Better than nothing rust treatment?

[svenedin]

With some trepidation we spun the engine over on the starter (fuel pump not connected to power) and everything seemed OK. Then we proceeded to try to start the car. I had removed the distributor from the engine prior to the rebuild by removing its 2 fixing bolts and it had not been disturbed at all in its clamp. The results of our starting effort was a single enormous backfire........my ears are still ringing.

We then ascertained (by removing the spark plug from number 1 cylinder, my assistant putting his finger over the hole and me turning over the engine with the starting handle until compression was felt and the timing mark on the crank pulley lined up) that the distributor is now 180 degrees out from what it was before!

So it seems that the distributor drive was installed 180 degrees out when the engine was rebuilt......

My solution to this problem is going to be to move the high tension leads around the distributor cap. As I have a side entry cap and I made all the leads to the correct length (and labelled them) this will have to wait until tomorrow.

Stephen

[geoberni]

My solution to this problem is going to be to move the high tension leads around the distributor cap. As I have a side entry cap and I made all the leads to the correct length (and labelled them) this will have to wait until tomorrow.

Stephen

Could you not move the Drive Spindle around 180?
See page AA.22 in the Workshop manual.....

[svenedin]

My solution to this problem is going to be to move the high tension leads around the distributor cap. As I have a side entry cap and I made all the leads to the correct length (and labelled them) this will have to wait until tomorrow.

Stephen

Could you not move the Drive Spindle around 180?
See page AA.22 in the Workshop manual.....

Thank you Berni. Yes I have considered doing this as described in the workshop manual. However, the manual says to use a tappet cover bolt to thread into the distributor drive spindle but just thinking about it the bolt would seem to be too short to me and I wouldn't want to loose it down the hole! I could investigate tomorrow. The tappet cover bolts are 5/16" UNF so I may have something longer like a rocker pedestal stud. I would need to take the distributor out by its mounting bolts and this is rather fiddly.

Phil, can you confirm that the distributor drive spindle will only fit in 2 positions 180 degrees apart? I do not want to try to correct this but actually make things worse!

Also before I go fiddling. My engine before rebuild had the distributor rotor pointing at roughly 3 or 4 o'clock (rotor pointing to the front of the car) when cylinder 1 was at TDC compression. Now after rebuild the distributor rotor is at roughly 8 or 9 o'clock pointing to the rear of the car when cylinder 1 is at TDC compression. Which is correct?

I also just realised that I put the front panel on but forget to fit the rubber sealing strips on the inner wings. They weren't there before and at the moment I just can't bear even thinking about taking the front panel off and refitting it.........

Stephen

[StillGotMy1stCar]

Could you not move the Drive Spindle around 180?
See page AA.22 in the Workshop manual.....

The 1098 engine distributor drive gear installation is, pdf page 86,87, section AAA.4.

[svenedin]

Could you not move the Drive Spindle around 180?
See page AA.22 in the Workshop manual.....

The 1098 engine distributor drive gear installation is, pdf page 86,87, section AAA.4.

Thank you yes! Page 89 and 90 of the actual book

Stephen

[Andmurph]

Stephen, the distributor drive gear can fit in more than just the two positions. You are right to consider a longer stud, I had to do this on the Midget last year and a 3” bolt was sufficient though I now have a longer one for future use.
I removed the distributor then the bracket and took a photograph before and after to confirm it was a full 180 degrees.
It’s not difficult to do but if you do drop the gear it’ll end up in the sump.

Good luck, Andrew

[svenedin]

Stephen, the distributor drive gear can fit in more than just the two positions. You are right to consider a longer stud, I had to do this on the Midget last year and a 3” bolt was sufficient though I now have a longer one for future use.
I removed the distributor then the bracket and took a photograph before and after to confirm it was a full 180 degrees.
It’s not difficult to do but if you do drop the gear it’ll end up in the sump.

Good luck, Andrew

Thank you. A photograph is a good idea and a longer bolt or stud. How many positions will it go in I wonder?

Stephen

[svenedin]

For simplicity's sake and because I would just like to get this rebuilt engine to fire up before fiddling with it, I will dig out an old top-entry distributor cap and some push in leads. Then I can easily work around the 180 degrees out distributor drive for now. At least I can get it to run after all this work.

