Morris Minor Owners Club

bmcecosse wrote:That's a very unusual gasket failure! In all my years I've never had that happen.

True...but how many Turbo'd Morris Minors do you know of!

I think the forces acting on mine maybe slightly more than a standard minor to say the least but it shouldnt be overlooked in fault finding.

Ive NEVER had a flat tyre or puncture, not to say im never going to get one!

A 1.50 gasket and half an hours works going to be better than a garage job to take the head off and inspect the piston rings only to find out its a gasket dont you think!

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heathy12 wrote:Ive NEVER had a flat tyre or puncture, not to say im never going to get one!

Forgotten saturday?

JimK wrote:

heathy12 wrote:Ive NEVER had a flat tyre or puncture, not to say im never going to get one!

Forgotten saturday?

Well yes.....!

That was a leaky valve which let down over a matter of a few days. Will have the minilites fitted soon as I can figure out how to get the longer studs past the hub!

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Oh I agree - well done finding the fault - but is unusual to have that gasket fail. But then you have the extra weight and heat of the turbo gubbins on there - I think there is a specially re-inforced manifold gasket for the turbo engines?

bmcecosse wrote:Oh I agree - well done finding the fault - but is unusual to have that gasket fail. But then you have the extra weight and heat of the turbo gubbins on there - I think there is a specially re-inforced manifold gasket for the turbo engines?

Aparently not!

I went down to my motor factor with the old one and it was a standard 1275cc mini type gasket. Went down to my mechanic to check and he confirmed it was correct P/N etc! Trial fitted it and there was no restrictions or fouling at all!

I'd put money on this thread being something similar. On my pickup it always made this noise when the exhaust manifold blew!


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Pretty sure if you can access the parts list for the MG Metro turbo there will be a heavier gasket - I know some firms sell special 'competition' manifold gaskets. But really - if it's all done up nice and tight - there shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for the suggestion, Ad. I expect to get familiar with the insides of the car in good time, but for the moment I'm happy to let the garage sort out the problem, as the car was sold to me as sound. There were a few minor glitches on it, apart from the Sewing Machine Syndrome; they were happy to correct them when I pointed them out, though they really shouldn't have been there in the first place. Maybe they thought that, as a woman, I wouldn't know anything. They weren't entirely right....

the car came with a six month parts and labour guarantee, so there should be plenty of time to get it running like a... well, like a well-oiled machine...

Thats fine then, you should not have any problems it may just be a car thats had little use in recent times and putting it back into action so to speak is giving it a proper shakedown and showing up all the little bits and pieces that can occur arte some inactivity, and as stated said no problems in still using the starting handle

Maybe they thought that, as a woman, I wouldn't know anything.

Brave man to have said that

Past experience, present insecurities; but you make a point; I should keep an open mind.

...I was thinking of things like the HT lead; part of the deal was that the leads and distributor cap would be replaced; when I checked, I found that the sleeve on the HT lead where it enters the dizzy cap was split right through... but then, I guess that if there's someone in the garage team who's careless enough to do that, they'd probably do it to anyone's car...

Hmmm - but was it really a new lead ? Good thing you have that 6 month warranty - make FULL use of it! Maybe even get an AA inspection say a month before the warranty runs out - and force them to do everything that shows up.

Well, there's been a longish pause, but here's the epilogue...

The garage had undertaken to sort out the engine when the car went back in to have the heated windows fitted. I went over there yesterday, and asked how it'd gone. They had found wear on the cylinder bores and pistons; all part of the lubrication problem that the engine had had. So they'd changed those out. In fact, it looks like a whole new engine in there.

So on the down side, no-one seemed able to pin down the chattering sound to a specific cause, so there's not a clean ending to the story.

On the other hand, they've obviously done their best to sort things out, and I feel rather bad about thinking dark thoughts.

Thanks, folks, for responding to my questions.

Fingers crossed that the engine is now ok and preferably a different one as any engine which suffered oil problems is likely to be in an overall poor state. Keep us informed. Is the engine number still the same??

Reading this discussion is very interesting... I, too, got my Moggy from a ************** Minor specialist who told me it was sound, and I've discovered everything from rust painted over to worn parts that were quite obviously not replaced in a while, despite assurances that the car had been fully restored. Fully botched, I think. I wonder if it was the same place...

Edited by Andrew

You should PM each other and swap details! If your Minor i sreally as bad as that Jack - then with photographic evidence I don't see why you shouldn't tell us about it! Was it bought unseen ?
The 'new' engine sounds good - can we assume there is no more chattering ? And if the engine number has changed then you must inform DVLA and have the V5 marked up.

bmcecosse wrote:You should PM each other and swap details!

Indeed - and could we end the broad hints as to where the work was done? The working party are trying to work out a way of dealing with these problems, and in the meantime we HAVE to avoid publishing derogatory stuff about traders.

However - facts is facts. So if person A buys a car 'fully reconditioned' from trader B, and it turns out to be 'fully botched', then with photographic evidence of the "reconditioning" there is no reason not to tell us all about it! I for one would be glad to hear from Jack - via PM - where his car came from. It is also perfectly possible to leave 'comments' at www.trustmygarage.co.uk provided the establishment concerned is listed on that site - and most seem to be there. It's a new site and many have no comments as of yet, but if you build it - they will come.

Indeed - and I don't think it's a great situation either. I've heard/have some stories about this trader too, but that's the way it is.

I honestly have no idea about the trader concerned - but would like to hear about it Jack - via PM.

And hear about it you will, complete with photos. The problem is, the car was bought by my parents from them without my knowledge and they didn't know to check if he had restoration documents. As a result I don't know how much you could prove against that specialist. I mean, if they say the car's been restored but the wiring loom has wires that are almost completely severed, and the interior has been fitted out with everything wrong, and the engine is worn, and there is rust that as not been fixed but instead painted over, and is only just beginning to show through, and dents have also been painted over and are therefore hard to spot, and the all screws in the interior have been painted over (as have several trim parts- a poor paint job) leaving it impossible to remove many, and the driver's side door catch screws are so rusted that they will have to be drilled out, and the passenger window doesn't wind down more that halfway because the arm is warped and should have been replaced, and the seals are mostly on their last legs (though the gaskets are ok) and some are absent, and certain wiring has been improvised, and the front end is both badly corroded and misaligned so that the parts sit out of place with each other and the bonnet is off-centre (and has recently developed the habit of not fastening shut) and much chrome has had to be replaced and the rear bumper is not chromed and has badly rusted, and the entire engine bay doesn't appear to have been touched or cleaned in a long time, certain screws, nuts and bolts being rusted immoveably into place (including those on the cylinder head, the thermostat holder and the radiator (another part of the fromt end that is off-centre))- God, there's more wrong with this car than I realised- Not to mention (well actually, to mention) the courtesy light wiring is completely messed up, the courtesy switches in the door painted in and also damaged(?) so that they are irremoveable; if they say the car is restored you can get them for all that, can't you?

I've exchanged PMs with Jack; my Trav came from a different place, as it happens....

I'm a bit flummoxed about the chattering business; it is still there, though perhaps less pronounced. The thing is, the car goes fine; it's not losing oil; I've now done a few hundred miles since the new lump went in, including up and down a few Welsh mountains. Perhaps I'm worrying too much. Does anyone else get this sound on load? -load as in, going up a moderate gradient and accelerating, that sort of thing?

..met Ad outside Temple Meads on Friday evening. Gosh, small world