Morris Minor Owners Club

I had an Austin Seven not long ago. It was a 'box' saloon, an RP from 1934 (if my memory is correct). It was/is lovely little thing. Spares and good advice very easy to come by. My opinion (not shared by Austin 7 folk) is that it was just too old to be useable in modern traffic. I could spend days w...

Thanks, that will keep me out of the sun for a while!

I agree that Car and Classic is a good start but it doesn't include the various auction houses and their forthcoming sales.

Is there a website that pulls all the 'classic' cars up for auction into one place? A bit like Rightmove does for houses?

Might seem obvious but the longer diesel sits in contact with old deposits of junk the better it softens them.

I did this job on a Fiat 600 a little bit at a time.

When you've done the oil it is time to think about the water, flushing the cooling system is an excellent way of finding weak points...

Insured for 3000 miles, probably do 1000 pa. Garaged, short, slow local trips, roof comes down in April and hopefully stays that way till October.

Probably not the best way to use a car but it suits me.

Thanks, looks like I have some options but best to take it off and compare with a standard one first.

I see various alternatives but what is EPDM?

I'm in the process of making myself a little spares kit.

Here's a picture of the top hose. Things don't alighn neatly because I have a 1275 head on a 1098 engine.

The question is whether this is a standard top hose that has been bent into shape or something from something else?

One day they might introduce an age limit for tyres for private cars, I understand there is one for commercial vehicles.

Interesting, I've had a look and it is a Nankang 155 R 14 80 S from 2008. No signs of crazing/cracking. The newer Nankangs on the car are from 2025, they are 155 80 R 14 81T The design of tyre wall differs significantly. Whereas the newer tyre's outer wall is smooth the older one has a significant s...

Thanks,

Looks like I had better double check the size of my spare, it hasn't seen daylight for quite a while, not sure of its brand.

Something to remember...

Nankang tyres only come in the 155 x 14 size

A spare this size spare does not fit under the boot floor of a saloon

In my limited experience there is nothing wrong with Nankang, I have used them on Morries and a Citroen GS and I think on a Minx. Yes they are the cheapest and yes they are easy to get hold of through normal discount people. I imagine they won't last as long as something more expensive (don't really...

I changed the piece of cardboard on the garage floor under the engine every three or four months, approximately.

It is a good guide to what is dripping where.

We'll get it up on his lift and have a good look first. Apparently he did the job on a Wolseley not that long ago. It will be sensible to get him to confirm my diagnosis.

Knowing (or not knowing) our car I will plan for the worst

If I were to take our car along to a garageman who knows his way around our MM, how many hours labour could I expect to replace torsion bar bushes and possibly eyebolts etc?

Two hours a side maybe?

Also, rubber or poly? I don't do much mileage.

A convertible was stolen last year from near here. Slit the roof and wired it. It was found a few miles away the next day. I see that the owner now uses a wheel clamp. Don't know how long he'll keep that up for. I tend to leave ours with the roof down and one of those cheap red steering locks as pic...

Apparently it is very hard to make a profit on a smaller car unless the volume is big. I don't know what 'big' is but it sort of makes sense.

I know it was common practice but I was never happy with coils mounted horizontally, old ones could be encouraged to leak...

On our MM our coil is vertical, mounted on the inner wing.

For reasons best known to a previous owner our car has a 1265 head sitting on its 1098 engine.

Although there is no need at present I do wonder which head gasket is in there...or are they the same?