Morris Minor Owners Club

thats my old minor

Thanks Will, thanks guys, great help there, the picture will help me fit two bits to the engine tommorrow. I'll update with a picture of course.

Good progress once again

I hope you dont think Im nit picking, but the engine steady bar is on upside down at the engine stud end. The L shaped bracket should face down the way and you will see that its sits at a better angle. Sometimes when they are upside down the can break the bracket off at the bulkhead.

Thanks David I appreciate any constructive criticism, Ive inverted the bar as you suggested, and Ive connected the other two parts onto the engine as well. Just need the radiator and rubber pipes to connect that up fully.[frame][/frame]

interior wise, these pull straps arrived from Bath Minors, excellent match for my (Historically wrong) seat colours. Mind you the seat colours go well with the vehicle colour. The new plastic push fit panel clips from ESM went in easily, I found it easier to push all the clips flush through the panel, then match up the panel to the door and push them all in like that. That way they didn't bind on the panel holes.

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the drivers door with its trim panel fitted. Next thing I want to concentrate on in here is the steering wheel fittings,indicator and horn.
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last night I unbolted the roof bolts to fit the timber strip that this ceiling trim screws to. I was very relieved that the rubber seal didn't shift. The header trim attaches to this.[frame][/frame]

But before all that, I have to bite the bullet and weld in this, Bath Minors, replacement panel above the front bump stop. I'm quite nervous as I don't want to spoil my engine bay paintwork. [frame][/frame]

David
Just make sure "everything " is well covered, especially the glass,thick cardboard, cut to shape, gaffer taped into position.
Old blamkets you don't mind sacrificing...water on standby, if it catches fire.A willing helper on standby who appreciates the dangers of not looking at the actual welding.

Get back to bare metal where you are plug welding ( to replicate the plug welding ).Make a small "mask" with some cereal pack cardboard, cutting out a small hole just larger than the plug weld area.Gaffer tape it to the wheel arch Rough production paper will soon get back to plain metal.Don't be afraid to put in extra holes in the panel, i.e do all plug welds, it will be neater with everyting already painted.Paint the back of the plate before welding.Weld Thru primer on the relevant edges.

Bob

Thanks for that solid advice Bob, I'll be getting on with that pritty soon. My replacement radiator arrived from ebay today, it looks sound apart from two small areas of dented matrix, probably caused by the jubilee clip on the hose in transit, shame really as the hose is scrap and need not have been included, never mind it holds water and no leeks. New hoses and its a goer.[frame][/frame]

one small area of concearn is this drain plug, the winged portion of the retaining nut sheared off the moment I tried to unscrew it. I managed to get the nut off wth a spanner, so if there is no need for the wingnut part it'll still work, I wonder why its got thread on the shaft below the wing nut though.[frame][/frame]

That's the part that screws in and out to drain the radiator. You will notice the threads are LH on that part so it actually screws in as you turn anti clockwise. You can put a hose on the end to drain your coolant neatly into a container! As it has broken in the closed position (maybe why it wouldn't turn any further ) you can refit the "plug" (that used to be half a tap) and you're good to go! You can buy a new tap for 6.99 if you want that function back!

thanks for that tip Neil. I think I spoke too soon about leaks, there is one afterall, may have developed in transit like the other damage, but a nuisance all the same, anyone know of a leak repair method?[frame][/frame]

radweld?

Matt do you put the whole 250ml in?

i was advised, with my core plug problem, to buy a 500 ml tin and put half in (what it recommends for one treatment) and if that fails, put more in 'till it holds' :p
so yes, i'd put the lot in.
people do have differing opinions as to whether this blocks passages in the rad (i personally don't think it does).
but don't take my word for it - see what others' opinions are

well I did and it seems to have stopped the leak so far, this radweld works best on radiators that are fitted, with all pipes connected, so the particles can build up in the leak hole and block it as the water flows through. I'll empty the fluid and store it until I need to fill the radiator once more.
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You would be better off getting the radiator professionally repaired. Radweld is just a temporary 'get-you-home' fix and will stop working after a while.

well it's only one pin hole, identified and indicated by this piece of masking tape. Most books and websites Ive investigated suggest solder repair as Dryad points out, radweld is a temporary solution.[frame][/frame]

Ive got nothing to loose in trying to solder the hole up and stop the one and only annoying leak. It was important, I think, to get some solder into the hole, rather than have it just laying on the surface. Difficult to know if I have been succesful at plugging the pin hole up. I'll be watching for fluid leaks, the radiator is under suspicion and will remain under checks for quite some time.[frame][/frame]