Vintage Minor Register

I wish the re-assembly could be done this fast ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1KN44R- ... re=related

Time for a bit of an update. Nothing done since last October, but that is about to change. With the chassis completely stripped, it's tempting to get it blasted, painted and start building it up to a roling chassis. However, I've decided to restore the body first. It will need carefully jigging up on the chassis, so I think it would be better to do that, and get all of the sawdust out of the way before restoring the rolling chassis. The reason I've been unable to make progress in recent months is due to the winter weather and also the cramped garage with all of the car and aircraft projects. But I'm planning to take the Sprite over to our son's house this weekend which should then give me space to set up the McEvoy chassis frame on stands and start to build up the new floor. More shortly.

Tonight I dug out the two radiators I have for this car. See below.

The top one is the radiator that came with the car - with a 1933 radiator shell fitted. On close inspection, this radiator turns out to be a 1931 season Flatnose, straight-sided radiator that has been cleverly fitted into the more rounded 1933 shell - see the spacers. But also notice that the holes for the attachment screws don't line up with the holes in the earlier radiator sides! This can also be seen by the misalignment of the holes for the radiator tape. So the whole thing turns out to be a bit of a bodge.

The second radiator is a standard 1932 radiator, which should be the same core as the 1933. But also notice the marked difference in the length of the top water outlets. The 1932 radiator seems to have been modified at some point with a longer top outlet jammed inside the broken remains of the original!

Although the cores of both of these radiators look sound (I haven't filled them with water yet), the steel parts, and in particular the steel feet, are in very poor condition.

If anyone has a better 1932/1933 radiator (like the lower one below), less shell, then I'd be very interested.

Does anyone have experience repairing/welding road spring eyes?

Yesterday I cleaned up both McEvoy front springs, with plans to fit them to the fabric saloon, as the fabric saloon's front road springs are very flat. Then re-temper the fabric saloon springs and fit them
to the McEvoy once the body is sorted.

The good news is that the springs are stamped April 1933 and May 1933 which tie in perfectly with the build date for the car of 25th May 1933. That got me thinking that they should really remain on the McEvoy - as they are not generic.

The bad news is that, although one of the springs is virtually perfect, the other has both eyes badly worn (can't remember which, but probably the gutter side!) - to the point that there isn't much metal left to support the car!

I may fit them to the fabric saloon short-term anyway, just so that I can keep it mobile while I have its springs re-tempered. So I'm now on the hunt for a local road spring guru here in Seattle.

One solution would be to make a new main leaf from a rear spring leaf as there seem to be many more rear springs about than good front springs. There must be people who can make springs in the USA !!

Thanks Simon,

That's a good idea regarding rear springs, but I don't have any spare rears here. But I should be able to have a new main leaf made, although I'm not sure which is more work - to pull the spring to pieces, including opening up the bent-over clamps or to weld and machine the eyes in the existing leaf.

I have put the word out locally this morning to find a local spring restorer.

Interested in your thought that fronts wear worse than rears, as new rears are available (same as the M), but fronts are not (the M front spring is flatter). If there was sufficient demand, it would be good to commission a batch of new fronts. Any interest?

What I do have is the mould for the front spring rubber buffers. I could run off a batch of these if anyone is interested.

I suggested using a leaf from a rear spring is because they are imperial size ( which I am led to believe is difficult to get hold of) and the leaves are held together with clips and through bolts. I seem to have acquired two extra sets over the years. Perhaps it was with the SV Minors that Morris started to use fold over type clips to save money !!

Front spring rubber buffers were available from Harry Edwards so I expect Ian Harris will keep them now.

If I get time I will see how many front spring main leaves can be made from a rear spring.

Thanks for that Simon. I will look in to sourcing the necessary leaves and may well get them cut/ends rolled in the UK - easier to find someone over there to do the work (any suggestions?) and the shorter they are, the less the postage will be! The SV spring clips would be simple to replicate if they break when opening them. On these springs, at least, they are simple steel strips with an indent that lines up with an indent on the topmost leaf to locate them.

The rear leaves may also need curving a little more to match the front leaves too.

Incidentally, I've been in touch with Tony Margel over getting some spokes sent over here. A full set for five wheels comes out at a hefty 5 to 6 kg for 180 spokes and nipples.

Time for an update on the McEvoy.

With the Two Hemispheres Rally coming up in not much more that 18 months, I've set that as the target to have the McEvoy running. It is hard to think of a better deadline.

Also, here in Redmond, Debbie and Mark Borman have set the same target to rebuild their Hundred Pound Minor, which actually belongs to Debbie's elderly father, who is not in the best of health. They would like to present it to him at the Rally.

So we'll be pooling our resources and rebuilding the two cars side by side, which should be quite an operation. The biggest challenge will be the two bodies - both of which are quite rotten and will almost certainly need 100% new ash frames. On the plus side, Debbie and Mark's Queen City Autos is probably the best bodywork shop in the State, and with state of the art spray shops, so the finished articles are bound to look spectacular.

