Morris Minor Owners Club

So now I know, valve guides, new valves and oil seals, bore and crank regrind, new camshaft and distributor drive, new oil and water pump, new new new will it never end
Back from the machine shop, here is the head with the new valves lapped and ready for the springs, not new I might add, Oh had the head skimmed at the same time.
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The new seals and guides are from the mini range.
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Assembled with the springs, less the old shrouds and circlips which the manual says are not required.
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I really am very impressed with the work you have done on the car. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Thanks orb596, its thanks too for all those who have helped me so far, that's whats great about this forum help when you need it.

Next it was time for the camshaft, followers, oil pump and distributor drive.
The camshaft and distributor drive were found to be terribly worn and would require replacement together with the camshaft locating plate.
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New distributor drives, if you can find one, costs lots and lots. I managed to locate a good second hand one together with a crankshaft thankfully, good old ebay and bmcecosse.
If you replace the sprocket you may need to do some filing on the replacement to make it fit as the new sprocket has a larger diameter flange, see what I mean there I measured about 50 thou play here
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And on the new sprocket it just wouldn't fit.
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When installing the new camshaft be careful not to mark the bearings as you install and I always smear the cams, faces and bearings with graphite grease beforehand. Make sure that you install the locating plate the correct way round, the softer white metal face runs on the face of the camshaft. The camshaft installed before the engine mounting plate is fitted.
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Locating plate in place, ignore the 2 bolts and tab washer they need to be removed and the holes countersunk to take the new fixing screws which came with the duplex timing kit, so the engine plate must come off to prevent swarf getting where it shouldn't.
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I had to take this all apart again as the 2 top bolts with the tab washer must be replaced with countersunk screws from the duplex timing kit. I'm in to much of a rush, slow down
Timing gear all on, don't forget to line up the dots on the two gears before putting the chain on otherwise the timing will be out.
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New oil seal in the cover, new gasket and fit the oil thrower and bobs your uncle.
I forgot to post a pics the is the block stripped down. Note I replaced the core plugs good job I did they were nearly rotten right through. I also drilled out the oil way plugs and gave it a good flush through you would be amazed at what came out.
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Had the block re-bored, crank re-ground and both skimmed. The re-ground crank (-10) back in the re-bored block (+20), I had the block and the head skimmed while it was in the machine shop.
And the first big end in. Don’t forget to put them in the same as they came out with plenty of graphite grease, and treat it like a surgical operation clean as clean can be. That applies to the mains as well.
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I purchased the oil pump (thanks bmceosse) from a mini supplier, it was nearly half the price, but beware it requires some alteration to make it fit, file off the corners of the pump so that the rear mounting plate and oil cover will fit. Of course new gaskets all round and I smear the faces with grease before assembly, amongst other things it helps to keep them in place.[frame][/frame]
Rocker assembly fitted together with remaining head and rocker nuts ready for torquing down. As you can see new manifold studs were fitted as the old ones were in a poor state. A bit of mystery here the bible indicates short, medium and long. The old ones were all the same length so that's whats gone back in, as you can see. Don't forget the loctite which is used on all the block and head studs.
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Front and rear view ready for painting.
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Now for the flywheel, the ring gear was very worn so I deceided to replace it, first the removal of the old one by drilling the side face as shown, it split with no problem at all.
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To fit the new one stick the flywheel in with the freezer overnight and buy yourself a Aga they were obviously designed for this as you can see, the lid fits a treat. The new ring gear just slides on (the correct way of course) and when fitted let it cool naturally.
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Flywheel fitted, this is a 803/941 flywheel as I have retained the existing 803 gearbox, for now.
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After fitting a new clutch the main block was spruced up a bit by giving it a coat of paint. I don't bother with an a alignment tool, I just don't tighten down the clutch housing bolts which enables the gearbox spline to locate easily into the clutch plate, then remove the gearbox tighten up the 6 bolts and refit the gearbox. Nearly ready to fit into the car, after fitting the manifold, alternator and oil filter, and remove the gear lever of course.
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Greats works being done, will be up and running in no time at all

