Vintage Minor Register

Is there a different drop arm for the Minor?
When i trial fitted the oil filter conversion from S/V for the MGM I saw a little problem, It touches the steering (see picture)





Is the M type drop arm different ?

Regards,
Halbe

I think that the M Type has the steering column fitted at a shallower rake (angle) than the Minor which would make the steering drop arm move forward and with it the steering arm and thus clearing the oil filter. On my Jensen Minor I found that the steering drop arm was touching the track rod and wearing it badly, its only a tube not solid. I cured the problem by moving the track rod from on top of to underneath the steering arms after checking that ball joint were tight to stop the track rod falling off. I believe that Flexolite also make an oil filter conversion for Minors.

Having just looked at the picture on the Prewar Minor site have you considered moving the steering rod to the underside of the nearside steering arm. That should give you a little more clearance under the filter. Have you got the right thickness front and rear engine mountings? Library computer time has run out!!!!!

With this S+V system, does changing the oil filter mean you have dismantle the steering?

Ian

Hello Ian,

Sports & Vintage stock this conversion for the M, so i suppose you can change the filter without taking the drag link of the drop arm.
Taking the drag link of the drop arm is rather easy with the parallel fitting, and a small price to pay for this rather neat conversion
Give Mike a call if you want to be sure.



I'm far more concerned about the lack of room on full right lock , an M type drop arm might be the solution or maybe a new one made to the right spec.
How thick are the engine front mounting rubbers ?

Regards,
Halbe

Halbe,
Looking at your last photo shows that the canister will easily unscrew without removing any links. I did wonder about the pump though; should it have the original plate between the pump and the alloy casting? I would expect the soft alloy to wear quite rapidly. It is certainly a neat fitting.
The rubbers under the front engine supports just need to be the right size for the starting handle to line up nicely with the dog.
Cheers,
Ian

This is all fine and good, but has anyone thought about what happens when you go over a really big bump................. the steering arms will move upwards, and come into very close proximity with the filter.............mmmmmmmmm

Ian is right you need to have the steel plate in between the pump and the adapter. This needs to be quite flat to get a good seal and have a hole drilled in it at the appropriate place.

Bumps as Ronald says are a problem, I dented the oil filter on my M type quite easily with this set up although I did have the deeper gear set.

cheers
Jeremy

The filter adaptor which I use on my M-type , while not unlike the S&V example,is a slightly different design and allows more clearance.It was supplied by Barrie Dean.As you can see, clearance is not an issue.





This adaptor also needs a flat steel plate between adaptor body and oil pump.The oil pump in this case is the deeper J2 MG type but still plenty of clearance.

Hello Sam,

Looks like your conversion is the one to go for!
Of course i have the steel cover for the oil pump and i'll fit it when the engine is ready.
Do you have the contact details for Barrie Dean, I think Thijs and Cathelijne from the MG workshop might like to have that as well

Thanks very much for the information

Kind regards,
Halbe

the issue with bumps reminds me of a landrover i owned that had an amateur v8 conversion, I added an oil cooler to try and stop the overheating, it had a take off between mounting plate and filter which lowered the filter. Went over a bump and knocked the spin off cannister off. Doh!

halbe wrote:Hello Sam,

Looks like your conversion is the one to go for!
Of course i have the steel cover for the oil pump and i'll fit it when the engine is ready.
Do you have the contact details for Barrie Dean, I think Thijs and Cathelijne from the MG workshop might like to have that as well

Thanks very much for the information

Kind regards,
Halbe

I'd like this in formation as well - it woukld be useful to put it in the Magazine.

I 'phoned Barrie this evening and he has three or four adaptors on the shelf.The design is good enough (in my opinion) to make another batch worthwhile. He says a chap who lives close by has two Minors fitted with them.Anyone on the Register? At present they are £70 each but they are not subject to VAT.

Barrie's address -

Barrie Dean,143 St. Alban's Rd., Arnold, Notts.,NG5 6GT Telephone 0115 9208416

Barrie's computer is out of action at present but when it works his email address is baz_jan@hotmail.co.uk

Thanks Sam. That is probably Brian Maeers with two modified Minors. I'll check.

Halbe,I wonder if there is possibly a shallower oil filter which would fit the adaptor in your picture. Barrie Dean's adaptor takes a Renault filter (Clio I believe) like this one -



This is just a thought, but it looks like in this case there may be a shallower version which might interchange -



In the example above, a Renault Clio 99 oil filter - Renault part UV 82 00 867 976 - I cannot as yet confirm that it will fit Barrie's adaptor though it looks as though it could.

Perhaps you are already using the shortest filter you can find but it may be worth looking into the possibility of alternatives.