Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello. Just wondering if someone in the know can advise about my rocker arms please. I have what I was told is a Marina 1275cc engine. I went to adjust the valve clearances today for the first time since I've owned it. I understand the gap to be 12 thou. When looking online at a YouTube video on how to do it, as well as my Haynes Marina manual I noticed that the rocker arms look totally different in my engine. Can anyone tell me why they're different? Does that make the valve clearance gap need to be adjusted differently? I adjusted them all to 12 thou, they were all on the tight side and I couldn't fit the feeler gauge in initially till I adjusted it.
Thanks

During the long production life of the A-series engine various types of rocker arms were made. The most commonly encountered in a standard 1098cc Morris Minor engine is the pressed steel type. Then there are forged steel rockers and sintered steel rockers as well as some exotic aftermarket alloy roller tipped rockers used in performance engines. Yours look like the sintered steel type which were used in late engines from 1974. The gap is still 12 thou cold but some people advocate using a larger gap of up to 15 thou on the exhaust valves as this helps to keep the valves cooler in these days of unleaded fuel. As it is a fiddle to work out which rockers are controlling exhaust or inlet valves the clearance can be set at 15 thou for all valves. The downside is this tends to make the engine a bit noisier at the top end. An old saying is a noisy tappet is a safe tappet (meaning it's not likely for the valve to get stuck open). I found 15 thou too noisy on my 1098 so went back to 12 thou.

Looking at what I can see of your engine it has a spin on oil filter mounted facing upwards. I think that was a 1275 that was in an Ital but the experts will tell you! The convenience of a spin on filter with the barmy idea of having it mounted upside down so the oil runs down the block when it's changed.......

Stephen


This is the pressed steel type you probably saw in the videos:

Thanks Stephen that's very useful to know. Yes I don't understand the position of the oil filter at all. It goes everywhere when it's changed!

The oil goes everywhere because the oil filter is mounted upside down. That is the downside of having a Marina/Ital engine. There are oil filters that do not drain when removed - if I can find a part number I will post on here.
The Marina/Ital oil filter can be mounted remotely so as to get over the problem of oil drain when the oil filter is removed. The remote oil filter needs a remote oil filter head and adapter take off.
I fitted a remote oil filter to my Marina/Ital engine because of the problem of oil discharge when the oil filter is unscrewed. The above has an additional intercooler fitted.

Thanks Phil, looks like a good system you have set up there. If you could find a non-draining oil filter that would be of interest. Thanks.

jammmorris wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2024 7:49 am Thanks Phil, looks like a good system you have set up there. If you could find a non-draining oil filter that would be of interest. Thanks.

A good rag would seem to solve this oil spillage at nil cost It worked for me

Isn't there a built in one way valve so the only oil to escape when fitting would be from the centre ?

John ;-)

Jammmorris wrote:
I adjusted them all to 12 thou, they were all on the tight side and I couldn't fit the feeler gauge in initially till I adjusted it.

If there is wear on the rocker arm contact surface, adjusting with feeler gauges will likely be inaccurate - most feelers will sit across the worn part and result in a larger gap than expected.

A tip - if you don’t know anything about engines - the valves are arranged as adjacent pairs of inlet and exhaust, except for numbers 1 and 8 on these engines, which are exhausts on these engines. 1 exhaust, 2 & 3 inlet, 4 & 5 ex, 6 & 7 in, 8 ex. Looking at the manifolding would possibly help, for those that have trouble.

Thanks for the advice

As regards the non draining oil filter for the Marina engine the Unipart GFE 150 appears to have a one way non draining rubber flap on its outer ring of holes which is the oil entry side for the oil to flow into and through the oil filter element.
The rubber flap helps to keep oil in the oil filter so that the oil filter does not drain down and is not empty when the engine starts so allowing for a quicker raising of oil pressure which is good for especially the crankshaft bearings.
Here is one for sale on 'e' bay:-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176236483889 ... gJdMPD_BwE

Thanks for finding one Phil. I shall get one! Cheers