Yes I'll be on the road in no time, should be ready to fire up in the next couple of days if I can find time. Here's the lump almost ready to go in. I opted to change the original dynamo for an alternator I've had in the cupboard for years and also fitted a screw on oil filter conversion, makes oil changes a doddle.[frame][/frame]
and the other side, all ready to slip in.
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Looking good!

excellent

I thought that before I fitted the engine it would be wise to measure the oil pressure after I had primed the pump. I poured about 2 pints of oil hot oil from the microwave, misses was out, as this makes it easier to pour, down the prime plug hole and filled the block up to the required level. Connecting the battery to the starter, pressure gauge in place of the oil switch and let it rip. Pressure came up pretty quickly to 25 psi and still rising so I was pretty happy with that.
Now to fit the engine, I had previously made some lifting brackets and using a bit of threaded rod up on the hoist and into the car, first problem was obvious, one of the engine mount pillars would have to be removed to enable the mounting rubbers to be fitted. On reflection it would have been easier to connect the pillars and rubbers to the engine before fitting. Further in I decided the gearbox cross member would have to come out, so I used a trolley jack to support the end of the gearbox while I secured the front of the engine on to the pillars and re-inserted the cross member for the gearbox. A bit of aligning here and there and it was done.
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That's the hard bit done, it would have a bit easier with a helper but I couldn't wait. Now to fit the ancillaries.

Looking good really like the engine lifting brackets and bar you made

Cheers Paul, brackets were made from 1" X 3/16" steel and the rod was a bit of 1/2" threaded, the brackets would have been better if a little longer so as to give more clearance.
After fitting the carb and connecting throttle and choke cables, connecting other bits like distributor, oil and ignition lights and modifying the electrical system to accommodate the alternator change and installing a new battery I was ready to check the timing. I set it to TDC on cylinder 1 and worked my way round the cap fitting the cables to the plugs 4321. As you can see its air cooled at the moment, will convert to water cooling as soon as I have verified everything is OK.
Poured in some petrol and tuned on the ignition, fuel pump buzzed away for a few seconds while the carb bowl filled and then switched off, good start if you forgive the pun. Pulled the starter and it fired immediately. All that meticulous refurbishment of the fuel pump, carburettor and engine had been successful. Now to fit the front end.[frame][/frame]

Very happy to see that! Isn't it a wonderful feeling? Soon you'll be driving again!

Very nice job, it shows that good preparation pays off. Well done.

Yes it's a lovely feeling when things go right and as you say SK preparation and planning is essential in the long term, it makes everything worthwhile.
Off to the slopes for a few days, just covered her up and put away the tools. See you next week my lovely.

Back from the white fluffy stuff and there was plenty of it too.
For those who would like to see what the clutch control looks like here are a couple of pics of the linkages involved. Bear in mind this is of the linkage of the later 1098 version, the only difference for the earlier version being 1/4" rod to both the "relay to engine" and "relay to pedal" where as on the later version 5/16" rod was used and 2 plates instead of rod to the pedal.
I can now move the car in and out of the garage without braking my back.
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Looks lovely but very dry, some grease will help it last and work more smoothly.

Thanks MB, grease collects dirt but the manual says do it so I will before I fit the gearbox cover.

Had the radiator back, I decided to have it re-cored, only marginally cheaper but I prefer to use the old parts whenever I can. The pipe at the back is a heater bypass as I have a sprinkler system with the heater matrix (round one)however this will have to be new as the old steel one is not repairable, new ones are about £200.
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Fitting the front was a pain, I had forgotten the order of things so it took me several goes as well as drilling out holes to make the surround, cowl assembly and the front cross member fit. In the end I found the order to be:
Fit the top and bottom hoses to engine
Finisher to surround
Grill to surround
Surround to cowl with chrome top(I put wax-oil on the inside of the chrome top))
Radiator to cowl
Sealing rubbers either side of the extension flitch
Fit cowl to left and right hand flitch, together with the top and bottom hoses to the radiator, don't tighten cowl yet
Fit remaining 1/4" X 1/2" BSF bolts, washers and nuts to bottom of assembly and front cross member
Finally tighten all securing bolts, great result. What have I forgotten.
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SUE482 wrote:What have I forgotten.

Bonnet catch return spring?

Fitting the Horn(s) ???