Abandoned and all on his lonesome.

Well, things have slowed down a bit now. Gavgav has been applying to do his MBA in Cambridge, England, and was accepted into the program. A few weeks ago he headed off on his adventures leaving poor Joel without his partner in crime, and once again outnumbered by the demanding women in his family. So for the time being Joel is on is own (and will henceforth stop blogging in the 3rd person!)
Before Gav left, we reinstalled the brakes and began connecting up the hoses when we noticed a fair amount of corrosion on the rigid hoses connecting the front slave cylinders together, as well as corroded bleed nipples and various other washers and nicknacks. Unfortunately the corrosion was not limited to the hoses and the threads on the slave cylinders themselves seem to be beyond repair, so I'll need to replace all 4 front cylinders too :(
Once again comparing purchase quotes from Australia and England, the Australian quote came out as around $400 whereas purchasing from England and having them shipped over all comes to a total of $285, so I have recently placed the order which will hopefully get me moving again.
Apart from that I still need to get the cylinder head machined, and then with any luck I'll be able to get this old fella on the road again!

Brakes done! Cylinders, valves & cooling

In the last 2 weeks we have re-assembled all the wheel cylinders and reinstalled them, along with new brake pads and the springs which hold them in place. We now have the job of replacing the master cylinder which is a bit of big deal, as it involves reconstructing the front suspension and reinstalling the torsion bar.
In the meantime we are also thinking about the engine itself. As we described in previous postings we are having trouble removing a rusted spiggot from the underside of the cylinder head. As a result, we have resorted to removing the cylinder-head to give ourselves better access to the difficult part. This in turn gave us access to the valves and tappits. We've noticed that the valves are heavily clogged up with carbon, and were wondering how important it is to clear it all off, and if it is critical, what is the best way to remove the carbon? We have tried a small wire brush on a dremmel, however the tough carbon chewed through the brush fairly quickly.









In addition we still have the issue of our cooling system completely clogged with a rusty goop. We need to find a way of cleaning it out. Our first thought is to simply get the engine working and then run a hose through the system without the radiator attached, thereby flushing the rust out.

Thermostat

We've finally managed to clear the remaining part of the broken thermostat bolt from the engine head so that we can insert a new one.

We progressively used larger and larger drill bits...


There's the hole in question - we then needed to re-tap the thread so that we could get the new bolt to screw in properly. Neither of us has ever done anything like this before so lots of fun...

Here's the thread tapping tool:






And.. success... The thread cutting tool manages to dislodge the remaining shell of the old bolt - it actually just unscrewed with the tool as we unwound it from the hole.

And here's the outcome - new bolt in place.. The other two already screw in properly.
Here's the tools we used sitting neatly in the Morris' convenient battery tray / tool bench.


When we removed the exhaust pipe, Gavin was a little too forceful with the removal. The manifold snapped clean in half:


Just removed the old manifold, involving removing the carburetter etc..

Here's the engine sans-manifold.

The Finished Product

Here's a photo of a similar model which we found on the net. Hopefully ours will look something like this in the end!

Location:Campbell St,Newtown,Australia

Back on track - Gearbox and Brakes

Back on track!

Now that the gearbox is back in with the new clutch plate and the prop shaft has been re-installed, its time to get the brakes back together.

We ordered replacement rubber cups for all the slave cylinders as well as the master cylinder. When we opened up the master cylinder originally, the rubber boot was perforated with brake fluid easily leaking out where the rod moves into the master cylinder from the pedal assembly.

We've cleaned up the slave cylinders with turps and dried them off. Joel now puts on a coat of brake fluid to the parts before we put in the replacement rubbers and reinstall them onto the car.




You can see the master cylinder here:

Joel had a little bit of a rough time getting it all to fit back together but it seems to have all worked perfectly now.

Here we're just bathing the new rubbers in brake fluid before their installation.



Now that the slave cylinders are all refurbished with their new rubber components, we decided to see if we could get the brake assemblies back together. And it worked! We used the new brake shoes and springs that we bought from the UK and cleaned up the adjustment pieces (that sit between the cylinder and the brake shoe to allow you to increase or decrease the distance to the drum).



So now that that's done - all that's left until we can for a drive is to to get the rear brakes done too, fit the drums, get the pedal assembly back together, fit the clutch linkage cable, repair the thermostat housing, fit the new exhaust, put the driver's side front suspension back together and we're good...

Might be a while, given the pace we work at...

A few small victories!

