Slow Motorway Speeds?

[swithland]

Mike, ive done some digging !!

1953 Series MM chassis numbers :
From: 175496
To: 176410, last 4-door saloon, January 12th, 1953
179820, last Tourer, February 18th, 1953
179839, last 2-door saloon, February 23rd, 1953

Series II chassis numbers :
From: 170902 (4-door saloon)
178659 (first 2-door saloon, February 10th, 1953)
178664 (first Tourer, February 10th, 1953)
216901 (first Traveller, September 30th, 1953)
To: 233717

Something does not stack up ! My chassis number is 176206 and being a Tourer, according to the above it is definitely an MM. It cant be a Series II because the first SII was chassis number 178664. I wonder if there was a "pre run" of SII's produced but with MM chassis numbers ?? Maybe during the cross-over between the two ??

[frosty]

[slanderous post removed - Ray.]

The truth is never slanderous - frosty

[dp]

Well Rob ...:

Wonder how long this'll take to get picked up Out of interest, hypothetically of course, what would the official response from MorrisdownUnder be to open discussion of a trader, Cairns Woleselys, being successfully taken to court for bad workmanship? Would they censor things and continue taking adverts from Cairns Woleselys?

Oh, I just logged in to MorrisDownUnder after about 3 years and there's 104 pages of unread thread headers since last visit.

Are there any good car shows in Queensland or Northern NSW in November as I'll be over on Gold Coast then? Ta

[mike.perry]

Swithland
It looks as though your car started out as a Series MM and has had an A Series engine fitted. Check the TPM on the speedo, if it is an MM it should be 1600. Also check the back axle. The Series MM had a square diff "Nuffield" axle, with a 9/41 ratio = 4.55. stamped on the axle tube (see photo). This may have been changed for the later A Series axle. As I said earlier, there is no direct replacement speedo for the original to suit the 1098 diff. You would need to get the original speedo re calibrated.
If you contact BMIHT they would be able to tell you if your car was a Series MM[frame][/frame]

[rayofleamington]

Just to comment on the posts relating to bad service from traders - this is against the T&C's that you have agreed to when joining the forum.
For any individual with a genuine complaint against a trader, please follow it up as well as you can. Unfortunately it is not possible to post trader complaints on this site.
The mods take no satisfaction from removing these posts, whether they are justifiable or not ( it's not our job to find out). We're only here to keep the site online for members by ensuring the rules are followed.

For those who like their moderator bashing - that's up to you. For the others who like to get along well, it's more helpful to post a thread warning so that moderators can be alerted if the rules have been abused. I'd love to have time to read every post on the board but I don't, and the same applies to all the mods. On this thread I managed to read the first 2 pages and then a week later read the 5th page... if it wasn't for the moderator & club bashing I'd have had no idea what was posted on the other pages.

[RobMoore]

Just to comment on the posts relating to bad service from traders - this is against the T&C's that you have agreed to when joining the forum.
For any individual with a genuine complaint against a trader, please follow it up as well as you can. Unfortunately it is not possible to post trader complaints on this site.
The mods take no satisfaction from removing these posts, whether they are justifiable or not ( it's not our job to find out). We're only here to keep the site online for members by ensuring the rules are followed.

For those who like their moderator bashing - that's up to you. For the others who like to get along well, it's more helpful to post a thread warning so that moderators can be alerted if the rules have been abused. I'd love to have time to read every post on the board but I don't, and the same applies to all the mods. On this thread I managed to read the first 2 pages and then a week later read the 5th page... if it wasn't for the moderator & club bashing I'd have had no idea what was posted on the other pages.

Sorry if you feel there is "moderator bashing" Ray. I had made the assumption that since you had posted on page 4 (2 or 3 post down from the offending posts) that you had also read those posts and since they were only a few posts up from your I also assumed therfore that they were considered ok.

[Bazzalucas]

I think the mods do a terrific job. I also don't care about recommendations for or against a particular trader, as I am unlikely to frequent any! Perhaps there could be a separate spot on the forum just for positive or negative reviews of traders?

[swithland]

Im having a similar problem with maximum speed. I have fitted a fully reconditioned 1098 engine, and it has a reconditioned 1098 gearbox. I paid 180 pounds to Nottingham Minor Centre for a new old stock diff, which they fitted, but I strongly suspect that the diff is not for the 1098 based on my top speed of 54 mph !!

Ive checked my speed with my sat nav, and at 54 mph, the car is literally screaming and the engine is grunting from the bottom end. Ive checked the timing which is spot on. The distributor is brand new.

My car is an early series II with the gold dash. The clock says in doing 43 mph, when it is going at 54 mph.

Based on the fact the max speed is 54 mph, does anyone know what the diff is that is in my car ( without me taking it out ) ? I did have the diff out a few weeks ago because the Nottingham Minor Centre had welded a bolt into the oil filler hole preventing the oil from being poured in ! I drilled out the bolt, but had to take the diff out to clean inside the axle casing to get rid of all of the filings. Pity I didnt make a note of what the diff said on the gearing.

If as I suspect the diff is incorrect. Is it possible for me to replae the crown wheel and pinion to bring it in line with the correct gearing ? That would save having to repalce the whole diff.

Ive shipped the car out to my home in Hong Kong and it will be on the roads of Hong Kong in a month. I really would like to be driving the car at the correct speeds, so any help would be appreciated..........

A pic of the gearbox and engine are below.[frame][/frame]

OK everyone....I have an update on my diff. I had a 4.22 diff sent out to me which I fitted today. To my shock, the diff that has come out does indeed have very little wear on the crown wheel and pinion and could well be a reconditioned or new / old stock. However the stampings are not what I expected.....3.9:1 Also there are other markings on the crown wheel and the pinion which state 623. The crown wheel also has a stamp BL-013 and there is a marking on the inside casing HEA0699.

