Morris Minor Classic Car | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Mon 9 Mar 2009 18:52

Morris Minor Classic Car - drbe

I am considering buying a Morris Minor - ideally a convertible - but a saloon would probaly be ok.

I have joined the Morris Minor Owners Club and have been a member of a small motor club in my "village" for a number of years.

Does anyone on the forum run one? What should I look out for? Rust obviously, anything else? I am hoping to buy one that has already been restored and requires little or no work on it, apart from servicing.

I am watching the MMOC website, plus carand classic.co.uk, and classiccarsforsale.co.uk, with occasional dips into Ebay and Auto Trader. Anywhere else I should be looking?

Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

Don

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 19:05

Morris Minor Classic Car - ifithelps

A garage I worked at ran a Minor pick-up as a breakdown/tow truck.

It was used and abused for years, an absolute workhorse.

The cars are simple and cheap to maintain.

If you're not fussed about originality a popular mod is 12 volts and an alternator, athough they have electric fuel pumps and a child could start one on the handle.

They bowl along quite well, you can change gear without using the clutch.

The brakes are rubbish, although you will stop eventually.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 19:20

Morris Minor Classic Car - Lud

What sort of Minor drbe? A side valve one, an ohv one with split screen or a Minor 1000? I think one of the thirties or forties small Morrises was called a Minor too.

If you look among the heavily restored Minor 1000s you might even find one with a Rover V8 unit, disc brakes and so on. Not sure I would want one of those though.

If you can find a nice one, a late forties sidevalve is a very sweet little car, durable, economical, with perfect handling (not that you will often need that) and a maximum speed of around 60. It was nice looking too with headlamps set low on either side of the grille.

Edited by Lud on 09/03/2009 at 19:20

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 19:25

Morris Minor Classic Car - drbe

What sort of Minor drbe?>>

Post war, definitely. 1098cc ohv (which I think is called the '1000') not heavily modded.

For the record, I am in Surrey.

Edited by drbe on 09/03/2009 at 19:26

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 19:16

Morris Minor Classic Car - Number_Cruncher

Many (many!) years ago, I rebuilt one. With the folly of youth, it was a bad one which I had chosen! Rust everywhere!

Rust, definitiely!

Front cross member
Front chassis legs
Front inner wings
A panel lower
All door bottoms
B pillar lower
Inner cills (the plates you see when you open the door are just removable covers)
All floor panels
Rear inner wings - especially in the lower area where they form the closing panel for the rear chassis members
C/D pillar lower on 4 door models (these used to be unobtainable as repair panels)
rear chassis members, particularly leaf spring mounting points
rear valence

Wings aren't such an issue as they bolt on - however, look for cheap previous repairs where the bolts have been removed and plated over.

Cracks in the front doors below the quarter light.

Front suspension suffers from worn trunnions, especially the lower ones, and wear between the for/aft locating rod and the bracket on the lower arm. Lookout also for worn bushed between the torsion bar front mounting and the body.
Look out for very worn leaf springs on the rear axle, and poor damping all round.

If A series powered, you would expect to hear some noise from the valve gear - be suspicious if you hear nothing. Timing chains ratle almost from new as the tensioning mechanism (some rubber rings in the cam gear) is spectacularly poor. They do this for years!

Hope that someone has junked the dynamo and RB106/2 control box, and has fitted an alternator! (sorry 659!)

For regular use, consider upgrading to electronic ignition, and electronic switching for the SU fuel pump. You'll soon get fed up faffing around with points!

If there's one part of a morris to be extremely fussy about, it's the brakes, because you don't have the safety net of being a dual circuit system, so, they need to be maintained meticulously. After the brakes, the lower front trunnions are the obvious safety concern, as when they fail the suspension collapses.

Sensible modifications for modern motoring are:

electronic ignition & fuel pump
1275 Sprite / Midget engine with HIF carb from a Metro
Front disc brakes (modified Marina items) + remote vacuum servo + remove the residual pressure valve from the master cylinder
Front anti-roll bar
hydraulic clutch kit (decouples the power unit from the frame, reducing clutch judder)
Lots of extra soundproofing
For relaxed cruising fit a diff with the highest ratio you can obtain, although you'll need to recalibrate the speedo (earlier cars had lower ratios in general)

Although, of course, keeping a good one absolutely original is also a good option, but may limit its usefulness.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 19:36

Morris Minor Classic Car - Lud

You'll soon get fed up faffing around with points!

I never did NC. Still miss it actually.

Of course (except at first) I didn't faff. Used to install new ones and set them perfectly with a dwell meter and strobe light in about ten minutes. My Skodas always started instantly and went (relatively speaking) like rockets... unless something else went wrong of course.

