Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Keith D]

Are the tyres 350 x 19 ?? If so, they are the same as the 1922 - 1934 Austin Seven size. Motorcycle tyres can be used, but they tend to wear badly. Avon sidecar tyres are just the job and they are easily available through any of the Austin Seven Clubs.

Keith

[roverdriver]

Reminds me of the first car that I owned that I could legally drive. (I had a Model TT before this, but never got it on the road.) A 1930 OHC version.



Here it is on a typical narrow suspension bridge in the North Island of New Zealand in 1962



One moonlit frosty night, sans windscreen and with the top folded down, I drove flat-out down a nearby highway. Road was straight and level and I managed 59 seconds between mile posts.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[Nic Jarman]

Hi Rick, I checked the Register site and it says the SV engine was produced 31 - 34 and the OHC 31. Far more SVs were made as they were a lot cheaper to make. The OHC engine was developed by Wolseley.

[Graeme]

If you cant find a headgasket could you not make a copper one?

[Rick]

I've managed to find one or two sources for headgaskets, so hopefully that shouldn't be a problem.

This afternoon was spent having a better look at the engine, with a view to freeing it off as it doesn't turn over. The head and manifolds came off surprisingly easily, once the bonnet had been removed.

Fortunately things don't look (c)rusty in there, the bores seem ok on initial inspection. Some of the valves looked a bit 'set' in position, so it seemed a good plan to remove them. A start was made on them late afternoon. Five are out now, with just the other three to do tomorrow hopefully. A few were quite badly stuck and took some persuasion before they could be pulled out.

The collets are minute and twice I thought I'd lost one handily they turned up on both occasions one was wedged behind the valve spring, buried in old gloopy oil, and the other had flown out and landed on the floor below the engine - phew.

A couple of the valves that have been removed look a bit thin on their seats, so I'll give 'em a clean and see how good or bad they really are. New valves may go on the shopping list. Once they are all out I can have another go to see if it'll turn over. The engine had been left for some time I think without the plugs in, so I'm hoping it'll just be a few stuck valves that stopped it turning over. If it isn't the valves causing the problem, then it'll either be a problem with piston(s) sticking in the bore(s), or main/big end bearings, which I'm hoping to avoid! I'd like to drop the sump sometime though (if it can be done with the engine in-situ....) to clean it out before putting fresh oil in.

I was a bit surprised that the wiring diagram shows the Minor having -ve earth electrics, I'd assumed most pre-war stuff was still +ve.

Will take some photos tomorrow of work so far....

Rick
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[Rick]

General pic of proceedings..



Some more progress yesterday. The remaining valves came out, although the last one put up a bit of a fight and needed 3 different compressors to get it out.

The valve spring compressor shown below looks like it may be home-made, but was perfect for getting 7 of the 8 valves and springs off



But no.8 was a struggle, as the valve was stuck to the collets. In the end this scissor-type compressor, made by Terrys, freed it up ok (aided by a gentle tap with a hammer here n there)



With the valves out, the engine still didn't want to turn. So off came the starter, and some gentle leverage on the flywheel ring gear finally got movement on the crank. Wooohoooo. I cleaned out the bores, oiled them, wiped them clean, and repeated a few times to clear out any detritus in the bores, so now the bores are good n oily and the engine turns over a treat. The wear lip isn't bad at all, and the bore walls are clean as a whistle.



The shopping list now comprises gaskets and new exhaust valves. The valves are thin on the edges, so if I can find some new ones I'll get them. Fortunately the seats in the block look fine, and will respond to some fine grinding paste without the need for re-cutting etc.

One little surprise was on the side of the block. Cast in raised letters is the date 29 2 1932 - I checked and 1932 was indeed a leap year

The rest of the day was spent scrubbing down the block and ancillaries, as they had several decades of claggy oil on them.

Rick
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[pigtin]

Beginning to look good Rick.
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Due to the onset of my mid eighties I'm no longer sprightly and rarely seen in my Austin special. I have written a book though. https://amzn.eu/d/7rwRRqL

[Penman]

Hi

[Rick]

[Rick]

New exhaust valves, sump gasket set and a handful of core plugs now on order, so hopefully I can collect them next week and make a start on re-assembly. I still need to order a head gasket, that'll have to come from somewhere else. It seems engine and transmission parts for the 30s Minors are getting a little thin on the ground, so if anyone has any spare bits they no longer need, let me know pls

R
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[Rick]

Spent yesterday a.m. de-coking the Morris' head, some of the carbon was really stubborn but came off ok in the end. Some of the waterways were blocked, so I prodded them clear as best as possible then flushed them through. I'm not entirely sure how I'll go about cleaning out the waterways in the block (perhaps a mix of something in the water once the engine is back together will do it?). Being thermo-syphon, with no pump to force the coolant around the system, they'll need to be as clear as possible

R
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[Rick]

I picked up new valves and core plugs yesterday so soon I can make a start on re-assembling the top end (once I've got some gaskets).

I've noticed a few period modifications to the car now - lever arm dampers up front, telescopics at the rear, and it has been upgraded to a four speed 'box from a '34 model. All quite useful mods so I can't see me changing them any time soon.

Started stripping and cleaning the carb yesterday evening (as in the other thread about SUs). It looks in good nick and only needs a light clean.

The head cleaned up ok:



Rick
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[47Jag]

Rick,

That's an unusual tightening sequence on the head. Normally you would tighten from the centre out in a crisscross.

Art

[Nic Jarman]

Hi Rick, I think the really fun part of having these really old cars is fixing them in the same manner as they would have been in the 30s. I have just fixed my petrol tank by soldering a small plate on the bottom. It looks like your petrol pump has been replaced at sometime as the 30s SU pump had a brass body, I found a brass body at one of the shows and the seller wanted £70 for it, he didn't know if it worked. There is a price for needing something and a price for wanting it.

[Rick]

hadn't realised that about the pumps, I've a spare 6v pump somewhere but thats a later one too - as the MM isn't 100% original spec anyway, I don't think I'll lose too much sleep over the incorrect pump, but I'll keep my eye open at the shows

R
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