Vintage Minor Register

Did Morris fit the body frame directly on to the chassis rails, or was there any kind of packing in between? I know many vintage cars had a kind of bitumenised woven fabric strip between the wooden body bearers and the steel chassis rails. This was supposed to stop water from pooling there and rotti...

Thanks Ian, I look forward to some pics. No rush involved, and I know you're busy with PWP etc, so any time is fine

I would like to know where / how various cables etc are located in a 1930 OHC Minor. Speedo cable: How does it get from parallel to ground at the gearbox to vertical at the speedo without getting mixed up with pedals, wiring etc? Battery cables to engine earth and starter switch. I am thinking of ru...

Thanks for the advice Ian. I tried that but still no joy. The rod fouls the head of the through bolt at the column clamp, and if I move the rod further down to clear this then at the link there is basically a circular motion that doesn't move the distributor much at all. Logic says that the ball-end...

I have resurrected an ignition advance/retard control rod assembly, but cannot work out where it lies in relation to the steering column. Only a few pics in the magazines show the top end of the control clearly, and they all differ in the placement The logical place is atop the column, and is the on...

There are two balls that live in that hole, and no spring. However they cannot both be in there at the same time when all is assembled (no room for two). When everything is assembled properly there is one ball half in and half out, lining up with one of the circular grooves in one of the outer rods....

I have 4 gearboxes to play with, one of which is now restored, using some bits from others. There are some intriguing differences in these, which may be of assistance in dating any non-original gearbox in your car or spares. Boxes 1 & 2 came as separate loose items with OHC engine blocks 19383A ...

Forget to add in that post that I believe I have found what the wee hole in the alloy bell housing flange and the depression in the iron bell housing are for. They would line up nicely with the cable terminal on a starter when fitted, so probably a clip on the alloy part to hold the cable coming fro...

OK, I'll buy the idea of the throttle spring anchored to the starter cover strap, although I find that a bit "bush mechanic" given the sophistication (complexity) of just about everything else mechanical on a Minor. (I judge complexity by comparing the work of Bill Morris with that of Herb...

As I am rebuilding from a disparate pile of old bits, I keep finding things that I don't know about. Where do the clutch and brake pedal return springs anchor? My guess is a bracket of some sort attached by one of the bell housing bolts. If this is so, can anyone provide a pic or sketch of such a fi...

Ian, I was busy working on gearboxes, taking photos along the way, when my wife brought the mail in, including the latest mag. Amazingly there was the article describing what I was doing, and with almost identical pictures! The only bit missing was the selector info, so I will look forward to hearin...

Who can let me in on the correct method / sequence to refit the selector forks onto the 3 rods in the gearbox top (1929 3 speed). I have pics of the correct rod/selector placement, but as with all such beasts there is a trick to getting the detent balls fitted. In this case this is specially relevan...

Thanks Martin, you confirmed my thoughts. I finished up using a long-series 1/4 inch drill down beside the pedal shaft and into the bush in 2 places on a diameter. This allowed me to free up the bush enough to bash it out of the housing. Of course the drill ran off a bit towards the softer alloy, le...

I am in the process of stripping an early gearbox (with the handbrake on it), which has a lot of rust and other gunk. My question is how does one remove the clutch pedal shaft from the bell housing? I suspect it involves removing the bush on the pedal end, thus giving enough wriggle room to remove t...

Hi Ian, That's interesting about the bushing for the drive pinion. I will be aiming for rollers, but will keep the alternative in mind. Re the flexible coupling, your info reinforces my memory of ones seen on other people's cars. Many of the parts I acquired came from a car which had been given to a...