Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello,
Does anyone have pictures of a SMM car with the 918cc engine? I am working to really cleaning and making the engine bay look as original and beautiful as possible. My car is a 1950 Tourer with the original engine. I have a website for it if anyone is interested. http://www.50mmt.com There seem to be few series left-hand drive tourers left in the world. I feel privileged to have one and want to preserve it.
Regards,
Tim Olson

Welcome to the messageboard Tim. Lovely looking car - doesn't look as though the engine bay needs much doing to it! I'll move your message to the Series MM forum as not too many people visit the concours section so I think you're more likely to get a response there.

Tim,
what a lovely looking car. I have LHD a MM tourer which lived in California until the 1990, when it returened to the UK. The chassis number for my car is 59768 made on the 27/28th July or just 122 before yours but with low light wings.
Andrew[frame][/frame]

Very nice motor.

You dont see many highlight, short bonnet tourers with the removable rear screens.

rare transition model stevey

Very nice car indeed which looks beautifully restored

C6 Dave,
Very cool car. Thanks for sharing the images. I have a couple of questions...
I like the green interior. Where did you purchase the carpet and seat covers?
How did you get the turn signals attached to the steering column? On my car there is no cover and and steering column moves with the wheel.
Would like to have more power in my car, but I plan to keep the original engine for now.
Regards,
Tim O

stevey wrote:Very nice motor.

You dont see many highlight, short bonnet tourers with the removable rear screens.

North American export spec, highlight wings since 1949

yes i know, but you still dont see many over here

Lovely looking car Tim,

As commented previously there aren't too many issues with the engine bay. The car already looks to be close or at Concours level.

The engine is the correct colour but will need to be clean and spotless which may mean a repaint. The externally mounted period water pump looks ok, but I'm not sure if it is plumbed in correctly. I can't remember seeing a pipe running across the top of the engine before with one of these installations and the take off at the radiator hose doesn't appear to be 'factory finish'.

Other than that the modern battery could be changed for a period one and be sitting on a satin black plywood base, and there was never an inline fuel filter between the fuel pump and the carburetor but this is nit picking. It is a beautiful car.

I hope everyone looking at your photos notices that the door lock for your car is still on the 'English' side (RHD) of the car whilst the driver's door (LHD) has no lock. This has been sighted as one of those penny pinching issues that didn't go down well with potential purchasers of left hand drive models who, when leaving the car had to walk around it and lock it from the passenger's side. Ho Hum!

Regards Ian

According to the instructions the hose is connected to the underside of the header tank and the other end to the water pump, then from the pump to the heater hose and from the heater to a junction in the bottom hose.
The car looks immaculate and it took some searching to notice that it has a later handbrake lever.
I would still prefer it to the Rolls
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Mr Olsons 1950 mm will have a U.S.H.M.2 engine therefore no water pump on the block or external oil filter cartridge.
The Smiths auxiliary heater pump draws hot water from the header tank centre pipe on the pump and out to the heater matrix then to the lower hose on the radiator. The hose in the picture over the engine would work the same but increase the risk of heat damage to the hose if not protected or rerouted.

I've got several water elbows from the right side of the block that have stubs cast in to allow a pipe union to be put in. The 2 on the left are MM and the one on the right is Morris 8E. Is the top one an option from USHM3 or were they an option on the earlier engine?[frame][/frame]

The operation manual / drivers handbook AKD470J cream cover or grey cover fith edition has both versions of the water outlet elbow picture on page 6 has the smooth type further on under dynamo lubrication has the adapter version.
Yet my 1st addition handbook shows only the smooth one, so perhaps the adapter version was a consideration to fit a water temperature gauge or heater connection prior to the U.S.H.M.3 as the earlier engine had no water pump other than the smiths?

Only the earlier USHM2 engines did not have an oil filter, later USHM2 engines did have an external filter.
I also have both sorts of bottom hose elbow, one in ally one cast. The boss would be of no use as a temp gauge sensor location as it is the inlet for cold water from the rad. On my USHM3 head I have the temp gauge sensor in the circular boss behind the thermostat housing.
When the USHM3 engine is fitted with a water pump the hose elbow is replaced by a block drain tap

Questions: When did the USHM2 engine have the extra casting to support an external oil filter.
In the MM manual page A6 "later engines are fitted with an external filter" does this mean USHM2 or USHM3?
MM lowlight tourer 1950 date of build 23rd - 27th February 1950 its the same engine!!!
Date of Despatch 27th Feb 1950. Taken from Certified Factory Record British Motor Heritage Certificate
No oil filter cartridge, and no extra casting. Due to two + years waiting list for Brits this export model never went overseas.
Forget the dizzy position....check out the induction heater carb to inlet manifold for cold climates and the export airfilter standard for overseas.
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Hello Tim,
In your original post you mention how few of the early MM tourers, particularly LHD, remain. I would be very interested to know what your research sources are. I too have a 1950 MM tourer with left hand drive and a friend who lives about twenty miles away has just restored another. It hadn't occurred to me that these might be particularly rare.

Darrell McDonald

According to "Original Morris Minor" the external oil filter was fitted to the USHM2 engine in Oct 1950. The USHM3 engine was fitted in Dec 1950

Page 30 ofthe "Original Morris Minor" quote "An external oil filter was a late addition to the sidevalve engine, but, as in this case, it would generally be fitted to earlier versions. Indeed, reconditioned units were fitted with this type of filter retrospectively" From engine number 63276 an external oil filter was fitted as standard.
So this would require drilling into the oil gallery of the block and fitting an adapter plate plus tapping holes for the studs if I wanted to fit one.
Question: Only factor reconditioned engines were fitted with external filters, was a kit available?
Not many original engines still running without one? I wonder how many...[frame][/frame]

Judge (Bill Hewletts) minor still has no oil filter fitted, that's the only one I've noticed so far