Progress on three Minor fronts
After my annoying run of breakdowns and roadside repairs, I was feeling a bit disappointed with the 1950 Lowlight twodoor, and it took me a while to muster the enthusiasm to replace the clutch slave cylinder to get the car working again. I did eventually get round to fitting a new one and bleeding the system, though.
It’s an unusual arrangement, just sliding into a circular lug cast on the bellhousing – there are no bolts holding it in, it is just retained by the pressure of the release arm and its internal spring. Once I had understood how this worked, it was a simple task to lever back the arm and pop the new cylinder into place. I managed a few successful local trips and was feeling my run of bad luck was behind me. Surely if you kept driving a car, all the faults must eventually show up and then I’d be in the clear?
All was well until dad borrowed it for a trip to the seaside and came sputtering to a halt in the middle of a busy high street. He diagnosed the problem as fuel starvation after removing the petrol pipe and finding no petrol emerging when the engine was turned over. This car has a mechanical pump that came with the 1275 engine, not the usual SU electric pumps that need the occasional whack to get them started! Luckily an old secondhand pump was in the toolbox – he fitted this and was on his way once again. After that, the car ran without trouble and all seemed fine, just in time for me to put it away for the winter!
Yes, with the clocks going back it was time to put Lily, my 1967 four- door Morris Minor, back into front line service. It has better visibility with a larger rear window, an uprated heater and LED headlights and has generally been quite reliable (although that seems like a foolish thing to say!). Whilst it’s been off the road, I’ve had a go at curing the rust in the gutters, dissolving it with numerous treatments of Bilt Hamber deoxy gel, which left a bright surface.
(It is never a good long-term solution to paint over rust as this always comes through sooner than you hope.) I used a zinc rich primer, then a little body filler and several coats of two-pack primer carefully smoothed down. Some Smoke Grey two-pack was carefully brushed into the gutters and they look quite good, although close examination reveals some brush marks. If this solves the problem, I will rub it down next year and use a modelling air brush to get a better finish. The area affected is tiny, but I’m sure the rust would have spread if left untreated.
Driving Lily after the lowlight made me realize I had the adjustable shock absorbers set a bit too hard, because every bump felt rather uncomfortable. Slackening them off has made it much more pleasant to drive.
Back in the warm, dry shed we have re-started work on the 1970 Morris Minor Van refitting numerous small parts and are determined to get it finished this winter. The bumper still
“It’s been off the road for too long and we really do want to drive it again”