Morris Minor Owners Club

the wing and panel holes look quite a long way off

while I'm having my wheels blasted at blast treat Arundel and my cylinder head is getting skimmed at autopics, I'm doing a bit of work on the steering. Reading the pick restoration part one showed me that the original steering wheel, though a sort of light grey green colour was most like the one on the right side of the picture, sort of a basic version of the one on the left. Wibble puppy gave me quite a few bits and pieces when she cleared out her shed. I want to use the steering column from that left side unit, but I can't free it, dont want to bash it off in case I damage the steering wheel itself.[frame][/frame]

The top of the column makes a strange metallic clicking sound when the steering is connected up and turned, I wonder if its the felt bush that is faulty.[frame][/frame]

could be the self canceller for the indicator stalk

sounds and feels more like the splines grinding against one another. Ill have to get the steering wheel off to find out, could mean I'll have to accept a breakage.

The steering column stub is correct and should be there ! Dont worry, your column should slot right over it and then you only need to drop a bolt and nut to secure it.[frame][/frame]

I managed to get the old steering wheel off using a large wide screwdriver that has no handle, a few wacks with a medium claw hammer had the wheel free, but not without damage to the the bottom edge of the wheels centre. It's the wrong type for my pickup anyway. I'm going for the more basic two spoke later version that the original had. The picture shows the top end of the steering column, minus the steering wheel, the brass castelated colet isn't mentioned in my manual, I guess its part of the indicator cancellation device that was mentioned earlier.[frame][/frame]

the brass colet twisted free to expose the black plastic colet underneath. This splits in two halfs and the segment that is secured to the column attaches to an electrical connection, probably part of the indicator cancellation.

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The brass ring is for the horn contact on the indicator switch.
The wire goes to the horn contact at the top of the column inside the sleeve and spring. The wire is held by a circlip - be carefull not to snap the wire off the plastic collet if you need to remove it!!

Thanks Taupe, do you happen to know if the brass collet is mounted the right way up? I'm wondering if its assembled wrong and causing that clicking noise earlier when it was fitted to the pickup and clicked when turned.

David

To be honest I dont know which is the correct way - I have two columns with the castellated bit of the brass slip ring pointing upwards but in the service parts list its illustrated facing downwards??

You have to unscrew the little pin from the column that cancells the indicators to fit it pointing downwards so maybe its common for it to be mounted incorrectly??

Also Im not sure if it matters which way it faces. Im sure someone else will know the definite answer

The usual reason for clicking noises from this is an incorrectly seated or worn indicator switch horn wiping contact.

while I'm waiting for the return of my shot blasted wheels and my skimmed cylinder head I'm doing some painting up and sealing of the underneath... oh look I missed a bit there.[frame][/frame]

Ive also been doing a bit of flatting on the bodywork, I've hit a snag here, a crossroads so to speak, the rear body sides look wavey when viewed from a flank with the light coming from ahead, live with it or fix it. Head scratching time...[frame][/frame]

never really liked the rat rod look, I'm far too old. Guess Ive got to fix it as best I can. The mechanicals ar coming along slowly but steadily. The drums get a coat of high temperature paint
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I'm just going to keep plugging away and flatting down that bodywork, sanding, costs nothing but elbow grease, the bodywork is always the labour intensive part of a restoration, the mechanicals are fairly straightforward by comparison.[frame][/frame]

...the bodywork is always the labour intensive part of a restoration, the mechanicals are fairly straightforward by comparison.

How very right you are! My bodywork has stretched on three weeks longer than it was meant to! We're both making good progress, though. Nearly there!

Re the brass collar. I've just had a look at one here and yours is the same except mine has the castelated section bent inwards so that it pinches against the black plastic rather than standing a bit proud of the surface.

That panel is very wavy, I guess the question you should really be asking yourself is "can you live with it like that once finished"
If you have a dolly then lots of tapping should help remove most of it but my guess is you will need to use filla to get it true.
and since you have basically built this van from scratch I would imagine you wont be able to live with such a visible distortion.

Many thanks, yes I'm not happy that there are so many blemishes on the side panel there, but I intend to use the next couple of spare days I have off to sand and filler primer,sand and filler primer, that will remove the many smaller faults in the panel, the best I can get it is what it comes down to. Quite frankly, I'l be very pleased to get this on the road one day,let alone in prestine condition, the latter is not going to happen. So here goes, elbow grease for the use of...[frame][/frame]

while that coat dries there's some work needed on the interior of the cab, it's nearly ready for a coat of gloss followed by some insulation sound deadening material on the inside of the bulkhead. That camera flash picks up every detail, like that layer of dust on the floor.[frame][/frame]