Some questions on a Hillman group which I "Knew" the correct answer to made me doubt my knowledge. Was my recollection correct or not. I am pleased to announce that my memory has been checked and it was as I said. " You cannot use the stock later minx fuel pump on a Mark VIII Minx because it hits parts of the body". Truth in fact it hits the steering box, cannot even get it in. This is the Location that doesn't have the rear mount. The mount was on the early 1600 engines from 1962  but not on the later versions or the 1725 which has some extra bits there with a dipstick hole. For interest the following pictures show the differences  between the Mk VIII and the later Minx fuel pumps Right pump is Mk VIII version, note the higher actuating lever. The pump mount position is lower relative to the camshaft and   looks like it is further out from the camshaft. Top view. The orientation of inlet and outlet ports is irrelevant to  pump operation. The position on t...

 Pictures of shock installation The first step was to decide how to mount the shocks.  The sheet metal in the area the mounts needed to go seemed inadequate to the task and as the annoying guardians of public safety have no idea about engineering it seemed prudent to attach them to the original chassis points. There could be no reasonable argument that those mounts  were insufficient. The chosen shocks needed to have sufficient length to allow full suspension travel. The shock choice was to use a good set I already had. they were Gabriel gas shocks but the numbers no longer appear on any of the Gabriel web pages. They are very firm 😀If selecting from a catalogue specify the open and closed length, the fittings on each end and the weight of the vehicle. In the case of the Californian around 1100 kg. If the place selling shocks cannot help you just go to another supplier. My preference was for mounting "eyes" at each end. To use stud mountings you would need to cut an acce...

 Fast forward a few years and here is the current Californian parked next to "my" other stuff. Qantas Founders Museum Longreach and our 747 :-)

 Once upon a time there was a young bloke with no money and a broken Morris Minor. With a budget of $400 he sought a suitable conveyence to get around the place. A couple of workmates offered some vehicles that could fit the bill. A boring 4 door series 1 Humber 80 (Minx elsewhere) and a sleek, shiny, sporty looking 1955 Hillman Californian.  To misquote some words from George Orwell: "Four doors good, two doors better"  :-)  So a shiny slightly improved Californian entered my life. This was around July 1969. This blog will be scattered posts of memories of this car and the two Californians that followed it. There is only one picture of the original car that survived from those days. The attacks of time, travel through five countries and a vindictive woman seem to have eliminated evidence of the early years