Clancy's Moke 1275

Started by MiniDave, November 08, 2017, 09:53:49 AM

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MiniDave

Another engine arrived in the shop today....a dirty, oil encrusted 1275 belonging to my friend Clancy.

I've written about Clancy and some of his cars and exploits in the past - he had a Chumpcar (like Lemons cars) made from a lengthened Sprite with a Zetec Ford motor in it that went like stink. He also has the Aquilla S2000 he ran at Elkhart this past summer. His son Scott has the Schmidtbox Sprite - he won his class at Elkhart this summer in it.

Anyway, Clancy has an old Moke (sort of an oxymoron isn't it - they're all old aren't they?  ;D) but I digress.....anyway, this old car has been apart for decades and he's decided to get it back on the road. The subframes are over at Jim Allen's being rebuilt, the body is in a storage shed in northern Missouri, and I got the powerplant.

This is truly a "ran when parked" engine, my directive is to see if I can make it run again. The engine was sealed up pretty well when I got it, but I'll pull the plugs and squirt some Marvel Mystery oil down the bores and let it soak for a few days before I try to turn it over. The water pump is seized solid, so I'm not encouraged about whether it will turn over or not, but we'll see.....it could be a pleasant surprise and fire right up.

This is an interesting motor, it's a 1275 with a magic wand shifter on it - had no idea they made them this way...of course the motor is not original to the car so as MPlayle is doing with his, there are always ways to make it work.

Edit: decoded the motor number, Austin America with high compression

Edit 2: Just noticed the reverse light switch on the left in the bottom pic, never saw one of those there before....I've only seen them on the linkage.

More as it happens.....

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

I seem to recall reading a long time back that the remote tails on the AA boxes could be converted to Magic-wand tails, which may have been the case on this one.

I do not know the details of how GuessWorks does the "hybrid" transmission I bought for my Moke.


BruceK

I believe the reverse light in the gearbox housing was common to all Austin America full synco transmissions.  I know I had it on my first Mini which was AA powered. 
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

#3
But, did AA's use a magic wand? I thought they all had the remote shift linkage? So putting both your comments together it sounds like this is an AA engine and trans with a wand grafted on?

Parts list so far,  I can get all of this save the motor mounts from Victoria British:

Water pump and bypass hose

Oil and filter

Plugs, points and cond

Valve cover and intake gaskets

motor mounts
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

#4
No, Austin Americas never had a magic wand shifter. They had their own style of remote housing with a special 8-bolt sandwich piece between the gearbox and the remote housing.  It was a bigger design than the Mini remote housing, but it could still be used on a Mini (my first car had it).
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

jedduh01

Do you think it ran the original 850 Carb> single 1.25?   
    Has the manifold on it.. I bet that 1275 would LOVE more fuel + air!

My moke also has same transmission = yep   adapted magic wand case on rear + has same reverse switch on front, with Yolk Outputs .   4 Synchro.  Great setup.

MPlayle

The new transmission for my Moke has a blanking plug where the reverse switch would be.

No reverse light on the Moke, so not worried about not having the switch.

There was someone on Mini Mania recently looking for that switch.  New switches are NLA.


MiniDave

Bruce, the engine in my '67 that I traded to Dan was an AA with the extra sandwich plate in it.

Jedduh, it does look like it was running a small carb, he's got an LCB and a pair of HS4's to go back on it, the current setup is going away. I'll test it with my HIF38 and header.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

Got the Moke Motor loaded up into the engine test stand, still have a few things to do to get it up and running. I've drained all the oil and changed the filter, then I need to replace the water pump, install the pulleys and fan off Dan's 1100 and install the radiator.......fill the oil, hook up the electrics, new points and condenser and plugs and see what happens.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Jimini II

Do you mean HS 2's Dave? As twin HS 4's would be too much for a stock 1275.

MiniDave

Well, he said HS4's, but he may have been mistaken. I'm just going to run it with my HIF38.....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#11
And it runs!

I wasn't sure it was going to go, I could not get it to crank up oil pressure on the starter, even tho (once I fixed the starter) it spun over like crazy. I tried priming the pump thru the oil pressure fitting, then thru the outlet pipe that goes to the filter, I even turned it over backwards - the idea there being that it would draw the oil into the pump instead of trying to push it out - no joy.

Finally, after talking it over with Clancy we decided to just go ahead and start it up and see if the extra RPM would get the pump to prime and pressure.

To get it ready I pulled all the intake studs out, cleaned the threads then took a power wire brush to the intake side of the head and cleaned off all the of gasket material and rust so the new gasket would seal properly. Next up I noticed it had no fire, so I popped the cap off and put in new points and condenser.

I also pulled the rocker cover and adjusted the valves, most were loose. Then I ran a compression test - thinking if it had a dead cylinder or two there wasn't much point in going further - to my surprise it showed really good compression, a little low on #2 and #4, but I thought once it had run and warmed up thoroughly I'd check it again.

With the intake and exhaust on , the fuel primed and the distributor set "close enough" I cranked it up and sure enough - it ran! It took about 5-8 seconds for the oil pressure to come up but it did....since I didn't have any coolant in it I shut it off again.

Next I'll need to replace the water pump, and the thermostat housing is going to be a problem - there was only one bolt holding it on and the threads in the head were stripped, plus it was glued down HARD, also one of the studs was stripped and I may have to weld a nut on it to get it out......so some challenges lie ahead, but I'm certainly feeling chuffed so far!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Remind us again the plans for this engine? Get it running and toss it in?

