Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello from California! I knew an old fella with a Minor in his garage since 1985.. I asked him about the little car sice I remeber seeing it around town as a teenager. He then asked if i wanted that car! I then said yes but he replied i had to take all 3!! 2 were parts cars (one ran when parked) left outside since the 80's.. I bought all three for $400 and promptly sold the 2 parts cars before my wife would kill me! I offered up the cash to him but he said we had a deal and understood the leftover money would soon be put back in his little minor. After cleaning the carbs and putting a battery in it she fired right up! So now she will be with me forever more! Being a British bike collector he was happy to see it go and knew it was in good hands, and now he could make room for more BSA's and such.. I ordered new brake parts and had him help me bleed the brakes.. You should have seen his face when it moved under it's own power for the first time in 24yrs! here is a small video clip of it and i hope not to bug or bore you guys too much! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4GTb8oDNpI

welcome to the forum.. dan harris has posted some useful links for new owners well worth a read if you get stuck for parts.

the car looks great considering it has been laid up since 1985!

feel free to ask away we are a friendly bunch just do not be surprised if your thread goes off topic once or twice

Welcome. One thing you are unlikely to do is make us bored!
Unusual car you have there. Wider wheels, extra instruments and twin carbs. I wonder what else is non-standard.

Looks like a 1275 engine you have in there. Can you post some photos?

PM sent with useful link.
Wheels look standard to me - and yes twin carbs obviously -but I think just standard engine - not 1275.

wow nice find, welcome to the forum

Thanks guys! He said it was the Bugeye sprite engine . I plan on giving it a Satin black finish and since I am a pinstriper, striping her in some Red & Off White RatRod style. I would breake the bank trying to restore it back to pristine so I think I'm better off taking care of what's there and just making me a Peewee RatRod., no modifications just satin black.. Can you tell me one thing? It has a sliding switch just below the key under the dash.., what is it for? New uphostery it will get though..

The switch adjusts the brightness of the instruments i.e. the lightbulb behind the speedo. It will only work when the lights are on

Although I noticd the light in the 'extra' panel of instruments came on with the ignition! I like 'adjusts the brightness' - yes, as in ON and OFF !

looks a good little find oil pressure was good .

Cold engine oil pressure is ALWAYS good!

thats very true.

It's amazing how these little cars just turn up everywhere...


Welcome to the forum peeweethepinstriper, I hope you enjoy your new toy.

Thanks guys! And thanks BMC for the manual... my friend also gave me a "morris owners workshop manual" just ordered some more goodies today from Morris-minor.org seem to have great prices and fast shipping! Just what a "Peewee" needs.. a small car! this is gonna be a fun little car to have ... i'll give it a nice touch.. http://www.geocities.com/peeweesdesigns/

Some novel plumbing going on there.
Thermostat housing doesn't like quite right.
Is the engine a bit further forward than normal or is it just the angle the picture was taken at?

Looking at these better views - it jolly well IS a 1275 cc engine from a later Spridget!
Well spotted earlier m-p, I couldn't make up my mind then if the head was 'flat deck' - and the stat housing wasn't in clear view. Although the carbs were obviously the later twin 1.25" from a later Spridget - not the earlier twin 1 1/8" tinies from a 'Bugeye' = 'Frogeye' in the UK !

Looks a good little project car I am sure you will have fun.
If the engine is from a frogeye sprite (what you call bugeye) it would have been a 948cc if original however lots were upgraded to 1098cc , as the heater valve at the rear of the engine seems to be in line with the bulkhead that eliminates a 1275cc, if you look on the manifold side of the enginejust below the manifold you should have a small plate with the engine size on it (if its still there) as for the thermostat housing it may be the original sprite one and a minor one would give a neater finish and alignment to the top hose. The fuel pump on the side of the battery tray looks different to the normal electric one and doesn't appear connected so I assume it has a mechanical one fitted on the side of the block.
Anyway welcome and as mentioned you wont bore us with the details as we love a good story

That definately looks like a 1275 head to me, the angle of the thermostat housing and the amount of exta metal in front of the rocker box cover are clues. The black rocker box cover is MG colour.
Has the engine got tappet chest covers on the side of the block below the carbs?
I am not sure that the breather pipe on the side of the rocker box cover would work correctly on a 1275 engine. The crankcase ventilation needs to be drawn directly from the sump, normally from a breather pipe on the timing chain cover. Still, if the engine does not drip oil at the back then the system works.
It looks like the engine stabaliser bracket has had a V cut out of it to fit around the heater tap.
There is a 1275/1098 adapter thermostat housing available which has the outlet at a different angle to line up with the rad top hose.
If you are running a 1275 engine then I hope that the brakes have been uprated from the original 7in front drums.

well thanks to you guys guys we know the truth! Can some one send me a link to that thermostat housing? Does Morris-minor.org have it? They have been the ones I've been getting parts from..The fuel pump is disconnected because the gas tank is out getting cleaned after sitting for 25 yrs filled with gas.. it also had a fuel regulator between the carbs and fuel pump.. does it need one? Or will the fuel pump be to strong for it? The engine was once painted green... And look what i found!!!...

I was right about the engine. Now you need to find out what gearbox and diff you have fitted. If the box has a ribbed casing then it is either a 1098 or 1275 box. Externally they are identical except that the 1275 box has a switch at the back of the gear level mounting for a reversing light which is operated when reverse is selected. Internally the bearings and gears are different and the 1275 has closer gears. The diff has the gear ratio stamped on the crown wheel and also I am told, on the diff casing.
If the front and back brake drums are the same size then you ought to upgrade the fronts as the performance of a 1275 is considerably better than the original 948.
The 1098/1275 thermostat housing is available from Morris Minor Centre (Birmingham) Ltd. info@morrisminor.co.uk www.morrisminor.co.uk
I don't know what fuel pump you have fitted but the standard Lucas pump should not need a regulator and will work perfectly well on a twin carb set up