Morris Minor Owners Club

Don't bash the front breather for a number of reasons:

1. If you bash it too much then you might push the timing cover in slightly which can contact the timing chain/sprockets.

2. The top and bottom sections (like a coke can) won't deform easily thus leaving you with the original problem

3. If you bash the top and bottom sections hard enough they will split away from the casing and more than likely cause a split at the pipe to timing cover which will result in an oil leak.

Best to cut it and re-weld it properly.

Flywheel: The 48 BHP Minor needed 4 bolts. This was deemed insufficient for the higher power 1275 so they used 6 bolts. Using 2 bolts is really not a good idea. If you tune the engine or do and 'sharp' take-offs then you are likely to shear the 2 bolts.

If the engine and gearbox won't come together and there is a 'large gap' then something isn't quite lined up. Pulling the two together with long bolts is not the best solution as you will be exerting a high force on something that is not lined up properly and could well damage something in the process. When you are mating the engine and gearbox, the input shaft splines have to line up with the clutch ones and the end of the input shaft has to enter the bronze bearing that either sits in the end of the crank or in a top-hat housing inside the centre of the flywheel (Ford box to Minor flywheel conversion).

Also, as bmcecosse says, use the correct tools. These bolts have to be done up tight and the chances are that some edges might be slightly less than perfect after all these years so use a tight fitting spanner which will NOT be metric. 5/8", 1/2" and 7/16" AF are the most common spanners needed when performing such an engine/box swap.

Also, a 1/4" Whitworth for undoing prop bolts and gearbox crossmember bolts.

Best really to just swop the timing case cover over from the original engine - and do away with the hideous breather can altogether. And also keep using the original rocker cover which has the nice little breather tube. Dunno why they ever did away with this!

BMC, trouble is if you swap over to the original timing cover then the timing marks are in the wrong place! On the Marina/Ital 1275 they are at about 11 o'clock looking from the front whereas on the 1098 Minor engine they are at 6 o'clock. You CAN of course cut a new notch in the 1275 pulley but you'll have to be spot on with it and I don't recommend it for the following reason: It was deemed that the 1275 needed a FRONT engine breather so that's why it has one. If you put a 1098 front cover on then you'll not have a breather and that could well lead to oil leaks. Also, if you have a timing chain tensioner (as a lot of 1275s have) then you'll need to get rid of it or the 1098 cover won't fit!!

My advice is to cut down the canister and weld a flat section onto the front. Either that or you can JUST get away with spacing the fan out nearer to the radiator but you'll have to cut it down slightly and re-balance it as you'll loose some cooling efficiency while in traffic which is generally not a good idea.

bigginger wrote:

dunketh wrote:

I agree, theres a lot of weight spinning very fast but I just thought I'd get away with three fixings (one being the stud) rather than 4 on the Minor.
I have a spare minor flywheel and the marina one for comparison and will be getting the minor one drilled as soon as I can afford it. (I'm totaly broke atm)

Hmm, I know the feeling When I say "reluctant", I really mean I wouldn't under any circumstances. I'm not altogether fond of my legs/face/life, but they're what I've got, so I may as well keep them

Never mind body parts, imagine how big a repair job the car would need after many pounds of toothed wheel slicing through it at speed! ;)

So, what was the last thing to go through his mind?
The flywheel...
Back to topic

Why not cut the fan blades to clear the breather. Can be done with atin snips and "NO" there are no engine balance problems!!

I did the electrical side of things today, Jon. It was a bit scarey, 'cos I've always used the control box before, or part of it, but I've wanted to by-pass it for ages, so I checked it in the Owen Burton Book and did it, if only with a 1098. Well, I was putting in a new loom... Ladies and gentlemen, it works. Only other thing to say is that you'll need a decent/powerful soldering iron to join the wires from the 'box Cheers for the jolt anyway, I appreciate it.

millerman wrote:Why not cut the fan blades to clear the breather. Can be done with atin snips

Cause the bit you cut off SERIOUSLY affects the efficiency of the fan. Much better to modify the breather can which is why it's such a popular 'mod'.

and "NO" there are no engine balance problems!!

