Morris Minor Owners Club

Can anyone tell me the reason for the holes in the engine bay that run along the top of the bulkhead and below the battery tray, they are about 1/4 inch in diameter, should I plug them with a small grommit.

No idea but I have them too.

If they are the ones I think you mean, they are the holes that the back edge of the parcel shelf clips into.

I assumed we were talking about these but they are a bit bigger than a quarter of an inch:[frame][/frame]

They only go into an open section. Probably used during assembly to lock them into a jig.

Hi

I think they are probably the holes for the brass pin clips that hold the soundproofing under the dash?

Yes they are there for the clips that hold the sound deadening fabric in place. These days black plastic I think.

I don't have a later car here to look at but I've a feeling that those holes don't go in through the bulkhead. If so, they might either be there to hold the car during the rotodip rustproofing process (unlikey, though) or are part of the engine steady design. IIRC, the later cars had an angled piece of steel strip bolted onto one of those pieces. The photo suggests they are used for something structural since they have flutes pressed into them from behind which would support the idea of the engine staedy, yet I see that there are holes on both sides. Are the 2 sections identical?

The Wolseley 8 conversion to the MM that was tried before the Austin merger had a quite different method of steadying the engine since that panel in the picture wasn't fitted to the sidevalve badyshells (at least not our '49 and '52)

There are some holes for the sound proofing fabric and parcel shelf in the actual bulkhead to which those 2 panels are welded, as previously mentioned.

These are certainly not for fixing soundproofing or anything else! They are in to an open section - they don't go inside the car.

dont have them in my late 69 car

you could always drill a few if you feel left out dennis

wish i had thought of that

Dennis

You do have the holes along the top of the bulkhead as the original post - I can see them in your pic. Only yours have their brass clips in!!

The holes in the photo by Stewart K are for the engine steady bracket bolts but only one side is used.

Regards

Taupe

wow you know more about my car than me
ah i can see them now, hot confused

Any holes through the bulkhead should have something in them and ones with wires going through should have rubber grommets.
Open holes there let in noise and fumes from the engine.
The gaiter round the gearbox keeps out a surprising amount of noise too.

MarkyB wrote:Any holes through the bulkhead should have something in them and ones with wires going through should have rubber grommets.

These holes don't go through the bulkhead. They go through the plate under the front of the battery tray.

well i have not got those holes

I cannot understand why this post has so many replies by people who are so obsessed with two holes. Get over it.

rcharman wrote:I cannot understand why this post has so many replies by people who are so obsessed with two holes. Get over it.

But there are four holes on my 1963 traveller!
[frame][/frame]

As you can see, they are indeed for attaching the engine steady bracket. Two are redundant because the battery box support is made from two identical pressings. My 1970 saloon has a different single-piece battery box support which didn't have the holes in it; the engine steady was originally spot-welded on but it had snapped off (and a previous bodger had tried unsuccessfully to tack it back on), so I bought a bolt-on engine steady bracket and drilled a pair of holes in the panel to fit it.

Before:
[frame][/frame]
After:
[frame][/frame]
(There's no spreader plate on the front because there's still a thick plate spot-welded to the back; the remains of the old broken bracket.)

stuart_k's car seems to be missing the steady bracket altogether.

nope i have not got those holes
do bull mottiff sell them