Its been a long while since we've made any progress - but not after a busy period for both of us, we have finally started making progress again.

GavGav has been having trouble with his primary vehicle - an old german gas guzzler. Due to his fiscal conservatism (he's cheap), he decided not to purchase an original Mercedes replacement return pipe for the water cooling system that runs along the engine - but instead wanted to attempt to fabricate a replacement using copper pipe.

Using the same ethos as we have been so far with the Morris Minor, we thought we'd have a go - whats the worst that could happen?

Unfortunately a little too much force and not enough heat resulted in us snapping the piping during the last bend :(

Attempting to fabricate a new pipe for GavGav's Merc

As mentioned in an earlier post, we managed to remove the gearbox and gave it a much needed cleaning. We have made the decision not to crack the gearbox open for the time being, due to the complexity of the procedure, and the extra equipment we'd need to put it all back together again.

Instead we're pushing to get some short-term wins - and just get the car moving.

Things we have yet to do:

• finishing the brakes
• re-installing the gearbox
• installing the new exhaust
• completing the repairs on the thermostat

Earlier this week we got the whole team round (Joel's bro and dad) and between the four of us managed align the clutch and reinstall the shiny clean gearbox. A few days later we replaced the prop-shaft and bolted it in with our lovely new bolts from England.

GavGav bolts the prop-shaft to the diff

We've now turned our attention back to the brakes, and after a kitchen-table session of cleaning and preparing the master and slave cylinders we have re-assembled them and installed the 4 front slave cylinders as well as putting in our new brake shoes.

We're really enjoying completing these small milestones and can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel (as far as getting her driving).

Next we'll get the rear brakes done followed by the relatively mammoth job of installing the master cylinder and the re-assembly of the front suspension and torsion bar. We'll also have another go at drilling and re-threading that pesky thermostat housing bolt!


We attempt to tap a new thread into the engine block.
We need to drill more!

Rear Brake Cylinder Bits... Advice needed!

We're moving slowly now, trying to get the brakes all together...

Here's a diagram of the Morris Minor brake rear slave cylinder:






Notice how there is a piston and dust cover in one piece on the right.

Here's a picture of that piston and dust cover piece from one of the slave cylinders of our car:



As you can see in this image - the dust cover cap has come off of the piston.. Looks like it was originally tac-welded.

Any suggestions for how we can get them re-bonded???

Screw extractor fail

The screw extractor fails - we can't seem to get the bolt out.

The problem is that the tap we used on the top of the screw extractor couldn't grip the screw extractor tightly enough. The screw extractor slips when the tap is turned even when it is tightened as much as possible in the tap.

Uh oh... Thermostat housing bolt woes...

Well tonight was a little bit of a disaster...


We tried to remove the threaded pins that hold the thermostat housing on to the engine head from the head as the threads to hold the thermostat side were all damaged.



So now we've got the one bolt stuck in the engine head... We're going to need special tools to remove this puppy, we're thinking.

Gavin is sceptical as always, Joel is optimistic he's heard of the right tool to use...



We warm the area around the other remaining bolt before trying to loosen it with the vise grips.



We have a success this time.

Bits from the UK have arrived!

Good news! Bits from the ESM Motors in the UK have arrived to help us get the old girl running. Timing was impeccable as the courier delivered them 2 hours after Joel and fam arrived back from a restorative skiing sojourn in Japan.



Turns out ordering parts from the UK is surprisingly easy - delivery took just over a week after the order was placed. We have now received a new muffler, brake shoes, handbrake cable,thermostat and housing, engine manifold, as well as a myriad of other bits including gaskets, bolts, clips, pins and bushes...

Gavin displays the old vs new mufflers. We're very happy with our decision to purchase a ready made exhaust and muffler rather than have to get one fabricated here. This way it (hopefully) will all fit together easily. No need to drive sans muffler to get one fabricated..


Gavin has been becoming more and more itchy to get the car fixed up mechanically and back on the road. A short term win would be a nice motivator on this project.


Joel wisely checks the delivered parts with the manifest to make sure we've got all the bits.



Papa Goodman also inspects some of the parts delivered for quality assurance purposes. [he promises to invoice us for his consulting services]


We're yet to receive the replacement clutch plate we need as they were out of stock but are expecting this to come shortly. Also yet to come are replacement steering rack boots.

But, now that we have nice shiny bits ready to bolt on there is a renewed sense of excitement about the project. We will be back to business playing with the car now that Joel is back from his oriental exploits. That's the plan, at least...

