Morris Minor Owners Club

Alice Minor wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:37 pm

gcook wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 7:13 pm Hi Alice,
Have you learned to use the handle for when the battery is tired or the engine is cold?

Hi there

I know Lucy has a starting handle, I remember seeing dad use it but I don’t think it’s for me , I have some jump leads incase , not to sound to cocky but is the choke not for when the engine is cold and not the starting handle ??

Alice

Absolutely - starting handle is really there for if you have a flat battery. Choke is for cold starting - all it does it to add more fuel to the mixture of air and fuel that goes into the engine as the mixture doesn't ignite as well when it's cold.

I started my Minor up yesterday after it had sat for 4 weeks and it started first time - yours will too once you've got it sorted. No need for Easy Start or anything else. Good luck with your visit to the garage

gcook wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:17 pm I think it is a useful trick to have up your sleeve because there is never a convenient moment to find your car won't start, is there? It may be a little like kick starting a bike or scooter. It seems to take loads of tries to get the knack but once you get it, it seems to click somehow and you find you are able to do it easily. If I may offer a tip or two practice later in the day when the car isn't cold from overnight. I used to rest a brick on the throttle ( not flat on the floor) so that it had a few revs when it caught. Don't mean to patronise anyone - you know your own car better than me. Best wishes

Agreed re there being a knack to it - it's not about brute force but getting the engine at the top of a compression stroke and giving the handle a short, sharp spin through a quarter or a half turn. It's a pig on a stone cold engine with thick oil compared to when the engine is warm, though, and there's no substitute for a well charged battery! I had to start my first Traveller a time or two in the winter in Bradford when it was below freezing when I was a student and couldn't afford a decent battery, but I wouldn't do it by choice!

I think being able to use a starting handle is a no brainer. If you are always lucky and there is a friend nearby to let you use your jump leads that's fantastic. But when you are in a hurry or when there is nobody around why wouldn't you want to get away in two minutes??

It’s worth mentioning to keep your thumb the same side of the handle as fingers. I’m surprised that no previous poster has highlighted this, as now there might be people thinking of trying this method of starting, who are not aware of this precaution.

les wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:05 pm It’s worth mentioning to keep your thumb the same side of the handle as fingers. I’m surprised that no previous poster has highlighted this, as now there might be people thinking of trying this method of starting, who are not aware of this precaution.

Agreed Les, but I think this thread, itself started as the original one was getting too long, is, at 4 pages, at risk of going a little off topic?! Alice needs to get her car serviced and set up, without worrying about adding frustration by trying to start it with a cranking handle when it often won't start with a fully charged battery on the starter...!

Yes, a bit of topic drift but, as it has drifted a bit, I must add that I've found the handle invaluable on the occasions I have been caught in the middle of B-F-N with a flat battery. Aso useful for turning the engine to check valve clearances. I've even heard the story of someone using the handle to 'wind' a non-starting car off the railway tracks before a train comes!

I agree, starting handle issue is another story.

I'm sorry if I deflected the thread by the starting handle thing but there are a couple of issues here. While it was clear that Alice was trying to get used to how to use the choke I haven't seen any warnings about the need to be careful with it. My experience is that if you regularly overuse the choke it can lead to sooty spark plug issues which lead to chugging and /or poor starting. Also along the way there seemed to be no real reason why Lucy wouldn't start apart from the battery being tired. Finally Alice also said at one point she didn't mind swapping her skirt for overalls. She showed that she could see an issue with the dizzy and managed to swap it. I would think she is more than capable of checking and cleaning plugs and points. Wouldn't want to deny garages and mechanics their trade but isnt the point of a moggy that you sort it yourself if you can?? Isn't that part of the fun?

The main reason that you should not use excessive choke is not because it can lead to sooty plugs but because the excess fuel can wash the oil off the walls of the cylinder bores leading to rapid wear of both piston, piston rings and cylinder walls.

Wise words — my father always used to tell me to ‘ get the choke in as soon as you can ‘ due to potential wear on the cylinder bores through the rich mixture .

I agree of course - I suppose I was just trying to say that you can give yourself a problem if you don't take advantage of choke but you can have issues if you over use it too often.

Hi guys

Great news, I’ve got Lucy back , she sounds totally different to the last time I drove her , the garage owner purposely left her outside in the rain and cold for me to try today, I got in , gave her half choke , waited for the pump to stop then turned the key , she spluttered but failed to start , Bob from the garage shouted “STOP “ , he came over and when he seen the choke he said “ give her full choke just to get her going then straight into half to keep her running, he said you’ll be able to get the choke in by the time you get her into 4th gear , OMG , she runs like a dream , loads more umph when I put my foot down but he was wrong about the choke , 1/2 mile down the road I had to stop at a crossing and she died , wouldn’t restart without but started on 1/4 choke no problem

You’ve all been so wonderful.... AGAIN

Thx

Alice x

PS , if any of you want to drop me a message from time to time your welcome to x

I thought I'd sent one before Alice

Will you tell me if a pm came through

Best wishes

Good to know that you can clearly see the advantage of a good service and tune up.

