Morris Minor Owners Club

myoldjalopy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 7:02 pm I only have to walk for 7 minutes to get to my garage. My friends consider me 'ridiculously eccentric' for not having a 'modern' but I'm just not interested

So what does your vintage garage look like, and how is does it compare to the modern garage your friends want you to get?

I think it was wise to invest in a garage even with the 30 minute commute. It's a shame my only option was to have mine open to the elements of a Scottish coast with all the rust that went with it. The only thng I could do was use a cover, which was returned by the people down the street at the next storm and (since it was shredded) never re-fitted.

[quote= My friends consider me 'ridiculously eccentric' for not having a 'modern' but I'm just not interested
[/quote]
Well, for,the first time in my life I bought a new ‘modern’ and don’t regret it. What a pleasure it is to drive something that has everything working and little fear of it breaking down. —— and no need for rust treatment!! The decision to avoid new is your choice, and fair enough. Maybe I just want to move on ! You can have enough of a good thing. ———-I’ve still got my van, just for the hell of it !!

I am reviving this thread because I am finally in the process of getting the engine out. The engine is booked in a queue with a professional engine rebuilder. We managed Minors on Tour 2024 to Holland and Germany. It was fun but the engine used a great deal of oil and we couldn't go faster than 50/55mph for fear of the engine blowing up. This made joining a German Autobahn quite interesting.....

The plan is to finish getting the engine out tomorrow. Then over the next 3 months (which is how long the engine will be away) I will endeavour to strip the engine bay, treat the rust, repaint and fit a new wiring loom. I can't paint until the weather warms up as my garage is much too cold.

Then we will have time to run in the rebuilt engine before Minor on Tour 2025 to the Loire Valley in France.

Bits of car are now living in the house!

Stephen

Oh no! The front bits of the car have entered the 'Twiglet Zone'!

Looks to be in very good condition, complete with it's NMP Plate.
The shiny new bolt puzzled me for a moment, then I realised it was the Dynamo Adjuster stud..

geoberni wrote: ↑Tue Dec 31, 2024 2:12 pm Looks to be in very good condition, complete with it's NMP Plate.
The shiny new bolt puzzled me for a moment, then I realised it was the Dynamo Adjuster stud..

Thank you. Yes it is a very untouched car but it cannot remain original (and be used a lot) for ever. I have looked after it as best I could in my 35 year tenure but obviously it has aged and rusted a bit more as the years have gone by.

Happy New Year all!

Finished getting the engine out today. One engine tower is complete scrap so both will be replaced and of course the rubber mounts. I could see a crack in the tower but I didn't know it was that bad. My gearbox has had a slight leak from the drain plug for some time. I had wondered whether this was coming from somewhere else. It appears it is just the drain plug and nothing worse. Inside of bell housing is almost completely dry.

Stephen

Just a thought, but I noticed there's a lack of paint, or just discolouration, in the area in front of where you have removed the Engine Mount.
Might be worth checking that the Radiator Drain Tap is closing off completely.
My car has a water stain in the same place; I put a small container under the drain tap as discovered that while stood in the garage, it was dripping literally just 1-2 drops every 24 hours..

geoberni wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:17 pm Just a thought, but I noticed there's a lack of paint, or just discolouration, in the area in front of where you have removed the Engine Mount.
Might be worth checking that the Radiator Drain Tap is closing off completely.
My car has a water stain in the same place; I put a small container under the drain tap as discovered that while stood in the garage, it was dripping literally just 1-2 drops every 24 hours..

A very good and accurate thought! Actually I think there was a slow leak in that area for years. It was not enough to really notice but enough to keep the area almost permanently wet. I am going to get the radiator professionally repaired.

Stephen

Regarding the engine mount tower fixing bolts surrounding area cracking - one of the main causes of the cracking is the miss-fit of the bolts in the holes in both the tower and the chassis leg - the holes are too large for the bolts and the mount tower base gets pulled into the chassis leg hole so starting the cracking. One way to get over the miss-fit is to install penny washers (or a metal strip) between the mount tower base and the chassis leg which helps to spread the load.
I have also braised the parts of the mount tower together as the spot welds are not man enough to hold it all together especially with uprated engines.

philthehill wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2025 6:07 pm Regarding the engine mount tower fixing bolts surrounding area cracking - one of the main causes of the cracking is the miss-fit of the bolts in the holes in both the tower and the chassis leg - the holes are too large for the bolts and the mount tower base gets pulled into the chassis leg hole so starting the cracking. One way to get over the miss-fit is to install penny washers (or a metal strip) between the mount tower base and the chassis leg which helps to spread the load.
I have also braised the parts of the mount tower together as the spot welds are not man enough to hold it all together especially with uprated engines.

Thank you Phil. Great advice as always. I think there is a crack in the other tower as well but in a different position. The other tower has probably never been out in the life of the car since only one tower gets taken out each time the engine is removed. I did not know about the hole, bolt mismatch. I thought the damage might have happened due to corrosion and over violent engine removal at some point in the past but what you say makes more sense.

Stephen

Does anyone know what colour the engine mounting towers originally were?

The new towers are sold painted black. My old towers, which I am pretty sure are original, are painted engine green. I do not know whether my towers were repainted at some point though...Since I usually do paint new parts even if they are supplied painted it would be useful to know the correct colour.

Stephen

The engine towers were supplied ex factory in black paint.

I would take a punt at them being Black, as with other 'ancillary items' such as the Air Filter....
Basil's are Black, but then so is his bodywork so that's no real assistance...

Great! Black it is. Many thanks.

Stephen

Cheerio engine. See you again when you're in tip-top form......

The extra bits attached to the engine are another front plate and another timing chain cover as I stripped a thread in the front plate some time ago and I had to drill and tap it out to the next size up.

My last chance to decide whether I want to stay original or have a later timing cover fitted that will accommodate a proper tensioner.

Stephen

There is one downside to using the timing chain cover with the squashed breather/oil separator chamber and that is it is not round - so it is difficult to cut in half, clean the inside, fit new stainless steel pan scrubs and join back together using a alloy spacer as per some have done. Not impossible but additional work I personally could do without.
If available my choice would only use the timing chain cover with the round breather/oil separator chamber especially if you intend to make the chamber accessible for cleaning.

philthehill wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 1:52 pm There is one downside to using the timing chain cover with the squashed breather/oil separator chamber and that is it is not round - so it is difficult to cut in half, clean the inside, fit new stainless steel pan scrubs and join back together using a alloy spacer as per some have done. Not impossible but additional work I personally could do without.
If available my choice would only use the timing chain cover with the round breather/oil separator chamber especially if you intend to make the chamber accessible for cleaning.

Good points Phil but I thought the squashed breather cover would permit the use of the original fan. I don't think it will foul will it? It is possible to fish out the pot scourer by poking it down to the bottom with a screwdriver and then pulling it out from the back with long artery forceps or similar but of course to do that the timing cover has to come off which is a really tedious job. I agree that an accessible chamber that comes apart for cleaning would be way better. I think you've convinced me to stay with the original because the tappet chest breather can is just one bolt to take it off and clean it.

Stephen

Your new front plate appears to be a 1275 spridget one (will fit though)

Matt wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2025 10:44 am Your new front plate appears to be a 1275 spridget one (will fit though)

Well spotted. Yes it is actually a 10CC front plate. It has the reinforcing rib and is stronger but this isn't really necessary on an engine that is only going to be mildly tuned.

Stephen