Morris Minor Owners Club

Something that interested me. For shipping the sump and oil filter are drained of oil and the block is drained of coolant. This is a condition prior to shipping engines. A small quantity of oil will always remain though.

The timing cover on this engine has persistently leaked oil. New high quality gasket made no difference. I always thought it was leaking at the bottom because of course, oil collects at the bottom due to gravity. As this engine has been sitting on a pallet for several days it can clearly be seen that the timing cover was actually leaking at the top! It is leaking with nothing but gravity.

Stephen

I spoke to ESM today. We have agreed that if I strip everything out of the engine bay they will blast it and paint it for me. Then I will put everything back together again with a new wiring loom.

I think I will be much happier that the job will be done properly rather than a stop-gap measure. Do it once, do it right and it isn't actually spending a fortune. Given the deadline I am working to it was always going to be very tricky for me to do the painting due to the Winter cold and hoping that the weather would warm up enough.

Stephen

Whilst working on the Morris today stripping out the engine bay I suddenly had the feeling I wasn't alone........

That is far too tame and used to humans , I suspect locals have been encouraging it to visit.....

I live on the edge of my village with open fields behind the house; the nearest I see a fox is once or twice a year, skulking around the hedge line on the far side of the field...

Yes, nice to see but trusting the human animal is a big mistake. A great shame for those that have compassion, however for those void of that trait, danger awaits the fox.

Yes a very curious and seemingly tame fox. Wary but so hungry I think that she was prepared to risk it. I did go in to get a dog treat but she had gone when I got back. Beautiful creature to see at close quarters. There was a fox on a military camp I lived at. The guards fed him and so did we when we had barbecues (which was year round). We called him Basil but he was nowhere near as bold as the one in my garage. We had a tame Herring Gull as well we called Sea-Basil!

Stephen

Nice to see.
A fox family lives around the Oxford Uni college my daughter is at and members seem quite happy to pose for pictures!
Good luck with your painting.

A nice diversion while working in the garage.

Urban foxes are much more confident around humans and take many more risks, probably calculated. I suspect the biggest risks to them in those areas will be dogs and traffic rather than humans. Rural foxes are very different. Very timid and only seen from a distance. The risks for them are somewhat different!

Sounds like a good way forward with the engine bay too. Blasting will really clean it up and give a good base for painting. I'm sure it'll look very smart once it's finished.

philipkearney wrote: ↑Thu Jan 16, 2025 10:25 pm A nice diversion while working in the garage.

Urban foxes are much more confident around humans and take many more risks, probably calculated. I suspect the biggest risks to them in those areas will be dogs and traffic rather than humans. Rural foxes are very different. Very timid and only seen from a distance. The risks for them are somewhat different!

Sounds like a good way forward with the engine bay too. Blasting will really clean it up and give a good base for painting. I'm sure it'll look very smart once it's finished.

Thank you. Yes I hope it will all be done well and then at least that bit is finished! I am just a bit nervous about putting it all back together again. I have taken a lot of photos and I have put each major part in plastic storage boxes carefully. All of the various nuts are bolts are in labelled small boxes. While the car is away I can refurbish various small bits and pieces so that it all looks smart eventually. It has really made me sad every time I work in the engine bay (which is pretty often) to see it in such a sorry state. I hope that in a few months I will open the bonnet and smile when I check the oil!

Regarding the fox yes It was lovely to have such company but I think the fox was taking a big risk. My German Shepherd dog had been in the garage just a few minutes before and I only put him in the house because he was bored. In fact, my dog had been barking and annoying me because he had seen the fox across the road.

Stephen

OGY985K wrote: ↑Thu Jan 16, 2025 9:21 pm Nice to see.
A fox family lives around the Oxford Uni college my daughter is at and members seem quite happy to pose for pictures!
Good luck with your painting.

Thank you. What a lovely picture!

Stephen

Progress continues. Wiring loom was in a terrible state. Definitely a job worth doing!

Stephen

svenedin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2025 1:04 pm Progress continues. Wiring loom was in a terrible state. Definitely a job worth doing!

Stephen

Actually that wiring looks pretty good. It's only the fabric loom covering that's deteriorated, the actual PVC insulation look fine.
It's when I see an early car with crumbling rubber insulation so degraded you can't make out any colours that I fear a wiring fire....

geoberni wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2025 3:25 pm

svenedin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2025 1:04 pm Progress continues. Wiring loom was in a terrible state. Definitely a job worth doing!

