Morris Minor Owners Club

Just got my Minor back on the road after an engine failure - a few pics of the process.
Posted elsewhere on here was saga of the problem - a bit of metal got inside the engine, destroying a set of reconned heads and 4 pistons. Engine now a Range Rover 3.9 high compression engine made to look like a P6 one (different timing cover, sump, ancilleries etc etc)

Pete



Before the engine packed up:






Damage:






Ready for out:






Replacement engine - 3.9 High Comp Range Rover





Stripped of ancilleries - changeing to P6 configuration






Cleaned and ready for mating to gearbox:




Old one coming out:




Out it comes:





New one in foreground




Empty space




Mated with box




Cleaned up, etch primed then base coat and clear - now P6 configuration - lots to change






Almost there



Everythings a bit cramped





In and running

*Jealous*...

wow! The V8's are smaller than I imagined

Nice one Pete, glad you're back on the road again

Looks fantastic, hope it's all ok now. That oil filter looks quite tricky to change though, right up against the chassis member.

That's now been sorted. For some reason the filter sits further forward than with the old engine.

Pete

Looks fantastic Pete, much better looking than red! hope it goes as well as it looks!
john.

Cheers folks - I'm just sorting out the inevitable glitches just now - had to replace the rocker shafts as they weren't getting enough lubrication and making things a bit rattly - and some exhaust stuff. Performance seems a bit better than before, but it is hard to judge. Engine is a bit smoother than before, and is surprisingly quieter - my friend's standard minor traveller makes more noise from the exhaust on tickover.
I'll have to take a video of it and post it here to let you hear.
Now that I've got it going, I'll have to make an effort to sort out the paint and bodywork that I've been neglecting.

Pete

Similar thing happened to my dear father's twin cam moggy. We took it for a rolling road session and the tester snapped a screwdriver off whilst adjusting some random piece of carb equipment. We had no idea where it had gone. Turned out it fell down the gap between spark plug and head- The result of which was that the next time the plug came out, said screwdriver head fell straight into the bore. Final result= Knackered head.

The saga didnt end there, though. After a new head was substituted the true extent of the damage became apparent... When the engine blew up!

Turned out that forcing a screwdriver head into the aluminium of the head had overstressed a rod, causing a small crack that eventually lead to total failure.

One new engine later, though and it works better than ever before.