Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi , have fitted another engine believed 1098 {no numbers) and can"t time it. have followed three books and done it before with success.
When number 1 piston is at TDC valves 7/8 rocking the notch on the front pulley is at the top under the thermostat housing not near the timeing pins on the bottom .How do I correct this thanks.

Don't worry! In that position - #1 is set to spark, so just set the points open and connect whichever HT lead is being 'pointed at' by the rotor arm, to #1 plug. Follow round the dizzy cap 1342 anti-clockwise, and the engine WILL start. Once it has warmed up - twist the dizzy back and forth (gently!) to get the best idle. Tighten it in that place. Then road test to make sure it is not pinking. To further optimise the setting - advance it slightly till it DOES show a little pinking, and then retard slightly so it's 'not quite' pinking. As long as the idle is still 'good' - that's the best you can do! Otherwise you may need to compromise the performance setting to get the best/smoothest idle ..... unless of course you are willing/able to adjust the internal mechanical advance in the dizzy. But at all times -do not allow pinking to take place for any length of time.

As above,that is if you are sure the valve timing is as you state, Its possible that the engine has been worked on and they have replaced the chain and timed it on no 4, when the marks line up on the pully.Try it, set it with the pully and see if it now shows firing on no 4.

#4 would be exactly the same. It's just a Mini/Minor pulley or timing case mismatch.

Hi thanks for info I will do what you suggest and let you know the outcome .

Hi, have tried that still no go ,have checked carb and replaced needle and reset float in case of flooding. Have spark at points and at plugs, have tried re-timing from no 4 as suggested got one cough blue smoke came out of carb then nothing ,plugs all wet with fuel, cleaned them up and followed your sequence 1342 all way round anti-clockwise and its still not fireing at all .!!!! anyone got a match --- send it to dismayed in Wales its bound to reach me !!

Move the plug leads round the cap one place at a time - till it goes.......

Hi , believe I have the problem at last ,oil from carb dashpot is disappearing down inlet manifold filled it one day gone the next. Removed carb and inlet manifold contained large amount of said oil. Would explain why plugs always seemed wet and oily! The carb is HIF 44 1.5 Inch SU on believed Metro water cooled manifold. What would I have to do to cure this? thanks.

I would suggest that you are overfilling the dash pot. It only requires a small amount in the bottom of the dash pot piston and no higher than the top of the hollow piston damper tube. If you fill up the damper tube completely and do not run the engine the damper oil can and will drain into the manifold. A straight 20 grade oil is the correct oil to use but any engine oil will work satisfactorily. Even without any oil in the dash pot the car will run but may experience a flat spot on acceleration.
Try running the car without topping up the dash pot and see how it works out.

Isn't the HIF44 1 3/4"?Not relevant I know.

see
http://sucarb.co.uk/technical
Click on HIF carbs (left hand side of page) and it tells you all you need to know about HIF SU Carbs.

Indeed an HIF 44 = 44mm= 1.75".... And yes - there is much overfilling of dashpots going on! It's the main reason for Global Warming.... I find 3 in 1 gives a more rapid throttle response....... So saying - the Works Rally Minis used EP90 to stop the pistons bouncing about causing horrible misfiring on rough stages!