Vintage Minor Register

The c1932 telephone engineer’s vans had the early type wings – see picture – and the distinctive overhead line observation window – a very purposeful provision. The mystery van is possibly a fairly modern creation based on a MM 1934 model chassis and various earlier parts – wings, rad, wheels, lamps...

Ian - Yes I agree - hence my suggestion to skim 0.125 ins off each of the couplings - hopefully spares. I think there is enough to do this safely and it would be easier than shortening the prop shaft. The person I spoke to resorted to undoing the spring U bolts and then fitting fitting the couplings...

Chris
Congratulations to you and your family on the new arrival. You can tell that this is a male only domain otherwise you would have provide the weight and name of the baby - essential info for women but I don't know why...

George Bush was in Ljubljana on Tuesday - is that near you?

Ken

I have not been able to contact Roger of Mad Metrics today, but thanks to Sam providing a his friend's contact telephone number, I can now confirm that the 8/39 ratio cw/p gear sets as used by Sam and others and as provided by Mad Metrics, are the large types. These can be used in the MM axle but so...

Very interesting, but in spite of this encouraging note from Sam I am still unclear whether the 8/39 sets are like the 1933-36 MG 8/39 sets - ie the big gears, or a direct replacement for the M Type 9/44. I have tried to contact Roger for clarification but so far have not got through to him. I will ...

Ian - Jack Prior was a long term RAF man and a friend of mine. He wrote the article you mentioned for me and I passed it onto Harry and the Morris Register who published it as a pull-out supplement to The Journal. He was an excellent technical writer. His article for The [MR] Journal on white metal ...

I agree that the 9/44 gears are fragile - that is presumably why they were changed. On the other hand by the time we all used them they were very old and I would hope that modern maufactured examples would be able to see us all out. Mike Dowley runs his MG M on 9/44 and he acknowledges that it suits...

The problem with the c1933-35 MG MMM larger final drive gears is that they require an extended differential case nosing. The casing size is the same but an alloy spacer approx. 0.25 inches thick is added to the front of the pinnion housing along with the adjusting shims. The connection to the standa...

One further point of clarification relating to Ian's last posting. The Crown wheel and pinnion set ratios that Mike Dowley has in stock are for 1933-35 MG MMM cars. These do not fit Minors without some modification as the crown wheel and pinnions are larger than those used in the Minor/Eight cars. Ken

Ian Thanks very much for taking this up matter with your usual energy after my email corespondence with you. It would be really good if something came of it. The difference between using the lower ratio sv Minor/Morris Eight etc cw/pinnion sets is quite noticeable with the ohc engine. The potential ...

It is surprising how well the hub caps respond to some restoration. These two pictures show one original cap which was very dented before restoration in the 1960s. Harry decided not to copy my 'design' exactly. The need to take out the caps will inevitably arise to gain access to repiar spokes or re...

Sorry - I unfortunately seem to have klled this subject off which is a pity as it is potentialy a good one for people to add to. Short journeys can be very memorable - like the one I had when three young friends of mine were in my Minor going to a pub near my home in Essex in the 1960s when an explo...

The proposed book title is 'Enjoying the Original Morris Minor' and has been in preparation on and off for about 10 years! The VMR and its web site rather took the wind out of the project's sails. I am however being encouraged by other members to get on with it. It will of course cover cars other th...

Tim simply didn't like the car, a feeling that has to be considered with his almost lifetime passion for his supercharged Lagonda special with a pre-selector gear box! I drove his Minor a year ago and the engine sounded good. The brakes were binding and in need of tweaking. The seats were twice as h...

With 43 years worth of drives to choose from this is a difficult call, but I suppose the most memorable has to be the 1800+ mile drive through France and into Spain and back with a college pal in 1966 in my 1930 saloon. I had to change the dynamo on a campsite in Beauvais on day two – (thanks to Har...