New (old) Minor owner

[TYC601]

Hi all, I'm new here, and to Minors, so not sure if you do introductions when joining but here goes anyway! A month or so ago I went with a friend who likes Minors, to look at a local "barn find" for sale. Now, when I say he likes them, he has a Traveller that has been in one of his lockups since the last Century, so he's not exactly an active owner, but we went along to have a look anyway - short story, I ended up with it.

I have to admit that I have a habit of getting a project up and running and on the road, then losing interest and moving on to the next one (and there are plenty to keep me occupied), so plans for now are to get the mechanics sorted, make it safe and drivable, and see if I like MM ownership. I like old '30s American Fords and am used to slowish transport, but have been warned that I may quickly want to replace the 803 with something bigger so I can keep ahead of the local tractors - we'll have to wait and see on that as in some ways it seems a little bit of a shame to separate the engine from its home of nearly 60 years.

OK, too much chatter, what about the car? Well, it is a 1955 Series II that doesn't seem to have seen the road since 1979 if the latest MOT and tax disc are anything to go by. The previous owner bought it in 2007 for his wife as it was thought to be a 1956 for some reason and he has completed some repairs including renewing the brake lines, cylinders, etc., but things had stalled.

I'm currently cleaning up the wheels to fit new tyres, but priorities are to fix the worn out water pump and replace the perished screen rubber, then see what else needs doing.
[frame][/frame]

Andy

[beero]

Welcome to the forum Andy. Have you had it running yet? If it is anything like mine which was stood for 20+ years you will end up having to renew everything that is rubber. Start with the brakes for safety's sake. Good luck and enjoy.

[stevey]

great to see another series 2 being cared for! good luck with your project

[jagnut66]

Hi,
Lovely car, good luck with getting it roadworthy, you may want to get it through one more MOT to be sure.

In fact there's a thought, if any now MOT exempt car has been off the road for years (decades even) are they still required to pass one last MOT before they can be legally driven on the roads once more, especially if as a result of said hibernation they are no longer on the DVLA database and you have re-apply for the registration number and possibly prove the cars identity to get historic / tax free status...............

Anyway, once you've done what needs to be done, enjoy!!
Best wishes,
Mike.

[graham1957]

hello andy , welcome to the forum,the chrome trim around the windscreen are very rare to find and good ones can fetch 200 quid on ebay, my advise is try not to damage it when changing screen rubber, i also have a 1955 series 2 door in black, mine was converted to 1098 mechanicals before i got it ,so i can not comment on the 803cc power unit. 1098cc with 1098 diff and gearbox and matching speedo gold face type of course, cruises at 60mph on motorways, we both love to drive it, thats me and my wife of course,hope you enjoy minor ownership. national rally coming up, will we see you and the car there?graham/carol

[bjm38]

... if any now MOT exempt car has been off the road for years (decades even) are they still required to pass one last MOT before they can be legally driven on the roads once more

Mike, it would appear not to be a legal requirement - I had no problems "taxing" our 1955 Series II a couple of months ago even though it hadn't seen an MOT station for 17 years. I simply had to declare that the car was MOT exempt by virtue of its age. It might be prudent for the OP to put the car through MOT if there's any doubt as to its safety, however.

I can't help thinking this MOT exemption lark's a bit short-sighted meself...

Bernard

[Neil MG]

"...but have been warned that I may quickly want to replace the 803 with something bigger so I can keep ahead of the local tractors - we'll have to wait and see on that as in some ways it seems a little bit of a shame to separate the engine from its home of nearly 60 years."

I have a 1956 Series II that I use as my everyday car. It has its original 803cc engine that has not even been rebuilt yet. With 80k miles and 58 years I am sure a few of the original 30 horses have escaped too! The timing chain rattles something awful, but otherwise it runs like a little sewing machine. I live in the Lake District so there are a few hills around, which admittedly can be a bit slowing, but otherwise the car copes entirely adequately. Even on cross ply tires it can surprise many who follow just how nippy it is down the little country lanes. Maximum cruising speed is about 55mph and it is happiest running at 40-50 along winding lanes. In town and traffic it is, of course, no problem at all.

