Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi

I have a small (I hope!) problem with the 1970 MM that I have just bought. She starts straight away only with the choke (no problem) but even when the engine has been running for over 20mins or so, when I go to change down or idle at traffice, etc, she stalls unless I pull the choke out. I am having her looked at this eve by a mechanic I know but I would be grateful for any ideas? She has had only one owner who devotedly had her serviced every year and has only covered 49k. Also, as much as I want to keep her as original as possible, would it be a great sin to get the brakes upgraded as coming down a hill is ok if nobody pulls out in front of me within a mile! would upgrading the brakes be costly?

Thanks for your help.

Jo & Doris (1970 Trafalgar blue 2 door saloon 1000)

Sounds like you need to adjust your tickover speed (about 10 seconds work). on the top of the carb there is a small screw which determines the engine tickover speed. It sounds like you need to adjust it slightly for a slightly higher tickover to prevent it stalling.

Brakes can be upgraded to discs for about £350 + fitting (for the Sierra conversion) but there are other conversions available. Some cheaper than £350.

Thanks for your speedy reply Cam, shall give it a try.

Jo it sounds like the tickover has been set a bit too slow, and it slows even more when you put the clutch down as its a mechanical operation.
The disc brake conversion kits are about £400 + fitting, we have a few branch members with them and I have just ordered one, we also have a mechanic at our branch who has very favorable rates and is not far from you in Kingsbury it you want to have a chat I will send you a PM (private message) with my contact details.

I've got a (marina) disk brake conversion (and servo, 'cos I'm only ikkle*), and I have to say it's very nice. Works well, stops the car shockingly quickly, yeah, very happy with it.

* this may or may not be the truth.

Woops cross postings again

So, how many 'thuds-per-minute' should a minor make at tickover for a nice corrent tickover speed? Could someone who considers their tickover to be perfect please count the number of beats from the engine in a 10 or 20 second gap (once their engin is warm'd) so that I may get a general idea to how fast she should be ticking over when warm.

Cheers

It seems pretty obvious that your engine is running far to weak a
mixture and the mechanic should be able to sort that out easily.
When he richens the mixture the tickover speed will drop so he
will have to re set that as well.

MR A... tickover speed? if you have a dynamo you should be able
to get a reliable tickover with the charging light just glimmering.

i had this problem until i realised the carb dashpot oil was very low.