An American Moggie ~ My '59 Morris Minor 1000 2-door saloon

[Fingolfin]

Weelll...the glass is done![frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
Mog also has its wiper rack back in.

[DaisyMayFozz]

Excellent work fin- I always look forward to seeing your Progress

I Like the work you have done to the glove box lid!

[Fingolfin]

Well thank you Chris! Have some more progress -- no more wiring work, because that's scary -- but some more anyway.

I cleaned the gearbox:[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]The free bolt you see in the rear mounting plinth refuses to thread back into the hole, and in fact the trouble is in the hole; I'll have to get a thread-restorer or, at worst, a tap. Anyone know the bolt size and thread?
I repainted the exhaust pipe (but, uh-oh, didn't use heat-resistant paint!):[frame][/frame]
Then I pulled a crafty one. I got some threaded stock from the farm & home shop, and fixed Mog's front right bumper bar! The stock is threaded all the way through the bar, and welded on at the back.[frame][/frame]
I painted the other glovebox cover:[frame][/frame]
And I drilled the correct hole in the left-front wing, bondoed it, and painted it:[frame][/frame]Still the bolt holes to drill, but I'll do that with the sidelight in.
Anybody know what size and thread the bolts that hold down the LHD accelerator pedal are? I can't match the captive nuts.

[benb]

Hey Fin the car is really looking good! The size of the thread is 3/16" BSF thats what they are in Australia anyway
paint for pot belly stoves works good on exhausts.

[Fingolfin]

Thanks Ben -- I ended up using some metric bolts that fit well enough to hold the thing in. They're slightly loose, but they do up tight.

Big wiring work today!
Prior to the wiring, dad and I brought Mog's engine -- the last major subassembly -- over to grandma's.[frame][/frame]
The distributor looks lovely inside.[frame][/frame]
When I first connected the battery, the only circuit that worked was the dome light -- the door plungers operated correctly, and the bulb put out plenty of steady light. However, the little switch on the unit itself doesn't do anything. Anyone know what's wrong?[frame][/frame]
And in the dark:[frame][/frame]
The horn circuit worked, but the spring that holds off the horn push is too weak, and the horns would have stayed on all the time had I connected them; the ignition switch was initially wired incorrectly, but I soon fixed that; the wiper circuit is correct, but I'm missing the little screws to fix the wires to the motor, and the wipers don't move much (I think I know why though); the fuel pump is correctly wired and gives out a loud report; the fuel gauge and sender unit are correctly wired.

Now something interesting. The license plate lamp works correctly and is quite bright![frame][/frame]However, when the lamp is on the car, the lamp shorts through the boot lid to earth, rather than earthing correctly through the black wire. I'm not sure what's wrong, except that the back of the lamp is bare metal exposed to the boot lid -- and perhaps I have not cleaned the earthing point for the black wire enough.

The oil pressure warning light works correctly:[frame][/frame]There you can see the fuel gauge working, reading empty.

I bought some bullet connectors to fit the horns, but the bullets were too small. I'll look around a specialty shop in town tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm going to try very very hard to get the lights (headlights, sidelights, taillights, with the associated indicators and stop lights) wired correctly, and hopefully the horns and the heater will go in. I had good luck today -- hopefully it will continue tomorrow!

[Neil MG]

Suspect the interior (courtesy or "dome") light is wired incorrectly or the switch is by-passed. It should earth either through the door pillar switches or directly (through the switch on the unit). So three wires; one feed and two earths; the unit switch alternates between the earths. One is direct so the light is permanently on, the other is through the pillar switches so the light is on with one or both doors open.

I can hear that engine. It's saying "paint me....paint me....paint me...."

Now what colour can we expect to compliment the maroon, white and red of the body?

[Fingolfin]

Thanks Neil, I'll check that out tonight -- I know the dome light has got three wires going to it, but it's plausible I haven't got the secondary wire earthed properly. The engine is going to be (roughly) BMC green -- I purchased a spray-can of custom color a while back...the engine will be painted Thursday or Friday, when we have a bit of warmer weather again.

[Fingolfin]

Well folks, I've (sort of) finished all the electrics except the exterior lights and the panel lights.

First, I discovered that Mog's engine doesn't have an oil pressure switch.[frame][/frame]One of the spare engines had one, however, and I'll soon rectify this problem, in addition to fitting the oil pressure gauge.

The horns are connected (although they refuse to sound for some reason...there's plentiful power in the system):[frame][/frame]
The wipers have been fixed and they now move with the motor:[frame][/frame]
A skillful and witty maneuver from dad fixed the taglight:[frame][/frame]
And I put in the heater (sort of...it doesn't want to fit properly):[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
The indicator circuit is close to complete (just missing the lights themselves, really); the headlight dipper and its warning light work; the fuel pump cut-out switch is fitted; the ammeter is wired in and functions; the dome light is properly earthed and the switch on the light works (thanks Neil). Tomorrow I'll do some undetermined stuff, probably leaving the indicators and headlights and panel lights for spring break. Thursday is the engine-painting day. Hopefully by Friday my clutch parts will have come from ESM and the pedals can go in, and then the gearbox and engine.........

