Morris Minor
Matt gets to grips with flatting and polishing his Minor
It really has been a month of ‘all go!’ as I near the end of the bodywork marathon up at CBR Classic Restorations. With the body and panels now all in paint, the first task was to carefully hang the doors, followed by the front wings to replicate the gaps achieved while preparing the car for paint. This achieved, it was time for flatting and polishing. Even the best painters rarely get a perfect finish direct from the gun… and I’m not the best painter. Therefore there was a fair amount or orange peel and a couple of small runs to flat out before the polishing process could begin.
After a quick tutorial from CBR’S Jon, I set about wet sanding the paint using 1500-grit wet and dry on a rubber block, stopping periodically to use the block as a squeegee to check for a uniform matt finish, which I could then pass over again with 2000 grit wet and dry to remove the 1500 scratches. A full day and a half of flatting later, it was time to move on to the polishing process. I started by using the rotary polishing mop and G3 cutting compound on the scuttles front and rear then around the hinges of both bonnet and boot. This then enabled me to hang these panels and reduce the risk of the mop catching and knocking them off their trestles.
These in place, I was then able to work methodically around the car, moving the polisher over a given area slowly to allow a small amount of heat build-up, in lines up and down, side to side to achieve a perfect finish on a small square – then moving on to the next bit. It’s slow, laborious and takes a lot of physical effort to steady the mop – but the results are amazing. It’s like waving a magic wand over the matt surface and watching it transform into a mirror-like shine before your very eyes. Just polishing the car took a full day, and it will still need going over again once it’s assembled, but finally it’s ready to be transported back to PC HQ.
Leading the charge
Back in the PC workshop, my trusty Traveller has been stripped of its manifold and carb before having the Eaton M45 supercharger bolted to the side of its head. The supercharger had come with a laser cut steel flange for its inlet, and I bought a HIF44 mounting flange from Maniflow. I then raided the exhausts oddments department and identified a 44mm ID stainless steel pipe with an appropriate-looking bend in it. I then got my fabrication head on and fired up the SIP TIG welder in the corner of the workshop.
Before long, I’d knocked up an inlet manifold that cleared everything in a built-up Minor engine bay and allowed the carb to sit just below the ’charger to allow fuel to drain back into the carburettor rather than flood the supercharger in the event of carb icing. I’ve now sent this off to be powder coated in gloss back.
I’ve been flat out in the shed, too, rebuilding the freshly powder coated rear axle with 3.9:1 MG Midget differential and Peter May Engineering EN24 competition half shafts. This should be more than up to handling the proposed power output of the supercharged 1275cc A-series, alongside new bearings and longer wheel studs that should allow the rear wheels to be spaced so that they sit neatly in the rear arches.
Big bore
I also sourced a big-bore tubular exhaust manifold from Maniflow, plumping for a huge two inch model on their recommendation so as not to restrict flow. Before long, I had it trial-fitted to the engine in the shed. From there, I sent it to Zircotec’s new facility in Abingdon, Oxfordshire for ceramic coating. I opted for Performance White, but there are 14 colours to choose from.
After inspecting my manifold, the guys prepared the surface before, then masked the rear portion and mounting faces. Then it was time for the ceramic coating, using Zircotec’s plasma-spray technology where temperatures can reach up to 14,000°C. The result is a thermal barrier that can reduce surface temperatures by up to 33 per cent – particularly important given the new position of the carburettor and the hotter running temperatures that will be caused by the supercharger. I was first persuaded of the great benefits of Zircotec while with the Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation (OUMF) at university. The coating on the Alfa Giulia Sprint GT rally car helped to make it the first of its marque to ever complete the famously hot SOL Rally Barbados, so I have every faith that it will help keep the engine bay of my Minor cool.
Last but not least, I’ve discovered that a 1.6 Sierra clutch pressure plate fits perfectly onto the Minor’s 1098 flywheel and gives a muchimproved clamping force over the original. It does, however, necessitate the use of a roller release bearing so I’ve plumped for a Peter May bearing sold as an upgrade for an MG Midget. matt.tomkins@practicalclassics.co.uk