Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi all,

I got the "new" car this afternoon, just a couple of queries - she's a 1955 Series II 803cc, all genuine if not technically speaking "original".

1: Engine number starts with SRA3R - am I right in suspecting this to relate to a rebuilt/reconditioned unit?

2: Crunching on a couple of gears - have I got lazy, or are the synchros shot?

The car seems to be in remarkable nick generally speaking.

Thanks

Bernard

It's an 803 - there never was much syncro - and certainly wouldn't expect any now! Just learn to double-de-clutch, and hope it doesn't start jumping out of gear...... you can swop a smooth case 948 box in there - retaining the long gear lever, and no-one will know.

Thanks for that - but wouldn't the 803cc struggle all the more with the ratios in a 948 'box?


Bernard

Top gear will still be the same - the others are just more sensibly spaced out.......

I'm just happy once again to have a car where gynaecological levels of dexterity aren't needed to fix something.

Bernard

The syncro is a lot slower on the older cars, just take your time. I usually have a few crunches when the sidevalve hasnt been used for a while reminding me not to change so fast

Thanks, David - I didn't mention that the car's been off the road for a number of years. So just take her for a good run and go easy on her?

Bernard

I would change all the oils - and the engine oil filter, first. And check the hoses - and the fan belt for condition. Oh -and use an original old stock filter - the 'new' ones have too large a hole - and drop the oil pressure too low - wrecking the bearings.......

Thanks, Roy - looking back at old posts, I see there's not a whole lotta love for the 803cc lump on the forum! The car's now safely tucked away in her garage until next weekend, I'll change engine and gearbox oil then. It's a sign of the times that a newly-built garage seems barely big enough to take a Minor. Next door has a 5 Series BMW...!

On the subject of bearings - are white metal bearings used when an engine is rebuilt, or something more durable? I'm still wondering about that curious code on the engine tab, SRA3R.

As if I didn't have enough fun things to think about, it looks like the windscreen seals leak like a sieve.

Bernard

The 803 does have 'white metal' big end bearings (I'm not sure about the mains...) - very expensive and hard to find these days.....

Are we dependent upon NOS bearings for keeping all the remaining BMC "A" Series engines on the road? Surely there must be specialists out there producing or re-manufacturing bearings and other re-conditioning "consumables"?

I wonder how many vehicles there are on the road still with 803cc units, including Austins.

Oh, and what chance of finding NOS oil filters?

Bernard

(The questions just continue - sorry guys!)

The 803 crank has smaller big ends than all the later A series - hence the difficulty (= expense) of the bearing shells. In theory - white metal shells could be 're-metalled' - we have to do this with Steam Loco bearings! An alternative is to fit a 948 crank with larger big ends for which 'proper' (Al/Sn) bearing shells are readily (= lower cost) available. It's also a much stronger crank - but of course 948 conrods will also be required. NOS filters do appear from time to time (someone was struggling to sell two just a few weeks ago) - but fortunately small adapter plugs are available (see Declan) to use with later filters - to limit the oil leakage through the filter, and so keep the pressure up at a reasonable level.

Well spotted Roy!

Bernard,
Payment notification received-the restrictor and the instructions on how to fit it are already in the post so you should have at the beginning of next week. It was the last one I had on stock.
Let us know the results before and after fitting.
Regards
Declan

Once again,Declan, you are a life-saver!

Roy, many thanks for the heads-up.

Very,very much appreciated...

Bernard

The adaptor arrived in this morning's post just as my wife was watching the Morris Minor episode of Wheeler Dealers. 48 hours from Germany's not bad going at all.

The filter that's currently on the engine appears to be of the correct type. It surprised me to read somewhere suggesting that the filter doesn't need to be changed with every oil change - given that the car's only going to get light use, how frequently should it be changed?

So, I just get one of Bull Motif's 948/1098 spin-on filters to use with the adaptor come the time?

Thanks

Bernard

With the adapter - it should be ok. It's only a bypass filter - hence the problem with too big a hole allowing too much oil to 'bypass' the bearings........ So the real key is to change the oil often - 3000 miles max - less if doing few miles each year. The 20W50 oil from Wilko is perfectly fine for this engine - no need for anything fancy!