The old boat

[irmscher]

That pink filter certainly stands out Graham PINK

[indian301]

Hey Graham,

It was 70 degrees and sunny in Arizona today. My wife and I enjoyed a leisurely drive in my '52 Singer 4AD convertible. I am glad you enjoyed you visit to the States.


Dave

[irmscher]

Its going to be lovely when finished

[ignatzcatz]

Thanks a lot Dave, it's minus 1 centigrade - 30F here and the shower in the back bathroom has just frozen up and I'm in the warm South of the country! 70 degrees, I'll laugh in August when you got 110 and even the scorpions are carrying sunshades.[frame][/frame]25th Jan 2012 Santa Ana, take me back!

[ignatzcatz]

I think it was last Tuesday. The sun was out, it was cold but not much wind so I thought conditions are good. Let us spray. I had previously primed and flatted back the roof so it was all ready to go. I pushed the old boat out of the garage onto the drive, wiped the roof down with panel clean spirit wipe, tak ragged it and got out my little steps so I could easily reach the centre of the roof. Knocked up some jollop and proceed to mist on a light coat to start things off. This tacked off in a couple of mins so I started to heave on a slightly wetter coat. I got about halfway and the bloody phone rang. So down tools, rushed into the garage and there was some dumbschmuk on the other end trying to sell me shares. I was polite as I usually am and told him to eff off, back outside and double dog s##'te it was only raining was'nt it. I rained hard for exactly almost two minutes, completely ruined the fresh paint, and that was the only rain that fell on that day. Would you credit it. The real aggravation was that I had to wait a good week for the paint to harden fully in order to be able to whack it back to basics again. The fresh paint had really been cratered by the rain and it needed 400 grit to start levelling it down then 600, 800 finishing with 1000 then andrex 1500 stuff to get it back to par. It took a whole unnecessary day of graft plus a pair of sore arms. However, at the beginning of this week I checked the weather online and the start of the week did look hopeful. Monday I had to take Claude the cat to the vets for a check, (all OK thankyou) (£196! thankyou) so Tuesday was to be paint the roof day and deep joy it all went jolly swimmingly. Lots of paint, lots of shine no fish eyes, no runs and no bleed through which is always something of a problem when a surface has had such a beating and I really did'nt want to get into isolating the whole lot. So I's a v. happy teddy.
In the interim while I was waiting for the first paint to go off I got into the wiring jobs the old dog needed. Firstly I installed a second fuse box running terminals directly off the battery and some live through the ignition. I had a dig around in the old boxes marked electricky stuff in the garage and found a few relays and switches plus a bunch of wire. All the relays checked out to be in working order so I put them in the main and dip beam headlight circuits, one for the horns, one for the heater motor and one for the pair of spotlights that I will be running. I also fitted a little auxiliary switch panel just under the dash for electric washers, spotlights, horn etc. Poking around the old garage junk I came across my old Sony radio/cassette that I had removed from a previous car when I upgraded it to a CD player. This was a really good radio back in the day so I thought why not save a bit of cash and stick this in the morry cos I'm happy just listening to the radio as all my cassettes have gone down to the tip long ago, anyway there is a CD input on the rear of the machine so I may just be able to hook up my portable CD player to it provided I can find where I put it. It might even accept the MP3, you never know. The roof had been previously drilled for a roof mount aerial, I'm using an old Peugeot 205 aerial so I just had to route a bit of co-ax up to it, solder on the connector and job done. There are four Kenwood speakers and it chucks out quite an acceptable noise.
Another little jobbie done in the interim was to paint the grill surrounds black which nicely matches the overall mid grey colour and then fitted a stainless steel mesh grill insert which, I think, looks pretty cool. No pics of this yet, I'm going to wait until it's on the car.
Next up on the list is wire the interior lights, wire the volt gauge and the tach, install all the supplementary instruments and paint the sides and doors. Better get cracking, here's some pic's of the roof . . .[frame][/frame]Ain't we shiny[frame][/frame]Sides next[frame][/frame]Spag junction[frame][/frame]More spag, it all works, honest guv

[chrisryder]

good stuff! but is it possible the paint blend for the roof is a slightly different shade to the rest of it?

