1965 Morris Mini - From NZ to the UK!

[W1NG3D]

hi
well it is just as well that you have the air brakes on the roof to keep the beast under control
but that looks like a great buy pity about the donor car but at least it saves you a lot of hasells
good luck and an easy swap over cheers roger mcnab

It does seem counter-intuitive to combine a go-faster engine with a fully laden roof rack and its awful aerodynamics, but I do like the idea of a proper little "sleeper" car! might even throw a picnic basket and an old suitcase on top rather than the rally-style spare wheels to throw people off a bit more

[roger mcnab]

hi
well that is even better than the tyres what about a canoe
cheers roger

[W1NG3D]

hi
well that is even better than the tyres what about a canoe
cheers roger

A canoe is another suitably un-aerodynamic option, for sure! I do think Mr Bean got it right though, as I discovered about 6 years ago



Just noticed the missing wiper on the passenger side as well, that was a great "mod"

[roger mcnab]

hi i had forgot about that one did he use a broom handle to drive it or was that some other thing
you only need 1 wiper the passenger doesnt need to see what is happening
cheers roger

[W1NG3D]

Between attending the Festival of Speed and watching England lose on penalties again, I managed to have quite a productive weekend. I drove the Mk1 over to my nan's house where she's kindly offered me some space to keep the car and work on it, and got the new engine dropped off on Saturday afternoon. The remainder of the afternoon was spent on building a temporary(ish) garage, and a little trolley to move the engine around with ease. Now I just need to get a couple of other bits and pieces sorted, then I can make a start on the engine swap!

[roger mcnab]

hi
all wrapped up and soon to go places good luck
cheers roger mcnab

[W1NG3D]

Made good progress yesterday, I've nearly got the old engine ready to pull out. Since the car has had very few miles put on it since the last engine swap was performed (not counting the multiple thousands of miles it travelled via ship from NZ!), all of the bolts and fixings came free with ease.
 

 
The main challenge of the day was the heat - it must've reached around 30 degrees between 1 and 2pm, so I had to take refuge indoors and cool down for a while. Were it not for that I might've had a fighting chance at having the engine completely removed, but ultimately I'm not in a rush and I want to make sure the job is done right!
 
Last jobs to tackle before it can be craned out is to drain all the fluids, disconnect the heater hoses and the driveshaft rubber couplings, then unbolt the engine mounts and out she comes. Then the prep can begin for installing the new engine in its place.
 

 
I'm going to repaint it in classic MOWOG/BMC green, but retain all of the shiny DSN anodised red bits so it'll be a combination of classic Mk1 looks with a slightly modern twist. I'll also be converting it back to a standard mechanical water pump, as I don't have room to fit the electric pump without either butchering my inner wing, converting to a front mounted rad, or dry-decking the engine, none of which I really want to bother with. I will probably keep the electric fan and install a thermostatic switch so it'll be happier in traffic compared to the standard mechanical fan, especially as I've opted for a larger diameter water pump pulley which would make the mechanical fan pretty poor in standstill summer traffic.
 
Anyway, that'll have to happen another day, it's just too warm now so I think it's beer and BBQ time :D
 

[kevs 1961 mk1]

excellent work mate itl be well worth the engine swap ,enjoy your beer well deserved

[snoopy64]

You’ll be popular if you get oil on that block paving…

looking forward to seeing the finished transplant.

[W1NG3D]

excellent work mate itl be well worth the engine swap ,enjoy your beer well deserved

Thank you, it was ice cold and very refreshing

You’ll be popular if you get oil on that block paving…

looking forward to seeing the finished transplant.

I'm hoping the offcut of PVC sheet I've laid down should keep me out of trouble, can already see several drips and leaks that it's managed to catch

[W1NG3D]

Been really busy with work over the past week and a half, so sadly no more progress on the engine swap, but I've got one bit of good news this morning! I've finally received the new V5 document from the DVLA, meaning the Mk1 is now officially registered in the UK.

And its new identity is...



I do like that in the UK you get an age-appropriate plate designated for newly registered cars, so I've now got a period correct C-suffix reg number. Pretty pleased with the combo as well, I was thinking of trying to buy a personalised plate more similar to the original GUF815 number in NZ, but I can't find something available that's similar enough for my liking. So now it's just a case of deciding between white or silver letters on my new black plates, and get those ordered up!



