After a disastrous journey home from work the other day in which the accelerator cable snapped (solved by a quick walk to a nearby Halfords for a bicycle brake cable) and the ignition packed in, I have decided to replace the distributor and electronic ignition (The ignition has always been of the electronic type since I have owned the car but I have no idea how old the distributor unit is)
Old distributor meets new distributor.
The new unit is an autospark type that is available from all the major Morris Minor suppliers such as ESM.
Looking back now, fitting the distributor is an incredibly easy job that should’ve only taken a few minutes, however it took me a number of hours, as I could’ve sworn there was something I was missing – no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t seem to drive the distributor all the way into the hole in the engine block. I could feel that the driving dog/peg was aligned the correct way around inside the block, but I could not find any way to push it in the last few millimetres.
Note how the distributor isn’t pushed all the way in so that the flange edge is flush with the clamp.
For a while I even considered that I might’ve purchased the incorrect distributor, but the actual problem was something easily solved; The clamping plate that locks the distributor in position had been over-tightened and bent at some point, not leaving a large enough hole for the distributor unit to be fitted into.
In this image it suddenly becomes quite apparent as to why the distributor hasn’t been fitting correctly – see how bent the top of the clamping plate has become from being over-tightened in the past!
Please ignore the large quantities of oil and grime around this part of the engine – For the sake of the wallet it’s best ignored.
On the 24th June 2018 I attended my first Morris Minor national rally at Kelmarsh Hall, near Northampton. It isn’t too far from me – about an hour’s drive in total.
It was a great day out with equally fantastic weather, and quite a spectacular turn-out. I even managed to pick up a cheap replacement door handle, to replace the one on the front passenger side door, which had lost it’s return spring.
Washed and ready to attend the national rally the following day. Note the fibreglass exterior sun-visor fitted. I removed it a few days later, as I wasn’t sure too fond of it for a number of reasons.
View from my car, with company.Kelmarsh Hall in the background, with a row of Minors and Moderns in front.
Here’s a tricky job… In fact, that might be an understatement!
The replacement of the Quarterlight/Ventilator (the triangular hinged windows) seals is recognised by many Morris Minor owners as an absolute pig of a job – in this case I was replacing the top hinge which had sheered off at some point, leaving the window loose and able to fall out, and that requires the total removal of the ventilator window and the seal.
The hinge itself is attached to the top of the window frame by two screws on the top edge (Pictured below)
I’m not even going to try and explain how I completed this job – it was a lot of faffing about and involved a bit of head-scratching, and in the end I dismantled most of the passenger side window assembly, and it was still tricky. I found the worst part of the process was refitting the window once the hinges were in place – you can’t bend the window frame, but you can’t bend the ventilator! …Maybe there’s a trick to it, or maybe I’m missing something, but it’s not a task I wish to attempt again any time soon!
The old upper hinge, completely sheered.
Trying to remove the hinge.
The original ventilator windows, and a new upper hinge ready to go in. (Easier said than done)Fixed! The ventilator window is repaired and now fully functional (At speeds below about 40mph)
Speedometer needle getting stuck, and a quick fix!
Unfortunately after a trip to Brighton and back the speedometer unit completely gave up. The needle kept getting stuck at 20, and needed some gentle persuasion to drop back down again when stationary.
At the same time, the odometer stopped recording miles. The last accurate reading I got from this unit was 25660.9, which means the mileage on the car by this point would have likely been 125000+, which is over half way to the moon, or 5 and a bit times around the earth!
Anyway, this update regards the state of the floors – when I bought the car I thought it was fairly solid throughout, but as I dug further I began to find more and more problems, and one of the costliest and biggest parts of the restoration to date was the floor.
It’s seen better days!
Crusty corners
Stripping the old sound-deadening layer revealed some secrets!
The master break cylinder.
The corner near the front driver’s side wheel arch
Driver’s side floor.
Drivers side floor. Note the previous repairs to the crossmember.
Holes that had been plated over on the underside of the car, with filler on the top side.
Now, this isn’t the worst starting point – the floor wasn’t absolutely shot, but there was a crack in the driver’s side floor that seemed to have been growing stemming from where the seats are affixed, part of the floor had holes that been patched underneath and filled on top, and the corners of the floorpans were crumbling, so I decided that I’d have the whole lot cut out and replaced.
The new panels arrive!
On 8th January 2018 I decided for some reason it’d be cool to go to Boston, Massachusetts. I left my car and new panels with a welder that morning before hurrying to Gatwick Airport to catch an afternoon flight to New England. I enjoyed the getaway, but there isn’t much there for someone who isn’t really into the early history of the USA, and it was very very cold, so it probably wouldn’t be on my list of places to revisit in a hurry.
During the time I was away the welder had repaired some damage he found on the sills and replaced both floor-pans. Sure, there were probably cheaper ways to deal with the holes and filler patches, and I could’ve just had more plates patched on underneath, but the results wouldn’t have been half as satisfying! I intend to keep this car for as long as I can, so it was definitely a worthwhile investment in my eyes.
I think you’ll agree that it looks great, and I imagine it adds a bit more strength to the car.
When I got the car back, the inside floor surfaces had been treated with a coat of red oxide paint, which I went over this with a product called Epoxy Mastic 121, which is described as a “two-pack high build primer/finish which can be used on Steel, Aluminium, Galvanised Metal and GRP”.
Before: Fresh from the welders!
After: Epoxy Mastic 121 applied.
I have since painted over the EM121 with rose taupe paint to match the rest of the car’s colour – it looks fantastic, and it seems to be doing it’s job of protecting the new panels!
