accept bigger injectors would get super complicated, if not impossible?

If you then add a ported head to the mix taking the engine to stage 4 and start making over 220hp, it's also advisable to increase the fuel pressure, as I understand it the standard fuel pump should have sufficient flow to support up to 260hp so if you're making anything from 220 - 260hp all that's required is an uprated FPR.

However, I'll be testing this theory when I fit the gas flowed head

Hi Gentlemen,

I have become a big fan of Cain. He is now one of gomog's three recommendations for all-rounders to deal with trad-wise.

What you are imaging is what the legendary Rob Wells refers to as a "splitter". Diverting a bit of air over the rad into the engine bay and forcing a lot beck into the rad. Rob's wind tunnel tests shows that the odd canting of the trad rads, from the Factory until the plastic rad era and continued, inexplicably, by the aftermarket even after that. Makes no sense and I am saddened to see the Chinese alu rads, wonderfully inexpensive, have sadly copied it as well..leaving us with 200 quid alloy rads that are still less-than-ideal. Even the MMC, not those for changing old ideas, smartened up after they consulted, though their inexpensive plastic rads never thrilled me.[/i] I am attaching Rob's sketch to me?Taken in an wind tunnel...the designer's wind analogue to a rolling road. BTW, I made a mistake 22 years ago when I used a wind dam rather than Rob's type splitter. The result lowered my coolant temperatures and melted every bit of plastic in the engine bay of that one of my cars...looked like something from Andy Warhol.

The affair you are showing is wonderfully made but cuts off air from the rad somewhat. A no-no. Splitting it is wiser and easier.


GREAT. The least invasive as possible is the best rule I have found. The rule I set for myself (which is not sacrosanct...I merely realized that my playing field would be unlimited and less fun if there were no boundaries) is, DO NOT DO ANYTHING THAT CANNOT BE REVERSED, BY YOURSELF INSIDE OF 24 HOURS. Of course, as I kept learning, that rule delineated a larger playing field. After years at my goals changed to making my Morgan simpler, more reliable and more susceptible to easy repair. It is a function of my type of usage


Forgive me the following but, with respect, it is an odd intake placement to find cool air, even at speed. You have placed it abutting and behind the VERY hottest point, namely BEHIND and at the hot top of the radiator. As old f*rt racers will tell you, the coolest flow is below and often slightly forward of the rad as air is its coolest down, not high up low. However, if high up is needed, the German dealers Mertz and Pabst, once very into racing, designed the one I attach below. It is made with carbon fiber, far less likely to heat. You could divert the entry lower or do not have it abut the rad and be forward of it.

Another thing to note about the Morgan engine (and other) engine bays and intakes, that most of us ignore. The change of intake shape and their hoses muchly change torque. I had heard about that in my readings and conversations but I was surprised at how true it was. So much so, that John Eales, with his in-shop flywheel dyno, designed his own bespoke intake, for his large crowd of Morgan race cars. Frankly, I stopped early on. My goals were different from yours and Montegue's. I had designed a car that went over my bhp plans, so the niceties of airflow gave way to secondary considerations of Morgan aesthetics. As long as I did not produce induction noise and it was pretty, I was ok with it. I was still over the bhp I wanted. I accordingly used different air intake system depending on the Morgan. The dyno taught me some common Morgan mistakes but these apply to pre 2004 Plus 8s and pre-2000 Plus 4s.


I should mention that your standard canting of the radiator is unhelpful, though standard for pre-plastic rads and aftermarket rads. Habit is a more potent determinant of everything than logic is. Once an error passes into tradition....
It can be costlessly mitigated.



Wonderful execution!!!




I have found that only fiddling and trying things on a rolling road is worthwhile. But I am REALLY enjoying the attitude and adventures you and Montegue are having. Bravo!

Forgive me if I have misunderstood your images.

gmg

Rob Wells Air Splitter (1999)



Mertz&Pabst Air Intake Over the Rad Version.

Still my favourite cost effective 'cold air intake' ... chunk of wood shut in the bonnet to make a scoop on the carb side! 🙂




Jamie, the previous owner of my car at the Bo'ness Classic Hillclimb ... sadly, he kept that reg and it reverted to it's original.

K

Well done Chris. I look forward to seeing the car at a GEG event. Do you fancy making an inlet for a 3.7l Roadster