I originally thought I would swap the engine in my car once it became too worn (I didn't expect it to last this long even) but very few Series II cars remain with their original engines and having got used to it I would not even consider changing it now. I would sooner buy a Minor 1000 complete.

[bjm38]

This is how our car looks now -
[frame][/frame]

The only change I've made from standard is to bypass the trafficators and use brakelights and slightly later sidelights as indicators. Like Neil above, I'm starting to warm to the 803cc engine - the speedo shows 79K, but she's on a Goldseal engine of unknown heritage. The engine's running fine after shaking off the cobwebs with a few mid-distance runs, it's just the gearbox that I still have doubts about. If the gearbox does have to be changed, then it'll be a 948 box modified to keep the puddin' stirrer....(edit) yes, I know she's got Minor 1000 rear wings

Bernard

[Blades]

Bernard

You have got one nice looking car there

Nick

[bjm38]

Hi Nick,

Thanks, though I really can't take any credit. She certainly seems to have been well looked after by her former motor trade owner, in astonishing order given that she's nearly 60 years old. Apart from the rear wings, the only thing I could find out of place at all on the car is the trafficator switch. It felt a bit sacrilegious replacing the front sidelights, but it seemed the best compromise I could make to have working indicators in modern traffic without sacrificing too much originality.

Bernard

[TYC601]

Thanks All for the welcome. Please excuse my sporadic posting, but my home PC is undergoing an upgrade and I'm using my work one, which doesn't have any of my stuff on it. I'm pleased to hear that the 803 may not be quite as bad as is made out to be. My first job on that is to fix or replace the water pump as it looks like at some time in its past the bearings have seized and the outer races have proceeded to wear away the bore that they seat in. I'll have to do some measuring to see if it is viable to bore it out, press a sleeve in, and then machine it back to size to suit the bearings (this assumes the bearings currently fitted are the correct ones, of course). I am correct in thinking replacements are not readily available?

In the mean time, I have had the wheels blasted and have repainted them ready for a set of new tyres, so work has begun.

Andy

[Neil MG]

They are available, but not cheap. £74.50 plus vat from ESM. I put one on mine and it is perfect. Unfortunately it didn't fix the timing chain rattle! To be fair, it really does sound like a knackered water pump...

[TYC601]

Thanks Neil, I just had a look and they are £83.25 plus the £75.00 core charge plus VAT, so if mine isn't good enough as a core then it will be £200 by the time delivery charges are added! I will ask the question, but will also have a good look at mine to see what I can do with it.

Andy

[Neil MG]

Oh yeah, sorry, I just checked and the new ones are unavailable at the moment...
http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pro ... 76ee060a0b

Try Bull Motif:
http://www.morrisminorspares.net/shop_item.php?ID=3008

If it helps (to find one elsewhere) the BMC part number is 2A579

[TYC601]

I've made some progress: the wheels have been blasted and I've painted them black as before, and they have been fitted with an expensive set of five 155 14 Toyos - after some discussion between the tyre fitters we're trying tubeless initially. One thing they questioned was the two 1/8" holes in the rim lips, on the opposite of the wheel to the valve hole? I assumed they were for hanging them up dipping/painting during manufacture, although quite why they couldn't use some of the other necessary holes in the wheels is a mystery. One tyre fitter thought they were for screws to hold the bead to the rim, but I can't see that as working.

Also got an NOS QH pattern water pump off eBay. It was nearly as much as a re-furb from ESM but with no core charge. I have some photos to show the difference between the QH one and my original but haven't got them on my new laptop yet.

Looking at the engine, the block, head and sump are (were) red so does that indicate a re-con engine? As far as I am aware it is a less than 30,000 mile car and I haven't found anything in the paperwork to say it had a different engine fitted, but I expected green?

[jagnut66]

I've run mine 'tubeless' for nearly seven years now. I found running radials with inner tubes fitted simply caused excessive vibration, something which ceased once the inner tubes were done away with.
Others have since confirmed that radials run with inner tubes in can lead to this.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[Neil MG]

I run tubeless cross plies. The good thing is I can fit myself and never bother to balance them. The car doesn't go fast enough to reach a resonant frequency to cause any vibrations.