Morris Minor Owners Club

Being diagnosed red/green colour-blind put a stop to my career on the railway when I was young, but it is not enough to cause me any problems driving - I can 'read' traffic lights OK and have no problems distinguishing the oil and ignition lights in the car! Nor am I phased by brake/indicator light ...

Gov now announce the banning of all new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, yes, 10 years time! Following this, it is likely that they will then eventually want to phase out petrol/diesel itself so will be impossible to drive the older vehicles. Of course, an electric Minor has already been produced bu...

All very interesting chaps, but can anyone answer my original question about running a Minor on paraffin, meths, vodka etc? Ta.

geoberni wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 17, 2020 5:21 pm

Look what I've found, old silent Movietone clips of some sort of preset fuel pump trials.
Had to link it here as it's got an Moggie Convertible of 56-63 era.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZHeJaWglmY

Thanks for that clip - it was funnier than the Mel Smith one!

Gov now announce the banning of all new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, yes, 10 years time! Following this, it is likely that they will then eventually want to phase out petrol/diesel itself so will be impossible to drive the older vehicles. Of course, an electric Minor has already been produced but...

Yes, a bit of topic drift but, as it has drifted a bit, I must add that I've found the handle invaluable on the occasions I have been caught in the middle of B-F-N with a flat battery. Aso useful for turning the engine to check valve clearances. I've even heard the story of someone using the handle ...

George may well have a valid point regarding the carb settings and I would suggest that the mixture setting is also worth checking. Is there are local MM club near by, Alice? I do think it is worth having an experienced Minor owner/mechanic checking 'Lucy' over to make sure she is tuned nicely. A we...

"All of the garages said they couldn't touch the car with one saying "what's a dynamo"?"
Seems a proper mechanic is wanted in these places! Do they even call themselves 'mechanics' anymore? As 'ManyMinors' says, these are pretty simple cars to work on.

As Alice reports 'Lucy' is 'up and running' and that she's 'even been out in her', its doubtful the leads are mixed up, or Alice would have reported that the car was awful to drive. I still think this car needs a good service by someone in the know, using quality components from the Distributor Doct...

Its obviously still not right. It should start and run easily. Check there is enough oil in the carb dashpot - a lack of oil here will prevent the engine from revving up - and if that doesn't sort it, I would go back to the fact that the smell of petrol indicates there is fuel getting through and th...

mike1864 wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 06, 2020 3:32 pm

And for those who employ a hidden switch to disable the pump, the absence of ticking is reminder that you're going to stall after 200 yards!

Yes, but not enough to alert me on more than one occasion!

If the cap is cracked or 'tracked' then it may well be the source of your troubles. As you have a new one ordered, let's see what that does. Do make sure that you fit the plug leads exactly as they are on the old one to retain the correct firing order or you will still have problems. Take a photo fi...

Thank you - I'm going to have to get under there soonish to re-fill the dampers!

OK - replace the bushes, but what about the link? Or just re-use if it looks OK?

Is it advisable to replace the link arms whilst the dampers are off - and does anyone know the longevity of the new link arms?

Yes, it has been there for years - and, sadly, deteriorating all the while. It looked pretty good backalong but is in a sorry state now

Yes, unlikely I agree, unless Alice has been tinkering with the car in her sleep - or gremlins had been messing about in her garage........just mentioning it in case.......as if it were that, then there's no point chasing down the fuel system route.

We seem to be going round in circles a bit here. The car doesn't want to start, but was running fine recently - so something has changed which is preventing it (probably something easy to rectify, once it has been identified). Alice tells us there is a bright blue spark at the end of the king lead, ...

Is there nothing marked anywhere on the needles, Sandun?

Hmmm.......well, I can understand you are getting fed up with Lucy but it really has to be something simple if she was starting well before and now won't. Many of the suggestions in the old thread about sparks and fuel need another look, I think. Even if the car was serviced recently by a garage, w...