Essential Parts

[Major Ed Spin]

Hi All, This is my first post on these technical forums. I am ( for my pains ) also the Spares Officer for the Sunbeam Alpine Owner's Club, so I have had a few years experience in the supply of both new parts and second hand parts for the Alpine.
In general, I would say that the Minor has an enviable spares supply network behind it and I never dreamed that the predicament that I find myself in now would have been possible................ but here is the story.

Having owned my Traveller since 1985, and having restored it once already, I recently embarked on an upgrading program to make it more fun to drive and less of a chore in modern traffic. The usual suspects of course 1275cc engine, SIerra Type 9 5 speed gearbox, 3.9 Diff, Ford vented disc brakes and servo, etc etc. It didn't quite stop there though because I also installed a Moss Eaton Supercharger and custom LCB exhaust header assembly.
In all a 2 year upgrade program, which I finally completed on the 6th October 2013, a bright sunny Sunday morning.

The car coughed a couple of times, then thrummed into life and moved under her own power for the first time with a completely new powertrain. A heady moment indeed................. there was just one job left to do, refit the horn push.

To say disaster struck with a vengeance would be an understatement, but after all the trials and tribulations of fitting these various parts, this simple job turned around and bit me. The hornpush is made of bakelite and is quite brittle, but possibly it had a crack in it already. The result of which was that on trying to press it into the hub of the steering wheel with gentle thumb pressure, the whole assembly literally exploded into small pieces with spring and button flying in all directions.

Reaching for the Moss catalogue, I quickly located the part and ordered it online. NO joy, none in stock and been on back order since July. I tried Bull Motif, ESM, David Manners Birmingham, Charles Ware Bath, not one dealer had this part in stock.

It only costs about £30, but without it, your Morris is one big paperweight..................cos you won't get an MOT without it.

Is the club aware of this situation? In the SAOC we proactively take steps to remanufacture essential parts like this when the traders run into difficulty supplying parts that generate little profit for them.

My only choice to get the car on the road is either to fit an A30 style horn button somewhere ( not really an option I want to be honest ) or get the superglue and JB weld putty out and hope for a minor miracle

[bmcecosse]

Just fit a temporary push button for the horn - with a label - and it will pass MOT.

[Matt]

What he said...

If you are a member of the club, try contacting the MMOC spares officer?

[LouiseM]

What year is your traveller? There are a few horn pushes on ebay and if it's a late horn assembly you're looking for I've got a spare one, or are you specifically wanting a new one? The club does get involved in producing difficult to get hold of parts, mainly for earlier Minors, but horn pushes are generally pretty easy to get hold of second hand.

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

The bakelite ones off the 1098 do get very brittle with age, when I take one out if its still in one piece I usually remove one of the metal holding clips and wedge it in with a bit of paper so its easier to remove in the future.

Heres one listed on ebay at the moment, few days to go still

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MORRIS-MINOR- ... 20d90c9736

[Major Ed Spin]

My Traveller is 1970, with the 2 spoke wheel. I have sent Bryan Gostling an email, but as yet no reply. I did try looking on Ebay but couldn't find one like the one pictured.
LouiseM, would you be willing to sell yours if Bryan has nothing suitable ? I'm quite content to fit an original rather than new unit.

I've been trying for a fortnight to get hold of one without success so far.
Many thanks for all the replies though, one thing I don't want to do is have to fit a Mountney wheel.

[irmscher]

There are a couple on ebay

[LouiseM]

LouiseM, would you be willing to sell yours if Bryan has nothing suitable ?

Yes, no problem. It's in better condition than the one currently on e-bay with no cracks/chips and was working perfectly when I removed it from my Minor. I only replaced it because I found one with a slightly better centre at an autojumble (the red part is faded in places).

I'll send you a personal message re: price but I think you'll find that it is better value than e-bay prices plus I could put it in the post to you tomorrow.

[Major Ed Spin]

Many thanks Loise, you have a PM. Thanks to the other posters advice, the car got through the MOT today with a temporary horn button rigged up. Not pretty, but duck tape does do a good job. In these circumstances needs must.

It seems the problem with remanufacture is that the company who supply will only start a production run when there are sufficient units on back order. How many that is is anyone's guess but probably a minimum of 50 units. That might mean a shortage for a year or two, who knows?

Maybe the club needs to step in, and put the money up. I'd put my name down for one to kick things off.

[Major Ed Spin]

Morris Minor Traveller 1275 Upgrade Program

Louise, thanks for your prompt postage of the part. I received it yesterday in the morning post. It now has a new home, as you will see.

Here are some shots of the finished car. All she needs now is running in with a bit of care. If you look closely at the interior shot, you will spot my organ pedal mod for the accelerator. I always found the original accelerator pedal was awkward for my foot.
I have long legs and after any period at the wheel of longer than a few minutes, my ankle would start to ache. The organ pedal is from the MG Midget and utilizes the original accelerator crossrod which has been adapted to take the Midget pedal and link.

It is very sensitive now and is much easier to feed in the small movements that are now needed to avoid excessive power being applied.

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Although this was a recognized upgrade, and I used a reputable supplier , the actual engineering needed whilst fitting the kit was extensive. It seemed at times as if nothing had been made to fit and I was the first person to have ever tried it. It is not for the faint hearted at all. There were many times I felt as though I should never have started, but I don’t want to bore everyone with all the problems that arose.

Now it is finished and the car feels so good, all that blood ( literally ) sweat and toil seems to have paid off and will soon fade to a distant memory. I’m sure this is ringing bells in quite a few owners cerebellums now.

Many thanks for your help Louise, you are a credit to the MMOC and I am indebted for your help in sorting out, what was for me a Major headache after a long, trouble infested upgrade program.

And here is one of my recently restored Series 4 Sunbeam Alpine GT Tourer.
Now fitted with Series 5 1725cc engine/gearbox with overdrive. Much easier upgrade.


imgur

[Major Ed Spin]

Sorry about the blued out picture, and all seem to be cropped, so no organ pedal in view. I'm not at all sure what has happened but hopefully you'll get an idea of the car from them.
My apologies for being a bit computer illiterate.

[MarkyB]

The organ pedal looks good and the next picture explains why you want fine control of the loud pedal very nicely