Morris Minor Owners Club

All back on and after a test drive, dry as a bone, no drips or leaks. But an annoying ticking sound of the fan tapping on the shroud, I hope it's just a bolt torque issue on the fan hub.

The fan is fitted the wrong way, it needs flipping over. It was fitted correctly on page 7.

Regards John

Cheers John, I thought it might be something as simple and basic as that, something I can correct. Thanks for the spot.

front of fan.


back of fan

the Thermostate was in for a replacement next, must have been on here since day one back in 66, wasn't budging.It started braking up at the tube and I thought, why am I trying to get this off in one piece, so out came the angle grinder.


I cut slots that allowed the housing to be broken up and removed from around the studs.


after tapping the last segments away I was left with this.

my main concern was not damaging the mounting point on the block. It needs to be flat and not cut with grazes and grooves. One stud wound out, two to go.


this is the rubble of the old housing, together with it's new replacement.

the second stud came out like the first, binding two nuts together, but the third and final stud was so badly mauled the threads wouldn't allow two nuts to tighten on it, so I carefully welded the top nut to the stud and it looked like this...


With a squeek it unwound from the block to the sound of Trumpets and cheers. (in my head)


so I award myself a Bacon roll and a mug of tea before I clean up this rim, carfully, don't want debris falling into the void.

Well done, those housings are infamous for being stubbornly resistant to normal efforts to remove them!

A long time I had to resort to that degree of destruction to remove a very badly corroded thermostat housing. I was too scared to use an angle grinder so I used cold chisels and a hammer with a similar result. The scariest part was getting the studs out and fearing they would snap but fortunately they did not.

I used silicone grease on the studs with the idea of providing electrical isolation of the studs and housing since the dissimilar metals corrosion (galvanic corrosion) relies on there being electrical conduction between the dissimilar metals. I won't know whether my theory was correct until I try to remove the housing again.....

You can buy a stainless steel stud and nut kit from Minispares. They also sell a superior gasket made of Klinger type material and similar stainless studs and nuts for the heater tap.


Stephen

thanks for all the support and helpful comments Gents. Much appreciated.

the new one remounted on new studs, the studs that esm provided were terrible, I had to modify their length and re do the threads with a die cutter. If you buy a kit from them be careful with the studs. Got them in carefully, but I was worried they would shear off. I used gasket paste on both side of the gasket for a belt and braces approach.


Radiator and hoses on, test run and it's all bone dry, (on the outside) I placed a plastic bowl underneath and it too showed no sign of moisture. so I'll monitor the coolant situation, carry on doing my first parade checks and keep an eye on it all. for now it's looking good.

so the engine cut out, not for lack of fuel, but the opposite, so I renewed the float, chamber lid and float mechanism. But the pump is over delivering, causing the carb to be flooded. The fuel pump is not a Morris Minor SU type, in fact I don't have a clue what model or make, it came with the car when I acquired it earlier this year.


ordered a brand SU from ESM.

David JM wrote: ↑Wed Sep 24, 2025 2:08 pm the second stud came out like the first, binding two nuts together, but the third and final stud was so badly mauled the threads wouldn't allow two nuts to tighten on it, so I carefully welded the top nut to the stud and it looked like this...


With a squeek it unwound from the block to the sound of Trumpets and cheers. (in my head)


so I award myself a Bacon roll and a mug of tea before I clean up this rim, carfully, don't want debris falling into the void.

When changing the badly corroded housing on mine, one of the three studs came out with the nut with no thread on the cylinder head side. At first I thought it had snapped but the end was clean cut and had been bonded into the hole. In the cylinder head was the remnants of a broken tap that a previous visitor had left down the hole.
I managed to drill it out with diamond tipped core drill and lots of patience and retap the thread.

When you say the threads on the ESM studs were "terrible", which threads? The UNC end that threads in the cylinder head or the UNF end for the nuts?

If the new studs did not thread in easily to the cylinder head I would have first run a suitable tap into the holes. Those threads were bound to be contaminated with corrosion or even bits of broken thread given how stuck the original studs were! I can't see why you would have to modify the length if the studs were properly seated in the cylinder head. Unless something has changed recently, I had no issues with these studs from ESM just a few months ago.

Stephen

It was mainly the bottom longer threads that go down into the block, I'd cleaned out the threads in the block beforehand, but even the top threads for the nuts were not that great. As you can clearly see in this photograph.

The new SU Pump bolted on but not connected, the new pipe connection on. The old pipe with no "belling out" that was fine for the old pump, is due to be cut out. once I wired up the pump, neg earth like the car battery, the pump clicked every three seconds, very slow, no fuel, I wonder if I should prime it, as it's just drawing air, plenty of fuel in the tank mind, just air in the new petrol pipe.

You should clean the points in the pump as per the instructions that come with new pumps. The points are usually given a coating to prevent corrosion in storage. Remove the cap and then insert a piece of folded fine emery cloth or emery paper between the points by gently lifting the top blade. Move the emery paper back and forth. Repeat with plain paper (this removes any abrasive residue). Put the cap back on, reconnect the top electrical connection and try again. Or you can do the same by spraying on some contact cleaner (isopropyl alcohol) and then running some ordinary paper between the points.

Connecting a pump up the electrical supply but with no inlet connection should cause the pump to operate fast without stopping. Don't leave it running like that for long or it may overheat.

There is no requirement to prime this type of pump.

Stephen

As per what Stephen said but also - if the pump is "just drawing air" I would expect it to run very quickly. Try removing the pipe from the float and stick that end into a glass jar and switch on (taking all fire safety precautions). The fuel should be pumped freely and, if it is drawing air, you should see bubbles emerging from the pipe into the fuel in the jar. If the pump does work OK like this and no bubbles then your problems will be downstream of the pump - i.e. float/carb.

Thanks for the very helpful and constructive comments there guys, great help.

I added an extra earth lead, going from the ring connector to the fuel pump securing bolt, earthing it to a clean washer and clean area of the battery box. Then the spade connector to the battery earth strap as per the original wiring. The pump started clicking slowly, drawing fuel up, then going faster after I loosened the screws holding the float bowl lid to allow the air pressure to equalise to atmosphere, then the in line fuel filter filled right up, then it started to calm down and deliver as needed.


after a while it delivered just enough, just in time....bit like the BMW Mini factory. The glass in line filter showed the fuel going out and just enough fuel coming in, brilliant, that's that solved.


Took a drive up to Salvington mill and Charlie's manners were polite again.

wheels off today for a pressure wash, I may be having these rims all blasted and resprayed, but this does mean new tires, not a bad thing in the case of two out of four.

The tail end near the bumper ferule was a lot rough,

so I sanded back to check what the problem was and there was a split between the wing metal and it's 90' bend where it bolts on, so out with the welder and some more sanding. It looked ok in the end and I needed to spray it in, I still have half of that 5 litre can of Dove grey.

I found this deviblis touch up gun in the Garage, still in it's box, never used, so as I needed a small area sprayed in I gave it a go.

same breakdown as a full size air gun, but narrow cone, but good volume. just the job for this,

I raised the boot lid and masked inside the boot. Had to cut off the old rubbers, but the new one's look smart, had to drop them in a cup of boiling water to get them to slide on.

I just can't stop tinkering with Charlie, next up, a brand new speedo cable.