Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All, this may seem like a "senior moment" but I stripped down my 1966 Moggie 3 years ago and for various reasons I am only now rebuilding it after a total respray.
My problem is that I cannot remember how the stays/support frame fit to the underside of the Bonnet and can't seem to find a pic in any manual that I have! Can anybody post a photo of the underside of their Bonnet to show the fixings, ie 2 struts and a profiled support bar which I assume has some felt glued to it.

Thanks Rich

Does this help.....?

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PSL184 wrote:Does this help.....?

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Thanks for the pic but it's too dark to see anything. I have 2 stay bars and a U shape top hat section cross member that for the life of me can't remember where they go. Any idea's Rich

Save the picture to your PC and then open it in picture editing software and make it brighter? The support bars run from hinge to the lateral bar which is welded to the bonnet. Sorry, don't know what you mean by "top hat"

U shape top hat section cross member

I think that is the section that goes from side to side, and thats its cross section when lowered from its fixed/welded position

I don't think its the welded crossmember that is mentioned, but the other crossmember that is bolted between the 2 bars that go back to the bonnet hinges with a piece of felt glued to it to stop the vibrations against the bonnet. It is hidden behind the welded crossmember in the picture

Try this <br><br>

WPR678B wrote:Try this <br><br>

By Golly I think I've got it. It all seem obvious once your given clues, thanks. just one thing does the support rail clamped to the tie rods have felt or rubber between it and the bonnet where it makes contact, thanks again Rich

Used to be a felted stuff, but a length of rubber ( about as thick as car mat) will serve.

Even better than felt or rubber is stuff some companies use to pack PCs (and probably other things)
Not polystyrene but a sort of closed cell firm plastic foam stuff.
It works like a charm for stopping rattles

Drifting sideways slightly- The spare wheel looks almost "meant" to fit slung under the bonnet. Is there any evidence that it was meant to be in the original script, along with the flat four engine??

It will certainly fit with very little modification and cuts down the amount of engine noise significantly.
Probably having it in the boot gives slightly better weight distribution.

People have fitted the spare wheel under the bonnet in the past but it makes the bonnet rather heavy to open and it could come down with a bit of a crash. The cross brace would have to be securely welded to the bonnet at either end or you could be driving around with the wheel sitting on the engine.

Good point about the extra weight.
My current cars bonnet cross member has broken away one end presumably from people pushing up on the bonnet when it was already as open as it was going to get.
Maybe lash the spare in there temporarily with some bungies and see if you feel it's worth strengthening things up to make it a permanent fixture.
The heat under there is another consideration. Will it do the spare any harm?

I'll say again that the hinges are very, very weak and snap easily

MarkyB wrote:Good point about the extra weight.
My current cars bonnet cross member has broken away one end presumably from people pushing up on the bonnet when it was already as open as it was going to get.
Maybe lash the spare in there temporarily with some bungies and see if you feel it's worth strengthening things up to make it a permanent fixture.
The heat under there is another consideration. Will it do the spare any harm?

Those cross members were fragile to begin with. I cut mine off and am now preparing to install gas charged lift supports to both sides of the bonnet.

Friend of mine did it to his, and it's a super solution.
Will post pix when I get it done.

Have a look here:

http://potteries.mmoc.org.uk/RallyPics/ ... 06_137.JPG
http://potteries.mmoc.org.uk/RallyPics/ ... 06_138.JPG

Or an alternative resting 'on' the engine (well, on a frame).

http://potteries.mmoc.org.uk/RallyPics/ ... CF0040.JPG
http://potteries.mmoc.org.uk/RallyPics/ ... CF0041.JPG

Personally, I don't like the idea as it can make the under-bonnet access awkward, moves more weight from the rear to the front (where it needs to be the other way round really) and can strain (and possibly snap) the very weak bonnet hinges which were only designed for the weight of the bonnet. Don't know if the hot/cold temperature cycle under the bonnet would have any effect on the tyre?

Cam wrote:Have a look here:

http://potteries.mmoc.org.uk/RallyPics/ ... 06_137.JPG
http://potteries.mmoc.org.uk/RallyPics/ ... 06_138.JPG

Or an alternative resting 'on' the engine (well, on a frame).

http://potteries.mmoc.org.uk/RallyPics/ ... CF0040.JPG
http://potteries.mmoc.org.uk/RallyPics/ ... CF0041.JPG

Personally, I don't like the idea as it can make the under-bonnet access awkward, moves more weight from the rear to the front (where it needs to be the other way round really) and can strain (and possibly snap) the very weak bonnet hinges which were only designed for the weight of the bonnet. Don't know if the hot/cold temperature cycle under the bonnet would have any effect on the tyre?

Question. Why would you want to put the spare wheel under the Bonnet anyway??? What do you keep in the redundant spare wheel space?? Rich

What do you keep in the redundant spare wheel space?? Rich

Anything you like important Rally supplies like Tea & Cake spring to mind

OR a LPG conversion (the tank for <-)