Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello everyone,

Some may recall, but toward the end of last year I picked up a second hand engine as a slow burn project. My current engine has been smoking and the compression figures suggested some remedial work was possibly coming down the track. I do very few miles and it's just a hobby car so no particular urgency. I also quite liked the idea of being able to see the engine internals and learn something new!

The engine came from a retired engineer who was emigrating, and so was selling the contents of his garage. I was told that the engine had been reconditioned with:

new piston rings, new main bearing shells and the connecting rod big end bearing shells

Another forum members had bought bits from the same person and suggested their parts indicated a decent level of skill, which is obviously no guarantee but is encouraging none-the-less.

Anyway, I guess what I'm asking is what would you be checking if you were in the same situation? Currently the head is off, the rocker and cover is off and the push rods are out (I've no idea which push rod is which, mind).

I also bought parts off the emigrating person.
I bought a rear axle casing (very good) and a bare 1098cc block to rebuild using 948cc crankshaft (acceptable for my needs).
All I would suggest is that you strip the engine down completely and examine all of the parts, journals, pistons etc and make a decision against what you find. The specifications and tolerances can be found in the BMC wksp manual.

philthehill wrote: ↑Mon Jan 27, 2025 5:49 pm I also bought parts off the emigrating person.
I bought a rear axle casing (very good) and a bare 1098cc block to rebuild using 948cc crankshaft (acceptable for my needs).
All I would suggest is that you strip the engine down completely and examine all of the parts, journals, pistons etc and make a decision against what you find. The specifications and tolerances can be found in the BMC wksp manual.

Thank you, yes, thankfully I seem to have every book going (including the BMC one) so I'll do some reading. Luckily there's a lot of YT content floating about too.

What would you recommend in terms of protecting any surfaces exposed to the air? It looks like it's been generally well preserved but there are a few places where I can see very light surface rust (studs, manifold mating surface etc). I was intending to give them a light scrub with dish sponge and use the grease I have in the gun for the trunnions.

Just do as you have described above.

Hello everyone,

As the weather has improved (and the garage isn’t Baltic) I’ve started to take some bits of pieces off my spare engine. Unfortunately, removing the thermostat housing proved as difficult as everyone says, so it came apart in a thousand pieces showering everything in metallic particles… so a good clean is in order regardless

I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on my head’s surface? I’m not sure if I should be concerned about the discolouration on the face. It seems smooth to the touch, but not shiney like a freshly machined one I’ve seen pictures of.

The valve seats seems nicely cut though! Do they look hardened?

Head face looks very good to me. I had one that looked like it had been used as a boat anchor!

Is it possible to tell from a photo whether valve seats have been hardenened? I'd guess that they have been due to the ring and slight lip I can see in the photos. Doesn't look bad at all.

A tip I saw for testing the head and/or just making it shiny is to push it back and forth over fine sandpaper on a piece of glass supported by a sturdy bench. There was also a towel under the glass iirc. The guy had put marks on it to know when it was completely flat but if you use a steel rule and feeler gauge across various dimensions over the head surface, you may not need to bother with it.

rocco wrote: ↑Wed Apr 02, 2025 6:48 am Is it possible to tell from a photo whether valve seats have been hardenened? I'd guess that they have been due to the ring and slight lip I can see in the photos. Doesn't look bad at all.

A tip I saw for testing the head and/or just making it shiny is to push it back and forth over fine sandpaper on a piece of glass supported by a sturdy bench. There was also a towel under the glass iirc. The guy had put marks on it to know when it was completely flat but if you use a steel rule and feeler gauge across various dimensions over the head surface, you may not need to bother with it.

I could probably do with investing in a straight edge! I've seen people use various stones on the surface but I worry I'd do more harm than good.