Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi all, my first post on here.
My cousin Brian bought and started to restore a Moggie. He did all the subframe welding and replacements so the subframe is sound. He unfortuntley died young and the car went to my Dad, who was an 'end of line tuner'; ie 'starter' in Oxford on the Minor (when that role existed) throughout the 50s mid sixties onwards.
He spent years, and lots of money on it,(Tyres,radiater,leads,plugs, gaskets, electrics paintwork etc and driving it whenever he could, and now it is mine.
It has sat in his garage for 3 to 4 years, I have got it to run for a max of 20 mins but it was very very fast for that amount of time, and as I adjusted the carb to slow it but it seemed to take an age to take effect, and then I noticed oil coming from the rear head gasket area before it conked out.
I really want to keep it on the road as it has been in the family for so long, but don't want to spend time on the paintwork without it running smoothly to start with?
Any advice would be welcome;
Do I take the carb off and start from scatch? What's the best replacement head gasket? I think I have the original manual but it doesn't really go into details apart from the assembly diagrams.

Hi.
Sounds like you’ve a nice project.
My suggestion is to start by carrying out a compression test to find out if the head gasket has really gone. Testers are cheap and you’ll then know if you’ve a carb issue that you can fix before digging deeper.
Might it be the rocker cover gasket that’s leaking?
Re. Fast running. Check the choke is free to close. When this is pulled it lowers the jet on the carb. The return can stick causing initial fast running before fouling the plugs with carbon and conking out. Pulling the plugs will give you a good clue if they are thick with black soot (wire brush this off).
Keep us posted! And share a pic of your car.
Alan

Agreed, definitely first thing is a compression test. If that is OK, then discard any old petrol (responsibly and safely) and use only fresh fuel. Basically a full service: adjust tappets, clean and gap the points and the plugs, set the timing, change the oil and filter. Drain, flush and refill cooling system using Bluecol antifreeze. Check that choke and throttle linkages are moving freely. Check that piston the the carb is moving freely and that there is oil in the dashpot. When all good, then adjust the carb as needed.

With the engine good, if the car has been standing, then you will probably need to service the brakes before using.

Thanks for all that advice I have been 'out of action' for a while so haven't had a chance to do any of that yet.
Slighty different question I need to ask but will create a seperate post for that