We're trying to figure out what the rubber in the middle of the front suspension arm pictured below is called as Joel carelessly punctured it whilst degreasing the area with a sharp, thin screwdriver (Gavin exxagerating here). Any thoughts? We'll need to order new ones.


Another thing we'll need some advice on is where we need to replace these carbon parts for the clutch - is this crucial that we replace these whilst we replace the clutch plate? They look okay - we haven't ordered replacements from the UK.. Any thoughts out there? What are these bits even called?!



Here's what the old thermostat looks like. We've got a nice shiny replacement. Notice also how rusty and damaged the bolts are that hold the thermostat housing onto the engine head. We've bought replacements for these. Any advice on how to pursuade the old ones to unscrew from the engine head without damaging the threads? Papa Goodman recommended applying some penetrating fluid and leaving it for a week to seep in. We've done that but Gavin worries that this won't be enough..

Gratuitous engine bay shot. Joel's brother BrotherElliot is sceptical that changing the colour of the car can be done, given how many folds and creases that there are that need to be rubbed down in order to do that.

Notice that the mounting at the rear of the engine which connects it to the firewall preventing lateral movement has broken away. This will need re-welding. The battery tray is serviceable but also needs some metal added to the driver's side lip. Any recommendations/advice out there?



You can see the old manifold here. The bottom of the manifold snapped off whilst we were removing the exhaust, hence the replacement we have bought. We still haven't quite worked out what type of air filter we will fit onto the carbie, as the one on the car was totally unoriginal and ugly.





And here's a shot of the interior as it is right now. You can't see it, but the seats are unbolted, the panel covering the gearbox has been removed as have the brake and clutch pedals. Its going to be a fair bit of work to put all the peices back together.

Hope we can remember how... Joel reminded Gav that the service manual is very descriptive and has great pictures and explanations. This is a good point.



This mudflap is one of the last remaining... We wanted some quick wins and pulled the rest of the delapidated mud flaps off already with the engineering assistance of Dr Paully, an occasional contributor to the Lowlight project. Does anyone know if these are considered necessary or desirable? In our minds it doesn't really seem necessary to bother finding replacements.

Car Number...

We're appealing to the Morris community to help us identify what year our car really is.

Gearbox is out - the clutch is the culprit!

Very exciting - we've wrestled the gearbox off!

It is absolutely covered in a thick, difficult to clean off greasy mud.

Degreaser barely touches it, so we've been cleaning it by alternating between prying it off with a screwdriver, spraying on degreaser, brushing with a toothbrush and wiping with rags.

Hauling it out from under the car was a great achievement.

Now to tackle the inoperable clutch...

Joel manages to unbolt each of the six bolts which hold the clutch pressure plate unit to the flywheel with a half inch ratchet. The advice is to loosen the bolts a bit at a time in order to not cause distortion on the plate.

The bolts are finally removed and.... out pops the clutch disc!
Looks like the pins holding one of the anti-chatter springs have given out and the spring has come off.

We are wondering whether this is what caused the clutch to not function.

Light rust marks on the smooth pressure plate surface seem to indicate that the clutch disc material was bonded to the pressure plate - possibly this is the explanation?

Any thoughts would be welcomed!

We are now deciding what to do next... Ordering parts from the UK is a big priority. There is also a debate going on between us as to whether or not we should open up the gearbox now that it has been removed from the car. Given that neither of us actually has much of a clue what we are doing, its all very exciting!

Back On Track!

With our new tools at hand, we were finally able to recommence the tasks which had been holding us up. Despite the cramped workspace under the car, Joel was able to remove 3 of the 4 bolts on the flange pinning the prop shaft to the differential. The 4th bolt proved to be more difficult as both the head of the bolt and the nut deformed under the pressure of the spanner, and we finally resigned ourselves to cutting the head off the bolt using the Dremmel. Once this had been done and the remainder of the bolt hammered out using a screwdriver, we lowered the prop shaft and withdrew it to the rear, thereby completely detaching it from the car.
We've decided that this particular task should be a "one-off". In other words we'll completely clean, paint and oil the prop-shaft while it's off, so we don't have to re-detach it in the future.
Our next task was to try the advice given to us on the forums of morrisdownunder.com to detach the speedo cable from the gearbox. It turned out the advice was completely solid, and it was a simple thing to unscrew the cable itself from the brass fitting, as opposed to attempting to unbolt the large brass fitting from the gearbox manifold.