Morris Minor Owners Club

Pinking is a light 'tinkling' sound - as Mark says - entirely dependent on the acc pedal.

thanks for your help.

yes, sounds like a grindy resonance, on full loud on a fourth gear, no other gears, so might just be slightly too advanced. it's coming from the speedo though, doesn't sound like light tinkling though, makes me think that it's not pinking but engine does run on a second after i turn off the key.

if it was resonance from the speedo say the note from the engine resontating through something on the dash, then it would not go away if i retard the ignition with the micrometer adjustment. how many clicks should i try and back it off to start with?

Advance it and see if your noise gets louder.....Never mind 'clicks' - count complete turns !

xpress, does it occur around 40-45 mph to 50mph as mine makes that weird noise under full acceleration at that speed then is fine. In 4th that is..

Stephen I will check.

bmc how many clicks in a full turn?

does the micrometer move the advance through and outside complete range?

If you need to know the number of clicks in 1 turn, turn the wheel once and count them! This is academic really as you need to turn until the required result is achieved.

In The Haynes book of lies page 81 it states ""Eleven clicks of the knurled micrometer adjuster nut represents 1° of timing movement". The whole timing procedure is actually explained quite well on pages 80 & 81 although I'm not a Haynes fan by any means!
Send me a PM for further information .
Regards
Declan

I run a 1936 Morris 8 and when I first had it it was fitted with the original engine which suffered vapour lock, the engine would stop particularly in traffic and be a pig to re-start. Last year I replaced the engine with a later 1948 Morris series E engine (both side valve)and suffered the same problems even though I had the carb re-built by Burlans and the distributor re-built by the Distributor Doctor. The problem has been solved by adding 5% - 7% paraffin to the petrol, this has slowed down the burn rate of the fuel giving a prolonged burn time and increasing the pulling power of the engine. A word of warning though:- If you are going down this path, you need a licence to mix fuel "in the tank" from HM REVENUE AND CUSTOMS. The vehicle must also have been manufactured before a certain date. Hope this is of help

Vapour locking is caused by the fuel 'vapourising' in the suction line to the fuel pump - nothing to do with carb or dizzy. By adding the paraffin you have simply reduced the tendency of the fuel to vapourise when under suction from the pump. But if it works - and the engine still runs ok (and with ultra low Comp Ratio - it should!) then well done.
BTW - this Forum is really intended for the later 'Issigonis' Minor... although all relevant advice is always freely given and gladly received!

I just had a look and Paraffin has an octane rating of zero!
No way would I put any in my Minor.

Fair comment re the later Minors and I accept the "slap on the wrist". I thought perhaps my comments on using paraffin would be of help. It certainly works in my car and cars of earlier vintage. It has also been adopted by many knowledgeable classic car owners to great effect

As a PS to my reply. I am listed as a "Newby" but have been a MMOC member for some time

You're listed as newbie based on your number of posts. you only stay newbie until 10 posts and then you start getting nicer descriptions!

Thanks. As you've probably guessed this is the first time I've commented on this site and although my main interest is in the side valve engined models I feel that information shared is information gained

i agree, don't be put off!

bmcecosse wrote:Vapour locking is caused by the fuel 'vapourising' in the suction line to the fuel pump - nothing to do with carb or dizzy. By adding the paraffin you have simply reduced the tendency of the fuel to vapourise when under suction from the pump. But if it works - and the engine still runs ok (and with ultra low Comp Ratio - it should!) then well done.
BTW - this Forum is really intended for the later 'Issigonis' Minor... although all relevant advice is always freely given and gladly received!

I used to have a Ford 100E which suffered from the same problem, and it was due to the proximity of the fuel pump(mechanical) to the exhaust downpipe. Now seeing as the pre-war 8 copies heavily from the Ford Model Y, and the 100E engine evolved from the Model Y engine, I'm wondering if the cause is the same. It can be cured by either fitting an electric pump well away from the exhaust, or by making an aluminium heat shield to go round the pump (you could polish if for good measure!)

Anything that helps to keep heat away from the fuel suction line will help prevent 'the vapours' . The real answer is to have a 'flooded suction' on the fuel pump, so it doesn't have to do any sucking! Is the pump mounted quite high up on your car ? I seem to remember the SU pump was high mounted on my Morris 8E cars. The paraffin mixing can only hope to work on old engines with v low compression ratio.