Morris Minor Owners Club

Had a "won't start" problem the other day, it had been a while so I cranked him over for a bit, but no joy.
Decided to check for damp, considering the weather, and when I took the Dissy Cap off to look the centre carbon fell out. The spring behind it had rusted away.
At the moment, I've fitted the spare cap and all is running fine.
But while looking for a replacement spare cap, I noticed one Classic Retailer was selling New Carbon & Spring for £10 or more.....
.
Ummm...., so I've just repaired the old one by affixing a spring cut down from one off an old ball point pen.

I'll fit it in a day or so and see if it works...it looks a thicker material than the spring on the £10 one.
Note, the lines down the hole for the carbon is where I was extracting bits of rusty broken spring.
.

Can't beat the satisfaction of a home fix
Here's the site for you Berni.

There is a similar arrangement of spring and pin in the horn support bracket of certain old horn gramophones that enable the tone arm to swivel on the pin (which is pointed at the end which supports the tone arm). I had not thought about the similarity before until I saw Bernie's pictures!

Nice fix. Loads of wear left on that carbon contact. Sometimes not worth replacing the carbon contact depending on the condition of the spark plug lead contacts.

Stephen

svenedin wrote: ↑Thu Jan 22, 2026 1:03 pm Nice fix. Loads of wear left on that carbon contact. Sometimes not worth replacing the carbon contact depending on the condition of the spark plug lead contacts.

Stephen

I never knew it was replaceable; I've not had one fall out before, but the spring had just rusted away.
Probably an indication of limited running time compared to age.
The arcing erosion of the 4 lead connections is quite light; in the past, I only ever recollect changing Caps for damp ingress, cracks or eroded contacts.
Have now refitted this one and it runs fine.

Reply from Vendor...

Hi John,
That is cool. I didn't post that but someone cleverly suggests using one of our springs for an untraditional use. Looks like it could be our BPS3 spring. But to be safe, maybe you should consider getting our "cylindrical sample pack" which is near the bottom of the page. this would offer various sizes. if the diameter is correct but the length is too long, you can snip it down.

https://www.ballpoint-pen-springs.com

We DO ship to the UK but the cost of shipping internationally is very high and there is nothing I can do about that unfortunately. It would be calculated in the shopping cart on the website.

If you are able to use one of our springs for a non-pen purpose, I'd love to hear the details and I'd be happy to post about it here:
https://www.ballpoint-pen-springs.com/u ... en-springs

Best wishes,
Howard

Sleeper wrote: ↑Fri Jan 23, 2026 8:17 am Reply from Vendor...

Hi John,
That is cool. I didn't post that but someone cleverly suggests using one of our springs for an untraditional use. Looks like it could be our BPS3 spring. But to be safe, maybe you should consider getting our "cylindrical sample pack" which is near the bottom of the page. this would offer various sizes. if the diameter is correct but the length is too long, you can snip it down.

https://www.ballpoint-pen-springs.com

We DO ship to the UK but the cost of shipping internationally is very high and there is nothing I can do about that unfortunately. It would be calculated in the shopping cart on the website.

If you are able to use one of our springs for a non-pen purpose, I'd love to hear the details and I'd be happy to post about it here:
https://www.ballpoint-pen-springs.com/u ... en-springs

Best wishes,
Howard

There are uk companies or temu does the kit free shipping
390pcs stainless steel compression spring assortment kit - Temu United Kingdom https://share.google/H6hAXMFd0eiD5yKZn
Spare pen kit springs for a range of different styles https://share.google/9EOSiJcIC2uJYEjqt

I can't believe I've lived so long and never previously encountered retailers of 'spare pen springs'

geoberni wrote: ↑Fri Jan 23, 2026 10:47 am I can't believe I've lived so long and never previously encountered retailers of 'spare pen springs'

Pens used to be given out by all manner of reps. There were always pens that didn't work so I would raid those for springs for pens that did work!

Stephen

svenedin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 23, 2026 10:50 am

geoberni wrote: ↑Fri Jan 23, 2026 10:47 am I can't believe I've lived so long and never previously encountered retailers of 'spare pen springs'

Pens used to be given out by all manner of reps. There were always pens that didn't work so I would raid those for springs for pens that did work!

Stephen

Yes, in my post RAF career in H&S, I would collect dozens as freebies at every Expo I attended, sometimes they would even be in a presentation box along with a torch key ring or similar promo item.
I used to find that some promo items would be fad for a year or two; for a few years, after the plastic carrier bag charging started, there were a lot of good quality shopping bays being given out that were a useful size.
But after a few years they began reducing the size to nearer that of the company brochure/catalogue they were giving out.
I've only got around 30-40 assorted ballpoint pens left now.
Promo Highlighters dry out after 4-5 years...

geoberni wrote: ↑Fri Jan 23, 2026 11:41 am

svenedin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 23, 2026 10:50 am

geoberni wrote: ↑Fri Jan 23, 2026 10:47 am I can't believe I've lived so long and never previously encountered retailers of 'spare pen springs'

Pens used to be given out by all manner of reps. There were always pens that didn't work so I would raid those for springs for pens that did work!

Stephen

Yes, in my post RAF career in H&S, I would collect dozens as freebies at every Expo I attended, sometimes they would even be in a presentation box along with a torch key ring or similar promo item.
I used to find that some promo items would be fad for a year or two; for a few years, after the plastic carrier bag charging started, there were a lot of good quality shopping bays being given out that were a useful size.
But after a few years they began reducing the size to nearer that of the company brochure/catalogue they were giving out.
I've only got around 30-40 assorted ballpoint pens left now.
Promo Highlighters dry out after 4-5 years...

Me too. I always had a huge stash of pens, torches, key rings, cups etc. I still have loads of cups but they are not really very nice cups so they get used for purposes other than drinking tea. Nowadays I don't get given freebies. I have to buy my own Post-it notes! Shock horror

Stephen