Engine cutting out

[Tapitha]

Engine wouldn't restart because the starter motor was broken. The barrel around the drive pinion had cracked in half! I discovered this when I removed starter this afternoon. While at Kelmarsh I bought a reconditioned starter motor so I could fit that instead. When I went to fit it I found that the 2 holes for the bolts were too close together by half an inch. The body and everything else were identical to the one I took off. Hopefully I can remove the pinion assembly and fit to the broken starter.
I thought a Minor would be cheap to run and easy to maintain, silly me! I have had numerous classic cars for 50 years with build dates from 1937, mainly MGs, and I have never before had as many problems as with the Minor.
Cheers,
Mike

[bmcecosse]

You have been mugged with a Mini starter..... just file the holes out and it will be fine.

[Tapitha]

Took the Mini and the Minor starters to a local auto electrics workshop. The elderly gentleman soon had the good pinion and sleeve off and swapped it to the other. The sleeve was cracked in two so it was not surprising that the pinion jammed! An easy job with the right tools. He then tested everything to make sure it worked. To my surprise when I came to pay for the work he wouldn't take any money. Just goes to show that not everyone chases money, real old fashioned service!!
Starter now back on Tapitha and I am converting the ignition to points with new components. Hopefully we will be back on the road by the middle of next week.
Cheers,
Mike

[bmcecosse]

Well done ! Especially the 'elderly gentleman'

[Tapitha]

1. My coil terminals are marked plus and minus. My question is which is SW and which is CB? The Minor is negative earth if that makes a difference. I don't want to connect wrongly to the fuse box and distributor. I guess that the plus is the SW and the minus is CB. Am I right?

2. The workshop manual states that SAE 20 oil should be used to lubricate the distributor balance weights and other mechanical parts. Is a modern multigrade OK or would it be too thick when hot? Is SAE 20 oil still available?

Thanks,
Mike

[mogbob]

Mike
1.Yes, you are correct for a negative earth car. +/SW white wire from switch, - /CB White/Black wire going to the Contact Breaker( it's the other way around for positive earth ).
2.Lubricating the distributor weights you are not / shouldn't be pouring gallons of oil onto it.Just a couple of drops to coat the moving parts.If the distributor has a felt pad below the rotor arm , main shaft...again just a couple drops.

Bob

[bmcecosse]

A few drops of engine oil will be fine......

[Tapitha]

At last a healthy roar from the engine this morning and a quick test on the road. I have converted the distributor back to points with new parts and base plates out of another distributor because the originals had been altered for the electronic bits. When I first refitted the Distributor the engine wouldn't start with no sparks. Investigation traced a fault to the low tension system. Fault finding advice is very good in the workshop manual. What I had done was to fit the condenser and low tension leads above the nylon (?) insulator on the contact breaker post and not below it. A quick swap and the engine fired first time. Pity I didn't have the time to do it before Kelmarsh.
Many thanks for advice, help and interest shown by members.

[bmcecosse]

Well done - good result.