11 Apr 2025

 11 Apr 2025

The official start of the 2025 Morris Minor Clubs of Australia National Rally, hosted and organised by the Morris Minor Car Club of Western Australia was today and what a good even it was too. The location was at the Army Museum of Western Australia (6 Burt St, Fremantle if you every want to arrange a visit), so all of the car were able to line up on the parade ground/parking lot. It is always good to see so many cars from so many different locations. Equally, it is great to see how different everyone's idea of what their Minor should be is, so many different options and changes to the standard Minor, though all still a Minor.

And the closest we have to a sunset shot today is;

10 Apr 2025

 10 Apr 2025

Well this morning I headed back to the mechanics place, he had a full compliment of Morris club members turning up for a check over and minor maintenance morning, and I fully expected him to say (as he did it turns out) that there is no way he could help me until after the rally was over and thus meaning I would have to try and find accommodation during school holidays after my planned departure date back to Melbourne. I mentioned that as the car was leaking so much oil I would not bring it along to the events of the rally as it would just make too much mess everywhere and they decided that they would have a look today. Which was exceptionally good of them as it was such a tiring task yesterday doing exactly the same thing!

It turns out that the flywheel and clutch/pressure plate were out of alignment with the crank and thus the unbalance and vibration. That said it is definitely not their fault as they had actually lined the mark up correctly when they put it on. It is just that the mark is 180 degrees out, so when it is on the top of the crank as it is sitting you put the flywheel/clutch mark on the bottom, very weird.

Additionally revealed that the repair done yesterday did work, originally there were two leaks. The pin hole in the oil pump housing being the main contributor and as such masking that the rear main bearing is leaking as well, though hopefully no quite so much. There is no fix for this it does it or it doesn't unfortunately. Another very bad engineering decision back when the engines were designed.

Anyway it didn't vibrate and shake on the run over to Fremantle this afternoon, though it wasn't a fast drive so we'll keep fingers crossed for a whole longer yet. I got to the Van park and checked into my glamourous chalet for the next 5 nights and then I emptied the car out and stashed the contents about the chalet, it is very 1950 called really...

1950s beach holiday going on.

And there are a few other Minors around about the place too

And of course more sunsets

9 Apr 2025

9 Apr 2025

Well, no pics today and not really much of a post either. Had a call from the mechanic this morning to take the car over and he would have a look at fixing it for me. So punched the address into the Tom Tom and off we went, except that part way through the journey the Tom Tom decided that it wanted a nap and took some work to get it to wake up again, which it did very reluctantly, but we got there.

The mechanic luckily had a mate visiting and they both set to work on the car, getting it up on a hoist and seeing the amount of oil covering everything underneath, all nicely mixed with fine dirt as they were doing road works along the way, was just saddening. They set about pulling the gearbox out and took the engine backing plate off, on the Morris it is this plate that makes the housing for the oil pump. They decided that it looked like the wrong type of oil pump was used (Mini and Morris Minor ones are not the same) and someone had used a grinder to try to make the housing to fit the pump. Unfortunately in doing so they managed to put a pin hole in the housing and at pressure that was enough to spray oil into the bellhousing where it then dripped out of the bellhousing drain hole to blow back and cover the underside of the car. Luckily the oil hadn't managed to make its way to the front of the flywheel and the clutch plate.

A new rear engine backing plate was sourced and the pump was given a few gentle nips and tucks to fit the engine plate, thus hopefully oil-proofing the little sucker. They then went through the process of refitting the gearbox and driveshaft and greasing everything and spotlessly cleaning the gearbox cross member before refitting it. A quick blast around the block and all seemed good. So off to the car parts store for degreaser and then off to a car wash to blast some of the crap off the underside.

So driving back into Perth city to where I am staying is basically motorway most of the way and thus higher speeds than a quick blast around the block can afford...

Can you see where we are going here...