MiniDave

#13
Yes, if it checks out OK (and so far it does) then it's just going into the Moke again. I have no idea why he pulled it out in the first place as he said it "ran when parked"....

I guess he needed to rebuild all the subframes and suspension, so I assume that's why he pulled it....he told me about it at least 2 years ago.

By the way, Clancy's Aquilla racecar is for sale, he's just too tall to fit in it and doesn't want to mod the car as much as it would need for him to fit.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#14
Just like Dan's projects, it's funny how these things grow and grow. today I ordered about $400 worth of parts for Clancy for his Moke, I needed a new thermostat housing after I had to ruin the old one getting it off - more on that in a minute - and a few other bits, but before I put in an order I called Clancy to see what else he might need.

We decided I should replace the clutch, and of course the slave cylinder - and while we're at it, it wouldn't hurt to have a new master cylinder - oh and a brake master too and the hose, and, and, and.......  ;D

So - about the thermostat housing, I had everything buttoned up to start it and run it a bit, so I started putting water in the rad, all was fine till I was just about to start it and I noticed water leaking out of the thermostat housing. No biggy, I'll just pop it off and put a new gasket under it....right. There were two studs holding it to the head, and one bolt - the bolt felt like it was only 2 threads into the head, one of the studs was stripped and the other nut came off easily - but the housing would not budge no matter what I did. So I took my hacksaw and sawed down the edge of the stripped stud, then got a cold chisel and banged on it from all angles till it finally separated from the head. Then I decided I would have to replace the studs, the one that wasn't stripped was bent but I managed to slowly work it out of the head, the stripped one just broke off even with the head.

So, I got our my left handed drill bits, put a pilot hole in and drilled it out. Once you release the tension by drilling out the core, it's not too hard to get the remains out. There was just enough left sticking above the head that I could get a sharp chisel on it and start tapping it around, once it had a couple of threads free I grabbed it with the pliers and out it came. I re-tapped the threads and now it's ready for the new studs. It's always sumthin with these little cars....I can imagine the fun I'm going to have getting the flywheel off to change the clutch!

But I guess it's worth it to get another Moke back on the road - this is a '67 LHD "Engish" Moke, BTW.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Old T stat housings can be a real pain to remove!  Looks nice and clean now.

Yes funny how a few items turns into 400 or 1000 dollars later!

MiniDave

I have a specially ground chisel that doesn't damage the head but pretty much ruins the tstat housing, but the housings are only about $8 from MiniSpares, I keep spares now.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Yeah any stuck one I've encountered I bust it up and don't think twice.

MiniDave

#18
Today I got Clancy's 1275 out of his Moke buttoned up and running, I made some studs for the thermostat housing, dropped in a 180* thermostat, put it all together, filled it with water and fired it up. It runs (surprisingly) well, doesn't blow any blue smoke, starts easily and so on.

But after it had run a few minutes I noticed an oil puddle under the crank pulley end, it's dripping out of there pretty good.

So now, I'll be putting in a clutch and pulling the crank pulley off for a new seal......it's always sumthin with these little engines....  ::)

Once I'm done he should have a nice running little Moke!



Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

What's the Moke like that this engine will go on?  Have I missed pictures or posts about it here? 
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

I have never seen it, the body is in a storage shed somewhere up north, the subframes are over at a guys house on the other side of town, and I have the engine/trans....someday they will all be united!   ;D

I understand the subframes are done, I'll be done with the motor next week but no idea on the body. I'm sure it needs complete re-commissioning - fuel, brakes etc.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#21
Today I tackled the leaking front crank pulley seal, once I got it off I found the seal was hard as a rock, plus it had a small split along the bottom.....no wonder it was leaking like a sieve. The longest part of the job is cleaning all the parts up - I just can't do an Edd China and put dirty parts back on a car.....

I didn't like the bypass hose I made up before even tho it didn't leak, so I pulled the water pump off again so I could make a longer hose, I know I have an extra water pump gasket around here somewhere but I'm danged if I can find it - and here I thought I had all my spare parts organized to where I could find stuff!

Finally it turned up and I got it all buttoned up again, so that end's done. The new parts for the other end won't be here till next week so I'm stopped again for now. One thing interesting I found, this engine has a double row timing chain, so someone's been in there before......

After I sent these pics off to Clancy he shot back a text asking if I wanted to go ahead and clean and paint the engine too, but I declined, I really don't have any way to get it outside and get the pressure washer on it, nor a place to paint it where I won't have to worry about overspray. It's different when I have the engine all apart and can paint the block, heads and other parts singly. 
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MiniDave

#22
Well, it's all done, Clancy is planning to come get it Sat morning after breakfast with the Age and Treachery Racing group.

I got the clutch all done, although the clutch cover took some work. The clevis for the clutch arm was all rusty and bound up, plus I had to get the shaft for the release bearing out so I could change it. I took some careful hits with a 3 pounder and the appropriate drift to get it out. When I ordered parts I got him new clevis pins for both ends.

I installed new studs nuts and washers for the intakes and new rubbers under the valve cover nuts, along with all the front end parts like the water pump and thermostat and housing.

I don't know what carb and exhaust setup he's planning to run, but the engine sounds pretty good now, should be fun to drive. Maybe one day I'll get to see it?
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Looking at those photos I can just hear that engine crying out "Paint Me!!". 
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

#24
Yeah, well that will be up to him....I think he's already got his son Scott scheduled for that job!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad