Morris Minor Owners Club

The steering column clamp bolt may turn when the column turns but the splines take the load.
I think the rubbers take up any movement transmitted towards the front rear spring mounts otherwise they would be easier to get out!
It may be because there is some little potential for the taper to come undone that the pin gets extra locking.

Thanks all. Ive finally got around to buying a nice new battery for the pickup, now things might take a leap forward, I have a free car day tommorow so I should be able to get on.
I plan to go negative earth, Purchased a long red cable and short black earth one. Advice anyone, how do I avoid blowing any electrical features when I wire this up?[frame][/frame]

start off, change that fuel pipe! to a braided one.

is the coil a negative earth one? if not then the wires will need reversing ( if you have not already done so)

the dynamo might need re polarising. ( I am not certain how this is done so I will leave it to someone else)

I am certain there is more, but its been a long time since I did this, so others can correct me.



Also I will just say that its looking good! Not far now!

Sure to have been covered a million times already, but its always simpler to get an answer than to wade through miriads of search terms!
So; Reverse the wires on the ignition coil. Connect the black lead from battery -ve to adjacent earth point, red lead from battery +ve to starter solenoid (battery side!). Remove the thin wire from the dynamo, and touch the same dynamo terminal to the positive side of the battery momentarily, using an odd bit of wire or a jump lead (it will spark, don't worry!). Unless you have a radio or any modern gizmos fitted, thats it! There was discussion about heater motor, windscreen wiper motor and the guage voltage stabiliser at various times, but, like the starter motor, they work the same whichever way the voltage is applied!

Noting the comments about fuel pipes- make sure there is no fuel/ vapour around while you do this!

thanks, yes the pipe is on the list of parts to replace, before I add any fuel at all. Tommorow I'm giving all that above a go.

here's a detail of the original engine bay when I recovered the pickup from the Hedge, looks like it was positive earth, as the black lead goes right to the solenoid terminal.[frame][/frame]

David
I know you will follow the advice re negative earth switch set up.Knowing how careful you have been throughout your resto I would go for it.
If you are feeling extremely nervous, you could re check all the connections to a wiring diagram, using a multimeter or powered buzzer to confirm that the two ends of individual wires are actually connected electically to what you think they are !! ( don't forget that items will need a switch operated ).A final check ...wires ..nothing still "disconnected". A fire extinguisher to hand, or a willing assistant to remove the earth cable from battery immediately on command or at the smell of burning wiring.
A bit over dramatic but the risk assessment is your's alone.
No fuel at this stage cuts the risk.
Have a few spare fuses to hand.
Try the lighting first, then iginition on, try the indicators, heater fan and the other bits and pieces.Don't leave the ignition on too long without switching off...otherwise you will overheat/ cook the coil.Once you are happy with all the non starter stuff move on to the starting system.( Put a wet sponge on the windscreen to wet it, before trying the wipers).

Engine...oil filled ? Remove distributor cap and spark plugs ( noting the numbering of the leads ) to make the starter easier to turn over, to test and to get the oil circulating ,before real "firing up ".
You should be able to observe the points sparking with the distributor cap off ( you will be half way there when it comes to the real moment of truth whether the engine will run for real, in due course ).Replace everything back on the car.Water in the cooling system, oil in the gearbox and back axle ? If not write yourself a note and tie it to the steering wheel as a reminder.
Re-charge the battery for the big fire up day.

Once the engine is running to your satisfaction, put the multimeter on the battery at rest and again when running ,to check the charging system is "charging" the battery.

Bob

Thanks for the advice Bob. The wiring is all connected now, no loose connectors.Just the negative Battery lead off until it's time for the first electrical test check
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the radiator hoses were a tight fit, I used a bowl of boiling hot water to soften the rubber ends. They fitted on easily then.[frame][/frame]

unsure if this is right, the coil wires are now attached to the two contacts marked +. they were on Negative.[frame][/frame]

Now Ive got to touch the dynamo wire on the positive battery terminal and let it spark over.[frame][/frame]

are you fitting the heater hoses before firing up

David
Coil ..no, not both on the same side....leave the white wire ( from ignition switch) on the +.Put the white with black trace ( to the distributor ) on the negative.
Bob

thanks Bob done that, Dennis Ive not got the heater ready yet, I plan to get it through the MOT, on the road and make gradual impovements, the heater is in that running phase,. need a blank plate for the engine where the heater tap comes out.[frame][/frame]

Hi David, you could join the two pipes with a short length of hose, also it might be a better the turn the battery around so the clamp does not short it out, the cables look more than long enough, just my two pennies worth regards Mikey.

The red positve battery cable either needs shortening or coiling up by drivers side of battery so the engine vibrating doesn't chaff through the insulation and cause a fire. It needs to be away from any sharp edge bits like engine studs and brackets etc

Hi David
I have been watching this thread from the beginning and can no longer resist making a comment! I think your enthusiasm and dedication is quite inspirational and I'm sure most (well me anyway) would have given up by now! Well done but I worry what I will read every day when you've finished!

I would love to know what it will have cost you when you finish. I cheated and bought my van off a bloke who had completely rebuilt it to, fortunately, an excellent standard. This cost me an arm and a leg and I have only done minor cosmetics myself. However I'm on the road and haven't got any additional weld scars down my arms! It would be interesting to do comparison of the 2 routes to getting a van mobile.

My justification was trying to re-capture the feeling I had when I owned my 1st van back in the summer of '76...hot, hot, hot travelling from Cambridge to Cardiff every weekend and she never let me down once - mind you it was a '68 van which was scrapped in '77 because it was completely rotten underneath.

Anyway keep up the good work, I recon there's a number of blokes who owe you a pint for keeping us entertained!

Martin

Martin, you're a true gent, but things took a turn for the worst today, just when I thought things were looking near to MOT time. I fitted a temporary length of short pipe to the heater outlet to stop the water escaping when I filled up the radiator for the first time. No problems with the radiator itself, but oh dear....[frame][/frame]

water just cascaded out from the bottom of the engine gearbox joint area, more engine than gearbox of course, can't quite see where the water is coming out, missing plug, seal, crack![frame][/frame]

on closer inspection after another watering can load, the water appears to be coming out from under the back of the rocker cover.[frame][/frame]