My guess, back on the 29th, seems to have been spot on. Regular maintenance is what these old cars need - to keep them in tip-top condition.

Nice one! Enjoy

Alice Minor wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 1:46 pm Hi guys

Great news, I’ve got Lucy back , she sounds totally different to the last time I drove her , the garage owner purposely left her outside in the rain and cold for me to try today, I got in , gave her half choke , waited for the pump to stop then turned the key , she spluttered but failed to start , Bob from the garage shouted “STOP “ , he came over and when he seen the choke he said “ give her full choke just to get her going then straight into half to keep her running, he said you’ll be able to get the choke in by the time you get her into 4th gear , OMG , she runs like a dream , loads more umph when I put my foot down but he was wrong about the choke , 1/2 mile down the road I had to stop at a crossing and she died , wouldn’t restart without but started on 1/4 choke no problem

You’ve all been so wonderful.... AGAIN

Thx

Alice x

PS , if any of you want to drop me a message from time to time your welcome to x

gcook wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:51 pm I think being able to use a starting handle is a no brainer. If you are always lucky and there is a friend nearby to let you use your jump leads that's fantastic. But when you are in a hurry or when there is nobody around why wouldn't you want to get away in two minutes??

Hi

You not talking to me ?

myoldjalopy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:37 pm Yes, a bit of topic drift but, as it has drifted a bit, I must add that I've found the handle invaluable on the occasions I have been caught in the middle of B-F-N with a flat battery. Aso useful for turning the engine to check valve clearances. I've even heard the story of someone using the handle to 'wind' a non-starting car off the railway tracks before a train comes!

A handful of years ago, my youngest brother (who in his time had 2 Morris Minor vans, one after the other) managed to wreck his Saab engine and, whilst trying to find a replacement car, borrowed my 4-door 1955 saloon. He used this for getting to work for about a week and then called me up one wet night to say the car wasn't starting. I drove 19 miles to get to him. The car started first turn, but then died very quickly. I decided to call out the insurance company's breakdown operator (Footman-James's one) who asked if I could wait to the next day as they were so heavily overloaded. I agreed to this (stupid of me, I know) and they collected the car from my Brother's place and dropped it off at my house (I had to work that day). Although there was plenty of driveway depth, the operator dropped it half-way across the public footpath.
i had to put the car in reverse and used the hand-crank to get it off the pavement and fully on my drive-way. The problem - it was the points.
Since then, the car (803cc engine) was fitted with a +ve earth electronic ignition system (2nd from the right in the sig pic)

George.

Alice Minor wrote: ↑Tue Nov 24, 2020 8:40 am

gcook wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:51 pm I think being able to use a starting handle is a no brainer. If you are always lucky and there is a friend nearby to let you use your jump leads that's fantastic. But when you are in a hurry or when there is nobody around why wouldn't you want to get away in two minutes??

Hi

You not talking to me ?

Hello Alice, to save me trawling through all the posts to this thread, where about in the UK are you?
All the best,
George.

gtt1951 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 26, 2020 11:56 pm

Alice Minor wrote: ↑Tue Nov 24, 2020 8:40 am

gcook wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:51 pm I think being able to use a starting handle is a no brainer. If you are always lucky and there is a friend nearby to let you use your jump leads that's fantastic. But when you are in a hurry or when there is nobody around why wouldn't you want to get away in two minutes??

Hi

You not talking to me ?

Hello Alice, to save me trawling through all the posts to this thread, where about in the UK are you?
All the best,
George.

Hi George

I’m in the northeast, about 6 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne

Alice x

Hello Alice,
Oh dear, that is too far for me to pop over to take a look with my 1960s/70's diagnostic tools (I'm in Farnborough, Hampshire).
I also think that travel to that area is being restricted - haven't been there since about 1975.

Have you taken out the plugs and checked the gaps (0.025" feeler gauge - use the 10 and 15 added together or metric 0.64mm)?
If the plugs have been out, what colour are they? Do they look "wet" or oily? Do they look light grey after a long run, or black?

Do you know anyone who has a Gunsons Colourtune device (this is screwed in, in place of a Spark Plug, and has a viewing mirror to let you see the colour of the burning fuel)? The mixture can then be adjusted to get the blue rather than yellow burn colour.
The mixture adjuster is that big brass nut underneath the carburettor, where the little pipe, carrying the fuel, goes up inside.

When you apply choke, the choke mechanism also lifts the throttle to give more revs - is this adjustment screw set correctly (i.e. is it working)?

All the best, George.