Morris Minor Owners Club

The 4 screws are countersunk, clamping the plate to the pillar, with rubber gasket strips. One of mine snapped and the hole is filled with a gob of chewing gum, but three is still better than 2. I can't honestly see how the ESM kit is of any use.

I ran my sII with a 4.22 diff for a few years, and with the engine working in top condition it was fine, but a 4.55 would have been better. The diff was a straight swap. I have put the 5.375 back in, with it's worn teeth which whine, but my main bearings have worn out completely and are waiting to b...

Renault 4tl that my granddad gave me after he couldn't drive anymore. Brilliant little car, but the chassis rusted through and i only had it for a year before having to scrap it.

Fair enough. I will look out for a good 948 engine and get the garage to help me fit it. Kind of seems a shame to ditch the old engine, but they are a bit crap. For now the car is under cover and wont be going anywhere for a while. Over and out.

Oh the irony, I just had a nice chap walk up to me and offer to buy the car, and had to tell him about the new developments. I promised to inquire about the cost of a rebuild, and a local garage has quoted £800 to £1000, depending on what needs doing. They can regrind the crank themselves, or ESM ca...

Only, I think, if you change the size of the engine.....when I went from an 803 to a 948 I had to inform DVLA. Thanks thats what i meant. I wonder if the MOT requirement would come back into force then. I do fancy struggling on with the old engine anyway, if it can be done relatively pain free. It'...

Thanks for the advice on upgrading. I have a spare box, so could fiddle around with a 948 box in advance of the change. I might try for replacing the bearing shells with 10thou unders, and even get the local mechanic to have a go for me. There's a little bit of welding needed anyway. There seems to ...

Changed the oil, took it for a run, pressure through the floor and knocking like a woodpecker. Damn. Bearings worn to smithereens. At the bottom of the spent oil was pearlescent from the white metal flakes. So the rocket power was a temporary rush before the burn. Should i attempt a rebuild, give it...

Took it up to 70 on the dual carriage way (downhill with a wind behind me ) and apart from vibration everything was fine. Oil pressure was very low after though. Will change the oil again, and see how that is.

well the diff was swapped for a 4.22 but that was a mistake and i have just swapped back to the original 5.275. It's sadly still the original engine too. When the engine is running nicely its quite a good ride.

Thanks guys, hotter plugs could be a fix. Because the car got laid up a fair time, and it was while ago that it was my only car, it's been hard to compare the original performance to what i have now. It certainly was capable of motorway speeds back when i got it. It could well be that it did 6000rpm...

Had the car out today and it's going like sh*t off a shovel, so clean plugs make a huge difference. I will not knock the 803 again. Last time i fitted tires i didnt bother with balancing weights as it wasnt likely to go over 50mph but now its willing to get up to 70 again it will have to have that d...

Looks great. The only difference seems to be the minute hand has been used as the hour hand (has the bit of hand extending beyond the collar). I would rather have an AA battery to replace every two years than a complicated overhaul that the smiths original clock seems to need. One caution though is ...

I don't think Eddy Pepper is with us any more sadly, but he was a good guy, even if he was wrong occasionally. The car only gets a few hundred miles a year use, and is a second car. When the cords were fitted it was because i had driven up north on the motorways after botching a decoke, and compress...

Thanks for your help greendefender, I am no expert and have the advantage of having the actual car to play with for the last 21 years. Diagnosing over the internet is not easy. I put in the last set of plugs a few years ago with the same symptoms back then (memory can get a bit vague). With the bett...

It could be running a bit rich, but the choke works fine. Looking in through the spark plug holes the piston crowns are looking pretty oily too. The piston nearest the radiator looks the least oily, and it's plug was nearly clean, so stayed put. The engine seems to get very oily all over at the gear...

My sII was almost dying this evening, and had been running fine. I took out the plugs and they were terribly fouled, so put in another set. The improved performance was amazing, like a new car. Have been busy cleaning the oily plugs in alcohol, and scraping with diamond files, as they aren't very ol...

I had to use the plastic hands that came with the clock, but i am sure some ingenious method can be found.

The 12V smiths clock is a terrible design, as there is an electrical contact that supplies the solenoid on every tick, to keep the balance wheel in motion. This metal peg wears down over the years, and the sprung contact also wears, so there s a notch on the peg, and the performance of the contact g...

Looks like a cossack. There was a legend that the russian farmers hooked their ploughs up to them when the tractor broke. There was a shaft drive to the sidecar and reverse gear for the bigger model.