CP09

hydrazine is H2NNH2 - the nitrogen atoms are bonded together with a couple of hydrogen atoms on each "end". The pure compound is dangerously unstable - it will self decompose readily, and it liberates lots of heat (the Nitrogen to nitrogen bond has a lot of energy stored in it). Even in solution, the presence of some metal particles will cause the self-decomposition. IIRC, the Luftwaffe Me 163 (rocket plane) used this as one of the fuels. There are reports of the hydrazine fuel eating through the fuel tanks, and then into the cockpit, then dissolving the pilot... Nitromethane, on the other hand, will burn (rapidly) but your breaking the Nitrogen to Oxygen bond which has less energy stored - nor does it spontaneously decompose... Colin

Just seen this thread, so apologies for the delayed response. The chemist in me jut begged for attention:- "Another point is they say the molecule is much larger so less likely to leak through the tyres inner liner or at the bead line" Nitrogen molecule is 155 pm (picometers); oxygen molecule is 152 pm. That's pretty much the same size, so there will be no difference detectable in the gas diffusion rate - whether through the bead or the rubber. What will make the difference is that the pure nitrogen filled tyres should last longer as the oxygen will cause the tyre to perish more quickly from the inside (you can't do anything about the outside!). And, as already noted, the nitrogen is dry, whereas compressed air still has moisture in in. Colin

I put it there to mark the main electric cable in the wall...

I believe that there's a regular scheme of "painting", using water/rust resistant coatings. Applied by divers! There is only a limited life span - there's always a couple at Kirkcaldy for maintenance, and there's lots laid up in Nigg Bay - presumably waiting scrapping... Colin

There is also the difference between summer & winter petrol. The Morris Minor had the fuel pump located high on the engine bulkhead (actually on the battery box - if anyone else remembers). In the summer, the suction required to pull the fuel from the tank and the upwards to the pump was very close to the vapour pressure of winter fuel (winter fuel being a little more volatile than summer fuel). As the temperature rose, the fuel system would easily develop a vapour lock at the fuel pump (ambient heat + engine heat) as the fuel vapourised in the fuel line. Moral was to make sure that one refilled the tank as appropriate, beofre a hot summer. That's one of the reasons that later BL cars had the fuel pump low down, near the fuel tank - to push the fuel along (Mini had them fitted in the nearside rear wheel well.... not a good location for an electric pump!)

It's the Australian model ... (though is should be in kph)!

Well, it might just be that the modification involved removing all the baffles from the exhaust system.. It is a US mod car isn't it? Colin

looks almost like a turbo impeller. From Wiki:- "Turbo-back[edit] The Turbo-back (or turbo back) is the part of the exhaust system from the outlet of a turbocharger to the final vent to open air. Turbo-back systems are generally produced as aftermarket performance systems for cars with turbochargers. Some turbo-back (and header-back) systems replace stock catalytic converters with others having less flow restriction." so it didn't go through the valves! Colin

By adding a mass to an object, you can change its resonance frequency - there was an Open university video on vibrations in one of the ferries (caused by the propeller blades passing the hull). By adding a mass to the vibrating plate, you change the frequency of vibration, and can reduce the resonance... it looks like cutting the roof line may have made the rear of the vehicle flex a bit more, leading to a resonance/boom effect. (anyone remember the old Hillman Minx convertibles? needed to be "straighted" at the garage after a year or two).. Colin

It's the version that means you don't need to fit a helicoil! Just a bit of superglue & it'll be ok Colin

Out of interest, How much is the shipping? It looks like it's sold in the USA... Colin

With a relative using a battery powered wheelchair, we've realised that pavement parking forces wheelchair users (and baby buggies/prams) into the road which isn't particularly safe. Of course, modern estates are laid out without sufficient parking as a deliberate attempt to reduce car use.... Colin

It's certainly not good to own a classic car unless:- either - you're handy with a spanner & possibly welding sheet steel (plus spray painting - with workshop) or - bags of money After a certain age, laying on my back under an oily engine trying to thread an oil filter cartridge in the rain, with old engine oil going up my sleeve loses its appeal. Having said that, I could carry out the 6000 mile service on the Moggie in under 2 hours (including topping up the dampers, greasing all the grease nipples etc. Cost of materials was about £15 or so (new plugs, points distributor cap, condenser, fan belt, oil gaskets and both filters) plus oil (a reputable 15W/40 - or if I could find it 20W/50). Cheers, Colin

The Morris Minor gasket sets are made to the original specifications. If it leaked originally, it'll leak now.... The main gaskets (rocker cover, sump gasket, timing chain cover) are about 1/4" cork. They need to be somewhat "squigy" as the surfaces of the block and the covers are not machine perfectly flat (and it's easy to distort them by tightening the retaining bolts unevenly). As I noted above, a little seepage is not only normal for the crankshaft bearings, but really required to keep the bearing and gasket working (modern engine designs are much better for leak tightness). For a better - and more up-to-date discussion, try the MMOC (Morris Minor Owners' Clob) web forum - they'll be morecurrent then me. Cheers, Colin

