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If you do not have the factory NVH ( Noise, Vibration and Harshness) kit fitted you will not derive any benefit from my bevel box mounting kit.
The kit consists of a complete set of bevel box mountings. There are three of them which satisfactorily secure the bevel box in all of the twelve planes / axes of movement. The bevel box mounts are clamped to the chassis to
enable fitting without the need for welding and they avoid the need to grind away the residue of the old, original, rigid bevel box mounts. Neither welding nor grinding are desirable in close proximity to petrol pipes!
The mountings for the bevel box are isolated from the chassis with polyurethane linings in all of the fixing clamps to reduce the transmission of bevel box noise to the chassis. If you are replacing the factory NVH kit then the components you
remove will weigh 9.3 Kg and the new mounts weigh in at 3.0Kg a net saving of 6.3Kg.
DO NOT be tempted to fit the top mounting in conjunction with the NVH kit. The three mountings in my kit must all be fitted together and the NVH kit fully removed.
The bevel box mountings are best fitted before the cush drive upgrade which can be fitted at a later date.
There have been some problems with the fitting of my kit to the S&S crankshaft due to the nature of the original design. With welcome and enthusiastic help and cooperation from owners all of these failures have been satisfactorily resolved and I am now confident that there will be no further issues. It is not possible to achieve a good fit for the splined hub / crankshaft connection without hand fitting. I, therefore. only offer this kit to owners who can bring the engine or complete car to my workshops in Lancaster. I realise that this is not convenient for everyone but I see no other way to ensure a reliable service to customers.
The cush drive is often referred to as the compensator - my kit is applied to the crankshaft shock absorber made by Centa UK.
The kit consists of one set of high temperature polyurethane inserts - An aluminium carrier plate with sintered bronze support bearing and alloy steel stub shaft - A splined replacement hub in alloy steel, secured with taper pins - A new crankshaft oil seal and O ring - All fasteners and tools for changing the inserts. The quick change modifications will be carried out at the same time..
The kit is no longer available to purchase for you to fit. You can bring your machine, or just the engine, to me and I will cary out the upgrade for you and if you wish you may visit the workshops while I carry out the work, thereby learning much about your machine and its future maintenance and servicing.
The kit will reduce the bouncing action of the coupling thereby making pulling away at lower engine speeds possible without the jerking and clanking normally experienced - driving in traffic is much more pleasant. Vibration will also be reduced especially in conjunction with my bevel box mounting kit. The support bearing restrains the sideways forces on the single bearing intermediate shaft which occur when the inserts start to fail - one of the inserts always fails first leaving the remaining, opposite, insert to wedge the shaft sideways with enormous force. Many vehicles arriving at my workshops are down to the last one! These sideways forces can cause irreparable damage to the rear bearing and its housing which will be expensive to replace. I can remedy any such damage here while installing the kit.
Reversing the assembly of the central rotor in the Centa cush drive along with cutting an access hole in the bell housing makes inspecting and changing a set of inserts possible without removing the engine. A task taking less than 30 minutes.
The alloy steel, inserted hub safeguards your crankshaft from damage which can result from failure of the splines in the original hub - this is becoming more common as machines get older. The original hub is made from soft steel and fitted in a most unprofessional manner resulting in an assembly which is likely to fail if disturbed, for example to replace a leaking oil seal. The splines in the new hub are fitted on both major and minor diameters as well as to the flanks. I will not reassemble the unit without this component. The new hub has the correct diameter shaft, with the correct finish, for the oil seal ( the originals are often almost a millimetre undersize) and it incorporates an O ring for the internal seal instead of the silicone mastic originally employed. I do not think it is good practise to use a silicone type sealant in an area of such mechanical importance. Correct assembly of the hub on to the crankshaft makes for a much stronger unit, giving good support to the intermediate shaft.
The P.G.Bleazey drive train upgrade kit uses inserts, in the Centa coupling, of modified shape to reduce the bouncing action which is the cause of much of the shunting and banging on pulling away. The shock absorption is achieved by combined distortion and rolling action of the inserts, not by rolling alone . The ones used in my kits are high temperature resistant and are true prisms and do not allow for misalignment, this function is not needed in the Morgan three wheeler application. The inserts incorporate a tab for ease of removal through the hole cut in the bell housing.
The upgrade kit contains an extension for the shaft which supports the inner rotor of the Centa coupling, this extension runs in a plain bearing. The bearing is mounted in a carrier which fits within the Centa coupling outer rotor. The intermediate shaft is thus supported at both ends which creates a much more rigid, true running, unit. Please do not fit my design of inserts without the support bearing. In any case I recommend fitting a support bearing at the earliest opportunity.
