Poisson's Motoring Mishaps

[TR4man]

Poisson96 said:

Waynester said:

Good to see one on the road, MM's always had such a distinctive exhaust sound!

The parrrrrrrp :P

Thanks for all the compliments

Ah yes the Moggie Rasp

Nice car, in good useable condition and I'll bet attracts more glances than any comparable modern car too.

[Fattyfat]

Poisson96 said:

It's a case of only metal really matters, electrics and trim are fairly easy and the mechanics are very simple. How much of a basket case we talking on the Fiesta?

Edited by Poisson96 on Friday 22 May 21:22

Any of the Minors we looked at (this is 15 years ago) were all unfortunately full of dodgy repairs plastered with underseal. All overpriced tat really. Anything remotely usable was beyond my 17 year old budget.

I still love the shape of the Minor and still feel it's an itch I need to scratch. I look after my fathers 1956 A35 (not that it ever needs much attention) and I'd say mechanically it's not dissimilar. The A series is a lovely little lump full of character and that era of car is quite nice to enjoy as a hobby. The A35 just doesn't have the same characterful looks though.

From memory the Fiesta needed some floor and arch repairs, paintwork and some mechanical stuff. All done at home on the driveway and good fun. Unfortunately the fez had spent it's 1st 10 years as a shopping hack for an elderly lady and the mighty 50bhp pushrod boat anchor didn't respond well to a 17 year old driving at 10/10ths everywhere

[slomax]

Fattyfat said:

I look after my fathers 1956 A35 (not that it ever needs much attention) and I'd say mechanically it's not dissimilar. The A series is a lovely little lump full of character and that era of car is quite nice to enjoy as a hobby. The A35 just doesn't have the same characterful looks though.

My fiancées parents have an A35. It was her mums first car so it probably been in the family for around 40 years. It was given to her by her father- he had a few and owned a garage maintaining them. There are loads of photos of it on family trips out etc. Its been laid up for about 10-15 years awaiting a resto. It still runs though! I imagine that it will be pushed over to me when we have somewhere to keep it garaged. It needs a bit of love. It will be a true family heir loom!

[Poisson96]

Huw has gone from barely firing to firing no more

Today started well, fetching the resources required to work on it. So bacon



And went to go and start Huw up. Jumped in, turned to stage 1 and fuel pump ticked away, then off and tried to fire. Not firing, but certainly tried. Several tries later me and old man switched places and finally it coaxed in to life after much faff



And so the music/swearing/spanners were cued



And this happened. This is the connection between the choke cable and the carb and it has sheared. Not that the choke was working before anyway. Bugger.



Anyyywayyy, we got the new choke cable sort of fitted, replaced the drivers seat webbing, put more screws in the interior in the rear to hold it in better, fitted a boot floor, fitted a spare tyre holder, kurusted various areas, replaced the flasher motor (fitted a new one, didn't work, fitted another, didn't work, refitted the original, didn't work, fitted one of the others, didn't work, turned the connectors through 180 degrees (changing nothing really) and it worked), replaced the interior light, filled the holes on the drivers door with a new mirror, failed at removing the passenger side wing mirror, gave some of it a polish and decided other bits really were far to much effort for the state of the paint.

This final image is Huw deciding working is far too much effort, so we deduced air and fuel is in when trying to start but the spark is too weak. The coil has been painted silver (!) which suggests old age so a new one is in order.




Permission to say oh cock?

Edited by Poisson96 on Saturday 23 May 18:40

[J3JCV]

22 years ago I learnt to drive in a Morris 1000, took my test in it and subsequently drove it for many years. More recently we owned a Traveller as a daily which was such a good car.

I Love them, you will have fun and eventually be a driving god due to learning how to hustle 50bhp through the rear (pram) wheels on freshly wet roads.

[Poisson96]

Just remembered, we also got the fuel gauge working with a new sender.

Thanks again for all the compliments

[Poisson96]

A new day, another go. Absolutely not working, I think the spark is at fault (my guess distributor) but we have a Moggy specialist we know so it's off to him and getting fixed and tuned up At some stage I'll drive it properly

Edited by Poisson96 on Monday 1st June 08:26

[Poisson96]

IT LIVES! Apparently nothing was wrong Anyway it's in for a tune and some other work at a local specialists

[dxg]

Poisson96 said:

IT LIVES! Apparently nothing was wrong Anyway it's in for a tune and some other work at a local specialists

If the choke was broken, then might you have flooded it.

