Morris Minor Owners Club

Just had a call from a mate thats had a mog in his garage for repair.It needs a sump as the one on the car has been patched previously and is beyond repair.The owner brought another sump with him but theres a difference in one of the half moon shaped depressions that stop it fitting?Is the A+ sump different to standard?If so has anyone any idea where we can buy a replacement?
Thx
Mick

The 1275 (A and A+) engine sump is different - larger half moon shape - than the 803/848/948/1098 sumps. Can it REALLY not be repaired?? What's happened to it??

To answer your questions
The A+ sump is different to the Minor 948/1098 in regard to where the sump fits over the main bearing caps (the half moon shape).
The best places to get a sump is from a breakers yard. 'e' bay or even off the MM website by placing an ad in the wanted section

Aye - but 1275 sumps are much sought after.....repair the one you have if you can! It's hard to imagine what could have happened to it - to put it beyond repair.....

I had this problem a while ago. 1275 sumps are VERY hard to find so my advice would be to repair if at all possible. Whilst I was looking, the possibility of using a Maestro sump was considered. The profile of the gasket faces looks the same as the Minor, it will have the larger recess for the bigger main bearings but I'm not sure what, if any issues would arise from the 'shallow' part of the sump (see pictures below). Has anyone tried this?[frame][/frame][frame][/frame

Offer it up and turn the engine over.

Having compared an actual 1275cc Marina/MG Midget sump with the photograph of the Maestro sump it is not the turning over of the engine that will be the problem the problem lies with the oil pick up which must be different on the Maestro which is most probably positioned further towards the centre of the Maestro sump between the baffles.
The 1275cc Marina/MG Midget oil pick up/gauze primary filter lies just where the left hand baffle is positioned and the sloping bottom of the rear of the sump would not allow the sump to sit down on the crank case flange as the primary filter would be in the way.
I suspect that if you use the Maestro sump and oil pick up it will go together.

What happens if you just pivot the tube around without bolting the brackets up?
Not hard to relocate a bracket compared to moving the crankshaft.

Still will not go as I have tried the Marina/MG Midget pick up pipe in different positions (you are limited by the radius centred on where the pick up pipe goes into the block) and the baffle and slope of the Maestro sump would still get in the way.
I knew I should have picked up that Haynes Maestro 1.3/1.6 wksp manual from the charity shop this afternoon. If it is still there tomorrow I will get it!
You could modify/re-route and extend the Marina/MG Midget/Maestro pick up pipe to get it into the bottom centre of the sump if you were so inclined which is not to difficult as I did something similar when I increased the capacity of a sump on a comp engine.

You could also customise the baffle with out much trouble.

The easiest way of course would be to remove the primary filter and steady brackets and move the pipe as far as you can towards the centre of the sump without catching the crank and it should fit but with the primary filter still in place it will still hit the slope even if you totally remove the rear Maestro sump baffle (left hand in the above picture). Whether you would want to run without the primary filter and steady brackets is a major consideration because the pickup pipe could vibrate, crack, fall off and then no oil would be picked up and the engine could end up damaged. The primary filter and brackets are there for good reason.
All of the above can be overcome but it does require some work and ingenuity.

Bought the Haynes Maestro 1300cc/1600cc wksp manual from the charity shop this morning.
The oil pick up pipe on the 1300cc engine is different to the Marina/MG Midget oil pick up pipe in that it is longer and is slewed to the centre of the sump between the baffles; it has only one support bracket which fits onto the centre main cap and uses the existing mounting point. The pick up pipe screw fitting into the block is the same.
So if you want to fit the Maestro sump and have a straight forward job you will need the Maestro oil pick up as well and as they say the jobs done.

I like the idea of the primary filter, it's fine enough to stop small animals I suppose.
Two brackets does seem like overkill, I imagine the amount of vibration will be much reduced by having one end in an oil bath.

The mesh filter is there to try to protect the oil pump from the worst of the debris.........