Morris Minor Owners Club

ian.mcdougall wrote:Could you not fabricate a punch and die that would fit in the drilled hole and tighten with a bolt to form the raised section. maybe use some short lengths of barrel that would slip inside each other to give same effect.

that certainly sounds like a good idea. if it doesn't work, you haven't lost much, and if it does work you've saved a door!

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on the subject; I'll mull it in summer and come up with a cunning plan. Anyhow, here's some little progress on Mog!
The pedals went in for a practice run fairly easily...[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
...but the replacement clutch pedal had been made too short.[frame][/frame]
So I modified the toeboard, after unbending the pedal top arm a bit, and it went through.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
And here are the pedals at home, with new bronze bushings all around, and greased with graphite. No wobbles here![frame][/frame]
Finally, I had accidentally left some primer exposed around the taglight, so I sprayed that.[frame][/frame]
Next time I go home is 9 March...the clutch linkage and drivetrain will go in then, and Mog will move back to my home (from my grandmother's, which is being auctioned).

Fingolfin wrote: And here are the pedals at home, with new bronze bushings all around, and greased with graphite. No wobbles here![frame][/frame]

you seem to have made a fundemental error here, and put the pedals on the wrong side :p

....and the steering wheel

Interesting location for what I assume is the dip switch too. 'normal' cars (RHD) have these above the clutch pedal and slightly to the left. Is that where the dip switch was located when you got the car?

Indeed, the dimmer switch is in the correct position -- most other LHD cars with a floor-mounted dimmer switch have it here. I'm given to understand that the RHD one is mounted as it is because the gearbox tunnel blocks its being in a position closer to the floor.

Fin - re the door lock problem. Would it not be possible to obtain a left hand door lock and surround from a donor door - punched out from donor car - (wouldn't cost too much to post to the USA). This could then be welded into the correct position on you driver's door. Someone on here may have a scrap driver's door they could remove it from. Just an idea.....

Mog now has a drivetrain. And all of its parts are packed up and out of grandma's garage, because the house is sold. Come next month, Mog will make its way back to my house.

I moved Mog out under threatened rain so I could tidy the garage, and it looked overbitey:[frame][/frame]
The gearbox went in very easily:[frame][/frame]
Then dad and I gave the engine a lift:[frame][/frame]My legs are weaker than my arms!
The engine was maneuvered into position, gently, with the trolley jack:[frame][/frame]
And finally it was in, and bolted up to the gearbox:[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
The gearbox cover fit perfectly over the 'box:[frame][/frame]
With some effort (splines didn't want to line up), the propshaft went in, too:[frame][/frame]
The underside looks great and very full of guts:[frame][/frame]You can see that most of the little stuff, like the steady cable, earthing cable, and clutch linkage, aren't in yet. This was a conscious decision; I was concerned solely with the major stuff. Moreover, the clutch parts have yet to arrive. I'm convinced I can refit the clutch linkage with the gearbox in.
I work very hard:[frame][/frame]

Good progress Fin!

You can get the clutch linkage in with the gearbox in place but its fiddly. You will need to remove the opposite side gearbox mounting and loosen the one beside the linkage so you can 'shove' it over a bit, prop shaft will also probably need to be loosened.

yes,I put my clutch linkage in after I had fitted the gearbox, it was a little fiddly but very satisfying to fit, Looks like she's all coming together now Fin, looking good.

A short day of work, but also a day of bad luck. Just as the Davids said, getting the clutch linkage in with the gearbox in is a bit fiddly.
First, though, I want to know about the radiator drain tap. Is this open:[frame][/frame]
Or is this:[frame][/frame]
Additionally, an artsy shot of the repaired part of the radiator core:[frame][/frame]I'll probably buy a new core someday.

Then I had a go at putting in the gearbox steady cable. It was very fiddly.[frame][/frame]
You can see a lot of important stuff here. The speedo cable end won't go any further up the threads -- what can I do? Is this the right place to put the engine earth cable? And notice there's only one bolt in; that's because the internal threads in the gearbox holes don't exist! The bolts just sit there and pull out with almost no force. They will need retapping.[frame][/frame]It gets worse.

I next tried to put in the clutch linkage and, Davids get the prize, the gearbox needed a bit of moving; I accomplished this by undoing one of the mounts, then jacking under the 'box. The other mount was dragged diagonally upward, and the 'box moved enough to let me put in the central linkage. With the 'box back in position, the next step was to put in the bolts, and again I was frustrated by failure, as one of the gearbox-side bolts had its head shear off.[frame][/frame]
The bolts went into the body all right.[frame][/frame]
As I see it, the gearbox has got to come back out so I can get the remnants of that bolt out, and so I can retap the other holes. So no clutch linkage yet.