Stephen

Actually that wiring looks pretty good. It's only the fabric loom covering that's deteriorated, the actual PVC insulation look fine.
It's when I see an early car with crumbling rubber insulation so degraded you can't make out any colours that I fear a wiring fire....

That’s true and I will keep the old loom because there are bound to be some good bits which will give me all the right colours of wire for future repairs or alterations. The outer cover is wet, filthy and mouse eaten. I do wonder how many things actually continued to work as the bullets and bullet connectors were badly corroded.

Stephen

Very sensible to keep the loom and all the bullet connector blocks. Spares wires in the correct colour and associated connector will be useful. If you label it all, may actually help install the new one. Beyond the fabric covering, the remainder looks in decent order but isn't worth recovering per se.

Your engine bay will look totally different once painted and will make a huge difference. I know you think it looks untidy but seems remarkably solid for the age of the car. The tie plates and inner wings look in remarkably good condition. Another benefit of being further south and not having the volumes of road salt we put up with.

philipkearney wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2025 7:12 pm Very sensible to keep the loom and all the bullet connector blocks. Spares wires in the correct colour and associated connector will be useful. If you label it all, may actually help install the new one. Beyond the fabric covering, the remainder looks in decent order but isn't worth recovering per se.

Your engine bay will look totally different once painted and will make a huge difference. I know you think it looks untidy but seems remarkably solid for the age of the car. The tie plates and inner wings look in remarkably good condition. Another benefit of being further south and not having the volumes of road salt we put up with.

Thank you. It's the biggest project I've ever done on this car. As you say, everything is in pretty good condition considering the age. This car did live in Edinburgh for 6 years and I would drive it down to the Borders as well as to Dumfries. I was a medical student back then and posted to Galashiels and Dumfries. However, even as a student I rented a garage so the car has never "lived" outside. Most of the corrosion is from condensation which unfortunately is pretty unavoidable unless the car was in a heated garage!

Stephen

Xavier my Morris is ready to go to car hospital for a bit of plastic surgery. He's showing his age a bit. He'll be back soon better than ever.

He does look odd with no front panel and no bumper!

Stephen

Good luck. I'm sure ESM will treat him with care and it'll come me back looking better than ever. With the repainted engine bay and rebuilt engine, it'll look fantastic under the bonnet.

Will ESM remove the wings so that the outer side of the inner wing panel can be blasted and painted too?

rocco wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2025 7:52 am Will ESM remove the wings so that the outer side of the inner wing panel can be blasted and painted too?

Yes they will. The outer wings are actually going to be replaced. You cannot see in the photos but the wings are corroded in the usual place at the back of the wheel arch. One wing (the near-side) is worse than the other and completely flapping about at the back. Both wings are repairable with enough time and skill but time and skill cost money so it is cheaper to replace them. This is a shame because they are original but I will keep the old wings in the loft. This car has never been repainted but the time has come that something has to be done or it will just carry on deteriorating. As to the inner wings, they look reasonable and the rust appears to be only surface rust but we will not know for sure until the blasting has been done.

This work will be part of the ongoing rolling restoration. The work at the front will be done: engine bay, wings (inner and outer), bumper and valance, front panel, bonnet. There is not enough time to do the whole car (either my time or ESM's) so doors, back wings, boot will have to wait until perhaps Autumn/Winter 2025. The last things to be done will be a new hood and repairs to the hood frame. Then the car would actually be finished........it would only have taken since 1989.

I am grateful to ESM for being so helpful and for working with me so that I do a lot of the tedious and time consuming work myself and they do the work that requires equipment and skills that I don't have. It's great to work in tandem like that.

PS: My boot gets wet when it rains. The lid seal is Ok I think. Could it be hinge gaskets? When my gloveboxes were getting wet (and ruined) it was wiper bezel gaskets.

Stephen

svenedin wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2025 8:22 am

PS: My boot gets wet when it rains. The lid seal is Ok I think. Could it be hinge gaskets? When my gloveboxes were getting wet (and ruined) it was wiper bezel gaskets.

Stephen

Depends where the wet is.
If the wet is at the rearmost part of the boot, check the rubbers around the Bumper Studs.
I know you've had the car a long time, so at least they will likely be there, but I actually found that at some point, Basil's were omitted. The outer Ferrule was there (PAN109 on ESM), but not the inner Grommet (PAN109A on ESM).