Please be aware that the inserts in a Centa coupling are consumable - like tyres and brake pads- they have to be replaced at regular intervals. My non rolling inserts are designed with longevity in mind and I hope they will outlast any other alternative but in common with all the available alternatives, they are not immortal. With the original set up, when the inserts come to the end of their life it was necessary to remove the engine in order to replace them - at least 12 hours work for a mechanic. If you make my quick change modifications You will be able to inspect the inserts - or replace them before a long trip, in half an hour. This can also be carried out at the roadside in the event of failure - if you can lift the vehicle safely.
More details of the kits, the reasons for fitting them and instructions on how to do it can be found here :-
The modifications consist of an enlargement of the grease gun access hole in the bottom of the bell housing, where such a hole exists or machining the access hole from scratch. This is best done on a milling machine but can be carried out by hand The inner rotor is then re machined so that the insert retaining plate can be fitted to the rear end such that it can be removed to give access to remove the inserts.
For those who choose to have this mod done locally or if you want to do it yourself, I have made drawing and instructions available please click on the link at the top of the page. Having done the mods fix the plate to the rotor with
four M8 socket head screws 16mm long NO LOCTITE. four more socket head screws 16mm long should be inserted and loctited in to the four holes in the aluminium outer rotor - these are used to turn the engine over while removing
the securing plate and the inserts.
To remove the bell housing you must strike the heads of the four fixing screws two or three times using a brass drift, to break the loctite, you may also need to heat the crankcase around the threads. The screws are imperial and you will need a long series 1/4 inch allen wrench driven by your socket set tommy bar.
It is essential to re fit them with loctite and torque them down to 30ft lbs. or 40 newton metres. these are the bolts that hold the primary chaincase on to the crankcase in motorcycle installations. they are very small for the
Morgan set up and need to be tightened correctly.
I do not think it necessary to cover this hole as I have seen no signs of damage from water or road dirt and there may be some advantage from the extra cooling air flow.
At the first sign of any deterioration of the inserts ie. excessive vibration and bits of polyurethane coming out of the hole under the bell housing, or as a preventative measure before a long run, or just as part of your routine maintenance schedule, you should inspect or change the inserts.
Start by jacking up the vehicle and supporting it on some good axle stands. Alternatively run the vehicle on to a pair of ramps. Either way, high enough to work through the access hole under the bell housing. Remove both sparking plugs and cover the holes with a rag to safeguard against any foreign matter falling in.
Using the 1/4 inch drive hexagon bit driver with a 6 mm bit inserted and a 1/4 inch hex extension handle in place - these were supplied with your kit - loosen the first accessible cap screw holding the retaining plate in position, a good blow with the side of your fist on the extension handle should do the trick - re tighten them in the same manner. With two fingers or finger and thumb if your hands are small enough remove the screw and place it somewhere clean - it is important not to get any contaminants such as grit or grease on the threads - this makes the job of removal much harder especially if the contaminant is transferred to the female threads in the rotor. Then, using the same tool inserted in one of the four dummy cap head screws in the outer rim of the aluminium rotor, turn the engine clockwise ( viewed from the rear of the vehicle ) till you can reach and loosen the next retaining plate screw - continue till all four screws have been removed.
Slide the retaining plate back till it registers on the rearmost, larger diameter, part of the shaft. The insert at the bottom can now be removed using a thin screwdriver or something similar in the hole in the extraction lug and inspected for wear or cracking - replacing if necessary. Move on to each insert in turn - do not take them all out at once or you will have difficulty in re aligning the rotors.
When you are happy with the condition of the inserts - inspected and replaced or changed for new, slide the retaining plate back in to position and ( this is the tricky bit ) line up the lowest bolt hole with a threaded hole in the rotor. An Allen key can be used to poke in the hole and jiggle it all about till they line up. Now, again with two fingers, enter one of the cap screws and screw no more than finger tight. Move around till all four are just finger tight and the go round again tightening each screw in turn with a blow to the extension handle with the side of your hand - this is tight enough - they do not come undone on their own and you will want to be able to undo them again next time without too much force. If more force is needed to loosen a screw then jack the rear wheel off the ground (to prevent the possibility of your driving the vehicle of the axle stands! ), apply the hand brake and engage a gear - this will give you some resistance to your loosening effort.
Finally, drop the vehicle back to the ground and check the workshop clock - less than an hours work compared to an engine out exercise on an unmodified vehicle - well done!
More details of the kits, the reasons for fitting them and instructions on how to do it can be found here :-
Morgan 3 wheeler workshop
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