[ignatzcatz]

Hi Chris,
The old thing's going to be sort of two-tone, three tone even if you count the wood. It will have a black roof, in fact it has a black roof and the rest will be a VW mid grey. I mentioned before that with a car of senior years you can't go silly with colours as you end up with someting that looks like a Mattel hot wheels car. I will have a few contrasts but nothing radical. But with the car nearing to the finish paint it has got my mind working overtime, and even when my mind works in regular time it's something moderately amazing. I would just love to paint a traveler in camouflage like an old Lancaster, I'd put blackout shields over the headlights and a big old Browning M1919 on the roof, with the firing pin removed, or maybe not! And then I have an equal urge to paint an old boat like a deckchair in those gaudy colours of the canvas which hung between the wood bits. I would fill the back with sand and have those lovely old tiny tin buckets that made sand castles hanging off the wood bits inside. Am I mad? Absolutely, would'nt have it any other way.[frame][/frame]Mmmm laptop's nice and warm now

[brucek]

Surprised your mouse hadn't done a runner!

[irmscher]

Ed (big daddy) roth started out this way

[ignatzcatz]

What an absolutely splendid day it was today, almost unearthed the shorts, steady Mildred, one look at the knees and she's all a wobble. Yes indeed a good day for a bit of spraying and I did take the opportunity to blast the inner sections of the doors with a bit of primer and hopefully tomorrow will be able to start on the outer part which has taken a fair old bit of lead to get them sort of straight mainly because they were so rotten and subsequently needed so many patch panels welded in. They should close with a nice clunk due to their weight with so much lead in them. I have had grief. My oil temperature gauge sender I had fitted into an old oil cooler sandwich block that goes between the block and the oil filter. It leaked, new O ring, it leaked, another new O ring, it leaked, Permatex silicon goop and another new O ring, it still leaked. Took off sandwich plate and drop kicked it into next county. So I dropped the sump and drilled it for a big ole oil fitting, wound the sender in, no leaks, job done, after three days. Then I had a water leak from the top pipe on the radiator. Just an annoying little dribble. So drain everything, yank out the rad, unsolder or is it desolder, whatever, clean everything up and solder the pipe in again, no leaks, job done. This one only took me an hour thankfully.
So there were a couple of nice days last week and so I rushed around and at last got the sides of the old boat all sprayed up. I did have some problems with the old paint which wanted to bleed through, even through the primer but they were localised areas so I mixed up some isolator and blew this on then some more primer and it was a successful operation as the top coats flowed on lovely after a few days hardening. With the paint on I was able to rip off the masking paper to expose all the wood which I had'nt seen for quite some while and although it is all rubbed down it will need some sealing and finishing attention but I reckon this job will be about last on the list.
The exhaust was a pain. My three branch manifold was for a Marina or Ital which I guess mounts the engine in a higher position than in the Minor so this puts the exhaust pipe too low. It just took a bunch of cutting and heating and bending pipe to get it all sweet and close to the underfloor. With all this mucking around and sundry pipework it effectively reduced the overall length of the system so also I had to fit a tailpipe extension which is a nice chromey turndown. I bolted on the front panel next and the wings but I hav'nt tightened everything up yet as I will wait until the doors are back on so I can have some hope of getting some reasonable panel fit. I did bolt the bumper up, and that was a toughy. I could'nt put any clamps on my newly painted bumper so I just had to use a bit of muscle to squeeze the outer parts onto the bumper iron. Dun it tho, jus call me Arnie. One thing I had yet to do was to fire the old dog up after doing the head and fitting new gaskets and such. So with the beast on the drive I hooked everything which needed to be hooked up, turned the key and . . of course nothing happened. Ah petrol, but I had sloshed a pint or two into the tank in advance of this momentous occasion so the next in line had to be the pump and this little component had died and gone to motor spares heaven long ago. But we can rebuild him. A hasty strip down found the points were doing great impressions of moon craters and I really thought they were beyond help but some time with a fairly large file and they started looking like a second coming might be on the cards. And voila, tick, tick, tick, suck, blow we have fuel. Of course the float in my HIF carb was sticking, it's got the float chamber underneath on this model, and it flooded gas all over my nicely Sperexed headers. After another hour for stripping the carb down and blowing all the passages and other things to do with a carburettor stuff it was bolt it all back on and twist that key one more time. And this time, oh yes nice engine noises, well as nice as a puny little four banger can make. Still it was all OK, and no leaks I'm pleased to add. In fact it does sound pretty healthy and I'm now keen to wizz it down the road and see what'll it'll do. Yeah, not much.
So it's do the doors and fit the interior then I reckon it will be about MOT time. D'ya know I used to be able to get bent MOT's. It was a fiver per cert. Blimey, those were the days.
Here's some pics, . . do'nt laugh[frame][/frame]Still up in the air[frame][/frame]Excuse the hammer marks[frame][/frame]It's quite shiny actually[frame][/frame]It's a Woodie!

