Vintage Minor Register

John Nagle has had new zinc panels cut for his firewall, the company concerned now has the detail stored and can make more if required. John is also looking into getting the brass strips that go between scuttle and bonnet made up and I suggested to him that it might be better to get a batch done, any takers?...

Hi[/b I wonder how much the firewall cost per pair,,

Colin

£30 each side I think, or £30 a pair! Will let you know in due course...

Here we are, just picked my firewall up. Very good, all drilled etc. and in thicker zinc that the originals, £30.00 per pair excludes the plywood core...

where in the country would i have to travel to . They look really nice, mine originals are galvanised

COLIN

John Nagle who organised them is in Reading but I could try and get a price for sending them to Yorkshire by weighing mine and taping them to a square of plywood for rigidity in transit/using for replacement? Send me your postcode if you want me to. Toby

Toby,

Are we absolutley sure that the cut-outs and holes are correct? There are several variants - scuttle tank and otherwise, centre radiator tie rod and dual rods, etc. The OHC's had their coil on the scuttle and no oil can. SV Minors had different sized cut-outs. The OHC MInors had a rectangular cut-out at top/centere for wiring. The '34's had their brake master cylinders mounted on the scuttle, and I could probably think of more variations on the theme.

Looking at the photo, I see a small rectangular cut-out roughly where the nearside bronze throttle cross-rod mounting attaches which I have not seen before, and there is a fairly large diameter hole near the offside triangular support which I don't recognize.

So let's be a little bit careful here. It might be better to produce blanks and then use your tatty original as a drilling pattern. Just cut out the piece for the steering column and advance/retard rod and leave it at that?

One more microscopic detail from the Anorak Department!

The two 'feet' of the original firewalls were finished off with small rectangles of galvanized steel bent into a U-shape and soldered under the feet to protect the lowest parts of the plywood! Not vital, but you should see them on your original firewall.

These were produced for a 34 tourer.

Makes sense. Is that large hole on the right for the pipe from the master cylinder? If so, a bl**dy big pipe. No wonder the '34 hydraulic brakes were so good.

The '34 master cylinder is mounted under the floor on the chassis cross member.

Trevor,

Your are right - creeping senility or too many martinins to blame! I was thinking about the LWB OHC Minor which has the master cylinder under the floorboards, but the reservoir is a separate tin bolted to the firewall. (So the LWB Minors - or at least the OHC versions had a different firewall again.)

Does your '34 have a large hole in the firewall like the one shown above?

It does, it would be for the wiring loom to pass through.

Interesting. It is near central on the OHC's (square cut-out at the top) and also near central on all the pre '34 SV's. I wonder why it was shifted so far right for 1934?

Heres' the '33 firewall on my McEvoy: