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

[Fingolfin]

I shall post in more detail soon, maybe tonight, but here's what Mog looks like now.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]The other overrider is on the rear bumper, so that photo's a little out-of-date.
I am currently working on the indicators, and having some luck with them, so I'm hopeful they'll be finished this evening or tomorrow. Other things that remain include heatshrinking the ends and securing all the wiring, waxing the box sections, mounting the seats, replacing the front left outer hub bearing, and servicing the brakes -- but I believe I will be able to fire Mog's engine, and test drive it, prior to 1 August.

[jvickholm]

Your Moggie looks amazing! Great job!

I'm curious, do you have information about how common these beauties are in the States today? Not everyday sight?

[Fingolfin]

Thank you. About 15000 Minors were shipped to the United States prior to 1962 (and afterward, there were none officially -- many were imported by individuals). Based on how many I've seen on here and in person, I would estimate there are no more than 2000 - 3000 of those remaining on the road; a further 2000 may be in fair condition or undergoing restoration. Perhaps 2000 of the later Minors have been imported by individuals.

[Fingolfin]

Okay, now the promised update. The 27th, my rubber strips arrived, so I was able to permanently mount the grille. The next step was to paint the new wing, but I had a hideous catastrophe when the paint didn't adhere properly and it all sloughed off; so I was demoralized for a week and then started again.

During that week I did some other things -- lots of other things.
The heater parts were painted:[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
The right-rear wheel cylinder turned out to be permanently seized:[frame][/frame]
I inspected the front hubs, and they were in good shape except the left outer bearing was so worn it fell apart:[frame][/frame]
The wing was re-stripped (such a sad job):[frame][/frame]
I mounted the one headlight that could be mounted:[frame][/frame]
Then I began on a big but exciting and necessary job, the rear seatbelts. I decided to use the slot-through-parcel-shelf method, so I had to measure the slots.[frame][/frame]
The slots I cut with a drilled hole at either end, then with the grinder for the chunk in between.[frame][/frame]
The belts were installed with remarkable ease.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
I decided then to redo the t-bar in the boot, as I've decided to use a normal-size spare tire (and eventually to have all the tires be normal size).[frame][/frame]
By then my wimpy ego was assuaged, and I began once more on the wing. It went well this time, though I got more orange peel than I did with the bonnet.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
At this time I had another, though much smaller, disaster; the horns no longer function properly -- one doesn't function at all and the other gives out a tiny little wimper. So I'm going to the junkyard to peruse the MGs for another pair.
The body around the bootlid and rear wings needed some paint, so I did that.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
When I put the rear wings back on, I changed the wing beading for some nice white stuff -- I think it sets the wings off quite nicely:[frame][/frame]

And that brings us to the photos in my previous pictured post. Yesterday and today I worked on the turn signals, a big and important job if ever there was one, and mostly I had great success. The headlights and running lights also work, and the headlights dip nicely. I do have some trouble with the right taillight -- the bulb doesn't glow brightly (but there's no increased current consumption), and when I have the running lights and turn signals on, instead of one filament glowing and one flashing per normal, the single glowing filament blinks on and off. The contacts in the taillight are rather loose, so that may be the problem, but I'm unsure.

The indicator stalk glows nicely:[frame][/frame][
The sidelights do too:[frame][/frame]
As does the left taillight:[frame][/frame]
The headlights glow brightly, as do both sidelights:[frame][/frame]
The taillights glow pretty well, though you can tell how much dimmer the right one is:[frame][/frame]
And finally, the speedo backlights do their duty:[frame][/frame]

[davidmiles]

nice pictures of your lights working, I do like the gold colour of your heater parts, bad news about the paint not adhering, terrible word that..Sloughed, very descriptive of a low moment in your restoration, but you've bounced back as always, Go Fin Go.

[Fingolfin]

Haha, David, the heater bits are actually silver! The camera had a spasm. Mog is now much much closer to its first test-firing. Here're some photos.

