07/09/2021
From Minor Matters, the club newsletter September 2021. Based on an e-interview with McComas Taylor.
‘We were looking for a suitable father-son project to welcome Patrick back to Australia after he had lived in the UK for the past 10 years.
We thought a Morris was a good choice as it has reputation of being relatively easy to work on, with plenty of parts available.
This is our first Morris and was bought online from someone in rural Victoria.
It was a barn-find, said to have all the parts and to have been driveable in 1985.
Someone had taken all the panels off and stashed them inside. The engine was all there minus the fuel pump.
There is rust in all the usual places, but the legs and floor are OK.
The sills and A-pillars are pretty bad.
So far, we have installed new pump and fuel tank, changed the oil and filter, checked the points and plugs, cleaned air filter. We put in a new battery.
The engine started after four or five weekends' tinkering.
In other work, we unseized the master cylinder, replaced flexi hoses and front and rear brake cylinders, replaced rear oil seals and got the horn to work.’
Do you plan to keep it standard?
Standard.
What is special about Morris Minors?
Love those curves and modernist styling, and the fact that you can see what everything does.
What do you plan to do with it when it is on the road?
First, we want to drive it all the way to the front gate and back. After that, we shall see ...
What have you learned about yourselves since you’ve had your historic car?
We both really enjoy solving problems together.
McComas Taylor