The floor, coated with EM121 and then painted-over with Rose Taupe paint to match the exterior. A DIY job on a tight budget, but I’m happy with it!
About 6 weeks ago I finally bit the pricey bullet and ordered a set of new seat covers. The rear seat was mostly intact as the previous owner had never had any passengers ride in the back of the car, but it had somehow become badly torn along the top and was not reparable.
The front seats were a lot worse…
Old vs New: A before and after showing just how bad the seats in my car looked prior to their refurbishment!
The front seats were a doddle to restore. I have no prior experience with this kind of thing, but with new covers, new seat straps, new foam bases, a can of spray adhesive, a bit of thread and a pair of scissors I was able to re-cover these in no time at all! Once I had sussed how to do the first one the second seat probably only took around 30 to 45 minutes to make like new.
An upholsterer or professional trimmer would be able to do a much neater job I’m sure, but I’m very happy with how they came out!
A view of the Clifton suspension bridge, Bristol’s most famous landmark.
On 13th June 2017 I was given the opportunity to work at Bristol Airport for a couple of days – to date it’s the furthest I’ve travelled in the Morris in one go without stopping, nearly 150 miles away!
After work on the first day I drove to the nearby seaside down of Clevedon, which is home to England’s only grade 1 listed pier, built in 1869. Sir John Betjeman described the pier as “the most beautiful pier in England”.
Clevedon Pier
The pavilion
The pier’s spans with Clevedon’s seafront
On the return from my brief visit to Clevedon I made sure to plot a route to the hotel that would take me over the Clifton suspension bridge, which was a highlight of the trip.
I’ve always wanted to see this iconic structure, and it didn’t disappoint. I parked the car up on the west side before crossing and walked over the bridge, and up to the Clifton Observatory. The observatory provides the perfect view of the bridge and the Avon Gorge which it spans. After a while taking in the views I went to pay my toll, then returned to the car to cross and find my way back to the airport and hotel.
A front-facing passenger’s eye view of me driving my Morris Minor over the Clifton suspension bridge in BristolA room with a view
On 6th December 2016 the car failed an MOT for a number of reasons. A fair few issues on the car were relating to the state of the underneath, or the lack of an underneath in some places!
The inside of the driver’s side front wheel arch – in this image you can see the remnants of where the rubber bump-stop should be – I didn’t know about this at the time and the garage simply plated-over the hole.The rear of the car hadn’t fared much better! (Photo from passenger side)
The metal around the front leaf spring mount was severely corroded, and there were holes you could poke your finger through. It looks like it was about one speed-bump or pothole away from disaster!
I had this replaced with a new repair panel.
The rear leaf spring mount wasn’t a lot better! Again, this was repaired.
Over the weekend of 30th-31st July 2016 I put the car to its first real test. Previously I had driven to Southend, which is about 70 miles, but on this trip some friends and I drove to Brighton, via Southend, travelling clockwise around the M25 and over Dartford’s Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, racking up about 160 miles in all. We returned home the following day, continuing clockwise, bringing the total round-trip to over 260 miles.
The car didn’t miss a beat and the trip was successful, if
not somewhat tiring.
On the way home I found an 1950
AEC Regent III bus in a service station and couldn’t resist a
side-by-side photo. This particular bus was built in 1950, although the
prototype of the design was produced as early as 1938, and the last of these
buses operated in London until 1979.
On a drive just out of town a few days ago there was a slight waft of burning plastic, and a puff of smoke from the glove box behind the steering wheel. It turns out that for some reason whenever I turned on the lights, the wiring loom would begin to self destruct, melting, and shedding it’s insulation, presumably filling the cabin with toxic fumes. I could’ve probably chased the problem and patched it up somehow, but as it would be difficult to assess the full extent of the damage caused without cutting up the loom, and with wires in both the glovebox and boot being stripped bare, i figured the best course of action was to replace the entire wiring loom.
Firstly I set about taking photos of the fuse box and voltage regulator so I knew where the bulk of the connections terminated.
Stripping the loom out was relatively easy, although when it came to threading it all through the bulkhead to remove it, I opted to cut it in two.
The old loom stripped-out. Note the red wire towards the bottom right of the photo, which had burnt through.
…unfortunately I made the mistake of ordering a new loom used in cars between 1965-1970, when my car was registered in January 1964, which meant that some of the wires were different colours to those in the loom I was replacing, and some of the terminals were different.
It was not immediately clear where everything went, so this turned into a task that took me a few days to figure out.
Handfuls of wires everywhere. Here I am attaching the lights that illuminate the speedometer face, and the ignition/oil pressure lamps. Attaching the new loom to the inside of the boot-lid, where it runs to the number plate light. I think this is where the original loom started to burn through.
Eventually, with the new loom in place I turned the key, and as you might expect from someone who has never worked on cars in any real capacity before… nothing happened. But why?
After a few more days of tinkering, and probably filling-up the Morris Minor Owners Facebook page with various questions about all different connections and wire colours, sourcing several different conflicting Morris Minor wiring diagrams in the process, I resorted to enlisting the assistance of a local auto electrician, who was able to determine that the fault – simply a problem with the ignition unit. I may have damaged this component when I (rather stupidly) started disconnecting various parts of the loom without first disconnecting the battery. Maybe not the smartest move.
As luck would have it, there is a shop not too far from me which had the replacement ignition component that I required, so I was able to rectify this relatively quickly.
The new ignition unit, fitted to the existing distributor.
And sure as anything, the car started after this. Huzzah!
It was a bit of a task, but it was satisfying to get the car working again after all of this. It might not be the neatest job, but it saved me a few quid and more importantly It was valuable to gain more of an understanding of which wires go where.
morrisminor.uk 
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