[irmscher]

Looks great a lot of hard work has been done and worth it

[Fingolfin]

Lotsa progress, I suppose. But I go back to uni Sunday or Monday, so this is the last bit for now. So close!

I got the headlight bowl out of the old wing, and it's in pretty bad shape...[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]So we'll see what happens with that.

The wings are now permanently attached, or at least they're completely attached.[frame][/frame]
And then I began cleaning and painting the engine. It came out really nice -- the color is Nissan spring green, and it looks too light, and is just a shade too light, but it's quite close to BMC engine green in real life.[frame][/frame]
Sanded and masked:[frame][/frame]
In primer:[frame][/frame]
And complete:[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
And now Mog is layed up for the winter.[frame][/frame]
It'll definitely be drivable in the summer. It's just possible that tomorrow the drivetrain will go in -- I'm waiting on a small clutch parts shipment from ESM -- but I sincerely doubt it.

[DaisyMayFozz]

Excellent! The engine looks really good!

Probably best to scrap the headlight bowl and get a new plastic one-they don't rust!

[Fingolfin]

I was going to go for the plastic bowls, but Mog currently has the bowls with three adjuster screws, and ESM at least only sell the plastic bowls with two screws (for which, I believe, I'd have to buy new adjustment rings, if that term makes sense). I'd prefer to keep these if possible. And I don't mind steel -- I know how to prevent it rusting. But yeah, if I can find the correct plastic bowls, I'll get those. I may purchase a new wing at some point too.

[Fingolfin]

I took some more photos when I went home, so I thought I'd share. No more progress yet.
Here I am behind the wheel, honking...[frame][/frame]
And emerging from the car -- not much space for legs when exiting![frame][/frame]
Mog has its plaques back on the bulkhead:[frame][/frame]
The engine again:[frame][/frame]
Where I made a successful repair of the paintwork:[frame][/frame]The new paint reflects light differently than the old paint, so it looks darker, but it's not. I need to paint the back end of the door there...it got some overspray on it...

The front of the cabin:[frame][/frame]
And the car sitting in its layed-up position:[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[Fingolfin]

I had a thought and wanted to share it.
Mog has no exterior lock on the driver's side. This is my ponderable solution:
1) Remove the door innards.
2) Carefully incise the area on the driver's door skin where a lock hole would be, removing an area about two inches by two.
3) Take an old passenger door skin (I have several) and cut out the lock hole. The frustrating part here -- why I can't just drill a hole instead of all this rigamarole -- is that Minors have a raised circumferential edge around the hole, so it wouldn't look right without that. You know how I like to do things correctly!
4) Carefully let that piece into Mog's driver's door skin, grinding and Bondoing and painting to an acceptable finish.
5) Purchase (expensive!) a later two-door locking handle (Bully part no. DLK116) and get a correct barrel for it.
6) Reassemble the damn thing, and enjoy not having to get in through the passenger door!
Total cost -- perhaps $150 and a few days of work, so it's not something I'll do on a whim.
Thoughts anyone?

[MarkyB]

Are you suggesting the export models were lacking in some respect

If you plan to use the car I think it would be time and money well spent.

[brucek]

Mmm - this was always an achiles heel with the earlier export Minors and something that the period US road tests picked up at the time. I'm not sure there is an easy solution other than a lot of fettling as you have described OR you look to purchase from the UK a good second hand later passenger door which I think has the key hole on the US drivers/UK passenger side. It may cost a bit but it would save a lot of tough metalwork.

[Fingolfin]

Marky, Bruce, I appreciate your thoughts. I wouldn't trade Mog for the world -- but yes, it is rather lacking, considering our 1959 Pontiac Catalina has seating for seven, boosted brakes, power steering, a radio, four-speed Hydramatic transmission, 389 cubic inch V8 engine, and air conditioning! Why on Earth didn't BMC bother to fix the lock issue earlier? I know they were trying to kill the Minor every model year after 1955, but still...if road tests picked it up, then it should have been addressed.

I can do the work on the metal. The primary problem is cleanly cutting into the doors -- shears won't work because I can't start from the outside of the panel; the grinder could easily cut too much and is imprecise; an oxyacetylene torch leaves bubbles of melted metal around the incision. Oh well -- I'll see if I can do this in the summer, or next Christmas.

[jaekl]

The department that design the handle assembly made the casting big enough to accept the lock, but must have been over-ruled. It's especially odd when you consider the the four door locks are all different. Where's the cost savings in that?

The easy solution is always have a woman along with you. Obviously, you have to open her door first. When you do, just reach over and unlock or open the left side. If she really likes you, she'll reach over and open the door. Now when you think this way, the LHD cars are actually better set up than the RHD cars. Obviously a design flaw for the home market. Remember those rules applied in those days.

[Roni]

Not trying to make you jealous, but my 1965 2 door has locks on both doors. Only the passenger door can be locked from the inside.
As for cutting the hole neatly in the door, a plasma cutter would be ideal. Minimal heat and a thin smooth cut and quick.

[ian.mcdougall]

Could you not fabricate a punch and die that would fit in the drilled hole and tighten with a bolt to form the raised section. maybe use some short lengths of barrel that would slip inside each other to give same effect.