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Old 21-08-06, 23:27
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Keith Webb Keith Webb is offline
Film maker, CMP addict
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Macleod, Victoria, Australia
Posts: 8,216
Default Poor, misguided boy

While replying on the subject of Rzeppa CV joints in this thread I went looking for an article on the Morris 1100 and came across this site made by a young, enthusiastic chap who owns one of these cars called Borris.
The front page glows with marketing hype about the 1100:
"Anatomy of a world beater"

Quote:
Engineering genius! The famous East-West engine, with front wheel drive, packs clutch, gearbox, and transmission into one amazing unit. Based on the famous 'A' series BMC engine with an output of nearly 50 b.h.p., the miraculous BMC 1100 is so well balanced for power-to-weight that the performance is outstanding.
And a lot more of it... I read this with quiet incredulity as it didn't quite add up to my recollections of the type. The truth came out on another page:

Quote:
Since I purchased Borris he has had many mechanical failures.

Some of these include: The synchro in the gearbox failing and having the gearbox rebuilt twice, eleven exhaust pipe breaks and leaks, several brake problems including two master cylinder rebuilds, two new brake discs, a new calliper, two worn front brake hoses, a burst rear brake hose, four sets of brake pads and one set of shoes. The brakes have failed completely twice and faded badly on several occasions. The problem is yet to be sorted. I have gone through several condensers and sets of points. An average of every two months. A burst clutch hose and a new clutch. The subframe needed to be replaced due to tow of 13.5mm, worn bearings and two broken mounts. Other problems Borris has suffered are two dead generators, a coil, a burst pipe on a hydrolastic unit, two CV's, a starter motor, two engine mounts (my fault for doing something stupid) and major smoke problems both blue and black. Some of these failures have occurred at critical times such as one occasion when I was on my way to a wedding. I was one of the speakers and I ended up missing most of the service. I have also been left stranded in the middle of no where more than once. Strangely enough, Borris has only met a tow truck twice. A variety of other problems have occurred but most of them have been long forgotten about.
Sort of reminded me of my youth, toiling on a series of Morris Minors, with the forlorn hope that one day I'd have a car I was happy with... fortunately I also had a CMP from the age of 17...
I was wondering how many of you have had similar youthful experiences with hopeless old cars which you loved dearly and had impossible dreams of restoring... Incidentally the rest of that site makes for fun reading.
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Keith Webb
Macleod, Victoria Australia
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