Certainly will be! Colin

Used to have only "straight" grade oils-e.g.SAE20,SAE30,SAE90 (SAE 20 is used in the SU carburetter for the piston damper - roughly the same as "3-in-1"). Once Multigrade oils were available, these were used and were much easier to maintain - however, even today I note that some manufacturers recommend different viscosity multigrades depending on the expected ambient temperature. There's been a lot of debate about synthetic oils in the old engines. There seems to be a consensus (or there was when I had my Minor - about 7 years' ago) that synthetic oils were not recommended. The protection offered was slightly better for starting (better oil film on bearing surfaces, but they also seemed to creep well - this includes a bit through the old cork gaskets... Another problem with synthetic multigrades is that they aren't readily available as 20W/50 - only thinner grades. This means that the oil film is slightly thinner. It leaks down the valve guides and past the piston rings better! Also the A series engine was designed to drip lubricate the read crankshaft bearing - just a little, but the clutch bell housing has a drain hole and "giggle pin" as part of the design. Modern engines are usually drip free As liner 33 says, at 6000 miles the old petrol engines would need an oil change to get rid of the contamination (if nothing else, synthetics are expensive!), and I don't think anyone's run their engine for longer without changing the oil (oil's cheap compared with any engine rebuild!) One technique that's more difficult these days is to use a thicker than standard oil to "quieten" an engine/gearbox/rear axle. If the pistons rattled a bit - or the valves chattered, using (say) SAE 40 oil instead of SAE 30 would quieten them down - same for worn gearboxes and differentials.. Useful when selling (and I'm sure that doesn't happen today) Cheers. Colin

Well, mineral oil (the "old" type of engine oil) is a long chain hydrocarbon molecule; paraffin is a much shorter chain hydrocarbon, so paraffin will dissolve mineral oil. Whether it will have any effect on modern synthetic oils is a bit trickier... If you're going to flush an engine, I'd suggest using one of the commercial products, they will contain other compounds to assist cleaning the dirt out of the engine. (detergents etc., and you can run the engine with them - no load!) To remove this level of grot, you would probably be looking at a complete strip down and steam cleaning every oilway. That really makes it a labour of love, 'cos economically it's not worth it. Modern oils are much better than the old ones:- recommended oil change intervals for my Minor were 3000 miles (using SAE 30 - and changing to a thinner oil for the winter) using the early 20W/50 multigrades it went to 6000 miles. The A series was notorious for condensation in the rocker cover - each oil change required scraping out the rocker cover emulsion, but the used oil was free flowing (though black). Modern oils are that much better (and more expensive!) that I wouldn't be surprised to find some manufacturers recommending 20 000 mile intervals... rather depends on how you use the car. There's a number of reports that the Luftwaffe in WW2 Eastern front used to dilute the crankcase oil with paraffin so that the aircraft engines could be started in sub-zero temperatures. Apparently, as the engine warmed up, the paraffin would vaporise (boil off), rather you than me. Colin

One Guy I saw at Reading Station was trying to go up the down escalator in a similar state... Took security about 45 seconds to help him, so good response (the new Reading Station Escalators are HUGE!) Colin

Best vacuum I bought for car/house was the Vax 6131 - vacuum/shampooer. We found B&Q had one for about £65 (special sales offer), don't look at the non-offer prices! Great for vacuuming the car upholstery, then can also be used to give the fabric and carpets a quick shampoo. It's also quite happy plugging into my power sander and plane to reduce the dust/shavings. Best of all, it's good as a domestic carpet shampooer (but cumbersome for a domestic vacuum) so you can get brownie points for the indoor use as well....

Hmm, Red light = ign (battery not being charged) Green light = low oil pressure Blue light = main beam Green light = indicator Much simpler when I took my test!

HiTony, You need to talk with a solicitor and/or your insurance company about raising a civil claim against the person responsible. That will be a tort of trespass to goods (IIRC) and you should be entitled to recover the damages* caused (plus your costs). This needs to be done before the criminal case, then you have the civil case riding on the back of the criminal one. Obviously, you can only get money from the accused if he/she actually has any - which is why it's worth starting as soon as you can and involving the insurance company/solicitor - they have better access to investigations than you do. Don't wait - the civil case needs to be started as soon as you can - once the criminal case is over, I believe you've lost your window. * legal damages should put you back in the same position as before the incident - either a total repair or another BMW in the same condition as yours was. Colin

So, nothing new then - given the spacing of many of the HGVs on the motorways. Just so long as it's not possible for one convoy to try to overtake another at 0.01 mph difference. Can you imaging driving at 70 mph in the middle lane of a motorway - overtaking a convoy - only for driver in cab 1 to decide to pull out to overtake convoy 2 travelling just a bit slower because the lead of convoy 2 is climbing uphill whereas convoy 1 is still on the downhill section?

My Morris Minor had a little emulsion in the rocker cover and breather pipes (quite normal for that engine - especially with modern engine oils with detergent added). It was obviously damp, but on removing the goo, the metal surfaces were perfectly OK - it seems that the thin oil layer before the emulsion helped protect. The real problem here is how to remove ALL the gunk. Maybe flushing oils would help, maybe a hosepipe! I guess that the real problem is that the only way to be sure that all the oilways are clear is to dismantle the engine and manually check everything - replacing as necessary. Probably not an economic option. Mind you, I'll bet it quietens any piston slap/noisy tappets/timing chain rattle ... (giving ideas away here) Colin

Rear engine better? The other thought is "putting the cart before the horse"! I'd be a bit wary of buying any Porsche with only 1HP.

I suppose it's possible that the engine mounts have gone soft over time - the original Minis needed a tie bar - but BL used the exhausr manifold as a brace. The gearlever would move forward & back as the car acceletated/decelerated. I'm told that it was possible to change from 1 to 2 (and 3 to 4) by holding the gearlever and depressing the clutch without moving your hand....