[DaisyMayFozz]

Very smart indeed. My hat goes off to you!

[ignatzcatz]

Oh dear, it looks like I won't be making my April 6 deadline to have the old boat all finished and ready to hit the road. Although I have been thrashing away at it there still remains really too much to be completed before this date. I have had a few problems. Nothing majorly serious but all time consuming and all rather annoying. I had the motor running up nicely only to find an oil seepage from the rear seal on the crank. So I dropped the sump and sure enough the plastic seal was the culprit. The front seal is cork and this appeared to work a damn site better than the rear one. So now it's a wait for gaskets and similarly I am still waiting for the new speedo cable from Venhill in Dorking. These guys are great with this sort of stuff, it's just me being late on my requests. And I can't fill the trans until the cable is installed as the fitment area is down low on the Toyota trans and without the fitting oil would just pour out. Although I have confirmed all the instruments are operating correctly I have yet to fit them all in the dash as I do need to get the speedo cable routed in correctly. Apart from fitting the seat bases the interior still needs completion although I have just got some new door panels, thanks Ali, but I do now have all the sliding rear windows installed and functioning nicely although there is no lock on the centre arm yet but I will fabricate a suitable security device shortly. I fitted the rear doors but I am far from happy with their fit so I intend to fill the existing holes in the doors and then re-drill them so they hang better. And talking of doors, I am still working on the front doors trying to get them perfect for paint. They had so many patch panels welded on it really has been a nightmare getting them straight. They are up for another few coats of primer filler tomorrow which will be about the fifth occasion and hopefully this one will be about right. Even so it will be some time before they can be assembled with fittings and glass to go on the car. And I have got to drill them for mirrors too.
This last bit of the whole restoration is tough but I reckon now end of April, max, better get back in that garage.[frame][/frame]Mind the gap, the wings have still to be bolted on, just waiting for the doors.[frame][/frame]Windows in, on both sides too.[frame][/frame]Where are my doors?

[ignatzcatz]

It's a funny old world, just when you think you have it all going to plan something comes along and boots you severely up the backside. I was getting on quite well with the old dog, got the back windows in, re-positioned and fitted up the back doors, got my new speedo cable (at last) and with this installed was able to finish off the dashboard with all instruments installed. I even got started on the interior. I thought I would run up the motor having fitted a new sump gasket set and then discovered that the motor was still leaking oil and not from the sump. It's coming from the rear of the engine and I really have no choice but to pull out the engine tear it down and find and eliminate this problem. Thankfully it won't take me long as most of the front panels nuts and bolts are only finger tight and of course there is nothing old and rusty but it's still a bleedin pain in the derriere.
On a slightly lighter note, I went on a search engine website to see what I might pay for insurance on the old beastie and with me and the missus, fully comp and a 5000 limited mileage, oh and I've got a speeding endorsement too, the best price was £76. HaHa cheap as chips and zero road fund licence too, I love it.[frame][/frame]This is American for woodie

[chrisryder]

the oil leak from the back could well be down to poor crankcase breathing. 1300s are notoriously bad for that.

