Morris Minor Owners Club

Just bought a 69 convertible. Fuel pump wasn’t working but I have cleaned the points & breathed some life back into it. Clicks away nicely. Carb is getting fuel & idles nicely too but once I got to drive the engine dies.

Took the carb off & cleaned it out with cleaner & the air line to make sure there was no debris in it.

With the Advance vacuum pipe should I be able to blow through that? Could anything be clogging it? The car had sat in a garage for 3-4 years prior to me buying it but it was running when it was parked.

Only other thing I can think of is if the breaks are sticking the engine is getting it tight to move but it can be pushed by two people. So the brakes can’t be binding enough for the engine to struggle.

Anything I’m missing? Help very much appreciated.

how old is the fuel? Also check the points and condenser.

Fuel is fresh. Though it could be mixed with some crap that was left in the tank. I’ll check those & report back. Thanks

If the vacuum advance pipe is disconnected both ends yes you should be able to blow through it but if you disconnect from the carburettor and try to blow through it still attached to the distributor you can’t because there’s a diaphragm in the distributor

Sticking brakes are surely enough to stall it unless you give it some revs.

You’ll definitely need to sort the brakes out anyway. It’s usually the rear cylinders that seize and if the handbrake was on they’ll be seized with shoes against the drums. Brake fluid absorbs moisture and if the car has been sitting for years the brake fluid should be replaced along with whatever else needs doing. If you try to drive the car with the brakes sticking the drums will quickly become very hot with potentially disastrous results.

You cleaned the points in the fuel pump but what about in the distributor?

Did you clean out the float bowl of the carburettor? Also clean the filter in the base of the fuel pump. If the car has been sitting for some years it may be worthwhile taking the drain plug out of the fuel tank and draining the crud completely. It is better to do that than have it sucked through the fuel lines. I had a rusty tank and rust completely and utterly blocked the hard fuel line to the pump.

Will the engine rev happily in neutral?

I also have a 1969 convertible. In case you didn't know, 1969 was the last year of production of the soft top. The last one was made in August 1969. Mine was made in March.

Stephen