Engine balance??? I was talking about fan balance to reduce vibration at high RPM on a tuned engine.

bigginger wrote:I did the electrical side of things today, Jon. It was a bit scarey, 'cos I've always used the control box before, or part of it, but I've wanted to by-pass it for ages, so I checked it in the Owen Burton Book and did it, if only with a 1098. Well, I was putting in a new loom... Ladies and gentlemen, it works. Only other thing to say is that you'll need a decent/powerful soldering iron to join the wires from the 'box Cheers for the jolt anyway, I appreciate it.

So how would you go about keeping the control box? I don't think the engine bay would look right without it.

Also what brackets do i need to fit an alternator, is it just the adjustor bracket?

You use it as just a junction box, basically - I'll try and dig out the details. The alternator has an electronic 'control box' built in to it. There's a pic here http://bigginger.blogspot.com/ in the entry called "He lives again. Again' if you're interested. I know what you mean about the looks though - I'll be leaving it in place

So you would leave the voltage regulator redundant but use the terminals on it somehow?

Looks like you had fun with wires there! Reminds me of when i tried to start an old landy we used to have, rats had chewed a lot of cables, so i had to solder in new bits to rejoin them. It probably would have started without that but i didn't want a fire!. Little did i realise as i held the syphon of fuel for the carb the rats had nested behind the radiator and as it fired i got the nest shredded and thrown at me. You probably didn't need to here that anecdote, but its late and it was more for me than anything

Cam

I'm surprised at your comment. I cut a 1/4" strip off each blade and had no problems on a working Minor which included a MoT trip!
Cheers
Colin

minor_hickup wrote:So you would leave the voltage regulator redundant but use the terminals on it somehow?

The voltage regulator in the speedo? That you just use as normal. I'm assuming that the one in the alternator takes care of the charging side of things.

If you wanted to retain the 'black box' you can take it off the car by removing its two screws and probably join the wires together at the back.
Those you can't get access to you could probaby access inside the box.
Just join the terminals as said and you'll be fine. Keeping the box also has the added benefit of providing somewhere for the 'newly soldered' wiring to live.

wrt the flywheel bodgery I am replacing it with a drilled Morris one asap.
If anyone wishes to place the original article in a faq or reproduce/edit it in any way go for it! Perhaps completely cut out the advice regarding the flywheel and maybe expand on the alternator questions and suggestions about the oil catch tank/breather?

I feel its something that would be of value to minor newbies. I had to search all over the place for the info I needed and certain bits like differences in stat housing and water tap weren't mentioned anywhere.

I'm assuming that the one in the alternator takes care of the charging side of things.

Only when it is working - and needs to be regularly checked! If the alternator stops regulating then it will damage your battery, and maybe other stuff too. Alternators can be very easily damaged on Minors - maybe it has something to do with Mig welders

You REALLY don't like alternators, do you...

bigginger wrote:

minor_hickup wrote:So you would leave the voltage regulator redundant but use the terminals on it somehow?

The voltage regulator in the speedo? That you just use as normal. I'm assuming that the one in the alternator takes care of the charging side of things.

Sorry, meant the control box.

millerman wrote:Cam

I'm surprised at your comment. I cut a 1/4" strip off each blade and had no problems on a working Minor which included a MoT trip!
Cheers
Colin

Colin,

Ah right. OK, if it's that small then I can't see any major problems either! For some reason when I did mine (in 2001 and I HAVE slept since then. ) It fouled worse than that so my only option was to move the fan forwards and cut the ENDS down so they cleared the radiator header. Odd.

Subsequently I modifed the canister and fitted a new fan as it seemed to be a better solution all round but if you have not got a welder then cutting the fan is the only practical option really.

bigginger wrote:You REALLY don't like alternators, do you...

Neither do I. My personal experience seems to point towards a game of Russian Roulette with alternators. Will it pack up totally, give out an unregulated supply, AC out, or will the bearings pack up? I have gone through loads of alternators and could not fix them as the parts were not available. Dynamos on the other hand have proved reliable and very cheap to repair if the brushes wore down.