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[Manky Monkey]

That's very nearly empty now surely. Has the lady decided on a colour yet Chris? There was a purple & white one at the Blackbushe meet yesterday.

[phunkie hiboy]

No, still loads to pull off, dash and the rest of the loom, headliner, rear screen glass. Then there's all the underneath stuff!!
As for colours, it's going to be the same colours as the Portafold, Old English White and Rootes Electric Blue.

[Manky Monkey]

Ooh, nice. Blue bottom? (not you).

[phunkie hiboy]

White roof, blue top of body, bonnet and back, white bottom

[phunkie hiboy]

Had another good day of solid work, still stripping bits out. Got the front wings and front panel off.

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And after spending some time inside the car this is the pile of bits I ended up with.

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Dash board, wiring loom, gear lever and linkage, steering box and column. So nothing inside now!!

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Just about had time to remove the 3 piece rear window as well.

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[spanners]

phunkie,
remember i said about h/gaskets ?
well iv,e got them here in front of me now ,
numbers on the end of the pack as best i can read em = A6440   2A490 x10
numbers actually on gasket =2A490
there,s 8 left in the pack made by PAYEN

[terry t]

is there a boot lid to this motor. .

[Manky Monkey]

  No, it's not the one Loony got given last week Terry!
Metropolitans don't actually have a seperate boot.

[phunkie hiboy]

No, it's not the one Loony got given last week Terry!
Metropolitans don't actually have a seperate boot.

'Cept from '59/60 to end of production in '62.

[Manky Monkey]

I stand corrected Sir. What year is yours?

[phunkie hiboy]

'57. If you check out thr picture you put up, you can just see the boot lid, boot lid cars also have 1/4 light windows, whilst hard top cars have one piece rear window glass.

[Manky Monkey]

Learning new stuff every day!

[phunkie hiboy]

Well, still pulling bits off
Fuel tank was next and it was nearly full, which I was to discover that the sender unit float was full of fuel and showing the tank to be empty. So people in the pas had been adding fuel thinking it was empty.
It’s also contaminated with water, so it’ll get used for cleaning!
Top side of the tank looks ok, but there is a leak on one point of the seam.

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Underside is pretty scabby, looks like someones “repaired” a damaged part by fixing in (welded, stuck, soldered?) a square plate. Upside, it’s not leaking.

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I’m thinking, when it comes to it I’ll fabricate and have TIGed up a replica in 2.5 or 3.0 aluminium.
This is pretty much the last of the stuff underneath, battery cable, brake pipes, master cylinders and brackets, steering idler, etc. The pedals are soaking in WD to get them apart. Other than that there’s only the front and rear axles/suspension to remove. 

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So before the car is stripped completely and the block is sent for boring, I need to check on engine/gearbox clearance issues, if there are any.
I assembled the block, front mount plate, rear plate and the transmission together. The whole idea of this is to check clearances with new engine and gearbox mounts. The transmission that the car came with is a Borg Warner 35 box. This would not have been fitted as standard, it had a 3 speed manual column change box (not he easiest thing to master), and as Sue would prefer the auto box, it’s staying.

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With that done the engine/transmission was slotted back in the car and bolted in. The new head rested on and the carbs as well, as this is all a strange combination for this car. The new starter, having been modified already, was bolted in and the clearances checked all round.

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Seems to be ok. Just one more thing to check is the transmission dip stick. It’s slightly too long and from the engine/trans split comes up at the wrong angle. Fitted it back on and marked where it needs to be reshaped and shortened slightly. This can be done once the unit is back out of the car.

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Later

[Manky Monkey]

That motor really fills the engine bay well doesn't it Chris. Love the carb set up. Are those the standard manifolds? So that's a Borg Warner box on an MG engine? Some sort of adaptor needed? I know bugger all about MGs.

[phunkie hiboy]

The manifolds were supplied with the cylinder heads as far as I know. You could get all sorts, this one is for H4 SUs (1.5"), also available H6 SUs (1.75") and side draught Webers (DCOEs).
On the exhaust side you could use the standard manifold or an aftermarket 3 branch , but we've had some flanges and stubs made from stainless, which in my opinion will look neater. A standard 3 branch from Moss would have to be modified to fit anyway

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35 BW gearbox, when available, was fitted to most BMC/Leyland vehicles that had automatic. It's just a matter of finding the right (standard) parts to put together to make it work. Those parts are getting rarer all the time. The box is basicly the same through all applications, but the more power it needs to cope with the more plates in the cluches there will be. Pretty much the bellhousing was the difference between different applications. This one will be rebuilt using Rover V8 spec. The car arrived with an engine and gearbox from  a 1600  Morris Oxford/Austin Cambridge, so some of the parts needed were already "in stock". So it's a Borg Warner 35 box onto a "B" series BMC engine.