Morris Minor Owners Club

Owdo chaps and chapesses,

After many years of coveting a Mogg and having both a green traveller and 2 dr as a younger chap I finally took the plunge and picked up another last week after much research and lurking on here and elsewhere.

She drives, um ok, and stops as she should. Obvious remedial action needed on the bodywork and engine/gearbox - maybe? - I'm no mechanic, but my mate is and has agreed to pitch in and teach me as much as my tea strainer brain can handle.

Anyway, enough waffle, she cost me £740 from Ebay and as she is MOT'd until July 20th I think that price not bad at all....but we'll see once we finally fix the exhaust blowing - cast clamp fitted at weekend has improved it a little - just how much of a bargain she actually is. On that subject, the original engine steady bar is still in situ but has badly worn bushes. Am I better replacing those or should I just fit a Grumpy's?

I joined the MMOC last Tuesday and then arranged insurance thru Footman James. Still waiting for my membership number, hope it arrives within the 14 days FJ allow. I've also contacted the Surrey/Hants border OG via the email I found on here.

Here she is, ta for reading, cheers, Mike[frame][/frame]

This newspaper report, featuring previous owner Andy Pearson of Warwick, was included in the paperwork. Maybe he or others in the report are on this board so I've scanned it to share[frame][/frame]

Hello "Mad", can I call you that or do you prefer Mike
Welcome to the club. You can get the steady here: http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pro ... 5a2b925628
It's from ESM one of the suppliers most of us use and there are many more out there. Once you get your first Minor Matters mag you can find them in there.
A fix for the leaky exhaust is to make a ring of copper wire (like you find inside flat twin electrical cable) the same size as the pipe flange, put it in place and put a jack under the exhaust pipe to press the flange tight to the manifold then clamp the joint up tight. Hope this helps.

Hi amgrave, either is cool with me! Appreciate your reply. So you reckon to just replace the standard steady bar rather than upgrade to the grumpy? Being more or less new to all of this I would say that my main problem is that she makes a hell of a lot of noise and doesn't really accelerate as I would expect, not that I really know what to expect.

We're gonna have another crack at the exhaust clamp this weekend. We tried the copper wire trick last time but reading your description I reckon we did it wrong.

Thanks again, cheers, Mike

No need for the Grumpy unless your bar has broken away from the bodyshell. Just new bushes. Don't waste money on stuff you don't need ! There will soon be plenty to spend money on.... There's a thread nearby with details of best ways to clamp up the exhaust and perhaps add an extra support - although in all my years I've never had the need - but it can do no harm.

MadFerret wrote:I joined the MMOC last Tuesday and then arranged insurance thru Footman James. Still waiting for my membership number, hope it arrives within the 14 days FJ allow.

Welcome The club office has a new database system and this has caused a delay to the issuing of membership cards (I renewed 2 months ago and am still waiting). If you need to know your number urgently for insurance purposes contact the club directly and they'll be able to provide the details -Tel: 01332 291675 Email: liz.saxon (at) mmoc.org.uk

HI bmecosse, thanks for your reply. Will just get a set of the bushes from ESM then. With p&p they only come to £4.95 so that's a much cheaper way to go than the grumpy's. Aye, I'm gonna need all my pennies for this one I reckon!

Gonna attempt the exhaust again at weekend. I've looked through a lot of threads but the nearest I recall to seeing an extra support is a photo of one in situ.

Hi Louisem, ta for that. I'll give em a shout on friday if I've heard nothing by then as I really will need to let FJ the number by next Monday

Yes I found the extra support again.

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... st#p324954

The creator appears to have manufactured it himself tho from what I can gather?

Indeed yes -it's not a commercial item. Easily made though.

Is it? Are there instructions somewhere for complete eejits like me? I'm sorry if I sound like I want it spoonfeeding but if it's summat I'd need to weld up etc then it's beyond my ken I'm afraid

Just tried that method with a home made copper gasket which fits perfectly, but it doesn't seem to fit to the manifold square. Perhaps the exhaust is a very 'approximate' fit. Can they be bent or is there any other tips out there? A real shame as it's spoiling the car

You should loosen the hangers and move the exhaust about till you get a really good fit against the manifold. Fit the clamp (jack under the pipe) and then tighten up or adjust the hangers.

Yes we did that too. We followed the proscribed procedure to the letter and it still blows. My mate who did the actual work whilst I pass him things and try to learn all I can, says that the exhaust seems to be in the wrong position where it meets the manifold. Almost like it needs to be bent upwards, which is not possible as there isn't that much play beneath the car. He's 'having a think'....

Is this a common problem? I presume that this could be a poor quality after market exhaust that isn't made with enough precision?

Not really -but parts are often poorly made these days - so nothing surprises any more.

Indeed, and as I have no receipt for the exhaust from the previous owner or clue as to when or where it was fitted I am completely in the dark. We'll get there. Meantime I decided to paint the badge and emblem on the bonnet. I found the colour suggestions in threads on here. Not sure the blue is right tho tbh? The chrome seems quite pitted, and they're not brilliant but I think an improvement on the 'distressed' look they had;

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