Morris Minor Owners Club

hiya,

my air filter base plate is missing its air intake pipe

is this a problem? and if so is there anywhere i can buy a base plate separately or do i have to buy a whole new air filter housing?

cheers for any info,

juliet

If it's the standard 1098 one then a rally autojumble would be the best bet. Then you can clean it up and spray it. The base plate is separate from the top 'bowl' section.

cheers cam - sounds an excellent plan

can i take it from your reply that you do think i should get a new one? that there is a problem with not having an intake pipe?

You'll be getting some pretty hot air into the carb without the pipe, although every one I've seen isn't exactly brilliant for picking up the cooler air anyway. It might cause a bit of a power drop and a greater tendency for pinking, but on the other hand it'll speed up warm up times in cold weather I suppose.

All in all it's better to have it than not, but I can't really see it being a problem to not have it - Plenty of people put shiny pancake filters on, and they have no cool air piping at all!

ah - thanks for that, packedup

so no probs if i leave it as is and run it this winter till next summer's autojumbles then?

I can't say there won't be a problem, but it's not definate there will be either

Although I'm sure you'll find someone with one going spare - I might be able to dig one out for the cost of postage, if you give me to Wednesday and remind me nearer the time (it is the small HS2 one with the slightly conical cover and pipe that comes out pointing towards the engine, isn't it?). But I'd probably run the car without and see how it went before messing around

cor that would be extremely kind of you Packedup! yes it's the bog standard filter, conical, black plastic casing

the van is in bits atm as it's undergoing a restoration - so now would be a good time to sort it out! many thanks - i will PM you

juliet

Sounds like it's the right one though, just keep your fingers crossed there's a good one in the piles somewhere!

One purpose of that tube us as a silencer for the aie intake. Without it, you'll hear more of a throaty roar. In theory, during the winter the whole assembly is rotated so that the pipe is over the exhaust in order to draw warm air. In the summer it's moved away to draw "cool" air. However, I always keep mine on the winter position - under the bonnet in summer is hot anywhere! You won't cause any damage by not having the tube, just a bit louder.

wibble_puppy wrote:yes it's the bog standard filter, conical, black plastic casing
juliet

A genuine question - wasn't 'bog standard' metal? I know that replacements come as plastic, BTW.

bigginger wrote: A genuine question - wasn't 'bog standard' metal? I know that replacements come as plastic, BTW.

aha! good call bigginger, yes, I have misremembered it (told you my memory was appalling) - have just checked mine and yes although the conical top part is plastic the base plate is indeed metal. Thanks!

Not trying to call you - just a question! Another one - why do they rust so much?

bigginger wrote:Not trying to call you - just a question!

absolutely - no worries! thought you were very tactful

I've come across both metal and plastic conical bits - I'm sure the plastic ones have had stickers on that make them look genuine? I always assumed metal was early spec, plastic was later, given it's cheaper to produce and by that point BMC/ BL were doing more and more cost cutting. So are the plastics aftermarket/ replacements, or genuine late fitment? I'm not interested in the whole concourse thing, just curious as I like to fill my head with automotive trivia

All have a metal baseplate though, never seen a plastic one of them

Even my late commercails have had metal tops on, some of them so rusty they needed replacement (temporarily) with plastic ones until I found metal ones. I reckon it's just the pattern parts makers cutting costs, though you're right about the stickers.
As for being tactful - Who? Me?

my plastic conical bit has a label on it that says "made in england; patents pending; COOPERS; for service of element refer to vehicle manufacturers [sic] handbook" if that's any help?

*makes a note to look out for a metal one in an idle sort of way*

well my old gpo van had a [plastic one, and the guy said it was on there when he bought it in 1978 from the post office, the van was 1971

hi,
If packedup can't find his I've got one you can have for postage. Might be able to grit blast it clean too.
Jim

ooh, thank you so much! Will PM you

juliet xxxx

All the ones I've found so far have the pipes splitting away from the plate Even the one we've been using!

I've got one last place to look, and failing that there seems to be a very good 948 large boxy looking one (I'm guessing it's 948, that's what it's bolted to at the moment) kicking around. Can you believe with half a dozen engines sitting around and boxes full of bits, there doesn't seem to be a single good air filter plate? I couldn't, till the third search around this afternoon