Austin 1970 pickup from Guatemala

[GBond]

The engine wiring is almost done; there's the wires for the dynamo, the wire for the coil, the wire for the oil pressure switch and then another wire that lights up the second yellow light in the speedometer when grounded but as fas as I know went unused from the factory seeing as the car didn't come with a temperature sender.

Any info on this? The loom is original and it seems dumb to me to have the wiring and bulb ready for the temperature sender and then not fit one but then again it might have been for something else. I've bought a sender and plan to plug it in to see what it does, hopefully the light won't turn on all the time.

Getting the front panel on was also quite nerve wracking; the holes didn't want to line up so I used long screws with big washers to pull everything together but I feared one might tear through the panel.[frame][/frame]I'll leave it resting for a few days with the screws before fitting the hockey sticks holefully it'll bend into shape a little.

Trying the electrical circuit today I noticed my fuel gauge read full all the time. Apparently the car was fitted at some point with an earlier sender so it was reading backwards. After trying to connect the fuel gauge cables the other way round, trying negative earth and positive earth with always the same results my dad and I decided to flip the coil inside the sender around. (originally was closed circuit on empty, almost open circiuit on full). This has proven to be VERY difficult as the coil really didn't want to come out and there's still a bit of work to do to get it back together and working in the opposite direction.[frame][/frame]

[jagnut66]

Hi Gabriel,
I've attached a couple of links for you, the first two are the later type sender and the last one is for the early type, which is what you appear to have.
I don't think they are interchangeable, so being your pickup is from 1970 may need the later type, rather than the one you have.
The first link is for a second-hand one, the rest are for new, just so you have some choice.
Best wishes,
Mike.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MORRIS-MINOR- ... 4d1402862e

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morris-Minor- ... 2ec3e03547

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morris-Minor- ... 53fca777f1

[jaekl]

Your unknown wire and the extra light in the dial is for the oil filter bypass warning light. The top of the oil filter casing on 1098s have a terminal that grounds when the oil filter is clogged.

[GBond]

Thanks Mike, if the "operation" fails I'll have to get a new one, hopefully from the US as shipping from the UK for a single ítem is too expensive. Moss US doesn't have almost anything in their Minor catalog, is the sender for the later Sprite/Midget the same? Otherwise I'll have to guess until I get my next order of parts from the UK.

Thanks jaekl, I've read about the filter warning light but there's no terminal in my filter casing which I presume is original. Water temperature would be more important information to have since the hard working days when an oil change would be forgotten are over for this pick-up.

The temperature sender I bought is designed for a gauge (which I might add later too) so I imagine it changes its resistance in a linear way with the rising temperature. This leads me to think if I plug in the light directly it will glow faintly as the car reaches operating temperature. My idea is to fit an electrical bypass so that no current flows until the temperature reaches, say, 95 C and then the bulb would light up quite brigthly. (I still don't know how to do this)

[jagnut66]

The late Sprite / Midget looks similar to what you should have but if your 'operation' doesn't work I'd order the secondhand unit off eBay (first link in previous post). It's cheap, has been tested as working and you could always get a 'new' spare later.

[GBond]

Mike, I do appreciate a lot the recommendations you sent me, however, postage from the UK to Guatemala for any package, no matter how small starts at about 25 pounds and then I have to pay about 25% taxes on top of that. On large orders it's less of a problem since rates for bigger boxes aren't much more expensive so the price per item is much lower.

Getting stuff sent from the US is much cheaper and faster, so for small orders that's what I try to do even if the cost of the part is way higher.

[jagnut66]

postage from the UK to Guatemala for any package, no matter how small starts at about 25 pounds and then I have to pay about 25% taxes on top of that.

Blimey, that is steep. I didn't realize this, I can see your point....

[GBond]

The "operation" on the fuel tank sender seems to have worked. I haven't checked it on the car yet but with the multimeter measuring resistance the needle does move up and down as expected.

With the car finally taking shape I decided to re-create some of the old pictures that were taken back when the restoration was started in 1995.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
The front panel and the wing were still about a half inch apart after leaving them for a couple of days with some strong screws holding them together so i drilled a hole through the panel and wing to put a screw there nice and tight to avoid pulling the threads from the hockey sticks.[frame][/frame]
Then the radiator.[frame][/frame]
Don't know what this hook under the L/H damper is for, I think the spring for the throttle was attached to it but I'm not sure that was it's original mounting place since it's very stretched.[frame][/frame]
That was the progress for the weekend and this afternoon...[frame][/frame]The bonnet, in the place it's been hanging for the past several years.

Bringing it down.[frame][/frame]
A good deal of pushing, pulling, cursing and adjusting later...[frame][/frame]
And we're on the final straight! The parts I ordered from ESM last tuesday arrived today, that was very quick considering I'm almost halfway around the world. I still have the battery cables on the way but the pick-up should be done soon.

