Morris Oxford 1963

The numberplates are next on my wish list. Standard yellow and white.. what were they thinking?? They are pretty new too by the looks of it.

I'm hoping to get a set of donor steel wheels, have them shotblasted and then resprayed/powdercoated. I was thinking just plain wheel silver, but red has got me thinking..

I have used the car for long journeys, Stoke to Birmingham and back, 120 miles and so far ive driven 220 miles. The oil was fine on the dipstick but sludgy under the filler cap when I first got the car. Theres no sludge at the top end now, but the dipsticks covered in grey oil. One thought I had was that the engine oil could be the ORIGINAL oil that was in the engine when the engines donor car was parked up 20+ years ago. The guy took the engine from a rotted out scrapper and plonked it in this car and sold it to me. Doesnt mean he changed the oil, if the oil that was in the engine when he took it out, its atleast 20 years old, possibly more.

When I get the chance ill fill the engine with diesel and run it at idle to flush it all out, replace with fresh oil and get the rad reconditioned, its looking pretty damn manky as it is and go from there. The engine really does run sweetly at the moment so I'm hoping its nothing like a cracked head. I'm not too stressed over it as they are easy enough to swap and I know someone thats selling an unleaded head so I could plonk that on. Good chance to polish and port it too! Ill have to blag a compression tester from my dad next time I'm down too.

Another thought... grey oil= breaking up big end bearings??

when i get some spare time ill scan the pages with the greasing locations for u, unfortunatley i will be needing the manual for when i find a good front wing and other repair panels!!!! altho I'm very tempted with throwing a td in this one, as its an estate, and a bit heavier!

Ive got my eyes on a couple of bottom hoses on ebay, so I should get lucky out of the two. Ive been working funny hours this week, and I'm away this weekend so I havent beenable to get to the garage where the Oxfords kept to have a tinker Its very frustrating!!! I just want get cracked on and do the jobs that need doing. I just wanna drive it! Havent felt this way about an old motor for aaages.

The number plate bracket is some horrible welded bodged thing, so its not original I think. Should get a good pair soon though, to go with the new plates.

I'm still looking for doors, A guy on ebay is selling a set of 4 from a wolseley 16/60. two are meant to be mint, two have a patch of rust that needs welding the size of a 50 p in the bottom skins. He wants £50 and I cant see them until ive paid for them. Maybe I should hold out for a set of local doors I can have a proper look at.

Ive found a cambridge haynes manual in my collection so I shouldnt need a morris one, although one would be nice, just to get one in my hoarde of haynes books! For some reason the cambridge and the riley are together, and the wolseley and the morris are a seperate manual, weird.

You say you have an estate, any bits you need? My mate is stripping an estate for b*nger racing (its ok keep reading) and although most bits are trashed anyway, he said any parts that are left that he doesnt need I can have for free, want me to have a mooch for you?

*edit* yet another question. ive read that an MGB 5 bearing lump wont fit the original box without modification. Would an MBG 5 bearing lump with its correct 4 speed box bolt straight in instead? Id have lots of nice mg tuning goodies to play with then.

well i know for definate I'm going to need a drivers side front wing, possibly both parts of tailgate, i have an axle removed from a wolseley (tea bag) 16/60 which was slowly becoming one with where it was parked! i would maybe consider a swap of manuals as mine is the morris oxford-wolseley 15/60 16/60-mg magnette between 59 and 71 but mine is rather tatty!!! lol

I was talking to a bloke yesterday who has had a 5 bearing MGB engine with its O/D box in a Farina. Apparently the tunnel needs cutting to clear the box (and the carpets then don't fit quite right)and a couple of bits need chopping out of the gearbox crossmember too but it does bolt up. He was saying something along the lines of a Triumph 2000 prop was the one to go for with it too.

Yep, there is a conversion kit for the type 9 5 speed. There's a company that does them for MGAs and Bs (Hi-gear engineering I think?) so with the right mix of bits you can use what they make. I think the bellhousing alone is a couple of hundred quid though so it depends how deep your pockets are.

I didnt know all this was going on in the farina world...... I thought they all tootles about basically stock standard. What an eye opener.

Know to any mint doors Pid?

an easy & cheap power upgrade for the Oxord is fitting a manifold with four bolt carb from an 1800 b series Sherpa, Marina or MGB. Its that tiny carb that restricts the A60's and the bigger carb really opens it up without going for the 1800 conversion, i have done this on bangers and road cars & it really makes a difference !. You will of course have to make another downpipe ( i heated & bent an MGB one ) for the other manifold, or you can get an adaptor plate made for the original manifold so you can fit a four bolt carb - my mate has used a Maestro carb on his (!), just don't go daft with your selection of SU carb, one from an P4 Rover would be too big ;D ;D ! Another simple way to improve performance on Farinas is to make sure the points are set exactly right - this is vital on 1622's and makes the difference between a lively car and a sluggish one

Nice Oxford Tim, I know so because it used to be mine up until earlier this year! I got the car as part of a two car deal ( I still have the Wolseley 16/60 that came with it), along with a good amount of spares.