What's up with Eugene? (Minor Minutes #1)

Minor Minutes - This is the part of the month where I write about whatever it is I want to write about about Eugene, other cars, thoughts, whatever really!

 I love my car. When I say this, I only ever mean one car; Eugene, of course! I also (currently) own a 2003 Audi TT, which, although I enjoy driving and owning for its own reasons, I don't love. That's generally how my driveway works though - I tend to go through cars like socks. I mean this year alone, I have had an Audi TT, Suzuki Swift, Ford Fiesta, VW Polo and then this current Audi TT, all of which have had their fair bit of work done to them by yours truly. But throughout all of this, Eugene has been the "reliable" runabout that has either ran like a dream, or failed dramatically!

Now, with winter fast approaching, I think it's unfair for such a regal, dependable machine to be subjected to a season of idle waiting, just freezing out on the driveway unattended to. Instead, I'm going to give him the love and attention I should have given him throughout this entire year.
Full disclosure, there were many reasons that this just wasn't possible before, from finances to health, so it seems fair to do it now!

Before any project is undertaken, It's always worth having a look to identify what work actually needs doing. I guarantee this won't be it all, but here's what I've identified so far:

Windscreen seals/chrome surround

I'm so thankful that this fell off on the driveway and not on the move - You just cannot buy these splitscreen bezels anymore! It looks like the wear on the rubber has also taken the adhesive surfaces with it and of course *pop*, the bezel comes off. I think the seal is past it too anyway - I'm just hoping there's nothing major in terms of rust under there!

Pinking (Vacuum advance and air leaks)
I don't actually know how long this has been happening, which is the worrying part. His engine has always been a bit more coarse sounding than others, but with the introduction of the Accuspark electronic ignition, it became quieter. I'm not sure if the Accuspark introduced the pinking or simply smoothed the engine enough to the sound was more prominent. Regardless, there's a great deal going on in the engine that could also be contributing to this. The inlet/exhaust manifold joint has an old, leaking gasket. The jet in the carburettor isn't straight. The carburettor has 2 threaded ports for vacuum and I have nothing to block them off, but even if I did, I don't have a proper, air-tight way to connect the vacuum line - Which by the way, is far too long too. And lime green. Yuck.

Alternator and fan belt positioning
I'm sure you can see quite clearly that the alternator is sat way too far forwards, causing the belt to stray outwards, which I believe is likely straining the water pump bearing; This could be this diesel-esque rattling sound I've head developing. It's likely also not helping the poor crankshaft pulley, which looks like its starting to delaminate. Thankfully, none of these issues are too expensive to fix.

Ratty wiring
Now this one has a price tag and a time commitment. Eugene is currently sporting his original loom, fuse box, regulator, etc, which is nearly 70 years old, so you can imagine any colour coding has gone and there's corrosion on nearly every connection. The picture demonstrates a very bodged fix to trimming the corroded connections and extending the length of the wire. What doesn't help, however, is that there are a few custom wiring additions to Eugene which would mean that an off-the-shelf loom would still need adapting. I'm almost tempted to give it a go at making my own loom, but there will have to be a learning commitment there too, since I have little knowledge on wiring gauges and other necessary considerations! I guess I could modify an off-the-shelf-loom, maybe?

Windscreen wipers
Nothing special here. I ordered a new wiper and its the shorter style. Just gotta get the series II arm, that's all!

Speedo
This one is potentially going to be a real headache. When it was working, it wasn't reading the correct speed; In fact, it was reading twice the speed. This could have been down to a problem with the cable, as it sheered shortly after I got the car, but not helped by when I attempted to replace said cable, I must have not installed it correctly as I almost had to force it into the speedo. God knows what I've broken.

That's a quick breakdown of some of the oddities that I need to look at fixing, but I know there will be more. I spotted the treads of the tyres cracking, since the garage that installed them thought 40psi was appropriate. It'll take time and money, but I'll be damned if I didn't say I'm excited to get cracking with it! These modern sister cars have all been nothing but nightmares and now that I have a car that, fingers crossed, doesn't seem to be letting me down, it gives me the chance and funds to get Eugene fixed so I can return to actually driving him again.

 On another note, I hope everyone is waxing their Moggies and preparing their parts - The Kelmarsh Spares Day and Get Together starts tonight! We will be driving down there tomorrow, so I hope to see all of your friendly faces! We will be camping out in Torsten, my black Audi TT. Don't be afraid to come and say hi to myself and Jess!

What about you guys? Are you currently undergoing similar repairs or small-scale jobs on your Morris? Share it in the comments or Instagram @Eugenethemorris - I'd love to see what everybody is up to!

But until that point, keep greasing those trunions!
I mean seriously - You think these issues are bad, you wait until a failed trunnion throws your wheel off...