Take Nothing For Granted

[codekiddie]

Not Rover specific, but relevant to any fault finding in general.

I have not been posting on here much recently, as I have been too busy doing an engine rebuild on my partners 1936 Morris Eight Tourer.

How she looked before...

It belonged to her late father, so no pressure to get it right :shock:

She had new big ends, new mains, relined and re-bored to standard size, new pistons and rings, new timing chain etc...

Finally the engine was back in, and I went for that first nerve racking start-up..... Eventually she fired up, but was running extremely roughly so I tried adjusting the mixture, slow running etc... in a bid to smooth out the problem, but to no avail

On top of that, when you switched off, and then tried to restart, she was having none of it :cry:

Since these are fairly basic engines, there isn't really a great deal to go wrong. I re-checked the valve clearances which were fine, the timing which was where it should be, I had fitted an electronic ignition before the rebuild so no points to check, and a new coil was also installed before the rebuild. I definitely had HT, as it gave me a belt when I was trying to check it by holding the coil lead near to the engine whilst cranking, but did show me a spark as well.

When I checked the plugs they were completely sooted up, which seemed to imply very rich mixture, but cleaning and re-fitting them had no real effect, and the only way the car would even start in the first place was if I had the mixture very rich

I decided I would reset the mixture to where it should be, clean the plugs again, and use my colourtune to see what was going on in there, but when I turned her over I got nothing, no sign of even a spark down the colourtune tube :shock:

I decided to change the new coil I had installed for the old one I had removed, and see if it made any difference.

Wow. What a difference. She started without hesitation, and purred like a kitten:- RESULT A little tweak of the mixture and slow running and she was perfect.

The moral of the story:- "Just because it's new, doesn't mean it's any good" :x

And how she looks now (with the old coil in place)

New coil in the bin, and another on order from a different supplier

 

[stina]

Wow , your absence from the forum is excused . I'm pleased with my old Man if he buys me a take away now and then , let alone rebuilding me a car ! Lets have some more pics of the old thing

 

[Talago]

Excellent job. That engine looks great.
A very true story. Take nothing for granted.
A number of years ago my oil light was constantly on. Engine sounded ok so I bought a new sender unit and fitted it. Oil light still on. I was actually starting to remove the engine when my wife asked me how did I know the new sender unit was ok. What would she know?
Anyhow. Made me think and I went and bought another new one. Fitted it and light went out. Has been ok for 22 years now.
Had similar experiences with condensers too.
Just because it's new does not mean it is any good.

 

[codekiddie]

Lets have some more pics of the old thing

Glad to Stina

Here's a selection from the approximate 1000 I took :shock: :shock: :shock:

A quiet 'Family' day in :shock:

It wasn't me it was the kids, I saw them do it!!!

Ah! There it is.

A surprisingly short time later...

Cleaned and re-painted the front frame area.

All engineering work done and ready for some....

Paint

Mmmm. New shiny parts....

New clutch seated on the custom made tool :? (We've all made one at some point)

Finally re-united with the gearbox, (which was also overhauled and painted)

And ready to go back in.

Gently does it...

We're there

Rad in place

Today's little task was to get her dressed again

And finally with all her clothes back on

You had to feel sorry for my partner. At first I was just going to do a decoke with the engine in situ, so off came the head, next time she looked in a wing had gone missing, as it made for easier access to the side valves, then the rad came out, so I could get to the front easier, and finally I gave in and pulled her out for a complete rebuild.

She kept saying "Every time I look in here something else is missing from the car!!!"

Strange thing is that I could also hear her late father saying all sorts of things about me pulling his car apart :shock: :shock: :shock:

Excellent job. That engine looks great.

Thanks

I was actually starting to remove the engine when my wife asked me how did I know the new sender unit was ok. What would she know?

I hope you didn't tell her she was right :shock:

 

[Mikep]

Fantastic job there Phil, very impressive

 

[Whitewash]

that is lovely, well done.

 

[adamjack]

Great work there ,and it is annoying when you buy a new item ,and it doesn't work !!

 

[drabbers]

Really thorough work.
I am always amazed at the scale of small capacity engines of this era.