I filled the cooling system and it turned out the water pump had a bad leak out its drain hole (the square one that drips when the internal seals go bad), so I had to replace it. Happily, I had a spare that seems to be non-leaky.[frame][/frame]
While the radiator was out, I tapped over the other side of that lock washer on the starter dog, with David's recent experience well in mind.[frame][/frame]
The gearbox cover went on afterward.[frame][/frame]
Then there was the heater. It was tricky, but in the end it succumbed to my powers.[frame][/frame]
The old heater ducts were cracked and rotted, so I had to make new ones. Here's the one for the left side vent, before I cut a notch in it to allow some room for the speedo cable.[frame][/frame]
I covered the external wiring with split hose, in an effort to keep it clean and dry. Here's the front-left wheel well.[frame][/frame]
I took a stab then at waxing the box sections. I'd purchased some Dinitrol 3124 a while back, and -- not having a schutz gun, and getting funny looks at the auto-parts store when I'd ask for one -- I thinned the Dinitrol with turpentine and mineral spirits, getting it to about half-and-half, and loaded it into the pump-up garden sprayer.[frame][/frame]
The wax is hard to see in this shot, but it's the best I could get. It was enormously thin, overly much, but I believe it did leave a coating on the surfaces in the boxes. I sprayed every box I could get to.[frame][/frame]
Now we come to this evening. I was ready to place the carpets, which came with Mog but are not original to the car. I had already cleaned them thoroughly. Using carpet tape, they went in, but it was a very slow and tedious process (mostly due to the tape) and it took about five hours. But it came out pretty.[frame][/frame]
At that point Mog was ready for its front seats.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
The passenger seat is cozier than the driver's, but I still look dang good sitting in it.[frame][/frame]

Believe it or not, folks, I am now at the point where I can bleed the brakes and fill the mechanicals. First test-drive may take place -- wait for it -- as soon as Wednesday or Thursday.

[Fingolfin]

Oh, I forgot, I did the gauge backlights too. I've got two different kinds, one the original Smithsy screw-in-bulb type and the other a BA9s socket from China, two of each. Can you tell which gauges have which kind? Hint: two of the gauges are almost invisible. [frame][/frame]
But the tachometer really looks a treat.[frame][/frame]
So do the headlights, running lights, and taillights.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[Fingolfin]

I drove Mog today. It ran quite well. I drove it perhaps 1/4 km, around the circle in my driveway, and most everything worked perfectly. The tachometer did not function, but the other gauges worked well; the oil pressure was 60psi when first started from cold, and when it was warmed up it reduced to about 50psi; the coolant temperature was around 50 - 60 degC. Mog only moved in first and reverse gears, but the gearbox worked well.

There were two primary problems: first, there's a tiny petrol leak from somewhere on the underside of the carburetor; and second, the dynamo may be bad -- the ignition warning light never came on, the ammeter registered no charging, and the multimeter couldn't detect any current through the dynamo wires. So those need addressed. Also, the mixture was a bit rich (smoke from exhaust) and the idle was too slow, but those are easy to fix.

[George Smathers]

Way to go Fin!

George

[jvickholm]

There were two primary problems: first, there's a tiny petrol leak from somewhere on the underside of the carburetor.

Hmm, have you checked these:
Are the carburator mounting bolts tight enough, is the carburator straight relative to the engine?
Have you checked the gaskets, are those intact, straight and not wrinkled?
And of course, do you have a leak in some of the tube connections?

But great that you get your Moggy in motion!

[Fingolfin]

Thanks George! Those are good points, J. The carburetor is mounted quite tightly and is straight, and the gaskets are new. The carburetor is an H2, and apparently those suffer from crumbling internal cork gaskets around the jet assembly -- I'm betting this is what's going on, but I will begin investigating later today.

[Fingolfin]

The carburetor issue seems to have been solved by tightening the large nut against the underneath of the carb body -- it was slightly loose. A test-firing gave no drips, which is good because some paint has peeled off from the engine bay floor. Also, I had the dynamo tested (though I discovered I could've done it myself with the battery charger), and it's in working order. So now...I have to figure out the tachometer and ignition warning light.

[Fingolfin]

I've learnt that the tachometer is probably bad -- considering it doesn't function, but the wiring is correct and the car runs well (meaning the coil has power from the key). Apparently these gauges suffer from a common failure point in one of the germanium capacitors, so I may try to disassemble it and replace that capacitor. Otherwise, I may send it off for restoration (a company in Minnesota will do it), or I may try another from eBay (I found one today for $21 including shipping, from New Jersey, and I am in fact ordering it).