The car shakes quite considerably at about 80 kilometres and hour, I am guessing that the flywheel and perssureplate are not in correct alignment with the crankshaft as they were all balanced for the purpose making the "sportier" engine (believe me it is not a great beast off the line or up a steep hill), I wouldn't know but I think that is where the shake is coming from. Additionally when I parked at the motel I had a look under the car and noticed oil drips on the sump and engine backing plate and the thoroughly cleaned gearbox crossmember has fresh engine oil on it...

The very expensive problem engine.

8 Apr 2025

 8 Apr 2025

Another early morning as some of the neighbouring campers decided that 4 am was a good time to head out. A quick walk around the site and it was obvious a lot of people were awake, so I packed the car and didn't feel too bad about heading off at 6:30 am.

 Heading off along the highway it was obvious that there had been quite a bit of rain overnight as there was a lot of groundwater about the place. As the car was using so much oil and to be honest it has been running a bit rough at times I decided that I would head straight to Perth and try to get a Morris Minor mechanic to have a look a it. Saying straight to Perth is a bit misleading as there isn't any real direct major route from Norseman to Perth, you either go north then west, or go south and west. Getting low on oil I looked for the closest car parts store where I get the expensive brand of oil I have been told to use in the "new" engine and it was in the place I had been planning on staying the night anyway Kalgoolie. It rained off and on, mostly on, until just near Kalgoorlie. I stopped just down the road to fill up again, it was still very wet and the old leapfrog trucks passed me again, So that was Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie for the mining trucks, that is a lot of highway rolling roadblocking!

I managed to get some more oil, on sale for half price!, the headed off along the road to Perth, in sunshine and quite hot too. I had to go through Merredin which was the place I was going to be staying tomorrow night and I stopped at the Caravan park to cancel the booking and pay is necessary due to late notice, but they were fine with it and off down the road to see their Silo Art before pressing on.

Merredin Silo Art - painted by: Kyle Hughes-Odgers

From there is was just a long slog with a few stops for fuel, at one of which I encountered three cars from the Victoria Morris Minor club, they didn't notice me at the time but they caught me up along the road and then passed and left me like I was standing still. The day was just spent driving and I managed a couple of reasonable sunset pics before pulling into Perth at 7:30 pm. Long day of driving for me and the little car.

Guess I will find out tomorrow what damage the day will bring either to the car or my wallet...

7 Apr 2025

7 Apr 2025

Well...

What can one say about today? Not a lot actually, lots of driving and to be honest nothing too extraordinary to stop and check out along the way. The car has been running along great and the only real issue is that the new engine doesn't seem to like keeping its oil inside it. Somehow it is blowing it out of somewhere yet to be discovered and nicely rust proofing the entire underside of the car, I mean everything under the car is dripping with oil, though on the plus side, the engine is looking nice and new and freshly painted.

90 Mile Straight, East Side

Started early and did the 90 mile straight, not much to report, it is straight and goes for ages. Actually to be honest if it did bend you would be hard pressed to remember if it had or not by the time you get to the other side. One thing of interest I guess I stopped at Madura Pass Lookout and while filling the oil yet again you could hear big engines straining up the pass, then a Pilot vehicle went past and who would have guessed, the mining trucks it have been playing leapfrog with since Port Augusta were back.

Drove on and on and finally landed at the Balladonia Road House, where they had advised me booking weren't necessary and were never full. Well, they were.

While I was there I was checking out my oil situation and refilling it yet again. Some members of the Albury Wodonga club were staying at the Road House (obviously they had booked even though it wasn't necessary...)and the kindly offered assistance, though they couldn't guess where the leaking oil was coming from either.

So I carried on, not having a clue as to where I would be able to stay for the night when quite some distance down the road I noticed a sign on the roadside, white background orange writing 'Fraser Range Station' and a picture of a caravan and a bed on it. Some distance further down the road another sign pointing into a roadside property. So I turned in to have a look and it was great, a private property that does sites for caravans and tents, and they do a huge B&B, though with dinner not breakfast, oh and you pay for the dinner, which I heard from the patrons who attended, was excellent.

They also have a few old utes about the place in differing states of decay.

 

All in all an interesting place and well worth the stay, was a very lucky find. Bit of rain on the tin roof too...