As so as Christmas is behind us, we'll get cracking, and I know there are some original parts needed for both cars. I'll post a Wants list here as soon as I have it sorted. In particular, I know I'm looking for backplates, a better radiator and the correct headlamps - although I do have two fluted glasses.

Right now I have the chassis frame completely stripped and ready for blasting and painting, but I might wait to use it as a jig to build the two new bodies before finishing it.

The sad news of last night impressed on me that if I don't get on with my projects, who knows if there will be time to enjoy them. Tempus fugits for all of us.

Incidentally, for those of you patiently waiting for Hundred Pound or McEvoy body patterns/drawings, these should now be ready quite soon.

Can anybody help with any of the following:

Rear camshaft bearing rear triangular pressed steel cover
Dynamo support bracket
One tappet cover knurled screw
Starter motor to bell housing spacer ring
Brake pedal (cable brakes)
Pair of good front road springs
Pair of SV headlamps (I have the fluted glasses)
Three off brake backplates (I have three OHC backplates for swapsies)
4 off brake SV cam levers
Radiator cap without calormeter hole

Edited to add:

Pair of front engine bearer feet and four bolts to attach them to the block
Clutch withdrawal bearing bronze housing
Oil filler cap


Can anyone advise the best source of Magna hub caps? Riveted, not spot welded.

Thanks!

Got the backplates. Keith Montell has just sent three from Australia.

And Ian Harris tells me that he is planning to have ten sets of each of the two pulley post kingpins made next year. If anyone is in need, suggest you contact Ian without delay.

Now I have all I need to complete the conversion back to cables.

Christmas is officially over in the Grace household, as the last of the family flew out at the weekend.

So now back to important matters - including the McEvoy rebuild!

Tonight I removed the electric wiper motor from the windscreen so that the screen can be 'flat packed' and shipped to Wessex Workshops in the UK for restoration. This weekend, I'll be making a wooden packing case to ship it. In the meantime, I need recommendations where to sent the electric wiper motor for restoration. Any suggestions?

I also made contact today with a local company just south of Seattle that can pour white metal bearings - or babbit bearings as they are known in these parts. They specialize in Model A Fords, so I'm planning to take the block, crank, rods, etc. down to them shortly so they can take a look at the job. In the meantime, I'll be ordering the various engine internal bits I need - all except the pistons, which will wait until I know what the block can be bored to. +30 pistons came out.

I'm still looking for these SV engine items as a high priority:

The two cast front engine feet (that bolt into the front of the block)
The small triangular cover that fits over the rear camshaft bearing
The dynamo support bracket that bolts onto the head
A good tappet chest cover and one of the two knurled screw thingies that secure it into the block.
The ring-shaped spacer that fits between the starter motor and the rear engine housing. The one with three bolt holes through it.

One more thing - can anyone give me the specification (diameter,thread, length) of the two bolts that secure the water inlet pipe to the offside of the cylinder block? Mine are missing, but Ian Harris tells me he can supply if I tell him what I need.

Thanks to Toby Sears, I now have the dynamo bracket, the front engine feet, the tappet cover, a brake pedal, a radiator cap and a pair of correct headlamps.

I brought all of these back from England, except the headlamps which will be put in for restoration. I also brought back the re-lined brake shoes so I can now get on with restoring the axles and brakes - replacing the hydraulic brakes with the original cable brakes.

Just ordered two expanding reamers - 1/2" for the brake cam bushes and 5/8" for the kingpin bushes. Total with free shipping was US$33-01. I ordered them from Zoro in Canada. Seems a great deal - will report again when I have them to hand.

http://www.zoro.com/g/Adjustable%20Hand ... /00059514/

A bit more progress this morning. I stripped four backplates of the brake cams and fulcrum pins, etc, ready for blasting, painting and re-assembly. I then turned to the front axle assembly and started stripping it down, removing the hydraulic brake assemblies and backplates, to be replaced by the original type cable brake units. Of course, neither kingpin cotter would shift, so they will have to be drilled out.

I am still looking for any SV brake cam levers if anyone has any spare. I have four, but they are the early OHC type with less lean. I am also looking for a track rod - just the bare rod, if anyone has a spare. Mine is badly bent, and I'd rather not trust it to be straightened.

Now to clean up the hubs, check the bearings and strip down the four track rod ends to determine their state. A couple more sessions and I should have the front axle components all sorted and ready for re-assembly into a unit. Then for the rear axle.

Edited to add - just stripped the tracking into a million component parts. All serviceable except for the abovementioned bent track rod, and also all four track rod balls, none of which were too bad but all were worn and will be replaced. The track rod was mounted under the drop arm as with the M type to give clearance with the raked and lengthened steering column.