Morris Minor Owners Club

Morning all,

Any suggestions on spark plugs for the 12G940? Not fussed on brand, I've always used NGK on the classic outboards. I assume I need harder than usual?

Placing my ESM order today to hopefully have it built this week, so anticipate question-frequency to increase dramatically!

Thanks,

Edd

940 on a 1098 engine ? You will need a harder plug because the comp ratio will be raised. I suggest Champ N7Y or perhaps even N6Y - although I found the 6 sometimes fouled on a cold start. Make sure there is no 'R' (=resistor) in the plug code. I have no idea about foreign plugs - Champion was good enough for the Works......

Great thanks, I will order a set of those.

Edd

I have no idea about foreign plugs

Mmmm?

Sorry to bust the common perception that Champion is/was 'British', but in fact it is, and always has been, American. The original 'Champion' was a Frenchman, Albert Champion, who set up the 'Champion Ignition Company' in the USA in 1904, and then left to set up the AC Spark Plug Company (AC = Albert Champion) in 1908, which became AC Delco, but AC lost the right to the Champion name in 1922. Champion went through various hands and was finally bought by Federal Mogul (USA), who shut the UK plant in 2006 with manufacturing being transferred to Italy, Mexico and the USA. The current Champion HQ is in Belgium!

As a note, I thought that Champion was American, but had no idea that the AC in AC Delco was started by the same person, until I started to look it up!

NGK for a A-Series is BP6ES for standard and BP7ES for modified, and as Roy says above no 'R' (BP6RES) for 'Resistor' in the grade. BP7ES were recommend by Aldon for our 1380 when we first restored the Minor 18 years and 56,000 miles ago, and have served us very well indeed since then.

I certainly doubt Champs (or any other plug) are actually Made in Britain these days - it's just a 'famous make' that I tended to stick with.

Off to a cracking start.....almost.

The core plugs I have for the water jacket don't seem to fit. They have a slight dish on them. I have got one in, but it does not seem like a sharp tap in the centre will turn convex into flat. Have I got the wrong ones, are 1275 different?

I have tapped home the oil gallery plugs, I was told there is only one on either end of the block, but I've got 4 new ones! 2 for paperweights?

Thanks,

Edd

EDIT

From the mini spares site mine are the correct 41.1mm (mine are 41.7mm) so do I just need to hit them harder? Drift in the centre?

Yes, that's right. Just hit them in the middle with a flat hammer and when they flatten out they expand to fill the hole. A long time since I have done this but I think that's right.

That would be great if I could get them in the hole in the first place!!

I will keep trying with the hammer to tap them in.

Thanks,

Edd

1275 plugs are not same as the earlier blocks. And this is a place where a wee wipe of sealant is a good idea before fitting - then wipe away any that is showing of course to hide your guilt.....

They are too big, I could start filing but I'm worried they will go out of round. I'll order another set. Bit annoying. They're roughly 0.5mm too big, apart from one which popped right in!

803cc/948cc & 1098cc core plugs are not flat the are supplied convex and when inserted into the core plug hole are hit with the ball of a ball payne hammer to flatten/seal and secure.
For the small block 1098cc engine this is the core plug you should fit at 41.4mm.
http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... assic/core plugs.aspx|Back to search

For the 1275cc non Cooper S this what you should fit at 33.6mm.
http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... assic/core plugs.aspx|Back to search

For the Cooper S this what you should fit at 41.4mm.
http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... assic/core plugs.aspx|Back to search

They are of three different sizes/profile.
Did you order the correct size/part number? Did the order get mixed up especially as they supplied you with 4 oil gallery plugs.

A 1098cc core plug cannot be knocked right through unless the person fitting them is ham fisted and uses excessive force - usually the inner lip fractures before the plug is knocked right through.

The 1275cc core plugs can be knocked right through if care is not taken.

There should be no need to file the core plug to fit and I would advise against doing so.
Phil

They were too big!

41.7mm

Machine shop as bemused as me but have exchanged them. New ones fit no worries. They also dug out some main cap dowels as I'd managed to lose mine....

Await the next stupid mistake!

Many thanks
Edd

Any tips to centring the scroll seal? Removed the little plate before engine dip and I understand it needs centring, not just bolting down.

Thanks

Just wriggle it down -there is very little movement possible in the 3 securing holes.

See BMC wksp manual Section AA34 for details regarding the fitment of the upper half of the oil thrower housing.

Thanks chaps.

I think my workshop manual is made up of two stuck together, still with plenty of important pages missing. It's page structure makes no sense whatsoever. I am in the process of printing one.

Fingers crossed I can get most of it together today!

Just print off the pages as you need them. 90% of it you will never need.

EDIT 2:

The chap who services the car has checked for me, .003 so all is well. Although he told me the crank has to come back out as I haven't polished the journals! Back of some emery cloth and autosol is the way to go apparently!


Yes that has become clear! Never mind it's the work laser printer.

Just to confirm, I measure crankshaft end float at the gap between centre main and thrust washer, trying to insert the feeler between the contact faces but not just slipping it down the thrust oil groove (assuming that is the contact face!!)

I can't get a .002 in there properly, only a little way. The crank spins freely and the thrusts are free to rock when you spin the crank clockwise then counter, they aren't jammed.

I had plus size in there before, God knows why. Crank was measured as standard so standard have gone back in.

Anything else I need to measure? Not sure what side float is (Haynes)

Thanks,

Edd

EDIT

I'd forgotten that the thrust washers are only very narrow so of course the feeler will not go far in, the crank is in the way!

I don't seem to have a consistent reading though, it's like the gap changes depending on which position the crank is in. Sometimes I can squeeze a .004 in there, but it doesn't go easily. Which part of the arc of the thrust am I aiming to measure?

Thanks

There should be no variation in the thrust clearance/gap throughout a 360 degree arc.
Place the thrusts on a piece of glass and see if there is any gap between the glass and the thrust. Try both sides of the thrusts down on the glass.
You may have to face them off on a surface plate/piece of glass.
The only accurate way to measure crankshaft end float is with a dial gauge bearing on the end of the crankshaft and alternating a thrust load on either end of the crankshaft and taking readings. The total fore and aft movement of the crankshaft should should not exceed 0.003".
Phil[frame][/frame]

I wouldn't worry about it too much if it spins freely - that's what matters.