Morris Minor Owners Club

The hole in the axle casing is the breather, the hole is so small these often get clogged up with crud. This will have no doubt added to the oil leakin out!

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Thanks David, I thought it was something like an axle breather and as you say essential to keep open to stop pressurisation of the early diffs.
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The bodyshell and external panels have come back from Enviro-Strip (GB) Ltd., today and all of the body parts treated are now sporting a rather bright red oxide primer coating for protection.

The process is very 'aggressive' in it's nature in order to get rid of any rusty metal present but I am confident all has now been found on this shell and areas requiring welding attention identified.

Areas that do need attention are as follows -

Pinholes in the flat panel by the driver's A post. I will be patch repairing this as the rest of the area is sound.

The lead filler to the rear body section disappeared in the hot part of the process but I am looking forward to having a go at lead loading.

The boot floor on the passenger's side was the worst part of this shell and the process has made it very clear what needs to be done. I have previously purchased the panels to fix this area.

There are a few little issues with the wings in terms of filing in screw holes where indicators were fitted and mechanical damage (dents and splits) to take care of.
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It still looks a VERY good shell though doesn't it

Best way to store loose body panels and create more room in the garage is to temporarily bolt them back onto the shell.

I've started to use my 'Sharpie' on the car now that it is all one colour to highlight areas of further interest.
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Hi Folks, I am back and restarting the work on my restoration project.

My excuse for not posting is as follows -

I thought, (way back in mid January) it would be a good idea to sort out my other project's many oil leaks whilst the Morris was away being dipped and stripped. The Morris came back earlier than expected and unfortunately I was caught out with the other car in very big pieces all over the garage floor.

To cut a long story short, I got the Morris in to the garage but had to put it up against the side wall so I had enough room to work, and there it has stood until yesterday when I got it over to the 'production' side of the garage i.e. where my bench/tools and the natural light source is.

The Morris now has all it's large external panels attached and I am starting to work on the gaps. I have attached a few photos fyi.

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I'm liking your decision to transplant the Cobra engine into the Moggy....

Ha ha Pete, it’s a no go I’m afraid. The Minor isn’t long enough to accommodate. Don’t ask me how I know.

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I've had some time now to look at the Morris and have decided to start the shell restoration from the back, working forward.

The car had a minor accident many years ago which has caused the boot floor and bottom of the boot lid aperture to buckle after a rear impact. I don't think it was ever repaired properly and the ill fitting boot lid has let rain and water spray in, so the boot floor on the passenger side is now like Swiss cheese. I have purchased a new boot floor panel and the section under the boot aperture.

I have since discovered that water also appears to have entered the passenger side rear spring hanger boxing over time which only came to light after the 'dip and strip' process.

First job is to carefully dismantle the boot floor and cut away the impact damaged panels and work out how the new rear aperture panel will fit so the boot lid sits properly.

So the photos here show a tentative restart of the project.

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The body of this ride looks so nice, I like your choice of color. I am excited to see how it will turn out.

Clayton - your post made me smile.

After the chemical paint strip there is no ‘protection’ to the bare steel so I opted for a temporary coat of red oxide primer whilst I carry out metal repairs.

The other day, I again tripped over the rear axle casing that I had left on the floor after the internals were removed.

(The first photo shows the initial dismantling of the rear axle).

It and other 'chunky' rear suspension parts were supposed to be sent off to the blasters months ago but never went. So a slight deviation in the work on the shell whilst the blasted parts came came back and were painted.

I managed to get hold of all the new bearings and seal parts I needed with the exception of the diff carrier bearings which I purchased through the very helpful Morris Register. Apparently these thrust bearings are common across a number of earlier Morris models such as Morris Z vans.

The blasted parts were thoroughly cleaned (again) before priming and painting in gloss enamel. The axle will be fully assembled as soon as outstanding bearings arrive.

Brake drums and backplates have had a primer and first black coat. Its amazing that the back plate part number can still be read after 68 years.


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I'd certainly have to agree with you Mike. At that point, things were still built to a standard rather than a ridiculously low budget and companies weren't using poor quality Chinese steel. Parts actually had a quality feel to them. These days, a brake back plate is made from nothing sturdier than sheet metal and only last a few years before being completely rotten.

Of course, if we take off the rose tinted glasses for a second, this car has probably been used and kept in more favourable environment than some. If the car was further north, e.g in Scotland, where we get 6 months of heavily salted roads every year, it might not look quite so healthy !

The car was originally registered in the Isle of White and from what I can gather, spent over forty years there so you are right about the pleasant climate and no salt.

if we take off the rose tinted glasses for a second

Nothing wrong with rose tinted spectacles, didn't John Lennon often wear a pair?

I've often thought (and said out loud without apology) that the world was a better place back then, better society.
And if you could just take back our medical advances and knowledge to that time it would be a better place to live than the world / society we live in today.
Best wishes,
Mike.

The outstanding diff carrier bearings quickly arrived and I have been able to build up the rear axle to where it could be reinstalled, however the more parts I fit the heavier the axle becomes, so I have decided to leave the brake drums/shoes etc., off the assembly so I can still manhandle it around the garage if required.

The new bearings certainly confirm how bad (noisy and rough) the old ones were. Everything feels smooth once more.

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Another big part that has been kicking around the garage for a while is the petrol tank.

I was pleased to see at the initial viewing of the car that it was the correct 'smaller capacity' tank as these are getting pretty difficult to find.

Having removed the seized float and given the tank the once over I sent it off for blasting. When it came back the areas where I suspected the metal might be 'thin' were now 'highlighted' with a little petrol sloshed around the inside of the tank.

With the tank flushed clean I left it to dry before biting the bullet and drilling into the 'soft' areas to find the extent of the weak metal. Starting off with a small diameter drill bits I changed up to bigger diameters until I met with a decent resistance confirming I was into sound metal. (photograph 2) shows I had eight holes!

Realising that I was out of my depth I contacted a motorcycle friend who had previously told me that he might be able help and I took the holy tank over for him to look at. He confirmed that he should be able to fix it using large headed nails pulled through the holes and soldered to the inner surface of the tank. It worked and the tank has been tested to 6lbs pressure without any leaks, after which the nail shafts were cut down and ground smooth.

All I had to do was fill, sand and paint (repeat) the external surfaces as in the last two photos.

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