As you might have noticed he doesn't have a name yet, I'll appreciate suggestions since I'm out of ideas at the moment.

[jagnut66]

What's the registration number that's going to go on it? That's one way to find inspiration for a name.....
But as she's green 'Jade' springs to mind...........

[Neil MG]

"Endeavour"!

[George Smathers]

Wow, you're almost there.

[rogerowen]

Wow, you're almost there.

Good name for a car!

[davidmiles]

as she's the only one about in your area how about something Simple like "Alec" after the man behind the Moggy

[GBond]

Thanks for your suggestions, I don't have the registration number handy but I'll share it when I find it. Ours are boring though, just three numbers followed by three letters with no vowels like 318DYS or 734FKX and sometimes they get changed.

"Wow, you're almost there" is a bit long, right now I'm thinking of going with "Mr. Toad" or maybe "Sir Alec" like David said. "Endeavour" is a bit space shuttley but it does convey quite well what getting the car to this point has been. It's like a giant puzzle with which I've learned a lot and has inspired me to look for other projects once it's finished. I will also drive it as much as I can (when the weather is nice).

This time of year is the busiest for me so not very much has happened recently. In the few moments I've managed to spend time in Mr Toad/Sir Alec? I've done the clutch linkage, put the gearbox cover back on the car, the rear number plate lamp and am currently battling with the carpets.[frame][/frame]
Some blood, pain and sweat later...[frame][/frame]After this picture I re-routed the fuel line and placed protective rubber over it where it might rub against other parts.

As I was planning to take a picture of the progress with the carpets today my phone's battery died and I had forgotten my camera. I might be able to do some more progress tomorrow but then from wednesday through sunday I won't be able to do much. Still it appears it'll be ready for Christmas!

[GBond]

Doing the holes in the carpet wasn't as hard as I expected, I just used some chalk to mark the holes one by one while unrolling the carpet in place and then used a hole punch and scissors.[frame][/frame]I've still got the clips to do as well as the underfelt, which I will glue lightly to the carpets instead of the floor for easier cleaning.

The time will soon come to install the seats but I have no idea how the brackets go.[frame][/frame]I'm assuming the one in the right goes on the driver's seat either to prevent it from tilting forward or perhaps to move it more towards the center of the car but I have no idea. There are also some holes on the seat tube apparently for some self tapping screws but I have no idea how these go either. Last question, do the metal plates that go under the bracket go under or above the carpet, and do I need a curved one for the curved bracket? Any information will be very welcome.

[MarkyB]

I've never seen a bracket like the one on the right before.
On saloons at least there are 4 captive nuts for each bracket in the floor which give a little bit more scope for adjustment, The unused 2 are then covered by the plate.
The self tappers just restrict the seat tube from moving across.

[les]

I'm of the opinion that the plates go on top of the carpet then seat rail followed by brackets. I've got an odd bracket like the one shown, fitted nearest to the door, not sure how this works out for l/h drive cars. I've never really considered the reason, unless the drivers seat rail is wider. Now I'm curious!

[Neil MG]

Originally the plates went over the carpet and between the carpet and the floor there was some black mastic type substance with a piece of clear plastic on top to keep the mastic from sticking to the carpet . The mastic then sealed the unused holes

[jaekl]

I've never seen a curved one. The holes in the seat frames are for self tappers and prevent the seat from moving sideways. This curve bracket allowed one of the seats to be moved farther inboard or outboard without fouling the curve of the front leg. I would suspect it went on the drivers seat since the front leg is narrower with the adjustable frame.

[GBond]

Thanks for the replies!

So I guess it's some sealant, then plastic or tape so that the carpet doesn't stick, then the carpet, the plate, the seat and the bracket, with the screws to avoid side to side movement.

I think jaekl's hypothesis on the curved bracket might be the right one, and this would locate it on the driver's side door facing inwards to clear the seat lever.

Didn't have much time to spend on the car today but the suspense was killing me so I filled the tank with petrol and tried to start it up. It did on the first try, with a big cloud of smoke and then sputtered and stopped. I gave it a second go and after smoking for a few seconds (I'd left some oil in the cylinders) it was running beautifully!

It felt really good to have something I assembled come to life like that, but not everything can be good news and now that it's running new problems begin to arise. The radiator which has had water in it now for a few days without problems has began to leak, and the dynamo isn't charging, so both will probably have to come off. Tried the voltmeter test with both dynamo terminals bridged and I'm getting no voltage so I'm afraid it's probably a bad connection inside.

EDIT: I've been reading many posts about dynamos and general consensus is they should be very sturdy so I might try flashing it again until it works. The Haynes manual said to flash first the small terminal and then the large one but on the large one the cable got really hot really fast and from what I've read maybe just the small one is needed.