Morris Minor Owners Club

This 1961 Morris Minor is my first car and first morris! clipper blue with a red interior, it has a 1098 engine.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

My plans with the car is to keep the original look of the car and keep it basically as stock as possible but i would like to make it lower and better through the corners. id like to put some wider wheels on it, and get a bit more out of the engine. The reason for buying the Morris Minor even though my friends questioned why i would want such an old car is that i love mechanics and im intending to do all the fixing of the car myself and really get stuck in!

Got some new plates for the car, they fit the old style of the car far more that the modern day reflection plates![frame][/frame]

I think they suit the car excellently!

Next on the project list was lowering the back of the car, it sat insanely high and i could just feel the car almost rolling over in the corners![frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

I visited the ESM website and found some lowering blocks. This was a very easy job but would of been easier if there would of been someone helping me out! levering the axle out of position was a job seeing as i doubt it had been moved in about ten years.[frame][/frame]

As you can see, the car sits much better now and feels a whole lot better to drive!

Off to uni so the car is being put in the garage for a few months![frame][/frame]

Back from uni for the holidays and the car is being used however i found that after i drove behined a gritter, it has ruined my chrome on the front bumper and some of the paint.[frame][/frame]

The gearbox started to develop a load rattle and reverse wouldnt work, it started jumping out of gear a lot and after a little inspection from one of the mechanics at ESM they told me that the box was on its way out basically. Also that the gearbox was a 948 and i had a 1098 engine.[frame][/frame]

This was my first time working properly on a car and it was great, found myself working at it for hours by myself.[frame][/frame]

due to my lack of experience, i found removing some of the parts quite hard so in the end i took the rear axle off and getting the propshaft out of the gearbox that way because i didnt have the right size spanners to take the bolts that attach the diff out.... after a bit more work i found that i would have to take the whole engine out so i got to work doing that. It instructs in the manual that i can take the front grill off and i had seen it done before on different threads but i didnt touch that due to the amount of rust that held the screws etc in. So i took the radiator out, moved the engine forward, took the gearbox out and then lifted the engine out. It was far easier for me to do it this way because after closer inspection and talking to experienced people, i found i had a 948 clutch and back plate so these needed changing and that was far easier out on the bench than getting under the car.[frame][/frame]



Here you can see the old back plate and the clutch with the new box that i got off ebay from someone who claimed it to be a completely restored gearbox.[frame][/frame]
This is the old 948 box on the bench.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

First motion shaft given to me as the clutch alignment tool![frame][/frame]

Gearbox all back in and the cover back on!

Roof rack that i bought off ebay![frame][/frame]

After driving the car, the gearbox that was supposed to be completely reconditioned, was also completely broken and i was told that im lucky it didnt explode! so it looks like ill be buying another one!

Bit of a joke if im honest.[frame][/frame]

After finishing my new gearbox installation, which is working well, the car started making loud scraping noises when braking so i had a look and found this...[frame][/frame]

Bit of a shock and the drum was ruined! so i have had to purchase new drums on the front and new shoes all round, i think its a bit silly just to change one corner![frame][/frame]
After putting these new brakes in and also putting a new hydraulic component in the rear passenger side, i find that the pedal seems to go to the floor without much resistance and it feels like the drums arent perfectly round because when i do brake, there is resistance to the point that the pedal is pushed back up. If i pump the pedal a bit then i get a bit more feel, the brakes still work but they are terrible! could anyone give me some advise on what it could be?!

Car sitting on the road. Brakes not working properly still.[frame][/frame]

Try posting this question in the Mechanical section of this board. You will get a better response than under the restoration thread

very good idea sir...!

I'm not sure she'll appreciate being referred to as Sir!

If you didnt have bad luck you would have no luck hope you get things sorted

im glad to say that i sorted the brakes basically! just need a tiny bit more adjustment but ill do what when i have time away from work!

Shame you bought a so called recon gearbox and it wasnt. Problem with ebay, its all based on trust. Nice looking minor you have there and good to see you having ago at the repairs yourself

Havent posted in a long time, at uni at the moment, when i get back for the summer ill be working on my car a lot. Decided to get the wheels banded by 2" and i've already bought new rear springs because the sag has got so bad that its dragged on side of the car down so my mission before anything is to get the car sitting level. i plan to upgrade the brakes since they are truely awful! im thinking the JLH kit because people have been talking about the alloy hubs not being very good and im also going to invest in a servo for more feel when braking. thinking about investing in a better diff too so that i can cruise at higher speeds, anyone have any suggestions? Bought an old fashioned GB sign as a treat.[frame][/frame]

Im also proud to report that my dad rang me up the other week to tell me that he couldnt get our citroen c3 started after it had sad there for two weeks, my car which had sat there for over a month without being started but started straight up and jump started the modern car. proud moment.