Mini Valve clearances and new valvecover gasket

The valve cover on the Mini seemed a bit leaky and while the cover was off it seemed like a good idea to adjust the valve clearances. 

I'm sure there should have been a rubber bush in there. 

Valves adjusted

New gasket

Proper new rubber seals

Austin Seven Special fuel pump

Strangely, after several months without use the Seven refused to start. I soon noticed the lack of the SU fuel pump's usual regular ticking sound and no whacking or smacking made any difference, so It was time to remove the pump for inspection. This was not so easy as the pump was tucked away deep in the footwell. I decided to move the pump to a more accessable position in the engine bay, making future inspections and roadside fixes much easier. The pump was dead allright, so I decided to fit a new SU pump. I used the existing holes to attach a bracket for the pump. I also noticed a leak from the fuel cock, also tucked away far into the footwell, so now the tank had to come out as well. Fortunately most of the Ecomaxx had leaked away, so removal of the tank was fairly easy, so I could change the seal on the bench, before refitting the Tank.  

 

Austin Seven Snertrit in a Jeep

 

Here's our Jeep CJ5 trying to blend in with all the other cars. Sunny autumn weather and lots of beautiful cars made for a pretty autumn forest drive.

 

British Car club day Houten 2024

 

Morris Minor Head gasket

After a nice Sunday drive and nearly home, suddenly the engine made a terrible noise. I almost seemed as if a bearing had failed or a piston had come adrift. Immediately I stopped, and it was very clear that only the two front cylinders were firing, but otherwise the engine seemed alright. No oil or water leaks at all, so I decided to slowly drive home.At home I once again determined that there really was no compression on cylinders 2 and 3. Because there was no steam coming out of the exhaust and no pressure on the crankcase, it looked like the head gasket between the two rear cylinders had burnt through. 

The head came off easily. The question now was of course whether the head and block were still straight or needed to be skimmed. With my vintage steel ruler and the smallest feeler gauge I couldn't find any bumps or dents, so I decided the head and block were still level. 

After some thorough cleaning, light sanding with a small block, I replaced the head with a new gasket. I tightened the head bolts in the correct sequence as discribed in manual I adjusted the valve clearance using the well-known rule of nine. When everything was in place, it was a bit of an anti-climax because the engine started without a fuss.

 

I also found a small vacuum leak between the manifold and carburetor. This was caused by a strange device, probably fitted to improve fuel economy. I replaced this with the correct gasket, so now the Minor runs much better again.