The death of Boris

Discuss mechanical problems here.
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uclarge
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The death of Boris

Post by uclarge »

:cry: well people, for Boris, my lovable 1968 brown moggie his death haseth arrived... It started when i was leaving college to taake my girlfriend to her house near portsmouth so she could pick up a few things to stay at mine... at about 6:00pm i had all her college books and bags in my hands and i walked out to see boris, i opened the boot and put the contents of my hand inside and shut the boot, i then procceded in opening the drivers door and sat for a while on my comfy original red seats. After a while i decided i would start boris up and turn around. But unfortunately this was not to be the case, at least the "starting up point", the sound i recieved sounded like it had come straight from hell itself, Boris's engine groaned and was then followed by a large "BANG", at that point i knew... :cry: and i tookj a deep breath, leaned a hand forward and pulled the leverr to release the bonnet (i am a novice, self taught mechanic and have succesfully fixed boris's problems on many occasions which makes me proud) i lifted the bonnet and procceded to search around for any visible faults, i then went underneath, oil was dripping away from 3 different places :cry: and then by this time my girlfriend (whom is named clare) walked out, i asked her to take the keys and try and start boris, i did notice that the fan belt wasnt actually moving and he was making a whiney sound, could this be the staarter motor?... i would love to fix boris up, but at my current age 17 (approaching 18 in july! :lol: ) i am a little short of cash... after all Boris is requiring brand new floor panels, new brakes, obv now new engine?, new respray and loadsa other stuff before he will pass his next MOT!. I do have a couple of friends in the morris minor buisness, one of whom is Mark, whos an amazing mechanic, Boris is leaving Cosham today with thanks from theAA to be towed to Marks garage to see if he can do anything for the poor wee moggie.
But my point is, this will cost me a fair penny won't it? to me personally this repairs will at least cost around £3000? most people would say "boris's job aint worth it", i was thinking i could put him in to storage and sort him out in a couple of years... its really annoying because i had almost finished with him on jobs i was doing, he was almost finished too! i had a cd player which id installed and everything and i always got a proper qualified mechanic to come checkout what i had done and that it was all safe, i like to have a second opinion!... anyway this is my tragic tale on Boris it is Wednesday the 12/5/2004.. if anyone whom has read this is interested in further updates on boris, i will be happy to write them and post them out on this board?
i thankyou if you've been reading, cheers, charly[/b]
rayofleamington
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Post by rayofleamington »

If there's a lot of work and you can't DIY then you need someone to give you a sensible view of the car.
A second hand working engine can codst from only £50 upwards. A respray certainly isn't an MOT requirement. Therefore the sills / floor are the important area here.
Doing it as/when required can often be be done for a few hundred, but avoid the wasted money of having cheap botch repairs.

Looking at worst case, A full floor and sills rebuild should only be £1000, but by the time a Moggy centre has replaced wings etc.. plus a repspray, then sold you a new engine plus fitting you can easily spend £3000, so you may as well buy a decent Minor for £1500 instead.
Kevin
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Post by Kevin »

followed by a large "BANG",
Sounds like a backfire through the exhaust
oil was dripping away from 3 different places
Quite a common sight.
Wait until your pal Mark has had a look Boris may not be as sick as you think
Cheers

Kevin
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salty_monk
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Post by salty_monk »

your pal Mark
I assumed he meant Mark as in Brixtonmorris... his tone seemed to suggest someone on here. Might be wrong though!
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Chris Morley
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Post by Chris Morley »

I reckon Boris will rise from the dead (maybe with a few bits taken from another wreck). Mechanical problems can always be overcome by swapping parts, sometimes for very little money - don't give up hope yet.

Worst case scenario is a knackered engine (did you try the starting handle?). These are fairly plentiful if you ask the right people.

----------------------------
Chris

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1970 Traveller - needs a lot of work
1969 4 Door - needs a miracle
1969 Citroen DS21
uclarge
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Post by uclarge »

Cheers guys for your help and interest!, it is good news by the way! yesterday we rang the AA to come and have a go and low and behold! i was right in thinking it was the STARTER MOTOR which was almost falling off with only one bolt holding it on, asd for the oil leak Boris has been booked into see my friend Mark, who will quote us on how much we will spend or spend.... Boris is currently drivable i drove him back to mine today which put a big cheesy smile on my face! It seems as if Boris is rising up from his death bed, i am glad because we have had him in our family for quite some time, as weve own a number of minors purely cos they are such decent cars!!! Boris is booked into see Mark at the beginning of june and should be sorted by the end hopefully! yayayayayayayay!
CHEERS FOR YOUR HELP :)
charly
>Charly, 20yrs Chichester.
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Post by brixtonmorris »

not me..........

starters falling of is usually caused by leaving the lock washers off
(+ the obvious reasons)
Kevin
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Post by Kevin »

See what happens when you think positive Charly :D
Cheers

Kevin
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Gareth
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Post by Gareth »

Hurrah!! The grim reaper obviously filled his quota for Wednesday, so he let you off! Isn't it nice when the guy in black does that? :lol:
Happy Minoring!

Phyllis ~ 1962 Morris Minor 4 Door Deluxe
Black coachwork with Red Duo-Tone Upholstery
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