[Fingolfin]

I won the tachometer on eBay and hopefully it will arrive next week. More importantly, I was able to successfully cannibalize the horns from a Chevrolet Stylemaster in the local junkyard, and they are now in Mog with a new lease on life. They look a lot like the Lucas Windtone units, but give a louder sound, and were made by AC Delco.

I drove Mog up and down the driveway today, and learnt a few important things: first, the whirring noise I was worried about is just the gearbox laboring in first, and shifting into second wholly removed the whirr (and second gear was smooth as silk); second, the ignition warning light works perfectly, now I fixed it; third, I still have no footbrakes (but the handbrake works okay); and fourth, the smoke in the exhaust is greatly diminished after a drive of five or ten minutes, so the smoke (oil burning, we might assume, or maybe just settled detritus burning up) seems to be an issue when cold-starting.

Tomorrow dad and I are going to have another stab at bleeding the brakes, and I'll inspect the rear drums to see if my oil seals are working properly.

[Fingolfin]

I finally put enough fuel in the tank to see if the gauge and sender unit worked, and they don't; where it should have read 5/8 a tank, it read empty. Not sure what's wrong there. I think the gauge itself is okay, because when power is applied, the needle snaps to attention. I wondered if the sender unit wasn't earthing properly, so I jumped with a wire from the sender casing to a ground point, and it made no difference.

Bled the brakes again; got a really nice firm pedal immediately after bleeding, but when I went to drive it an hour later, the pedal was soft again. Part of the problem was having incorrect/clogged bleed screws fitted, but that's since been solved. I fear the master cylinder may need replacement, but I pray it won't come to that, since they're insanely expensive.

My oil seals do appear to be working, but the left-rear drum had just the slightest drop of axle oil in it; as it was coming from one of the drum-attaching-screw holes, I figured the halfshaft wasn't securely clamping the gasket onto the hub, so I tightened down the screw there. I'll inspect tomorrow to see if it worked.

The carburetor does still have a slight petrol leak. It's smaller than it was, but it's sufficient to be of concern. However, the engine no longer appears to be burning oil, and the horns continue to work beautifully.

All in all, a rough day. Have a photo of Mog when it ran out of fuel earlier today (hence my filling it up).[frame][/frame]

[Fingolfin]

The fuel gauge works properly now -- the problem was simple: the wires on the back of the gauge were flipped. So I traded them, and it works.[frame][/frame]No idea if it's accurate or not.

The master cylinder is the bit that's leaking, and it's leaking badly. Here's the drip tray left overnight underneath the chassis leg (nice drain hole under the master cylinder).[frame][/frame]So, gaaaaaah.

Hoping to make the bonnet prop today, and maybe the radiator overflow bottle bracket. But it's getting up to 105 degF today, so I may have to stop working around noon.

[Fingolfin]

It's been so hot (and I've been discouraged) that not much has gotten done. Here are some photos.
The glovebox is in:[frame][/frame]
As is its attendant lid:[frame][/frame]
The radiator overflow bottle has a bracket (which doesn't look very good, but it does work), and it's all mounted nicely now. Also you can see one of the AC Delco horns here:[frame][/frame]
And here's my stab at a bonnet prop. It works beautifully (it locks and pivots), but is too long and won't let the bonnet close. I wish I had measurements![frame][/frame]
Soon I've got to make a license plate bracket -- after I fix that bonnet prop...

[Roni]

[frame][/frame]

Top mount to pivot = 9.25"
Bottom mount to pivot = 5.5"

Sorry about the photo quality. It isn't the best taking a photo of a black object with light from behind.

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Check out the second page of this thread when I welded mine up that had been cut.

http://mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=40334&start=15

[Fingolfin]

Oh, David, you took those photos especially for me! I never noticed! Thank you! Roni, that's an excellent photo, and my thanks for the measurements. I ended up solving the issue -- just needed to adjust the holes some more.[frame][/frame]The funny atom-bomb-shaped piece at the top is to allow additional adjustment if necessary -- I wanted to freeze the sizes of the two main pieces. It works a treat, in the sense that it does its job, and when its job is done it collapses enough to allow the bonnet to shut.

The horns have failed again. I'm betting it's the contact on the slip ring, which is a flimsy aftermarket deal. I sense soldering coming on.........but the relay may have died. I doubt it's the horns themselves, because the relay isn't clicking when the button is depressed. First test is to connect a cable from relay to battery earth, to see if it works; if it does, I'll have localized the problem to the slip ring.