Morris Minor Owners Club

FIRST a huge THANK YOU to people who have helped.
Maurice has been serviced and his engine gearbox etc, brakes all run nicely and he's so much quieter.
The electrical fault was fixed........for a while....and then yesterday, on the way to a funeral, down the Thanet Way at 55mph the red light came on again!!
Anyway, I completed the journey but there is still something not right.
AND
chancing my arm driving out to the country church for youth group with the headlights on (praying that it would start to get home), suddenly the clutch pedal went straight to the floor and stayed there.
Engine running nicely.
No sign whatsoever of clutch slip beforehand
gears all changed nicely up to then.

So what bit has now failed?
Can I get a new bit?
Will I and my engineer son (and Graham Major who lives round the corner!) be able to put it on??

I don't love him much at the moment....but boy am I learning a lot about Morrises.

Your helpful advice would be appreciated

best wishes
Ronald

Ronald, does your Morris have a dynamo or alternator? Check fan belt adjustment and that no wires have come adrift from the back of the dynamo/alternator.

Has the clutch pedal stayed on the floor or can you still engage gears? The standard minor clutch mechanism is very basic but you need to get under the car and see what is broken/missing(get someone to operate the pedal). The first thing I thought of is that there a spring that attaches to the engine backplate and the end of the clutch adjustment rod that can snap or just drop off but you do need to get under the car.

How does this work though if you were praying to get home when the red light was on and then the clutch went were you saying the wrong prayer??

The power of prayer ehhhh - hmmmmm. Very possibly broken fan belt re red light - or worn out brushes in the dynamo, although usually a bit of flickering as a warning sign. Pedal to floor -almost certainly the end of the operating rod snapped off as Jeff has already suggested - easy enough fix - just use a bit of threaded rod in the short term but best to get a new rod for a long term fix. Item 65 here - http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Shop/ViewP ... exID=17074
Of course - you may be lucky and just the split pin has come out and the rod fallen away from the mechanism.

Check underneath for a broken clutch rod
If the red light comes on then you need to check the fan belt immediately as it could have broken and so the water pump would not be working and the engine will overheat
If the battery is flat then you can nearly always start the engine with the starting handle

beware !!!! of the starting handle !!!!!! keep your thumb on top ,do not fully grip the handle ,hold it a little like a golf club ,cause if it kicks it can really make your thumb hurt like **ll

Another possibility for the clutch is the rubber bush that fits into the chasis leg to hold the clutch adjusting rod, I have known one of these rubber to brake up and affect the clutch.

Thank you all for useful advice.
I had a grovel abut underneath....
found a "tent peg" dangling...which I have identified as the clutch adjst rod;
it has sheared off near the end that attaches to the clutch and springy thingy.
I have ordered a new one.

I have gone for broke and ordered an alternator conversion kit too.

Make sure you log on often after Christmas as I am bound to need advice.

I just ought to add that prayer does not seem to work with Morrises; I believe the Almighty uses either chariots of fire or the wings of seraphim and they ain't the same thing at all as a Moggy. He does not understand what we mortals have to go through!!

Best wishes to all for a Happy and break-down-free Christmas.
Ronald

As a fellow Vicar it seems to me that the relationship between prayer and the Morris is twofold: first, it provokes me to prayer on many occasions, and secondly, the aim of my prayers is to improve the Mog; the aim of God appears to be to improve me! Sorry, I'll try to stick to the topic from now on!