Duke Blackwood has Crabs. 1968 Morris Austin 1100.

[Duke Blackwood]

Before I had children, I had cool cars. I had a Fox Body Mustang which ate tyres. I had a jacked up K2500 Silverado which ate smaller cars. And I had a Chevy Astro which chewed my reputation.

I’m a vintage Ford man and I’ve always aspired to own a MKV Cortina Wagon - but with prices on the rise (and fuel climbing too….) I’ve had to set my sites lower….

I’ve been keeping an eye out for anything vintage and cheap. Smallbore, with 4 doors. These were the only boxes to tick.

I’ve been rolling in company vehicles and haven’t owned a car for years but I’ve been really itching to get back in something with damp carpet that reeks of old oil.

Enter, the 1968 Morris Austin 1100.

At the time of purchase I knew nothing about them. The Mrs had a Morris mini 1100 when we were younger, so I knew it would be mechanically familiar, and also a tinny piece of shit.

I’ve come to learn that in its day, the Morris Austin was a prolific and popular family car with an innovative Hydrolastic ‘float on fluid’ suspension system. They were also known as ‘land crabs’ and ‘road lice’ as they deteriorated into the rusty underpowered whip of the working poor.

Mine has been somewhat of a gangster mobile in recent years, to a group of Morrinsville Millennials (without half a respectable haircut between them).

It features flared guards, cool wheels, quality paint over poor quality panels and one of the most dubious recently expired WOF’s in New Zealand.

The Hydrolastic system is flatter than Taylor Swift. The drivers seat is chooched. It needs back seatbelts. The cv boots are split. The exhaust and fuel pump have been snapped off by aforementioned teenagers, driving it sacked in the weeds. And there is rust.

As I type that, I am questioning my decision. I was coerced into it by @anglia4 and my mate Big Lukey who in hindsight, may not have had my best interests at heart.

Nobody tell Bucket Barry, he will not approve.

The plan is to achieve WOF and then send-it around a nearby roundabout. Stay tuned.

 

[Duke Blackwood]

It’s quite a cool little machine, I’ve had it home for a couple of weeks and in that time I’ve sourced the new fuel pump and rigged up my own Hydrolastic pressure pump system. I just need to pump up the bags, mount the fuel pump and I should be cruising…. But the drivers seat is a WOF showstopper. Along with some of the rust. Namely the footwell, which has completely rusted through.

broken exhaust 

 

aliexpress pump with some local adaptor fittings 

[Duke Blackwood]

My mate Big Lukey, using his laser eyes.

[Duke Blackwood]

collapsed driver seat

 

jacked up

 

A curious split pin? Dangling from a drain hole in the clutch cover / bell housing.

Split boots…. A wof issue?

The nooozle of the Hydrolastic suspension system 
 

[Duke Blackwood]

So I’ve mounted my fuel pump, terribly, because I’m hopeless. I am not an engineer. My permanent mount genuinely involved a piece of firewood. No photos. Too much shame…

it also didn’t start. Goddamnit. I haven’t checked spark/timing etc so it may yet be something simple.

I had limited success with my Hydrolastic pump assembly - I’ve got the system holding 100psi nicely, which is about half what it needs, but it’s still on axle stands. The system worked well but the valve I have for connecting to the noozles threads on… so I pump up to a known pressure, and then lose an unknown amount of pressure while frantically unscrewing the valve (and painting my workshop with antifreeze in the process). I’m not sure how to resolve that, but it’s a small fry problem at the moment.

[Duke Blackwood]