New ute!

[ellie]

Hi Everyone!

Yesterday my partner and I picked up our latest addition (everyone's right - you can't just have one Morry!) - a lovely 1954 black ute, which we have christened Boris.

He has Datsun running gear, telescopic shocks all round, guages inset into the dash, and a brake booster.

Needs electrical work (getting absolutely no power to anything at the moment), a few odds and sods (side mirror, sun flap, hub cap etc) and the wood needs a good rub back and re-varnish, but apart from that, he's perfect

Now I don't mean to crow (much ), but he was the bargain of the century.... Let's just say we picked him up for under $600

Apparently he originates from Ipswich, QLD - does anyone have any info? By the looks of it, he may not have always been a wood-sided ute, as the bottom back corners of the cabin are not nicely rounded off, but instead look as though maybe he was originally a style-side? The ID plate says definitely a pickup. I meant to post the numbers to see if anyone could help, but I accidently left them at home this morning...

Nice eh!

[DON58VAN]

Yup. I sure looks like a bargain!

Yup. It sure is a sweet little thing!

An auto judging by the shifter. 1200?

Congratulations on your new little family member

Cheers

[ellie]

Yeah, it is a 1200 engine with an auto gearbox, although my partner already has plans to change the gearbox to a manual and add a turbo

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

And that would be me

Well i've got big plans, but i don't know what direction it will take me. First things first is to get it running, and get it regoed, and then use it as a daily driver until the RX7 track car is back on the road.

From my initial research, i believe it is a late A12 engine (dissy in central location) (could possibly be an A14) with the stock auto behind it.

I've got nasty thoughts about shoehorning a CA18det/auto and tougher diff. But thats just me getting carried away.

Until then, this should be a fun little project

[grant69]

All utes would have been stylesides originally, looks like a really nice unit. Your engine should have a casting a12 or a14 towards the rear just behind the distributor

[DON58VAN]

Lance

It is easy to tell if it is an A12 or 14 or 15. It is stamped on the block on a machined flat near the dizzy.

Given that you have an RX7, you might be interested to know that my 58 van has a 12a rotary and matching gearbox in it, not running. It was someone else's unfinished project. It is really a rolling shell with the running gear 1/2 complete.

I recently bought an A15 and matching gearbox to put it in. Now I only need decades of knowledge and experience so that I can do all the clever stuff that people like Trev, Scott, Frosty, dirty hands and many others on this forum do.

My secret ambition is to slip a MX5 motor and gearbox into a Minor one day.

Cheers

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

Grant:

If that is the case, then i'm on the lookout for a styleside tub to match. I love the tray, but more love the look of the styleside rear end. I've placed a thread in the WTB section in hope there would be a straight tub somewhere around Brisbane.

Don:

12A in a Minor would be insane, the amount of grunt would keep the most insane of us happy.... for a little while



Tonight after the shopping is done, i'm going to chuck in my battery from the RX7 and see if we can get some sort of life into the Boris. If his electrics are still good, and from what the previous owner described, it could just be a faulty starter/starter relay. If so that would be a very easy fix. *pulls out the multimeter*

I'll also see what the engine is, know where to look now.

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

Boris LIVES!!!!

shoved the rx7 battery in, worked out the 3 kill switches, a bit of wiring and what does what. And then cranked him over.

Took him for a quick drive around the block, everything seems to be in good order, the brakes are a little spongy, the previous owners said it used brake fluid a fair bit, i suspect the master cylinder.

A bit rough because he hasn't been running for about 9 months, but after a quick service, we should be in business

Hooray:D

So now the RWC list of things to do:
-Replace mirror
-Get indicators to work
-Repair hole in exhaust
-Repair wiper motor
-Surface rust in chassis rail.
-General clean up of electrical wiring.

Hopefully all things considered we can have him on the road within the month.

[melburgorbust]

very nice, I'd suggest it maybe a 56 though, judging by the dash and grill?

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

Well these are the numbers on the plates

Car 20566
Type 0FB51
Engine (doesn't apply with the A12 engine in it)
Used to be Clarendon Grey

[grant69]

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

Well after fixing the headgasket in Ellies car, i've finally gotten into the electrics of this car.


started off by labelling and following every cable, until i hit the stock factory wiring from god knows when. And it wasn't in a good state.

Its in a bit of disrepair, so i've decided to chop out all the old wiring and start again.

[John Ballard]

Lance
Complete wiring harness.s available from E.S.M. UK about $90

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[grant69]

82 laser column

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

[grant69]

http://www.morrisdownunder.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2073 : )

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

Unfortionately, Boris has a bit of cancer around the rear of the front wings, and underneath the area behind the front guards on the sills.

Discovered it while under the car removing the rearward wiring.

Since it looks like a non structural area going to clean it up and repair it later.

[blacky]

Hey Lance , where did you get your wiring harness from ???

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

[blacky]

I have been looking on there but the cheapest I have seen is $295 as per this one
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/WIRING-HARNESS-KITS-12-STD-CIRCUIT-COLOURED-HARNESS_W0QQitemZ160223655764QQihZ006QQcategoryZ33692QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
Could you please let me know where you got yours from ???

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

[Skidmond]

well, what do you know.

thats my old ute.....

I bought it in 1997 and it was green when we bought it. The paint was all crazy cracked so I stripped it back to bare metal and a friend of mine who was a panel beater straightened it all out and then another mae of mne with a paint/panel shop painted it for me in straight black, 2 pak. It had the auto and 1200 in it when I bought it. Unfortunately, I had to sel it before I got it finished and it was sold to a friend of mine that was also in the Ipswich Morris Minor club.

He finished it off, doing the brakes and some electrical work and he made a wooden tray for it.

It wasn't long after he got it on the road and he got T boned at an intersection, not his fault and it was fixed under insurance at Ipswich.

I heard that he sold t not long after that and I never knew where it went.

I have some old pictures in storage of it when I started the project. I will be getting them out of storage in a month or so, so I can post some up for you if you like.

BTW, the original number plate for that particular vehicle is NAR044, one of the first black and white plates. I think I still have the plates here with me, would you be interested in them?

good luck with the project, you got a bargain. I will watch this thread with interest.