Squire's voitures

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Drum
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Re: Squire's voitures

Post by Drum »

Remove the shoe retaining clips. Leave the spring at the cylinder on. Free up the shoes at the other side while keeping them behind the hub. Put the other spring on and lever the shoes back in behind the plate with a big screwdriver.
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Re: Squire's voitures

Post by The Reverend Bluejeans »

I wouldn't fart about with a 1098 head, it makes bugger all difference. Well, about 3 bhp on a 998 Mini - been there, done that. You can still find a 12G295 head (998 Cooper, Midget, TC 1100) for reasonable money and they do give a very noticeable gain. I'd also consider a better camshaft.The Kent 246 is superb in these giving extra torque and more power. With a 9.5:1 compression you should see a real 50-55 bhp on a single SU. The skinny original is okayish but a 1.5" HS4 makes a real difference.

It's not about speed, just about having more effortless performance, freer revving and the same economy. Even if you use the 1100 head, I would still fit a better cam. Valves that open earlier, open wider and for longer - all good stuff.
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Re: Squire's voitures

Post by fried onions »

A big push forward was the result of countless hours of prep work. A new heatshield with all surrounding gaps covered by Denso tape, new old stock Unipart single-piece exhaust, new hangers and cleaned and painted the remaining brake backplate.
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The heatshield is a notorious rust-trap on these and the floor in that area has already been repaired. The 'asbestos' traps water thrown up by the wheel and evidently the heat from the silencer is not enough to dry it out... so hopefully the Denso tape will prevent any water ingress and not catch light with the heat.

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The Unipart exhaust is a much better fit than the previous exhausts and where it passes through the engine bay there is now adequate clearance. There are signs of rubbing from the previous pipe which would explain an unpleasant resonance into the car which disappeared when taking a sharp left-hander at speed. It was a quiet car when that happened. I'll also replace the engine mounts when I fit the Gold Seal, as I believe the engine has dropped a bit.

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Should have the axle in situ these next few days if not connected up.
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Re: Squire's voitures

Post by mercrocker »

Some (if not all) of the commonly available engine mounts are reportedly of variable quality, might pay to look out for some originals.....
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Re: Squire's voitures

Post by fried onions »

I've practically finished this axle - just got to fit the main brake pipe which is under preparation. I transferred the remaining side's brake gear over and this time the short stout spring went on easily. So I tackled the other side I'd previously used a longer spring on, and that also went on without any drama. I must've been having a Monday morning/Friday afternoon moment when I did it.

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The original old axle is well and truly worn out. The support brackets, another rust-trap, have been eaten away on one side, and the other side is packed solid with dried mud and dirt. You should be able to fit a finger through under the axle tube to the other side of the bracket.


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As so many of these cheap mass-produced cars have hopelessly rusted away I am determined to do everything within my powers to prevent this happening again, which should be easy given I'll have a practically re-built car. I just hope the diff oil seals work and the brake shoes don't become contaminated like they did before. To this end I applied Wellseal to the paper gaskets when I renewed them.
I do not believe the Morris Minor was a good car. They quickly wear out and there are a number of design features which turn out to be weak points. But, they are still Moggies and can be forgiven their faults to an extent.
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Re: Squire's voitures

Post by Asimo »

As for that Unipart exhaust, my recollection of them is that they seldom lasted two winters. They were cheap enough for that not to matter so much back then but now they are unobtainable and most alternatives don’t fit, is there anything that can be done to prolong an exhaust’s life usefully?
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Re: Squire's voitures

Post by mercrocker »

I wish I knew. The mild steel system on my Minor has done about ten winters but there is no earthly reason why it should have done, I have never found any feasible way of extending their life, just been lucky with this one. It's been repaired a couple of times but that was mostly down to external damage.
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Re: Squire's voitures

Post by angrydicky »

I remember a Minor project my dad bought about 15 years ago having that very distinctive type silencer on the original (fucked) exhaust when he got it. Never seen another one until now.
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Re: Squire's voitures

Post by Hooli »

Too late now it's fitted really but would it be worth taking to a stainless exhaust place and having a copy made?
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Re: Squire's voitures

Post by The Reverend Bluejeans »

Minors were good cars, but the Beetle and then Japanese cars illustrated how long a car could run for without having to rebuild half of it.

Unipart exhausts fitted ok but the silencer design was appalling from the power/economy point of view plus they rotted out quickly. In the eighties, a single box Mini exhaust was less than a tenner and Unipart ones not much more.

A properly fitting stainless system is the way to go.
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