I remember doing that far too much when I started out, and cars still had manual chokes, and I was too eager on the accelerator trying to make the thing catch...

[Poisson96]

dxg said:

Poisson96 said:

IT LIVES! Apparently nothing was wrong Anyway it's in for a tune and some other work at a local specialists

If the choke was broken, then might you have flooded it.

I remember doing that far too much when I started out, and cars still had manual chokes, and I was too eager on the accelerator trying to make the thing catch...

I hope it is, it started first time this morning :/ Picking it up Monday

[muhnkee2]

hello from a brother minor owner in Singapore (via NZ and UK), have just finished rebuilding the carb (like yours my choke doesn't work, but its not such an issue in this heat).
I am off tomorrow morning for my first drive in six months, there are only five minors in singapore, so Kevin always draws a crowd (and throws a cloud of smoke)!
happy motoring!

[wibble cb]

One of my other Minors.....Jellie, as approved by Marmalade the cat.

I did get rid of the wrong door mirrors and numberplates, this was back in 1991, when MOT'd roadworthy Minors were 500 quid and only 200 to insure :sigh:



Its no longer on the DVLA computer, so not sure what happened to it.

[Poisson96]

Liking the above Minors, always good to see on the forum

Today we found the cause of Huw's bad/non-running. The carb had broken where the choke goes in, causing everything to be out of line. A secondhand carb was fitted and tuned, ready to go.



Huw now runs fine, and I got my first extended go in it today.

[Poisson96]

First show in Huw today, first show I have driven to. All went well until I got back and the quarterlight hinge failed :P

[EggsBenedict]

Lovely.

The A series is awesome. It's just so cheap! I guess the carb could have been pricey though. But weak spark issues you'd be all done for about 30quid with a new coil, dizzy cap, points and condensor.

Keep at it, and us updated! Really nice to read about something like this - cool car.

[Poisson96]

EggsBenedict said:

Lovely.

The A series is awesome. It's just so cheap! I guess the carb could have been pricey though. But weak spark issues you'd be all done for about 30quid with a new coil, dizzy cap, points and condensor.

Keep at it, and us updated! Really nice to read about something like this - cool car.

Secondhand carb from where Huw was fixed, £30 and £30 to fix all other outstanding issues.

Recently had the clutch adjusted so now have more than 1cm of play :P Brakes need more bedding before adjusting.

Many thanks for the praise, had a very very enjoyable drive and am as usual, hooked :P

Edited by Poisson96 on Tuesday 23 June 13:04

[Dr G]

My brother's first car was our great grandmother's 1948 Morris 1000 saloon in the same colour as yours.

Mine was a Mini 1000.

I have very happy memories of being surrounded by (and swearing it) more A-series bits than you could count. If you can drive well and keep one of those on the road then you can drive anything. A fantastic introduction to motoring.

A drop in electric ignition conversion is a cheap, quick and easy upgrade in reliability if you haven't already

Enjoy!

[l354uge]

Wow, I had a Morris Minor as my first car back in 2012, all the issues you're having sound like dejavu

I would list all the issues I had in 12 months, but It would clog up this thread haha, still, no regrets atall.

Still the best 1st car ever and it taught me so much about driving and repairing cars.

Colin has been SORN since March 2014, R.I.P NTK287J

Lovely car though, let me know when you get your first old person crying while they recall their own Morris

[Poisson96]

Not had a crying person yet :P And my ignition works for now so as they say in these parts if it ain't broke, don't fix it

[Poisson96]

Went to see the car today, went to sort some small things out.

First trial fitted a dashboard trim I found in a scrapyard. I say fit, it didn't

Then tried to source the annoying vibration at a certain frequency, I believe it's the exhaust rattling somewhere after finding some play in it. (Sounds like a metallic vibration)

Finally decided to wipe down some of the car that needed it. The drivers seat is erm interesting....



Mmmm, could eat your dinner off that....if you wanted a week off work.

A quick question for all the strange people like me. Which side should the loom be on when leaving the engine bay under the bulkhead? Mine is on the left as pictured but others have it on the right