Not sure what setup you've currently got, but it could be an idea to look at that before pulling the engine out.

[ignatzcatz]

Ho Hum, did'nt do much on the old dog over Easter as I was at Wheels Day on Good Friday at Aldershot. A brilliant day and the weather was perfecto, lots of shorts and T shirts in evidence. And the cars and bikes were better than ever. I should have been there with the old boat but fate had dealt me a cruel oil leaky blow and it's still garage bound. Eating and drinking took up the remainder of Easter but as I had the Tuesday off I thought I would get stuck in then. And so I did. I got in the garage at about ten and had the engine out and on the deck by 12.30. Which I thought was not bad going. Obviously this is laughable compared to the times set by VW owners who can pull a motor in something like 5 mins. But of course that is excellent German engineering coming to the fore, thank you Mr. Porsche. (Don't mention ze vore). Unfortunately I could'nt fix the motor onto my engine stand as this currently is occupied with 10K plus worth of Porsche 356 motor and that most certainly was'nt going on the floor.
I pulled the engine down and did find that the sump gasket was not leaking but it was the gasket that connects the rear engine plate to the block which had failed. This would be fairly simple to renew, however upon detailed inspection I slackened off the little rear main bearing cap and saw a broken gasket here too. Unfortunately you just cannot remove the three 7/16th bolts that hold this cap on. It is only a few thou interference but you can't get them by the flywheel mount on the end of the crank. So I had to pull all the big end caps and the main caps so I could pull the crank and get to this little cap in order to fit a new gasket. What a splendid design. Not.
So after being pretty damn close to being finished it's lots of greasy bits all over the garage floor, again. Looking through the East Sussex Minors parts website later this afternoon I noticed they list a rear main seal conversion kit. It is not exactly cheap at about 60 sovs but I do rather fancy bunging this on, however it shows the rear seal as a one piece item like on a small block Chevy, if you have ever come across one of those and I doubt you have, but how does this fit on the Morris crank which has that fairly substantial flywheel mounting boss at it's rear end. If any of you folks have fitted one of these kits can you clue me on how it goes. Thankyou.[frame][/frame]Notice minor interference between fan and crank damper. Oops.[frame][/frame]I thought 2 1/2hours was pretty good, including a coffee stop, or is it rubbish?[frame][/frame]Can't believe I had to pull all the caps just to replace a 20p gasket.[frame][/frame]At least all the bearings are good, well good enough.

[brucek]

Re: fan fouling crank damper - If you fit an electric fan instead of the old Morris one, you won't have the interference with the crank damper or possible fouling with the rad either. I can't remember where I read it - possibly the Owen Burton 'Marina into Minor' manual many moons ago which suggested this mod. Not got to the stage with my 1275 Midget engine where I have tested this but think I'm going to go electric anyway. I had a similar problem in that I forgot to torque the three bolts up weh rebuilding my engine - it's a real pain in the you know where. Great job you're doing though!

[chrisryder]

I believe that the crank seal kits actually run on the rear crank webbing itself, the flange that the flywheel bolts onto.

Trouble is, that was never a particularly well machined surface. Well it wasn't on 1098s where the flywheel located onto a centre stub. Might be better on the 1275's where the flywheel actually locates onto that flange.

I've never fitted one myself, but had the chance to read the instructions once

[ignatzcatz]

