Morris Minor Owners Club

hello all, ive managed to wire and fit my 3 gauges: rev, water temp and oil pressure but ive come unstuck with connecting the oil pressure one to the block... ive got an ital a+ and for the life of me i cant undo the current sender (for the oil pressure warning light) - i'm replacing it with a mechanical oil gauge. Anyone know how on earth I can undo the current sender because no spanner or socket will get near it because of the tight fit. I dont fancy undoing my dizzy, oil filter or starter motor but can't see how i can do it without. Any bright ideas?

ta

PS: when i do undo it, what size adaptor screws in?

unfortunately you have to take off the dizzy and starter motor to get to it.
i had to as well, not sure of the size

aupickup wrote:unfortunately you have to take off the dizzy and starter motor to get to it.
i had to as well, not sure of the size

Hi mate, well that really is a bugger as I spent £200 to have some clever man adjust my dizzy (and other things) on a rolling road. Hmmm, maybe i can just remove the starter?

ta

KirstMin, If you mark the dizzy & block together (I used a sharp steel chisel) you can put it back to a fraction of a degree (if you are careful). I found it handy to do anyway as then you can just have a visual check of the timing and see if it's slipped any.

The bad news is that those oil pressure switches can be a right pain to remove and replace. Sometimes they self destruct on removal leaving you with a collapsed switch and a bit of thread sticking out of the block which is interesting to sort out!

I'm afraid I'm with aupickup with regard to removing things. Actually I have usually done it with the engine on the bench, BUT If I remember correctly, you have to move the dizzy & starter. Not the end of the world though.

Yes... my recommendation is carefully!

Does it help to do it when it's hot I wonder?? Get the engine warm then wip off the started & dizzy... might make it a bit easier to get out....

I didn't have to remove the dizzy, just the starter. Mind you; mine was done with the engine on the bench. I think if you don't mind causing yourself pain and bending in all the wrong places (and've got smallish hands) it's probably possible to get the sender out with the engine in and just the starter removed.

At the worst, it's worth a shot, 'cos you'll have to take the starter out either way

Thanks guys and gals. That's what I suspected! And coz my hands aren't small and my back is already feeling it from 5 hours yesterday, I might try removing everything. Ohh pup, and I thought it would be a simple unscrew and re-screw job!

By the way, any idea what thread the adaptor has to be - i want to double check that i have the right one as I dont want to have to do the job twice when i realise ive got the wrong part (something I often do!!)?

I gave up the notion to fit an oil pressure gauge for this very reason. I'm happy enough with a temp gauge, clock and battery condition meter........somewhat easier to fit! I've got an Ammeter too, but it's not connected as I don't fancy the idea of heavy-ish cables going through the bulkhead carrying all that current...........

Is this the same as the normal A series, coz i did that with it in the car without removing anything....

yes with a 1098 you can. the 1275 has the oil filter on the top of the block

The A + engine does. I 'think' it's 1/8" gas thread. Can you not get a longish spanner in there - maybe if you bend it in the vice first ?

bmcecosse wrote:The A + engine does. I 'think' it's 1/8" gas thread. Can you not get a longish spanner in there - maybe if you bend it in the vice first ?

Mate, ive tried! I think starter and dizzy out is the only way. I should have thought about this more before I fitted the damn thing! Oh well!

Hmm - but it is the most important gauge to have - the others don't really matter.

Tell me bout it. I'm going to whip the starter and dizzy off and get it sorted!

It must be possible without removing the dizzy. Because I quite definately didn't do it. I guess it must just be a small fingers job

Yay for being a girl.... *grins, ducks and runs*

It is 1/8" BSP - taper thread. It's easy enough on an A series, much more difficult on the A+. Later pressure switches have a large hex on the o/d - which makes removal much easier.

bmcecosse wrote:It is 1/8" BSP - taper thread. It's easy enough on an A series, much more difficult on the A+. Later pressure switches have a large hex on the o/d - which makes removal much easier.

ta for the info mate. I'll battle on!

I fitted mine without removing the distributor or starter (948) but it's unbelieveably fiddly (and took ages). I used a really big ancient offset ring spanner over the sender at a funny angle to get it loose enough to turn by hand.

Getting the T piece to seal was difficult because I could only leave it pointing in one position to be able to use the pressure switch and oil line.

If I had to do it again I'd definitely remove the distributor first.

yes you can do it on 948,1098minor and midget and 1275 midget.
but we are talking about a 1275 a+ engine