Mark

 

[The Rovering Member]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Nice job.

 

[christopher storey]

It's a lovely little car, and now even lovelier. My first car was a 1934 Morris 8 series 1 , DHX 374 ,and that was followed by another series 1, BG 2909 . They were a delightful little engine . Incidentally , do you know what is the connection between that engine and the Jaguar XK ?

 

[testrider]

Finally re-united with the gearbox, (which was also overhauled and painted)

And ready to go back in.

Does the clutch pedal directly operate the release fork?

Nice little side project you have there, good work.

 

[codekiddie]

Thanks for all the comments, it is nice to have two completely different cars to work on.

Whilst doing this rebuild, I also did what I thought would be a quick look into water pooling on the inlet manifold gasket of the Rover, and an annoying oil leak which I thought was from the back end of the sump, and ended up removing and cleaning the rockers and covers, as well as they were extremely dirty :shock:

Ideally, If I had the time at the moment, I would have gone that little step further and removed the heads and cleaned them out as well, but that will all have to be a job for another time :? :? :?

At least I seem to have cured both the water issue, as it is bone dry there now, and the oil leak, as she has left no more mess on the garage floor 8) and she has also benefited from an oil and coolant change.

Does the clutch pedal directly operate the release fork?

Nice little side project you have there, good work.

In a word:- Yes.

 

[ghce]

Following this thread with interest, always nice to see work being done on old vintage (almost veteran cars).
Currently I am am in the throws of having to remove the gearbox out of my 1933 Austin 10/4 as all sorts of nasties are starting to become apparent with a growing rapidity and the tech and ethos of your car (wife's ) is almost identical to my own hopefully I will post a similar thread to document my progress in the coming weeks.


Graeme

 

[SydneyRoverP6B]

Fabulous work there Phil.

Both good at mathematics and mechanics, top stuff!

Ron.

 

[codekiddie]

Incidentally , do you know what is the connection between that engine and the Jaguar XK ?

No, do tell.....

Fabulous work there Phil.

Both good at mathematics and mechanics, top stuff!

Ron.

More gold stars please Ron

 

[testrider]

Incidentally , do you know what is the connection between that engine and the Jaguar XK ?

Is it something to do with Harry Mundy?

 

[christopher storey]

No, but you're getting close

 

[smokin1942]

Takes me back to my first car in 1963, a Morris Eight saloon which even then was the best part of 30 years old and, not surprisingly, quite unreliable.
The SU petrol pump often used to pack up and required a sharp thumping to reactivate the points.
Having got thoroughly fed up with getting out of the stranded car, raising the bonnet and administering punishment to pump to restart it I evolved a cure!
Did I overhaul the pump as would have been sensible? Of course not - I was 21 and ignorant about such things to a degree I remember with shame.
No, I used to lean across the passenger seat, open the (rear hinged) door and slam it hard enough to restart the scuttle mounted SU.
It worked every time but the car was so decrepit that I doubt if I ever exceeded 35 mph in it, so generally the door slam would have been at about 15-20 mph.
If I'd tried at high speed I doubt if I would be here 50 years later boasting about it!
Hi ho

John

 

[codekiddie]

Takes me back to my first car in 1963, a Morris Eight saloon which even then was the best part of 30 years old and, not surprisingly, quite unreliable.
The SU petrol pump often used to pack up and required a sharp thumping to reactivate the points.
Having got thoroughly fed up with getting out of the stranded car, raising the bonnet and administering punishment to pump to restart it I evolved a cure!
Did I overhaul the pump as would have been sensible? Of course not - I was 21 and ignorant about such things to a degree I remember with shame.
No, I used to lean across the passenger seat, open the (rear hinged) door and slam it hard enough to restart the scuttle mounted SU.
It worked every time but the car was so decrepit that I doubt if I ever exceeded 35 mph in it, so generally the door slam would have been at about 15-20 mph.
If I'd tried at high speed I doubt if I would be here 50 years later boasting about it!
Hi ho

John

They all suffer from that, (including mine until I did service it), and the fault passed on to the later Minors as well, but someone came up with this excellent fix for it.

SU Pump Fix

 

[The Rovering Member]

Excellent!