Thanks Bruce, yes maybe electric will be the way to go, that is if I do encounter any cooling problems. Running V8 powered stuff in the past it was indeed always a problem and after a few trials of various fans etc. I discovered the dual fans from the big Citroen station wagons, the DS23 I think, really did the business. These puppies were so powerful if you put them on the floor they almost hovered. Another goodie was the dual fans fitted on diesel Sierra wagons, nearly as powerful but a lot cheaper at the breakers.
And so to my leaky motor Chris. I did make some enquiries today and you are correct in saying this seal modification goes around the back of the crank but the crank does need some machine work. And for a Marina 1300 motor this is just not cost effective. As you mentioned previously this engine does breathe badly. I suppose with the extra stroke to get the 1300 capacity there is a lot more flailing around in the little block that was originally designed for about 850cc. There are a few things on the to do list to get on top of my problems firstly all new gaskets which I have ordered today from those good folks at ESM. Next I will drill the mechanical fuel pump blanking plate I made up earlier, fabricate a provision for a baffled outlet/inlet into the carburetor which should suck some of the excess gases pumped up by engine. Then similarly re-route the front breather in the same fashion into the carb. The Morry mechanic I was speaking to said this would effectively eliminate the oil leakage although I might see the odd drip after some enthusiastic driving. Well that's every trip then, but at least I shall be saving the 60 odd quid on the seal conversion and that can certainly buy a few litres of 20/50.

[ignatzcatz]

Almost forgot to mention, having a nice time today cleaning old gaskets from bits of engine and painting the odd nut and bolt, I thought I had'nt re-filled the transmission since re-fitting it. So I loosened the drain plug just to make sure all the old lube was out and guess what fell into the drain bowl.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]Yes four nice little bits of gear teeth. I've shown them against my Zippo lighter to give an indication of size. (I never knew Zippo's were made in Bradford Pennsylvania) (And no I don't smoke, just have the odd cigar with a pint now and then) So what do I do now? Well I'm going to make like the ostrich, put my head in the sand and pretend I did'nt see them. I will run the trans and if it sounds like it's having an internal heamorage I'll replace it but if it does'nt then that's OK is'nt it. I do have a pal in the local Toyota dealership and I will ask him to keep his eye out for a T50 box but I'm not going out of my way to get one just yet. Still with all other problems it was'nt the nicest of things to see.

[ignatzcatz]

In between this absolutely dreadful weather we have been having lately, I have managed to re-install my engine having replaced all the gaskets in the hope that I have contained and eliminated my oil leak. The engine slotted in nicely, I left the head off until the motor was in the car as the is'nt much freeway with my three branch headers/exhaust manifold. Having had the crank out and turning the cam around I had to pull out the dibby to re-time the engine and with this out I took the opportunity to replace the oil pressure light switch which I had bought from ESM. I got it all back together and found that this switch had decided not to work. You can get to this switch on it's own but it is so much easier just to pull out the dibby. Anyway I found an new/old switch in the junk box which I think I bought for a long gone VW. Anyway it fitted and worked so it's staying.
I had heard that it does help to give the A series 1300 Marina block as much in the way of breathing as possible, it was suggested that originally this block was designed for 800 or so cc's and putting a big crank which jacks the cc's up to 1300 means the space inside the block is compromised and consequently they do tend to push oil out wherever it can. With this in mind I drilled the blanking plate I had earlier made to cover the mechanical fuel pump orifice and fitted a 3/8ths pipe up to the carb which hopefully will add a bit of suck to alleviate this problem.
I have also started on the interior and have fitted the re-covered side panels, the rear door panels and the inside woodwork. Also fitted after a little enlarging of holes due I think to previous welding distortion is the transmission and brake and clutch pedal cover.
So after all this graft there was nothing left to do but hook up the battery and crank the old dog over. I had it running for about a 10 mins and was all over everywhere checking for leaks - petrol, water or oil variety and tick the box for the former two but a big cross against the latter. I could'nt believe that oil was still dripping from the rear of the oil pan.
I am baffled by this continual problem. I am not stupid and know that I have done nothing incorrect regarding the engine. However, I am just going to drop the pan again tomorrow and check if maybe a seal has split or something . . . On another tack I did phone an old rodding pal who I knew had a very tidy Ford V6 motor and autotrans that he pulled out of his Model Y Ford when he went the Rover V8 route. From the rough dimensions he gave me this lot would slot in nicely without any front suspension mods. I am sorely tempted to bin the old A series and fire up the welding gear for some fun.[frame][/frame]Twas all in vain[frame][/frame]At least this department was going OK[frame][/frame]Just did'nt suck enough