Morris Minor Owners Club

Thanks Kevin, I have a feeling that they are one of the firms that have disappeared. I will try to contact them on Monday. Radiator changed for a borrowed one ready for the Classic Car Drive tomorrow.
David. Confirmed the stud threads as Mx10 coarse pitch. When refitting them it is recommended that you coat the end with copper grease then tighten it down with two lock nuts

Thank you! When I told Dad they were metric (he was surprised!) he had a suitable tap and there now like brand new! Hopefully by the end of next week the block will be in a similar state.

Is removing the gearbox tunel the only was to get the rear bolts out?

Might be worth checking to see what thread is on VW Beetle crank/head through bolts. I've a feeling that some are 8mm but most are 10mm coarse. A good source of precut threads and the bolts/studs are long enough that you could stick any thread you wanted on the other end. Homecut threads (as opposed to machine ROLLED threads) are weaker due to the material being sliced rather than formed.
Wiki and google have lots of info on the benefits of formed threads

Not sure what you are referring to about rear bolts. Do you mean the engine/gearbox bolts in which case you will need to remove the gearbox cover plate. I have a slightly easier job reaching the top bolts as I have the later curved crossmember which gives me room to get a spanner in. Another thing worth considering whilst the engine is out is retapping the bolt holes around the sump which bolt onto the gearbox to 3/8 UNC and drilling out the gearbox holes to clear the 3/8 UNC bolts. This will give you a much stronger thread in the alloy sump which will not strip when you tighten the bolts.
All the threads on the engine are metric due early components having a French ancestory. The bolt heads however are Whitworth.

Good point Mike has made about the threads in the sump end, fine threads are not good in ally - I have a stripped one! (the one that holds the breather pipe)

Hi Mike are these people any good

Thanks Kevin, I have just dropped the rad in there.

I got the engine out today and stripped the rest of it down. The centre mains are scored so will require those replacing also. Removing the valves was one of the trickiest jobs Ive done in a long time, the cotters are so tiny!

All the top pistons rings are broken up to some extent

Don't forget to stuff the valve chest oilways with rag when you reassemble the tappets. It's a real drag fishing cotters out of the sump.
You think taking the cotters out was tricky - wait till you try getting them back in!!!!!!!! A tip. Smear the cotter with grease so that it sticks to the valve stem then try to position it with a pair of long nose pliers. The usual problem is that the back half falls off when you try to position the front half.

mike.perry wrote:  All the threads on the engine are metric due early components having a French ancestory. The bolt heads however are Whitworth.

Mike,
I don't want to "hijack" the thread, (I am realy enjoying it) but how did a Morris Minor end up with a "French" heritage ?
I know it's probibaly something every MM owner should know but I'v never heard of it before.

Graham

The early Morrises used a Hotchkiss French engine which naturally had metric threads. Presumably it was easier to tool up nuts and bolts with standard Whitworth heads than to equipe the assembly lines and vehicle tool kits with metric tools.
If anyone has read up on early Morris car production perhaps they could clarify the matter.

I got the block and head back from the machine shop today. The guy who machined the head said it was the most awkard he had done in a long while as the tops got the big waterway on it. Any way looks a great job.

Some progress this evening, fitted the pistons on the rods and into the block with the new rings. The new pistons have 2 oil control rings, the old ones only have 1 oil ring. The new pistons are Australian made, the standard big ends and mains appear to be ex army stock dated 1963!!!

Back to work in the morning so wont get at the engine for another couple of days, lots of valve grinding to do......

The ex army stock does not surprise me. We bought up loads of conrods ex army several years ago and we hardly made an impression on the cage full. There must be lots of engine bits gathering dust somewhere. Ex army engines should all be standard bore as it was easier to re sleeve a worn engine than to stock different size pistons and rings.
I trust that he did not take too much off the head and get too close to the waterway.

I believe these engine were used as auxiliary power units in some tanks.
There is a chap in Holland who has (or had ) some complete engines from the same source.

I have an ex military engine under the workbench in my garage. I have done a write up on converting these engines under Tech. Info.

DAVIDMCCULLOUGH wrote:The new pistons are Australian made,

JPs ?
If so, I hope the QC has improved from a few years ago .

Yes JPS pistons. They seem to be ok, one gudgeon pin was a bit tight and the rings dont have much give in them to fit.

Valves all refitted, what a job!!! No4 was particulary difficult as there are letters cast into the block and the valve compresor kept sticking against it. Crank back in and new timing chain also fitted. Next job is the new ring gear as the sump cant be fitted with the flywheel off.

Getting there, slowly!!

I think that you have to fit the flywheel to the crankshaft before you fit the main bearings. The pistons then drop in the top of the bores and you then connect the big ends.
Have you got the correct valve spring compressor as listed in the special tools section of the workshop manual, part no 18G 270? It makes the job fairly easy, just as long as you can get the cotters to stay in place.
You still have the sump/timing cover oil seal to fit. I feel sure that there must be an improvement over two bits of oily rope, a modern one piece O ring that would seal the crankshaft pulley more effectively.
The most effective way I have found to fit the front seals is to assemble the timing cover and sump before fitting them to the engine to bed the oil seals in.
Fit the two halves of the oil seals in the sump and timing chain cover and soak them in oil. Assemble the sump and the timing cover loosely and insert the crankshaft pulley. Tighten the sump and timing cover and turn the pulley, keep tightening until the pulley is tight then leave it to bed in. Keep oiling and tightening until the sump and cover are tight then carefully disassemble the parts and the oil seals should be properly bedded in

Fitted the new ring gear to the flywheel today and then onto the engine. Dad reckoned fit the sump loosley, then the timing cover and pulley and tighten the whole thing up gradually. All seemed straight foward enough, fingers crossed its oil tight..... I agree the rope seal is pretty poor. The new gasket set didnt have the cork one for the rear of the sump so had to re use the old one. So the whole things now got a shiney new coat of gray paint, ready for fitting after my next lot of shifts

I havent got the specail compressor, but I will look out for one, also could do with thinner spanners for setting the valves. Ended up buffing bits off the spanners to allow them into the space!!! Definatley not a job to do with the engine in the car. Sandy told me it is possible using a mirror while standing on your head

The pistons have to be fitted from the bottom of the engine as the big ends are to big to pass through the bores, unlike the A series were they are cut at an angle to make it easier. Its a pig of a job to get the pistons in/out with the crank in, that how I removed them in the first place lying on my back with the engine still in the car. There is enough room to fit the piston and then put the rings on from the cylinder head end.

You are right about the pistons coming in from the bottom of the engine, its a long while since I put an MM engine together. I remember that I put the crankshaft in with the flywheel attached then had to turn the crank to make room for the piston, push the piston out of the top of the bore, fit the rings and ring compressor then push the piston back down the bore hoping I didn't break any rings.
I trust you are using the correct Series MM torque settings, not the Series II settings in the workshop manual. The MM settings are listed under Tech. Info.
Before I acquired a set of tappet spanners I used a couple of Brooks 1/4 Whit. cycle spanners. With practise you can adjust the tappets with only two hands! Leave the locknuts fairly tight so that you can just move the adjuster then pinch the locknut up tight when you have the 18 thou gap. You should be able to lock it up without affecting the gap.
Have fun!