Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,

I thought that for my first post, a nice hello and introduction would be better than a list of questions - which will invariably happen before long. So Hi, I'm David. I live on the Oxfordshire /Wiltshire border in the Vale of White Horse. I have always been a fan of the Moggie, and wanted one for my first car many years ago. Alas, that never happened and it is only now that I have been in a position to get myself one.

I had been eyeing fairly original condition pre-60 ones for a while, but the prices were just to high considering the work that would be needed. In the end, the OH spotted my new baby (a 1963)at a reasonable price, tentatively named Gertrude thanks to the reg number, and the rest is becoming history. I was looking for a light, introductory Moggie project. For the price we paid, I was expecting the underside to be in a bad way, given the state of many higher priced ones. Alas, I think (hope) I got a good one . There is a little bit of surface bubbling but the core structure is good.

She has been modernised over the years, probably enough to cause some purists pain, but my "project" - instead of the expected remove, repair, weld, repair, replace has gone the other way. I will need to reverse-engineer what has been done to work out how to keep her on the road. Originally Almond Green, she has been repainted at some point in an approximation of Signal Red (not a colour option for the year, from what I can gather?). She also has recessed tail lights, which I hadn't seen before, and has been de-bumpered and de-badged. In a lot of ways, we feel that it gives her a more "sporty" look and isn't hard on the eye. Of course, everyone thinks their new baby is beautiful! I do want to get at least some of the original trim back on her (she came with the bonnet badge) and get some wing mirrors. The black plastic door mounts look cheap and nasty, imo.

I don't think the engine / gearbox are original either, she has a 5-speed box. All in all, servicing is going to be interesting in the first instance, as I don't actually know what the parts will be! There should be some pics below this, to introduce her. Any tips / pointers / advice / information you can provide will be welcomed. I wholeheartedly admit to being a newbie to anything other than the look of the Moggie, so no offence will be taken for seemingly small tidbits. Particularly interested in anything you can provide about the engine - is it a modified 1098cc, or a transplant from a completely different car (Mini?)...

Anyhow, here's to the beginning of my Moggie Life!

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Hello and welcome .your moggie looks cool

i like it very much
especially the recessed rear lights

Yes nice rear lights, the colour updates it as well.

Hi nice car i like the frenched rear lights. The engine could be marina what are the numbers on the block ? mini is fwd

Welcome to the forum. Gertrude certainly looks different! Think the rims may be van rims, what does the team think?

Thanks for the comments and welcomes .

Not sure about the numbers on the block, irmscher. Will need to have a good look. It's still a bit grimy in there and the dog kept wanting to join me under the bonnet. . I will have a better look round it and post back. Cheers!

d

beero wrote:Welcome to the forum. Gertrude certainly looks different! Think the rims may be van rims, what does the team think?

Thanks! She certainly has personality ;). I think you could be right about the rims. She came with the original Moggie hubcaps, wrapped up nicely in the boot. The previous owner told me he had changed them out as it was nigh on impossible to get tyres for the original wheels. Replacing them with some colour matched ones is on my list of "restorations". Is getting tyres for them really that difficult?

d

Agreed on the frenched rear lights, look very nice! Getting tyres for original wheels isn't difficult, online is easy. But people generally fit these wider van rims (or banded steels, esm wide wheels etc) as they give a good performance handling upgrade! and your local tyre fitter should have tyres to fit these! If you did sell them you would probably get £150-200 for the wheels regardless of tyres.
The engine looks like a standard 1098 (given cylinder head) but with a slightly bigger hs4 1.5" (opposed to hs2 1.25") carb, and lcb manifold.
Given the servo and remote reservoir, it may also have marina discs fitted?

Hello David and welcome to the forum!

It is not difficult at all to source original Minor sized tyres. Your car looks to be in good condition. Let's see some pics of the underside! If it were my car I would return it to original spec. I expect the modifications were made to avoid the cost of replacement chrome bumpers and rear light units due to pitting and rust on the original parts.

The only difficulty I could see returning to original is new front bumper irons would have to be welded back on as these must have been cut off to blend the front wings to the front panel. I would check this area carefully as inches of filler low down at the front may be hiding some rust.

It certainly looks like you have a non- standard manifold, and obviously a sports air filter. Originals of both are easy to come by if you wanted to "originalise" the car.

Best thing you can do now (if not already done so!) is to join the MMOC and especially join your local branch.

enjoy your car!
regards

John

and the carb is clearly non standard being a HIF SU type and not having the float chamber at the side like the standard Minors, also you have a performance exhaust manifold. Nothing wrong with this.

So your car will almost certainly go faster than a standard Minor, even if it is an untuned 1098.

More close up pics of the engine and numbers will help in identification.

Neg earth, alternator, brake servo, disc brakes? different wiper motor

chickenjohn wrote:and the carb is clearly non standard being a HIF SU type and not having the float chamber at the side like the standard Minors, also you have a performance exhaust manifold. Nothing wrong with this.

