Morris Minor Owners Club

Recently managed to purchase a Morris Ital engine that is completly gold in colour, I am aware that BMC units were painted gold after being rebuit but thought this service was stopped well before the Ital came along. Engine number is BHM1266 ET12029.

Well - it's a recon engine number - I suspect they subcontracted it (perhaps they always did) - or perhaps someone took up the reins when the factory stopped doing them.

Could we be a genuine Gold Seal. B.L. weren't exactly noted for their organisation skills. I bought a NOS Allegro wing which had a BMC parts sticker and rosette on it - this dates to 1973 at the earliest - 5 years after BMC ceased to exist!!

Chap on the Marina/Ital site says "Gold seal engines and gearboxes were produced well into the 1980s"

But probably not by BL. It doesn't matter a monkey's now - it's the condition that counts!

Indeed - this engine could well have covered 40,000 miles or more, in which case it will already be wearing out.