Attention under the hood

When the car was purchased there was the thought that the car had been sitting for 15 plus year and that the engine might need a little coaxing to get running. So though it was unlikely that the engine was seized we still had a fear the a little fear that moisture had somehow penetrated the head. The moment of truth came as we attempted to turn the fan drive wheel ( not the fan wheel itself)........ it turned, and turned with not too much effort. At this stage it is more than likely that we got our hopes up a little too much. We imminently placed the 15 year old battery on charge with some hope that the battery would be charged and retain enough charge to start the car.




After charging the battery overnight, there was enough charge to turn the lights on maybe twice for a ten second period if lucky. Deciding that the battery was far gone, out came the jumper leads. We hooked up mums car and had it running while we attempted the next stage of out "start up trials". This time there was however the sufficient amount of charge to keep the lights on and test that the indicators etc were functioning. And they all were working perfectly, with the exception of the brake lights as we had no pressure in the brake lines. The trafficators had been disconnected so that is a job for the future to be fixed.


Still the motor had no movement in terms of being kicked over by the starter, so i became the starter with my crank :) . Still no kick. The next job was to remove all the spark plugs and the rotor button from the distributor and clean them & also check the gauging of the plugs. The points were also cleaned in the distributor and then the motor was tested for spark. This was done with a screwdriver with an insulated handle being touched between the open points. With it being ascertained that we had spark, once again we tried to start the car again. STILL no sound or sign that the starter motor was functioning so we thought that was the problem.......but it was not the case what so ever.


Later on that week mum and i payed a visit to a mechanic friend in kilsyth. We asked him a few questions and he answered them with the solutions that he thought maybe possible. Anyhow two days later i had a phone call from him and he was in the suburb next door to ours. He called in and diagnosed the problem in moments. The starter button had been jammed.....

Cleaning him up.

So as the car was cleaned we soon realised that it was in pretty good shape, the body was straight the paint not bad considering the previous nature of it.

With out any further ado we scrubbed and we scrubbed and we scrubbed! Cleaned and cleaned and cleaned until we thought is we cleaned anymore that we would rub through the paint.The car was then rolled down the hill from its current point and then pushed it back up into the driveway. This movement was considerably easier than we thought it would be. The event of the carriving in our street certainly served as a focal point for our many neighbours. They appeared left right and center to come marvel what was now a very shiny little car sitting in our driveway.  Though it was now washed it was determined that the paintwork was still heavily engrained granuals of dirt. This was a big job to come and by this stage the sun what setting, but before the day was out, me, being a grease money set about thoroughly cleaning the engine bay and returning the engine to its original less oily clean state of affairs.  With that nightfall had come and dinner "was on the table " so to speak. After covering the car, dinner was had and many already great memories were shared. 

 As you can see in these two photographs , the majority of the dirt was just dust so that was fortunate and we didnt find any rust hiding underneath


The below pic is of the car after being washed, i took advantage of the little shine the water left behind.

Getting Him Home!!

The immensity of the dirt.

So, it was a very eventful day on the one i officially became the owner of Mr Guk. We went to the previous owners house to pick the car up; it suddenly became very surreal. I was there, a couple thou cash in 50's in my pocket and i was about to buy my very first car!! So the next issue was... tyres... they were mostly flat but otherwise they were not yet so flat he wouldn't roll full-stop, they had a little air and with my assistance with the ORIGINAL hand pump we were on a roll!!


The cable was duly hooked onto the car and then "winch 'im up". This for me was by far the scariest part of the whole operation. Seeing the wheel ramps bend a little under his weight, and the creaks coming from his suspension ( where the cable was attached). But, alas, Mr Guk made it onto the car trailer safe and sound... then came the unloading... as i will detail later.

Mr Guk on the car trailer.

The trip home was mostly me being excited and looking out the back window every five seconds to make sure i wasn't dreaming; i wasn't! We safely made it home and then came the most crucial part of the moving process. The Unload.

On the road

This was a little too steep ...

So after everything had gone so smoothly so far, i was absolutely sure that something bad was going to happen sooner or later. So once the car trailer was in the driveway we soon realized that the descent was far to steep and that the car would get half way and then get stuck half way when the underside hits its pivot point. So plan 'B' was to unload the car onto our street which is a slight hill and the job was going to be precarious where ever it be carried out. So it went like this: the ramps from the car trailer were down, line up with the cars wheels and slowly but surely we backed him to the beginning of the ramp. We then assessed the situation to find he was being reversed slightly left hand down ( dads fault) so we had to do a straighten up. Let it be know to the reader that this was all carried out before he car's motor was active and without the use of the brake pedal therefore  all breaking was done with the hand brake.Slowly we inched him down the ramp until has back wheels were touching the bitumen, then the winch cable undone and the little cars faith was put into dads reversing skills. It was then decided that it be best to be done fast, so in one sift action the handbrake came off and of he rolled. Much to my delight it came straight down the ramps and arrived on the road in one piece where it was the stabled with the handbrake and bricks.

Next came the ENORMOUS job of cleaning the little car, and boy was there alot of dirt.....soap......water......sponges.................!

The Beginning

So, it has a few weeks since i bought my first car-  I BOUGHT A Jee..........MORRIS MINOR. Infact, not only a Morris Minor, but a 1958 4 door saloon, Bambra Grey in colour. So here comes the story of the wonderful car that is Mr GUK.

 Being in the market for my first car (me being 16) i had a set of rules to follow in order to figure out what i wanted. So the criteria was; it had to have curves, as cars with curves are amazing. It had to be manual as i believe being able to drive a manual car is a good life skill. And to blow the last two rules out of the water..... it had to be a Morris Minor. So with the rules down pat and my heart set on my childhood love of the Morris, i set out on the great adventure of finding a suitable car at a suitable price in a suitable area for pick up. Shopping around i was very surprised by how much these little cars were selling for. Some, full of rust were cheap but would cost as much as the running ones to restore. The cost had gotten to me but i was determined to find one in my budget.  After asking around with some friends at my work place (most 60+) a Morris was located, in comparison to most- it was just around the corner. The car, well i must say that it is a credit to the previous owners for the condition it was in due to the care they took of it. The car was a true barn find; spending its last 15+ years in a garage.

When an inspection time was made, excitement was a huge factor of my life. The only pictures of the car its self were two sent to me by the owners. The exterior was covered in dust and the interior- THE INTERIOR WAS ABSOLUTELY IMMACULATE! So the inspection proved my theory to be true; a small amount of rust, and a whole lot of dust. The motor was cold, sure, but it turned and there was plenty of oil. Next on the inspection list was under the mudguards and the floor pan. The floor had no issues and was still painted in the original color and the "rust prone spots" under the guards were clear.

Leaving the car there, Mum, Dad and myself walked away with a price to discuss. Within the next two days the discussions were had and a conclusion was reached. The car was for sale for the right price and as an added bonus all the numbers match up, the info plate on the body with the body number and the engine number with the spare motor included in the deal. The car holds many a story including a trip up the Birdsville track among others. I hope to tell the stories on the blog of the past, and the many to come. I bought a '58 Morris Minor!