So your car will almost certainly go faster than a standard Minor, even if it is an untuned 1098.

More close up pics of the engine and numbers will help in identification.

It's actually got the float chamber on the opposite side to the minor. Making it a HS4 carb.

I agree with Alex, it's certainly not a 1275 with that cylinder head. Most likely a 1098.

If you post some pics up of the underside we might be able to identify the gearbox. There are 2 fairly commonly used boxes for 5 speed conversions, Ford and Toyota.

Once again, thank you all! The information about the exhaust manifold and air filter are reassuring. When you put your foot down a bit, she can be quite noisy. It almost sounds like something blowing a bit, but it may well be the setup? I suspect she may need a thicker oil, as I've noticed the oil pressure drops from ~75Kg/cm to around 50 when warmed up. She also has some signs of an oil leak somewhere on the block (as evidenced in the photos), which I hope a thicker grade might sort out? The last owner looks to have been using Halfords 15w40 enhanced mineral oil.

As requested, I've taken some more photos showing a little more of the engine, underside and gearbox. Unfortunately I was without flash and had to make do with juggling a big maglite and my camera phone. Not an easy task, so apologies for the quality.

I have found several numbers and codes on the engine. On the near side, "MOWOG 3 170" is evident as part of the casting. There is also a seperate green "Tab" with "0011" in white. On the top off side, there is a plate with "OMEUH" and a 4 digit number which I assume to be the engine number?

Responding to the comments above;
Alex'n'Ane, You are correct - the brakes have indeed been changed out to discs. Whether or not from a Marina is beyond me .
John, the front bumper would be one of the things i'd consider re-adding, though currently considering just tidying her up mostly as-is, and keeping her as a "custom". I suspect that the lower lights are actually just there to hide where the irons were? They don't appear to have bulbs in, from what I can see, but there is a litle body rust round there which will need more investigation. I've also noticed some rusting inside the bottom of the engine bay (how I didn't notice it before is a wonder!).
Mike - Not sure about "neg earth" - i can just about get my head round mechanical things (though everything I have done has been with modern engines with technical manuals), as for the wiper motor, my only comment would be that if it's not original, it's not very good . Accidentally knocked the wipers on today, the wipers scratched the windscreen then stopped in the vertical position. Had to encourage them back round (though the windscreen was dry and it was very warm here today).
Chris, I simply bow to your knowledge and show my inexperience of the older "lady" . The thing that really stands out as odd with the engine to me is the addition of the "Well'ard" text on the off side.

I joined the MMOC before purchasing her, and plan to get in touch with one of the branches nearby (there are three within reasonable travelling distance, but North Wilts is closest). We are also hoping to visit the Purbeck Rally to see one of our friends on Saturday. I believe she is a 1098cc (that's what's on the log book anyhow...). Definitely not a mini engine as I suspected, as irmscher has advised those are FWD and she's RWD.

The warm welcome and tidbits have been gratefully recieved.

Additional pics are below.

David.
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(edited to add note about Well'ard)

The 0011 is upside down! it reads 1100---ie 1098cc.

les wrote:The 0011 is upside down! it reads 1100---ie 1098cc.

Hehe - so simple when you literally look at it that way . Cheers, Les.

David.

Also aftermarket rear tele dampers, nice upgrade. It looks like the toyota gearbox to me, but don't take that as gospel. You will find some more pictures and info about this conversion by doing a search on this forum, or http://morrisminorowners.co.uk/index.php forum.

Red cable from battery to starter solenoid indicates that the cable is pos. therefore earth must be neg. Besides alternators almost always require neg. earth.
Definately non standard wiper motor, maybe 2 speed. Are you sure that the wiper did not stop because you turned the ignition off? You should always squirt the washers before testing the wipers

mike.perry wrote: Definately non standard wiper motor, maybe 2 speed. Are you sure that the wiper did not stop because you turned the ignition off? You should always squirt the washers before testing the wipers

Wipers are indeed two speed. I wasn't testing them - i have been driving a japanese car with the indicators on the wrong side, and flicked the wiper when I should have flicked the indicators . As soon as I saw them moving, i tried squirting the washers, but I was too late. Lesson learnt . It is made more annoying by the fact I've only been driving the japanese car since sunday.

David

chrisryder wrote:

chickenjohn wrote:and the carb is clearly non standard being a HIF SU type and not having the float chamber at the side like the standard Minors, also you have a performance exhaust manifold. Nothing wrong with this.

So your car will almost certainly go faster than a standard Minor, even if it is an untuned 1098.

More close up pics of the engine and numbers will help in identification.

It's actually got the float chamber on the opposite side to the minor. Making it a HS4 carb.

-snip-.

Difficult to see from the photo!

But this is the big problem with modified cars. One or two owners along and what it's got is a mystery making parts sourcing difficult.