I will of course be keeping the original NZ plate for when I park up at shows, not sure if I can keep the NZ oval sticker on the back though since technically now it'll be running as a UK-registered vehicle.

[roger mcnab]

hi mate
i would leave the nz sticker as it shows that you have been to nz or that you are kiwis until some boof head complains we have cars driving around here in australia with stickers from different countries
cheers roger mcnab

[Peter Laidler]

You are free to use whatever stickers you like on the back of the car - unless said sticker interferes with the number plate. I had AUS on mine for ages - and proud of it too!. You can get replacements from the Aus or NZ High Commission

[roger mcnab]

hi
have you tried asking if you could change the nz plate to a british plate with a c attached it would be great
cheers roger mcnab

[Peter Laidler]

That's a good idea and worth asking them. But being a law unto themselves and all that.......... They could invite you to place a bid on that number IF IT HAS NEVER BEEN RELEASED. But as is their usual practice, they'd enter the number in the next auction batch so then, you'd be bidding against anyone else who wanted it.

[W1NG3D]

I would fancy keeping the GUF815 registration and adding the C suffix onto the end - to be honest I didn't think it was an option after trying various combinations on number plate websites online! If I can get it via the DVLA though I'll probably wait until I have some more funds saved up in case it then goes to auction and gets multiple bidders as you say. Would be pretty gutting for them to put it up for auction then I miss out on it because it becomes too expensive for me to buy!

[W1NG3D]

Finally had a free afternoon to crack on with the engine removal.

But first I just had to see how my new number plates will look when I fit them properly, seeing as they arrived yesterday as well...



Very pleased I went with the white letters on black background, it really goes well with the car and ties in nicely with the white roof, with a lovely old school look. Maybe one day I'll try to get a personalised plate along the lines of "GUF 815C" but for now I'm happy!

Anyway, onto the main event.



I didn't have loads of prep left to do before pulling the engine as I'd gotten a good portion of the list of jobs ticked off a few weeks ago, so I just had to drain the fluids, disconnect hoses / oil pressure pipe / speedo cable, then unbolt the driveshaft couplings and the engine mounts.

And just like that, it came out with minimal fuss.



I was tempted to carry on and start getting the new engine cleaned up, painted and all the necessary bits swapped over, but I was battling the elements with the odd torrential downpour making life a bit tricky in the pop-up garage, so called it a day with the lump safely out of the engine bay.

[roger mcnab]

hi mate
that looks like working in a big tent i hope that it is well secured so it will not blow away with a good wind gust not a lot of room to use but i am sure it can be used carefully
cheers roger mcnab

[W1NG3D]

hi mate
that looks like working in a big tent i hope that it is well secured so it will not blow away with a good wind gust not a lot of room to use but i am sure it can be used carefully
cheers roger mcnab

It's surprisingly spacious to be fair! Really happy with it so far. We've anchored it to some heavy concrete slabs so should stay firmly grounded (fingers crossed!)

[W1NG3D]

Finally made a start on prepping the new engine to be dropped in. I've been so busy with work and other commitments, I'd really hoped I'd have been further along with the swap by now. But at least I had some spare time today to make a bit of progress.
 

 
Started off by giving it a good clean and degrease, it was already in nice clean condition so this didn't take very long, not surprising given it's only done 800 miles. Next I carried on removing a few ancillaries and masking off bits and pieces ready for a fresh paint job.
 

 
It might have been easier to remove the oil cooler and hoses but this still has a fair bit of oil in it, and I didn't really fancy making a mess. So some extra time to cover and mask it all up was well spent.
 

 
I dug out a tin of MOWOG green engine enamel I'd bought off eBay, gave it a good shake, and got to work with the first coat.
 

 
I ended up doing four coats which resulted in a nice even finish, with a decent gloss to it.
 

 
I reckon the classic MOWOG green works surprisingly well with the anodised red DSN accessories, like a nice blend of classic & modern. Just need to decide on the right rocker cover (the one currently on it was just fitted for masking purposes), and re fit all the nice shiny bits, but most of these will have to wait until the engine is actually in the car. I did swap over a few bits from the old engine such as the oil pressure sender, as I'll be keeping my existing gauge setup in the car so the fancy electronic oil pressure sender that came with this new engine won't be needed.