Now this is not making lot of sense. I understood from other posts that if you have a 3.9 diff then the cruising speeds are a lot higher if you have a 1098 engine and box. My experience was a max speed of 54 mph and a lot of bottom end grunting from the engine. The gearbox also was quite noisy. Both the engine and box were fully reconditioned units.

Although I have today fitted a 4.22 diff, I dont have any oil knocking around and cant get the car on the road for the next 3 weeks so cant now test the performance, but suspect that the 3.9:1 diff that was in it was just not suitable as the engine didnt have the power to push it along.

Anyone had a similar experience ?

Im going to bring the dif back to the UK at Christmas and flog it !!

[bmcecosse]

The cruising speed doesn't get any higher with a lower ratio diff - just the revs drop slightly at the same speed. Yes - a poorly 1098 engine may struggle to pull a 3.9 diff - but should surely be ok at least on the flat without any significant wind ?

[kennatt]

just been reading over this thread,so what have I got in the way of gearing its a splitscreen 55 but has the 948 engine and box fitted but the original back axle so what final ratio

[bmcecosse]

Probably a 5.33/1. Should out accelerate a F 1 car - but top speed of about 60.......

[kennatt]

might have to have a look at the axle,certainly does about 70, checked via gps.and doesn't seem to over rev,whats to look for externally between series2 and 948 axles any obvious differences.

[swithland]

The cruising speed doesn't get any higher with a lower ratio diff - just the revs drop slightly at the same speed. Yes - a poorly 1098 engine may struggle to pull a 3.9 diff - but should surely be ok at least on the flat without any significant wind ?

The engine was fully rebuilt ( everything replaced, or reconditioned inside ), and runs as sooth as silk. On the flat, the accelleration was slow and if i floored it, the bottom end of the engine would grunt. It was hopeless up hills......I had to change down to second. Im sure the 3.9 diff was just too much for the 1098 engine. Im also wondering if the fuel mixture was a little too lean as well. Maybe there was a bit of pinking going on at higher speeds that would not be evident when idling or revving with no load on the engine ?? Not really sure, but I do know the 3.9 Diff was not giving the car any extra speed ( tops was 54 / 55 mpg ) and the engine really was not happy. The revs seemed to be very high though and the gearbox was making quite a lot of noise too. I will check the gearbox oil level later just to make sure there is plenty, but I did fill it up to the top when i put the engine and box into the car and there has not been any leak that I know of.

[SGTBILKO]

Reading this thread has sown the doubt as to whether I have the right diff for my car. My late four door saloon, bought about six months ago from a place near Bristol underperforms on hills to the point of embarrassment. The car seems to go well on the flat reaching up to 70 MPH with no problem but when it comes to a really steep hill it crawls along, sometimes even first gear has to be selected and a short prayer is said praying the engine will not die in the effort! The car winters quite a long way from my home so I cannot carry out a compression test yet. So is it wrong diff, tired engine or something else? Prior to the sale the dealer had allegedly overhauled the bottom end, there are signs, new sump gaskets etc, to bear this out. By the way the distributer is well worn and there is an oil leak from the rear end of the sump. As an aside I am used to driving old cars, I drove a sidevalve Ford for many years which was no rocket but it didn't want to die on hills![frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

The 'place near Bristol' sounds ominous........... Evena 948 Minor should be able to hold it's own in traffic and up main road hills. A 1098 can easily do so. It's final drive was 4.22 from the factory - a 3.9 is not that much different. So to both of you - I honestly think your engines are WAY below par. Compression test (set valve gaps first) and then go from there. If plugs are white = far too weak - should be 'biscuit' colour. If the dizzy is knackered - a new one from Simon-bbc or accu-spark is so cheap it really is a no-brainer...............

[mike.perry]

It may just be incorrect timing giving a lack of power.
Warm the engine up to operating temp.
Check the distributor points gap then mark the position of the distributor.
Slacken the clamp and adjust it to get the fastest tickover. If the setting is much different from the starting position then you may have found the cause of the lack of performance. You can then fine tune it with the vernier screw.
The carb mixture should be ajusted to get the smoothest running. The engine needs to be fully warmed up before adjusting the mixture

[swithland]

Reading this thread has sown the doubt as to whether I have the right diff for my car. My late four door saloon, bought about six months ago from a place near Bristol underperforms on hills to the point of embarrassment. The car seems to go well on the flat reaching up to 70 MPH with no problem but when it comes to a really steep hill it crawls along, sometimes even first gear has to be selected and a short prayer is said praying the engine will not die in the effort! The car winters quite a long way from my home so I cannot carry out a compression test yet. So is it wrong diff, tired engine or something else? Prior to the sale the dealer had allegedly overhauled the bottom end, there are signs, new sump gaskets etc, to bear this out. By the way the distributer is well worn and there is an oil leak from the rear end of the sump. As an aside I am used to driving old cars, I drove a sidevalve Ford for many years which was no rocket but it didn't want to die on hills![frame][/frame]

Just wanted to say what a stunning Moggie your 4 door saloon is. My first Moggie when I was 17 was a 4 door 1967. Registration NWW 321E ! Will never forget it. Wish I still had the car. I have already fitted a brand new Dizzy, set the points, checked the timing, set the rockers and I suppose the only thing left to check is the mixture. Ah well.....what a mystery !!

[SGTBILKO]

Thanks for all the advice and the compliments. A new distributor, timing check and compression test is on the cards when I can get near the car.