Morris Traveller Non-Starter

Classic car technician James has been assessing our 1967 Morris Minor Traveller. It came into the Bridge Classic Cars workshop as it would not start.

After charging the battery, James removed the spark plugs and cleaned and regapped them to the correct specification. The distributor cap was removed before the points and condenser were replaced. James then checked the timing and replaced the distributor cap and rotor arm along with the HT lead set supplied by the customer.

Once the battery charged, James started the car and found a fuel leak from where the fuel pipes joined the carburettors. This was removed and the pipe was replaced. The car was then restarted and checked for leaks and all was ok.

James carried out a short road test. He ran vehicle the car for a short time and it was running rough when hot and under load. After substituting the coil pack for a good known second-hand unit the car ran better and not lacking power. The car is now running and starts instantly as the customer requested.

Issues that James found during his assessment were:

• Corrosion on the nearside front inner chassis leg
• Corrosion on the nearside chassis to cross-member
• Corrosion on the nearside rear floor around the front of the spring mount
• Corrosion on the nearside rear floor to sill.
• Both rear wheel arch closing panels are corroded and holed
• The Nearside rear tyre has zero tread on the inside edge
• Offside rear brake binding
• Engine oil leaking from sump
• Gearbox oil leak from rear case/speedo drive
• Play in nearside front wheel bearing
• Nearside rear wheel (and spare) different type to other wheels fitted
• The fuel cap seal is deteriorated/missing
• Coolant leak from radiator/thermostat area in front of engine

Overall the car has had numerous patches welded in many areas, of which, most are now starting to deteriorate again.