Morris Minor Owners Club

just purchased a 1957 morris minor, the oil is nice and clean and the radiator fluid is extremely tangy all good ;), my questions are what should the tappets be set at and can someone explain the rule of 9 (i replaced a minor headgasket when i was 16 but that was 2 years ago now so ive forgotten. i will replacing the sparkplugs and fitting an electric ignition kit as a friend fitted one to his mini and it made a noticable difference (either accuspark or the one from simonbbc), also should i replace the air filter or fit a pancake style one? also i will be fitting a new fan belt for piece of mind. and a rocker cover gasket because mines a bit leaky and also the fuel pump to carb pipe. is there anything else people can think of? i will also be using my friend colortune to set the fuel air mix and his strobe light to set the timing what should it be set at when idling?
cheers jack

Well done with your purchase - the engine is same as the Mini - so same valve gaps of 12thou inlets and 15 thou exhausts to minimise risk of exhaust valve problems. Set the ignition timing so it's 'not quite pinking' when you accelerate hard in top gear - there is no specific setting for that - you need to experiment. Don't worry about colortune either - just use the little lift pin on the side of the carb and set it so it doesn't change when you lift the pin. Pancake filter is a very poor idea - if you want something different it needs to be a cone - not pancake. Your car will probably still have the very marginal 7" front drum brakes -so urgently consider upgrading to the later 8" drums for safety!

the rule of 9's is that you number each valve from front (rad) to back (battery) 1 to 8.

wind the engine over with the starter handle until number 1 goes down. then you adjust number 8. (1+8 = 9)

once you've done that one, keeping winding until number 2 goes down. then adjust number 7. (2+7 =9)

etc etc etc!

You don't have to go for a cone filter, they're only made cone shaped to fit in cramped minis. You can fit a 'pancake' filter, so long as it's not too thin. too thin and it will restrict air flow. It should be 1.25 inches or more if possible.

I've got a cone on mine, but that's just what I could lay my hands on!
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By the way, I notice you're young, are you in the young members facebook group yet? if not, search 'MMOC Young Members' on facebook and join the fun!

excellent just the answer i was looking for, could i fit a cone filter from a mini and what difference would this make? other than looks, the engine runs great as it is did a 1 1/2 hour drive home yesterday after buying and sat at a comfortable speedo reading of 75mph more like 55mph all the way i just want to do these things for piece of mind ;) also when you say starter handle where is this ? do you mean the pull start on the dash with the ignition turned off and also i notice on your pic the rocker cover to carb pipe is not there?

there should be a handle in the boot with the spare wheel. of course, yours might have been lost somewhere down the line!
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the beauty of a minor over a mini is that with the engine pointing the right way, you can poke the 'starting handle' in through the hole in the front bumper and turn the engine easily by hand.

if you merely activate the starter motor, the engine will turn, but it'll be tricky to stop at the right time with the right valve open!

if you haven't got a handle you can take the handbrake off, and with the car in gear, push it or pull it to turn the engine slowly. but this should only be done on perfectly level ground!

Turning the engine over is easier with the spark plugs out so there's no compression, whether using the handle or pushing the car along!

A cone filter will work fine.

(edit = picture fixing)

also what ignition kit should i buy the one that is 25d or 45d which distrubutor is fitted as standard to my car i looked earlier and all i could tell is that it is lucas made and side exit. also would there be any advantage with cone style filter?
cheers

The standard distributor in a 1957 948 engine is a Lucas DM2. The later 1098 engines had the 25D, but not sure if they all did, or only the later ones? The 45D was never fitted as standard to the Minor engines.

which would be the preferred choice of ignition kit out of accuspark (mate has fitted to mini and is running fine) or simonbbc have read a thread on hear or another forum about poor quality and not great customer service (not meaning to offend anyone)
cheers

Your dizzy is likely to be well worn - best buy if you can afford it will be a complete 45D from either supplier. But as your car is running well - it's hardly the top priority. I would be upgrading the brakes as my top priority - unless they have already been done ? The cone filter will make very little difference to your standard 948 engine - it will however be much noisier..... These freeflowing filters are more important with higher power engines.

what would be the advantage of fitting a 45d over a 25d and would it be a staight swap plug and play as such? i will have a closer look tommorrow to see weather its the standard dizzy or uprated i only had a quick look outside earlier and it was dark and raining, if i wished to fit 8inch brakes would i just need the backplate,shoes and hub?

Backplates complete with shoes/springs etc and drums. Same hubs ! 45 D is the most modern dizzy - so if making the change may as well do that. Explain to the seller it's for a Minor with A series (so NOT A+) engine. Pretty much plug and play although some fiddling with the timing no doubt.

right this may be a stupid question but how do i change the ht lead at the dizzy cap end? also had to sort a fuel leak out earlier from the small hole below where the fule pipe goes into the carb, i did this by removing the fuel pipe and the cap held down by three flathead screws, it looked like the float needle had stuck up but it quickly came down when i touched it and push it up and down a few times, put it all back together only for the car not to start due to flat battery so i whacked that on charge for 2 hours put it in and it started straight off, is this right? its running now so i assume it is.

also what carb is fitted as standard to my car? cheers

The HT lead will be held in with a small sharp screw - look inside the cap at the 4 terminals around the rim. Minor 57 should have the H2 carb - but post up some pictures - it may have been fitted with a later HS2 model.

right minor ( ) problem last night and today the float bowl was pumping fuel out of the overflow just below the pipe, took it apart and all looked good so put it back together and and it was alright after, got to college this morning double checked it and fuel was leaking from the join all round causing the fuel pump to pump in excess fuel which then came out the overflow got her home then took the float bowl off again clean the needle with wd-40 then procedded to use loctite copper sealant (use on all my seals because its ace) put it back together and am now hoping for the best. does this sound ok?

also will a mini 998 rocker cover gasket fit my morris? also i didnt get a chance to take any photos but the tag on the float bowl said aud13 or something alike but definatly au

just taken it out for a test drive thought all was good till it died at a junction, rolled it back into a layby came back 10mins later to get battery to charge it, tried starting it worked so i promptly drove it home only to discover its refusal to idle unless choke is on, even then it still [Don't swear or you will be banned - Admin] out fuel and idles like crap. HELP PLEASE also there is a thin whisp of smoke coming from the thread underneath the vacumm pipe into the carb, so ermmmm help please. im now considering taking off the carb and striping it down and cleaning yay or nay?
cheers

The needle valve is obviously worn - you need a new one. Yes Mini 998 is the same basic engine.

would that also explain the slight whisp of smoke and does the tag saying aud13 mean my carb is a su hs2? cheers

If you carb is flooding it may be the float valve needs adjusting and poor running/tickover is probably mixture adjustment. If the battery goes flat, that is what the starting handle is for