Morris Minor Owners Club

Since I b;ew up my old engine I have put the 1275 spridget engine in which was in my shed (and belongs to the sprite in the garage)

While i was at it I also put on my type 9 conversion.

The engine turned over perfectly by hand when it was in my shed, without the head on, and it turned over with the head on when I got it.

The engine was stored with an old head placed on top (no studs or push rods) with grease in all the holes and instead of a H/G. I took the engine out of the shed cleaned it all up and its turned over beautifully. no high spots or anything.

I have put the head, the studs and the push rods in from the 1275 marina engine, put a 1098 flywheel and ford clutch on, and the gearbox/propshaft. Now the engine wont turn over (yes the box is out of gear). I have tried an adjustable on the crank nut (with a big bar through the handle) and turning it over using the starter and nothing has worked.

Its got the spridget crank nut so no starter handle dog. And annoyingly I can find the large socket or box spanner which is the right size for the nut! The starter just makes a clonky noise when it meshes with the flywheel and then nothing! I have slackened off all of the tappets, but one or 2 are still under a small amount of tension - im assuming they are "on the cam"

please help!

Has this happened since the gearbox was bolted on as the ford clutch is a bit bulkier could be touching the bellhousing.
I checked mine for clearance before fitting, it wasnt touching but was close in a few spots so ground the housing away a bit in these arias just to be sure

Oh goody :s

the other thing is that the clutch fork has absolutely no movement in any direction! :s

doesn't sound good what type of clutch fork & release bearing are you using ?

Sounds like the clutch assy has locked up against the flywheel. Have you used the ford clutch fork and converted to hydraulic clutch op? If you slacken the gearbox and pull it off the back of the engine does it turn over OK then?

Its a midget fork modified to operate the ford type bearing - operated hydraulically

similar setup to mine just with a minor fork. can one of the pivots slide ok to compensate for the linear movment of the bearing.

Have a look in through the holes in the bell housing - but doesn't sound good.

The pivots themselves dont slide, but I have modified the arrangement so it doesnt bind

Its a midget fork modified to operate the ford type bearing - operated hydraulically

does the bearing fit concentric on the input shaft or is it operating in an arc on the end of the release lever? This is not an immediate problem but if the bearing is not fitted concentric you will get a failure in the medium term.

If on the fork - it WILL be operating in an arc. But if the overall movement is short - it should be ok 'for a while'.