Stephen

[svenedin]

Incidentally, another thread a while ago mentioned the heater valve spacer plate. This what it looks like. Its purpose (I think) is to raise the cable operated heater valve a small distance off the cylinder head. This stops the lip of the rocker cover tending to jam against the heater valve when it is removed. I had to harvest this part from an old cylinder head as I couldn't find one. I have not really ascertained what the part number is but I had one on both cylinder heads I have.

Stephen

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[geoberni]

Could you not move the Drive Spindle around 180?
See page AA.22 in the Workshop manual.....

The 1098 engine distributor drive gear installation is, pdf page 86,87, section AAA.4.

Thanks. I didn't realise the process was any different, but I did know the illustration was on AA.22.

[geoberni]

I just realised that I put the front panel on but forget to fit the rubber sealing strips on the inner wings. They weren't there before and at the moment I just can't bear even thinking about taking the front panel off and refitting it.........

Stephen

There's no rubbers on latter front wings only mastic stuff. I can't remember the change point and I'm not at home at present to look it up in the Original Morris Minor, but I know it's documented in the changes.

[svenedin]

I just realised that I put the front panel on but forget to fit the rubber sealing strips on the inner wings. They weren't there before and at the moment I just can't bear even thinking about taking the front panel off and refitting it.........

Stephen

There's no rubbers on latter front wings only mastic stuff. I can't remember the change point and I'm not at home at present to look it up in the Original Morris Minor, but I know it's documented in the changes.

These are the ones between the front end of the inner wing and the front panel.

[svenedin]

I just spoke to the workshop at ESM. I should be clear that they had nothing to do with my rebuilt engine. They said yes, they have had to rotate a distributor drive spindle 180 degrees before and they thought it was a better solution than moving the leads in the cap. This is because when the spindle is correct the rotor always points in the same direction when cylinder 1 is at TDC compression and this is consistent across all cars with that engine (or should be). It only has the potential to cause confusion in the future by leaving it 180 degrees out. I think they are right (though in all honesty I don't fancy doing this job) so I will toddle out to the car and see what I can do.......

Stephen

[svenedin]

I decided to chicken out and rotate the leads on the distributor cap rather than rotate the drive spindle especially as the engine builder is away and I can't speak to him. We now have a running engine! Some tweaking is needed: mixture, ignition timing etc but I did go for a short test drive and it seems OK. Unfortunately, now everything is back together I can't close the bonnet properly. It will catch on the safety catch but will not close on the peg thing. I will have to have as think as to what to do about it.

Stephen

[geoberni]

These are the ones between the front end of the inner wing and the front panel.

Ahh, Comprende My mistake, that's what comes of reading things on my phone, I took you to be meaning the wing piping

[svenedin]

These are the ones between the front end of the inner wing and the front panel.

Ahh, Comprende My mistake, that's what comes of reading things on my phone, I took you to be meaning the wing piping

They are here in this photo and I completely forgot about them.

IMG_1737.jpeg (2.97 MiB) Viewed 5742 times

[svenedin]

I just had a look at this video of how to remove the distributor drive spindle. Some of the video is not applicable to the 1098 A-series but I note how the presenter threads in the bolt before removing the distributor housing/sleeve and likewise he leaves the bolt in place until he has refitted the housing. This gives me more confidence that I can do the task without too much risk of dropping something with dire consequences! I have harvested a long rocker stud from another cylinder head for this purpose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs3pNASKiBc

[myoldjalopy]

With everything you have done so far, I'm sure you can do this, Stephen. Its just a matter of confidence - and a careful, considered approach.

[svenedin]

With everything you have done so far, I'm sure you can do this, Stephen. Its just a matter of confidence - and a careful, considered approach.

Thank you!

Stephen

[svenedin]

Regarding the bonnet issue I have spoken to ESM about how to do adjustments (they painted the bonnet).

Striker plate has to be properly aligned on the top of the front panel. This bit is obvious. Then there are adjustments of the plunger that engages with the striker plate. It is fairly apparent that the plunger can be adjusted left/right by loosening the bolts either side. What I had no idea about is that the plunger can be adjusted up/down. The bonnet front badge is removed and then the plunger can be screwed up/down. The problem I have is the plunger is too high at the moment so it can't catch in the striker plate. I was warned that if things are misaligned it is possible for the bonnet release to fail to let go of the plunger and then the bonnet is stuck shut. Fun and games ahead......

Stephen