Mog is coming back home tomorrow, so I went ahead and put in the gearbox cover provisionally, to prevent any items inside the car falling out while it is transported. Some of the bolt holes didn't line up properly.[frame][/frame]

I'll get pictures of it back at home up tomorrow, but there won't be any more work for about a month.

Mog is back home. [frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
It's rather small compared to our other vehicles...[frame][/frame]
I'm quite sure nothing fell out in transit.[frame][/frame]
Mog will be covered with a large heavy-duty tarpaulin tonight, and the bonnet will be strapped on, but otherwise no further work will take place until early May. A garage will soon be under construction, so Mog being outside is only transitory.

Mog has been moved to its slightly-more-permanent-but-still-temporary position on flatter ground.[frame][/frame]
We've placed it atop some canvas weed barrier to keep plants from growing under it. I'm going to try to construct a roof over it, but until such time it'll remain covered by its tarp.
Another thing -- I believe some mice have been encamped inside Mog, because I've seen lots of acorns inside. But they haven't damaged anything, so far as I can tell. Work to come tonight or tomorrow.

Lots and lots of progress has been made, but most of it hasn't been photo-worthy. Here are the highlights.
The carburetor has been cleaned and reassembled:[frame][/frame]
The gearbox was withdrawn once more, and the bad bolt drilled out and the three smooth holes retapped (the greenish bolts):[frame][/frame]
After the gearbox was successfully reinstalled (a HARD job with the engine still in!), the engine was securely bolted down at all points:[frame][/frame]
The clutch linkage went in with a little less fettling than before:[frame][/frame]But it took all my adjustment space on the long rod just to get it in...something's wrong, but I have no idea what.

Nevertheless, the clutch works excellently (this is first gear):[frame][/frame]
Tomorrow sees the engine ancillaries -- the dynamo and starter will be cleaned and painted and mounted, and some other things will get done. I'm waiting on some high-temperature silver paint to do the manifolds and exhaust pipe.

I was sick in the morning (from overwork, believe it or not), and so I haven't done much today. The one thing I did do was fix up and install the engine steady bar:[frame][/frame]
Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel good enough to work on the engine ancillaries.

An interesting day of work. I did the dynamo.

After much cleaning and painting, this was the result:[frame][/frame]
Then I polished and mounted the coil:[frame][/frame]
The oil filter housing was rubbing on the engine bay floor, so I cut a small notch for it:[frame][/frame]
Finally, the dynamo and coil went on the engine again:[frame][/frame]As you can see, though, there's a small gap between the dynamo top front mount and the water pump, even though the bolt and nut are done up. The dynamo is slightly too far forward; the drive wheel doesn't line up with the other wheels. I'll have to experiment with it tomorrow.
Also, tomorrow sees the starter done.

Regarding the dynamo alignment, you may be able to bring it back by loosening the 2 bolts which hold the rear L bracket to the block. The holes are slightly slotted, so may give you a bit more wiggle room.

Exactly right, Chris -- I went up there first thing this morning and tried that, and the bracket took up all the gap. Now the dynamo is fitted properly, except I need dad to help me get the fan belt taught.

Well, I'm awaiting a resolution of my clutch issue (http://mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=44706), but in the meantime, I've reassembled the starter. It's not going in the car yet because I don't want to make extra work for myself in case the gearbox must be rewithdrawn. [frame][/frame]
I did test-mount it, to see the clearance (it's all good):[frame][/frame]I presume the clamp there is for covering up the access holes? That's where I put it, anyway. Before it was round the starter's middle.

What a week! Brother! Everything seems to slowly be resolving, though. We'll see in the coming days.

First came the clutch thing. The engine and gearbox had to come back out, and we pulled them out as one unit.[frame][/frame]
You can see here that the pressure ring was rather cockeyed.[frame][/frame]
The assembly came off and I took the opportunity to clean the backplate -- it had had a small oil leak.[frame][/frame]
A local clutch shop serviced it, and I decided to put on a better flywheel and a new friction plate while I had the chance.[frame][/frame]
I also cleaned and lubed the throwout bearing pivots, as it was having some trouble.[frame][/frame]
After a few false starts, the engine and gearbox went together nicely.[frame][/frame]I believe I will have about 2cm of free movement at the base of the bearing fork, which is a lot more than I had.
I cleaned up both manifolds, and painted the exhaust manifold in heat-resistant Rustoleum. Does anyone know the function of the black device atop the inlet manifold?[frame][/frame]
Then came the exhaust pipe itself, which I had earlier painted in non-heat-resistant paint.[frame][/frame]
And I resolved an issue in the right front suspension, where I couldn't get the tie-bar in. It turned out that the wishbone arm halves were bent backward, and so I replaced those and the tie-bar went in without much hitch.[frame][/frame]

The most important thing now is getting the engine and gearbox back in, and for that we're going to rent a proper engine hoist.