Morris Minor Owners Club

And So far, I've noticed a few things:

a)
My rocker valve clearances were (with the exception of one valve) too tight, so I've slackened them off a tad (Could it be that they were previously adjusted when the engine was hot???) - I've never done them on Hebe before, but I was good and did the "cold" adjust...

Hebe's been rather "smelly" of late. A part mixture problem I believe, but on checking the carb I noticed that
b) The suction chamber was filthy... That's been cleaned (it was all oily)
c) The Air Filter was black with crap - I'm being no more descript since it was a mixture of oil and many other things.
d) The float pin was really out. I put a 1/8th pin under in the centre of the carb and it required quite a bit of bending of the pin to get it to a point where the correct clearance was there.

Now, could all of the above be a reason for why my car doesn't pull???

Of course, I still have a long way to go... the plugs, the oil, ... the driver...

rocker clearances can be a tricky thing on a worn engine as the surfaces are nolonger flat.
one tip i've seen is to cut the feeler guage down so it only measures the middle part (the wearing surface) and is not affected by the lumps of non worn material.

As for excessive oil in the carb - I'm guessing you have a breather pipe on the rocker cover connected to the filter housing. The spout on the filter housing should be closed down to a smal hole (approx 1/8" dia). If it is a big hole like the exit of the rocker cover the excessinve air flow will pull oil mist into the filter - so that's worth a look.

Hi ray -

My breather pipe actually got replaced yesterday - the hole is just under 1/8" wide so I guess that's all ok.

I wonder if at some point there was too much oil in the dashpot? Could that have caused all that oil?

Or maybe someone over-filled the engine before I had her? I've not really looked atht eh carb in this much detail before as this is her first 6k service with me...

I know there was a bit of sideways movement on the rockers... I'm guessing that means I'll need a new engine soon eh?

Nikki.

Hmm - if the hole is 1/8" then you might have a bit of blowpast on the rings.. but even so it might just be one of those things that can be ignored.
If you put too much oil in the dashpot it just squirts out of the miniature hole in the plastic cap when the throttle slide rises so not related.
Overfilling might cause more oil into the filter but I've no experience of that (on other cars it can cause no end of problems)

Sideways movement in the rockers isn't a problem. Wear at the rockers can be seen if you take the rocker assembly off and cslide the rockers off their normal positions. The shaft will be worn underneath (where it takes the opposing valve load) if there is some wear it should be replaced - on a really bad one it can be worn by over a millimeter!! If they are worn this will create quite a loss of oil pressure on a hot engine (so to prolong the life of a tired engine, new big end shells and new rocker shaft make the world of a difference + a new cam chain helps reduce the tickover rattle)

... It gets better.

It appears Hebe's plugs were (well, two were) surviving with an electrode gap of... (wait for it...)

.035inches.

HA!

.035...

Plugs themselves are absoultely wrecked. As were my points. Replaced points, replaced plugs, and ordered a new set of leads and a new coil so that Hebe goes to plug in leads (yeah, she's still a screw in type)...

I really REALLY couldn't belive how bad the gaps were. The points were practically vanished too...

It has just served to show me just how much a little old "A" series engine will take. Most modern cars would probably have curled up and died with the list of things I'm finding wrong...

Plugs themselves are absoultely wrecked. As were my points.

the above be a reason for why my car doesn't pull???

I think you will also use less fuel as well as having a much better running Hebe

Kevin wrote:

Plugs themselves are absoultely wrecked. As were my points.

the above be a reason for why my car doesn't pull???

I think you will also use less fuel as well as having a much better running Hebe

At least until Ms idiot here misses the spring which fell in the oil when she took the filter out, didn't realise there was one, and put it back together.

Then realised, took the filter apart, and put it back together onnly to have the car spray oil cause the rubber wasn't fitted right.

So now I have a nice oil-puddle where I parked her when I got back from the test drive, and a girlfriend buying extra oil.

It's amazing how much oil can spurt out in 20 seconds...

grrr

Why don't you convert to the latest type throw away oil filter
cannister? The easiest of kits to fit, cheap and very efficient
with no parts to lose or seals to fall out. Keep that original
coil as a valuable spare (in the car) as long as your new push
on type has the Lucar fittings secured by a nut (not rivetted)
then it is perfectly possible to swop the two types over in an
emergency.

OH!
ok

I'll do that next service !:)
What a great idea!

I replaced the distributor cap and leads this time too, so they're now the plug on type!

Multiphonikks wrote:only to have the car spray oil cause the rubber wasn't fitted right.

Just kinda off subject, but here's some tips about the old oil filter assy's:
A great way to remove the old rubbers in the oil cannister top housing is to stick a pin into it and pull it out at an angle.
A great way to make sure your new rubber is fitted snugly and correctly into the top housing is to remove the bolt, filter, plate and spring from the cannister body and offer the rubber up into place with the end of the cannister body in a kinda "test fitting" sorta way. Remeber to lightly oil the rubber before you attempt to fit it (i.e: drop of fresh oil each on thumb and fore finger and slide round entire rubber ring)

Guess who's just done a total oil change very recently!

Make sure the oil breather on the valve chest plate isn't blocked. If it is that could be what's causing your filthy air filter though judging by the rest of it could be just build up over time...
Make sure the inside of the rocker cover is clean too, often get milky mush here from the condensation (sure you have as you must have removed to get to valves...)

It's amazing how much oil can spurt out in 20 seconds...

Its also surprising what a mess forgetting to put the dipstick back makes, not that I have ever done that

Nikki,

I've never changed the rubber oil filter seal (I've a few spare now!) it always seems a risk to disturb something that's ok!

I have (on a Metro) used two seals - and wondered why it leaked all over the drive...

And, I discovered that you don't need to drain the sump to put the spring back into the filter - yup, me too!

Colin

I change the seal every service, since it comes with one, and I'm obsessive about oil & filter changes.

I find that the tip of a brand new stanley blade inserted very carefully into the middle of the rubber seal and then drawn back oh-so-carefully pulls the old ring out with ease. The new one is then gently pressed into place, ensuring that it's seated all the way round, and then slip the new filter on.

Doesn't take me more than about a minute to do that, worst bit is the danger of oil drops on the head.

I have a bunch of about fifty unused oil filter rubber gaskets on
my garage wall because I have never,ever had to renew one!
I would still recommend the throwaway cannister conversion
for our cars because they are more efficient, easy to change,
and don't have any bits which you can lose.

Nikki,

I hope that all of the work has made Hebe run better (ducks quickly, having read your other posts).

I've just advanced my Moggie ignition timing by about 30 clicks - I'm using Optimax and valve protector. Still no sign of pinking, so there;s a bit more to go. It's also made quite a difference to the feel of the running. Guess someone had retared the ignition for the standard unleaded.

Colin

Now that is an impressive result. 30 clicks is close to 3 degrees.

Willie,

Gets better! another 10 clicks last night & still no pinking.

Note: I must check that I'm turning it the same way each time....
Also, I think it's about time that I checked the static timing....

Seriously though, I think a lot of cars were "modified" for unleaded - i.e. 95 octane - by retarding the ignition several degrees. By running on the "super" grade (Optimax for me), I can recover the "several degrees" and that does make a noticeable difference to the feel of the engine.
(and I didn't write "three degrees" - it's probably trademarked)

Colin

(and I didn't write "three degrees" - it's probably trademarked)

Prince Charles's favourite band I think........