The cam bearings for a 1275 come as a set, for around $22.95. peanuts really.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Thanks drmini. Looks like its engine out time. At least I'll be able to fix up a bit of rust on the firewall .

Thanks for your help again.

Nick.

Got a bit of a development guys, I'm hoping anyway. Was doing some more staring into the engine bay, hoping a cure would just pop up infront of me when the PCV nipple on the carby caught my eye. Even thought Id blown through it before, using my own breath, thought I'd give it a good blast with some compressed air. Had the air cleaner off at the time and when I did, all this black gunk came flying out of the inlet of the carburettor. Put it all back together, and fired her up. Can now feel a definite sucking from the nipple at idle and the revs will pick up noticeably when I pull the hose off, which didn't occur before hand.

Decided to give her "roadtest" at home, jacked the front off the ground and ran the motor at an indicated 80 km/h for 25 mins waiting for oil to appear from under the filler cap. Nothing. It would normally start spewing oil on the road at 80 km/h after about 10-15 mins. Pulled the cap off as soon as the engine was back to idle and could see the bottom of the rocker area. Me think problem fixed? Or is a real road test required?

Nick.

Nick.

real road test I reckon.... the blocked breather inlet shouldn't have made any difference

haha. Not the reply I was looking for . So if this nipple doesn't matter, where else can the crankcase pressure escape? Thanks Simon.

Nick.

ah, yeah - good point - tho normally if you've got a blocked breather the pressure will escape through the various gaskets attaching the engine to other parts, and we get what we lovingly refer to as 'oil leaks'

an engine under load does behave differently to an engine up on stands, but you'll never know if you don't take it for a drive - so jump in, and cross your fingers!

I'd be very happy to be wrong

If the seals all work and the only breather is blocked, the only exit would be the filler cap (if vented type). It's conceivable that crankcase pressure could (might) hold oil up there then, as pressure down below is greater.
But, there's not much oil goes up there... unless that cam bearing is arse about...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

That's the other thing drmini. Wouldn't it be true that if it were the cam bearings causing the drama, the problem would have reared it's head regardless whether the car was on stands or on the road because it's only dependant on engine speed, i.e. shouldnt matter if the engines doing 80 km/h rpms on the stands or the road to pump too much oil into the head?

Yes, it's rpm related, not load. However, crankcase pressure is load related (if it's leaking down past the rings).
As Simon said go for a drive. If you can see the top of the head through the filler hole after the run, it may have just been the breather blocked was the cause.
Breathers on a 1275 Mini are important. The standard PCV system works fine, but things do block up with high mileage.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

justmokin,,, sooo,,, Is your engine "Non-side-plate" block? how many engine breathers do you have? & how is it hooked up through the pcv valve?

i ask this because typically (usually) the 1100"S" style (Non side plate blocks) have particularly small push-rod holes in the block,,, very small in fact.... & seeing as this is basically the only way for oil to return back to the gearbox from the rocker cover,,,well if you have only one breather & it was quite blocked, then oil will most certainly have a very hard time getting back downstairs & while reving would be pushed back up (or at least held up) the push rod holes & obviously try to escape (or rather --> be pushed) through the easiest/weakest route , the oil filler cap

When ever i build a small push rod hole block these days i drill them out much bigger & i also make sure the engine has at least 3x engine breathers, & i usually try to set up 2 "Balance" type breathers,,, as in--> 2 that would perform the job of extra oil drain passages at the same time as open breathers "T"-pieced off from them

the "S" type side plate blocks are far better design for both oil drainage & engine breathing, but even those donks i still add at least an extra one.

glad to here that your problem may well be sorted tho, cheers for keeping us in the loop

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

TheMiniMan, it's a 79 1275 moke engine. It has a breather on top of the clutch housing and one down low at the other end of the motor. Both of these lead to a junction, which joins both these breathers and takes the resultant single pipe to the nipple on the carburetor I was talking about. There is no PCV valve on this setup. There is one more vent, out of the top of the rocker cover in the form of a metal elbow protruding from the cover which is connected to the air cleaner via a rubber hose.

The oil filler cap is also of the non-vented variety. I'm planning to take her for a spin on the weekend down the pacific highway to get a real appraisal of how things have progressed. Here's hoping.

And, about keeping you in the loop, no probs. I find there is nothing more annoying than having people spend their time offering solutions and tips for a problem and then never hearing if it worked or not.

Nick.

I had an `81 Moke 1275 motor in the wife's car, with just the flywheel housing breather, hooked via a tee to the twin SU vac ports. It also had a non-vented cap. Never had an oiling or breather problem. But this motor only had about 10,000km on it since rebuilt years ago.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Hi guys, just another quick question. While I was conducting that run on the axle stands the other day, the fuel gauge and the blinkers both ceased to work. If I'm going to take it for the test drive tomorrow, I obvioulsy need the blinkers to work. Any clues? Is it a fuse or something?

Thanks.
Nick.

Check and clean the fuses and fuse box.

Cool. Any hints where this may be? Just incase I can't find it