NV 2803 - 1933 McEvoy Special

[Ian Grace]

This is the Special unearthed in Ipswich last July after being laid up since 1956. A 1933 Jensen-bodied SV Minor - soon to be on its way to VMR HQ for a sympathetic restoration:




And just this week, the engine was tracked down 20 miles away and here is the manifold:



Which positively identifies the car as a Jensen-bodied Model 70 McEvoy Special. This is a finned McEvoy downdraught manifold. Now to find the carburetter! I'll post more details fo the car here as they come to light.

[Highlander]

Dear Ian, I only have a good core for an ohv minor. Could you pleaseput an ad on the site for me. My telephone number in UK is:-
0208 393 6732. As you suggest I will start at £80.

[Simon]

Ian,
Did you know that Richard Calver's book "A History of JENSEN - All the Models " is now available in the UK through the Jensen Owners@ Club regalia@joc.org.uk Price £45.00 408 soft backed pages (9.7 by 6.6 in ) ISBN 13 978-0975129-1-11 Information from May 2008 The Automobile.

[Ian Grace]

The resistor/fuse unit below is fitted to the firewall of the McEvoy and appears to be original equipment, the dynamo being the type without the external resistor unit. But it looks nothing like anything I have seen on any other SV Minor. Can anyone identify it from a period Lucas catalogue perhaps? Or better still, does anyone have a spare unit? It looks like it should have a cover of some sort.

[Highlander]

Ian, I have never seen anything like this on anything!!! Is there a round cover? Is it Lucas? Highlander.

[Ian Grace]

Those are precisely my questions! There is no cover with it, but it must surely have had one, although it is not clear how it would have been secured. And I don't know if it is Lucas or Rotax or something else. It would have been fitted by McEvoy, as it is not an original Morris item. I just hope that someone will at least recognize it.

[Toby]

try "the electrical parts company", lucas specialiasts, i think!

[Simon]

Also try Green Sparkplug Co as I know they have old Lucas catalogues.

[Ian Grace]

Here's another photo - actually showing the broken cover. It looks like the actual unit is sound, and I may be able to turn up another cover and securing knob to replace the broken/missing one. Probably simpler than trying to find a replacement. But it raises the question - why would McEvoy have gone to all the trouble to fit one - to a complete driving chassis delivered from Cowley? The scuttle has a couple of other quirks - a fitting that passes two Bowden cables through the firewall - the first is the mixture control for the downdraught carb., and the other operates the lever of a starter switch - also mounted on the firewall.

[Ian Grace]

Here's the whole scuttle, which shows several McEvoy mods. You can see the bracket that is used to lower the rake of the steering column, and also note the sleeve and split pin on the ignition advance/retard rod - extended to match the extension to the steering column - similar to the M Type, the column if which was extended about 5.5".

Also visible just below the chassis plate are the pair of Bowden cables mentioned in the previous post. Note that the slot where the original mixture control cable comes through the firewall is still there, but its clamp has been discarded by McEvoy. And below that, the cable-operated starter button and two starter cables. On the right, the original Petrolift, and I hope to get this working. At middle left is the oil can holder, and at top left, there is a small spring clip - is this for the starting handle? I thought there should be two? The whole scuttle oozes originality - including the original factory wiring and wiring P-clips.

At the very top can just be seen the tool box which fits behind the firewall - roughly where the fuel tank would be on a scuttle-tank car. At the bottom of the image can be seen the bell housing of the 4-speed gearbox (which is fitted with a Derrington remote), but you can also just see that the splines on the input shaft are badly worn. Something will have to be done about that.



And while I'm about it, here's an image of the Gibson McEvoy showing the general layout of the 1 1/4" downdraught carb. and the finned manifold. Other engine mods. were polished ports, pistons and head (skimmed to increase compression ratio) and uprated valve springs.

[halbe]

Hello Ian,

nice pictures, looking forward to more from the restoration of this lovely car!

regards,
Halbe

[Ian Grace]

Thanks Halbe. I want this to be a high quality restoration, and one which brings the car to as original a condition as possible, because it is by far the most complete and original of the few surviving McEvoys. The only real modification that has been made is the conversion to hydraulics, which I plan to revert to cables and pulleys. Pulley brakes get a bad press, but are perfectly good if set up right, lubricated properly and all wear removed from the system.

The project is all the more interesting because the car has had such a sheltered life - it has only had two driving owners, and it has been hidden away and quite forgotten in Ipswich for over 50 years.

Edited to add that I plan to fit a 1932 radiator in place of the original '33 radiator because I think that the '32 radiator is far more aesthetically pleasing. This modification is reversible in about 30 minutes, so I'm quite happy to do it. I will keep the original 1933 radiator with the car, of course. Also, the car has a rather ungainly (in my view) valence at the rear - see photo at the top of this page. I don't plan to fit it, but, again, will preserve the original which could be fitted very easily.

The first Minor I ever saw was a McEvoy - the late Mike Gibson's 1932 car. I bought my first Morris (a 1937 8 tourer) from Mike in Bath in 1976, and he was restoring his car at that time - having spent 12 years on it by that point. At some point during those 12 years it was stored in a basement in Bristol - which flooded. Mike was unable to get to it for several weeks, by which time, the restoration had to be started over again! It was seeing this beautiful car that set me on the path to a lifetime of Minor ownership, and also a lifetime search for a similar car. So you can imagine my joy when I found NV!

Sadly, Mike and his wife Jane came to our Wedding in 1983, and Mike was on crutches, after having a good piece of one foot removed because of cancer. Two years later he died - far too young. He was a great man and true enthusiast and set me on a path of old car ownership for life. He is greatly missed. His car is now with his daughter Sarah in Spain.

Here's a wonderful photo of Mike's car as found, followed by a recent photo taken in Spain:

[Highlander]

Ian, As Halbe said - super pictures. I am not a Minor man (only six years ownership!!) but i have owned many original cars. On Humbers the starting handle, jack handle were clipped by large clips like a fuse clip. All oil cans I have seen have been on a shaped tray with a sprung spring 'loop' but you photo does not lie - how does the oil stay in the can? Nice winters day here in Surrey. Took Molly up to the Golf Club for Sunday lunch in the minor - Molly not all that keen but she was well dressed up and I drove home so she could havean extra drink!!! I had a glass or two but just hope the local police will not stop a vintage car. Highlander.

[Ken Martin]

Ian
Very interesting pictures and a great project, but your stated aim of doing ‘a high quality restoration, and one which brings the car to as original a condition as possible’ makes no sense when you plan to remove the original radiator and rear of the body for your aesthetic pleasure. Please think this one through again!
Ken

[Ian Grace]

Well, we'll see what it looks like with that big rear valence on it. It can be fitted or removed in moments. And I don't think too many Seattlites will know the difference!