6 Apr 2025

 6 Apr 2025

Was another early morning at the Shelly Beach van park, so many people up and about and it is amazing how many people cough first thing in the morning (and smoke, even before the sun is up, what is that). So as all these nice folk woke me up I decided to make sure anyone who wasn't yet awake was. I packed up the tent and everything as quietly as I could, but just after 0700am I decide to leave for the day and, well lets just say The Count isn't a morning car, took a great deal of cranking and rough idling to get going. I actually did feel sorry for anyone when was still asleep.

On setting out I discovered that those two great mining trucks that take up the whole highway are actually on quite the scenic trip and were straddling the highway just out of Ceduna, so they waved the two cars behind then around and away we went. I stopped at Penong for some fuel and as I was filling the mining truck convoy was just passing, so they were travelling a lot faster than me, so to give them time to get along I stopped at the Penong Windmill Museum for a bit of a look. Turns out it is open air and it is drive through and free.

Australia's Biggest Windmill

This is "Bruce" named after it's owner. Bruce has a 35 foot tower and a 35 foot diameter. It can pump 4.4 gallons every stroke of the pump and it can pump 250,000 gallons a day. Supposedly Bruce was one of 5 owned by the railway in Australia. It seems Comet knew how to make a decent windmill.

So onwards across the central section of Australia's south we reach the Eastern end of the Nullarbor Plain, The Treeless Plain, well perhaps there are one or two really big shrubs here and there.

Eastern end of the Nullarbor Plain

Next stop the Nullarbor Roadhouse for some of the most expensive fuel I have ever purchased. I am very pleased The Count only has a 25 litre tank and it was still half full anyway (you never pass a petrol station out here if you are half or below), it was $2.82 a litre. Really feel sorry for all the people with big RAM and Chevy two cars, I'd cry if I was paying over $200 a time to fill it up.

Onwards again, long straight roads with not a lot of traffic, which is fantastic, less trucks and when they do come along they can just go around. Oh and I forgot, the mine truck tour was at the Nullarbor Roadhouse, swapping over the police escort team or something.  Anyway next stop was the Bunda Cliffs lookout on the Great Australian Bight. Stunning coastline, just amazing.

And imagine the surprise as I was just about to turn back onto the highway and the mining truck tour goes sailing past with all light flashing. I was happy to let them go as I say they were travelling faster than I was and now hopefully they have passed beyond where I am now at Eucla (which has it's own time zone in Australia, well a couple of other places do too, but it is exclusive) and therefore I won't run into them again tomorrow too.

Anyway Eucla, Police and a Nursing service a few houses and a Roadhouse with a caravan park and a motel. That's about it. Well there is the old Telegraph Station down a dirt road, not sure if I am going to do that or not, we'll see. 

Swallows seem to love the main buildings

 

You have to hand it to these Western Australians, they do do a quite good sunset...

5 Apr 2025

 5 Apr 2025

Another long drive day today after a rough start at the last camp ground, the neighbours decided that they needed to get moving at 04:30 in the morning and so everyone else was awake as well. Amazing how much noise someone who is trying to be silent can make. The rough part though was the gravel camp site, not great, but the galvanised roofing nails worked a treat when the tent pegs wouldn't even go into the ground.

It was a slow start for everyone along the highway this morning as well and it wasn't because of The Count either, they were moving two huge mining trucks along the highway out to Iron Knob and they took up both lanes of the highway. Who knew there was something the road trains actually have to stop for. It was a long shadows kind of morning which was great, great light.

Managed to make it to the half way mark around 10am, at Kimba, where they have silo art and a big Galah as well.

Kimba Silo Art - painted by: Cam Scale

 From there it was on to Wudinna, home to "The Australian Farmer", which is also listed as one of Australia's Big Things, it stands 8 metres tall and weighs 70 tonnes. It is a stylised representation of a farmer and commemorates early settlers. It was created by artists Marijan Bekic and her son David.

From there just the long drive across to Ceduna, there are worse places to set up camp