My mate Iain has sorted me out with a new wiper motor (thanks Iain!) but I've now decided that the front panel, bumper and left wing are to come off so the left hand side bumpstop and strengthener can be repaired properly. Winter welding - I'm looking forward to it!

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Well yesterday saw the first blat around the lanes for a few months, and what jolly good fun it was! Except for the rain... and lack of wipers... the usual wiggling of wires and reving of the engine gave no joy, so I investigated further and found that the motor was completly dead - not nothing - even when connected straight up to the battery. So I took it off for further investigation.

After a few hours of playing and cleaning and working out that the later motor I had some bits for would not fit, I gave up and turned my attention to the inner wing that had been revealed by taking the motor off. What a mess! It had been repaired very badly in the past (OK I admit it - it was me - I was young and foolish and needed a daily driver) and the inner wing to flitch strengther was badly bent and rusty too (ok me again - mental note - don't lower your minor on standard torsion bars)

Well at least I won't be bored this winter


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I took the day off work today to get a service done on the Golf, which was pretty cool as I had to stay at the house all day - and the garage is close enough isn't it!

I got the brakes back on and bled, and the hand brake on. The exhaust was a seroius pain in the bum, it never really fit properly so I had an extra go at it. I took a couple of inches off the centre section so I could get the over axle part up a little more. It seems to have done the trick.


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I managed to get the axle in place this evening and carefully tighen it all up. I'm keen to make sure that it is tightened up evenly - it was a bit of a pain tightening up all the U bolts, anti-tramp bars and tele shocks, but I got it done! Just the brakes now!

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Its been a while since I was in the garage, what with the new job and babysitting duties, I finally managed to get myself out there though!

Once both mounts were taken off, I carefully welded on the first one and made a rather good job of it if I do say so myself :o) In order to make sure that the two mounts were mouted properly in relation to each other I carefully put the axle onto the springs and clamped it all up and tack welded the second clamp on. Once the second was on properly I finished up the cleanup and painted it all up nice again!

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Had fun with the grinder last night =) I took off the worst of the spring mounts and cleaned up the surrounding area. In the process I found a small rust hole under it which actually perforated the axle casing - Not so big that it would warrant a re-think of the project (i.e. a new casing), but big enough for me to feel good about finding it before it became a problem!

This evening I dusted off the welder (not used since some panic bodging before Molly's MOT - when I was trying to get her ready for the national) cranked up the power and started welding a patch onto the hole I'd found. As it wasn't too big I wasn't worried about using the same thickness material, it just has to keep the oil in (the casing isn't / shouldn't be presurised).

I really enjoy welding! (thats lucky isn't it?) Within a few minutes I had the patch on and was aligning the mount. It may not be pretty, but the lump hammer test seems to have worked. Can't wait to do the other side over the weekend!

I was thinking this week that having owned the car for erm... 13 years, I've done amost all the jobs that can be done and most of them more than once. Its quite nice when I get to do some of the more obscure stuff like this - I'm not looking forward to a chassis leg though! Am I a glutton for punishment? I think so...


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Well the new parts have arrived and they look very good. They are generic spring mounts, i.e. designed to be fitted to any axle, or as a replacement for the standard minor ones. I also managed to get the axle off the car (after bouncing it off my head!).

the next challenges are to get the old mounts off, clean up the whole area (to a state that can be welded to), align the new mounts properly and weld them on very well indeed.

I'm also going to attempt this with minimal stripping of axle, i.e. keeping the brakes, halfshafts and diff in place. I think the brake pipes will have to be removed for their own safety.

I'm also going to have to be careful not to damage the new paintwork on the rest of the car as I want to work in the garage (where its warm and light) but theres a car with only 2 wheels taking up all the room!

On a different note, I've been having a strange conversation with a very well known morris minor centre. They are on a mailing list I'm on and whenever a need for a product is mentioned, they mail the mail the peson off the list. They have done this to me a few times, however they never offer any advice. Now that just isn't right is it?


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