Oil dripping

[Willie]

Lo Blue! the item on the top of the carburettor chamber(right
at the top,in the middle) is the damper which gives a rich
mixture when you accelerate. it should have engine oil in it
to the level of the inner piston which you can see if you look
down it! If there is no oil then you should have a dreadful
flat spot each time you try to accelerate. The front dampers
are mounted in the engine compartment on the bulkhead.
They are not only the dampers,they also form the top section
of the front suspension so you will have to dismantle things
to change them. Exchange recon items are readily available
and are quite cheap over here. They will require changing if the
leak is around the point where the arm enters the damper.
anywhere else can be tightened up (the four mounting bolts
have a habit of working loose.

[Chris Morley]

G'day & welcome to the slow paced world of Minors. Has yours still got the original engine? As Willie says, the easiest thing to do is get a recon. damper with the lever arm attached, and send the old one back with the arm still attached.

Parts supplier? Try Morris Minor World (they are based in NSW but they export abroad so I assume Queensland won't be a problem). Here are their details:

The workshop is located at : 14 Barney St., North Parramatta 2151

Mail address is; P.O. Box 3078, Dural NSW 2158

Contact numbers are; Phone:(02)9683-3793 Fax: (02)9683-5001

E-mail address; info@morrisminorworld

What's more you are not alone!

The Morris Minor Car Club of Queensland
PO Box 211, Lutwyche, Queensland 4030
Phone: (07) 3849 8440

Maybe they will know a local parts supplier?

I spent 4 brilliant days in Queensland a few years ago - what a lovely place to live. Sadly I didn't see any Minors, although there were plenty of old Rovers on the road.

Another quick search on Minor Mania found all these other clubs:

Morris Minor Car Club of Ipswich Inc. PO Box 458, Booval QLD 4304
Phone: (07) 3376 8662

Downs Morris Minor Club Inc. PO Box 7010, Toowoomba Mail Centre QLD 4352 Phone: (07) 4635 0207

Morris Minor Car Club Gympie 14 Crystal Street, Gympie QLD 4570
Brisbane Southside Morris Minor Car Club
PO Box 156, Capalaba QLD 4157
Phone Val Connors (07) 3207 3425

[rayofleamington]

Just in case you are still wondering on the dampers, recon units here are cheap so I don't know anyone who has tried to repair one themselves. Presumably it's not worth the hassle.

If they are slightly damp at the pivots, keep an eye on the fluid level (undo the cap on top to fill em up). If oil is dripping - then they need changing ASAP. When they run out you get no damping action and that can be rather dangerous on a bumpy corner.

[fweddy]

A bit of South Pacific info for you fiscott - I've had to replace my dampers on my ute and when looking around I found that they are worth about $120NZD each - was looking like too much for me and I ended up getting a vehicle for parts which I wrecked and got two fairly good dampers so have used them.

[Cam]

$120 NZD, that's about £42 - is that outright or exchange?? You could always try suppliers in the UK but I fear that the postage might be a bit high

[fweddy]

That is outright - I never looked into it any further - I'm not sure if its only one supplier or not. Problem here is the expense of sending one or two items from UK - normally double cost. If I looked around I might have found a better deal but since I got some good ones I didn't bother.

[fweddy]

Cam what's the cost for exchange there? (Of course this would be quite out of the question as it would include post both ways).

[Cam]

Yeah, if it's double the cost then outright from the UK they are £27, which would make the £42 from NZ much cheaper (and quicker!) than the £54 from the UK.

[fweddy]

hmm after saying that $120 per side cost I came across this ad

Minor Righthand guard, 2 front shock absorbers, SU carburettor $20 lot

Private seller so who knows what its really like?

[Cam]

Exchange they are £17 (£10 surcharge until old units are returned).

That's from East Sussex Minors.

[Chris Morley]

"Minor Righthand guard, 2 front shock absorbers, SU carburettor $20 lot "

At that price it's not much of a gamble.

[fweddy]

Not really aye - just the problem of them being well up the North Island when I'm half way down the South.