Come to think of it, half-witted faffing with points and carburettor settings (instead of just doing it logically and properly) by professional garage men was the reason why, in the days when cars had those features, so many of them were grossly out of tune.

'That one'll do, Spadger. It starts all right, dunnit? Just shorten the choke cable a bit to get the idle speed right... yer, book says 650rpm but 1200 won't worry the old dear, she's deaf...'

Professionals... dont'cha just love'em? Tchah!

(By the way, I am not advising the OP not to have electronic ignition. I just don't think it's essential).

Edited by Lud on 09/03/2009 at 19:38

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 19:39

Morris Minor Classic Car - JH

Lud,
Ah yes, idle speeds. Usually set just to low to keep the engine running at tickover when cold and you took your foot off the accelarator to brake for a junction. As you say Lud, manual? Phah, we know better. But it did encourage you to open the bonnet & learn :-)
JH

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 19:50

Morris Minor Classic Car - Lud

JH: sounds like a case of incorrect choke use (pushing it all the way in before the car is warm enough to idle without it). The choke was an adjustable control after all that could be pushed in by degrees. One soon learned the vagaries of individual cars.

My father's forties Ford V8, and a lot of other forties cars, had a manual throttle as well as a choke. The knobs looked the same and as a small child I had trouble understanding the difference. They both speeded up the engine when you pulled them out...

Note to the OP: all the modifications suggested by NC seem like good ideas to me. It sounds expensive, but if you can find a way of changing the Armstrong lever dampers for telescopic ones the suspension control will be better. I hated those dampers which didn't seem to work at all.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 19:54

Morris Minor Classic Car - Number_Cruncher

>>but if you can find a way of changing the Armstrong lever dampers for telescopic ones

Spax used to do a kit. As the front damper also forms the uppers suspension arm, the valving in the lever arm damper should be removed.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 19:46

Morris Minor Classic Car - Rattle

If I was in the market for one I would want that is completly original but I would probably want disc brakes rather than drums. The A series OHV is the engine to have but the old pre war ones have a lovely charm to them.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 20:00

Morris Minor Classic Car - bathtub tom

>>if you can find a way of changing the Armstrong lever dampers for telescopic ones the suspension control will be better. I hated those dampers which didn't seem to work at all.

Mine were quite good after I got some STP inside them - it took some doing!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 12:16

Morris Minor Classic Car - boxsterboy

>> You'll soon get fed up faffing around with points!

I never did NC. Still miss it actually.

I know what you mean, Lud. I put 'lecy ignition on my 2CV and now there's nothing to fiddle with!

Back to Moggies. My first car was a Moggy (CGW330H) that had been used for rent collecting in London, so lots of stop/starts. Bit of piston slap by the time it came into my hands as a result, but very little rust, and just the one cracked door. Otherwise all the other posters have covered the important bits.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 20:02

Morris Minor Classic Car - stan10

Brilliant response from NC - print it off and keep it handy.
Main thing i remember from when they were current (never owned one) is of seeing many abandoned at the side of the road with front wheels collapsed - you will need an old-fashioned grease gun to keep those trunnions well greased to avoid the same fate, otherwise you just have to remember that cars from those days needed constant attention, not like today's "fuel and forget" breed. However, as long as you enjoy tinkering, (and most cars of that era are very easy to understand and work on) you should enjoy a car with loads more character than today's cars can manage, and also you will have the satisfaction that you "did it yourself"
Happy classic motoring....

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 9 Mar 2009 20:45

Morris Minor Classic Car - nick

I've had a van for 10 years and also had a 1000 saloon as an everyday car for several years. Rust is the main issue. Buy a good one but be prepared to look at loads first. Most 'good' ones are a mass of patches and pigeon poo welding. Don't worry about the mechanical bits. Everything is cheap new and cheaper secondhand. If you can wield a spanner and read a manual, you can do just about everything yourself. Even the supposedly difficult brake master cylinder isn't difficult if you follow the MMOC's advice. My van had a ratty engine when I bought it and I got a used engine for under £100 and it's still going nine years later. Unless you are doing mega mileage, just change the points once a year. If the car is used regularly you should have few problems but an electronic setup is cheap and easy to fit. The brakes aren't as bad as made out in my opinion but you do need to keep them adjusted. No need for a servo. A spin-on oil filter conversion is worthwhile and cheap enough.
Maintenance is little and often. Regular greasing is necessary, the engines will last forever with 3000 mile oil changes. Modern oils, filters and fuels means things last a lot longer then when they were new, decoking is a thing of the past. So when someone tells you they wear out quickly they're talking about 40 years ago.
Use lots of Dinitrol underneath every year. If you need repairs, get them done properly, a patch won't do for long. I can recommend Ian of Minor Services in Ely, good and reasonably priced but a long waiting list. I had some major work done when I bought my van and it's still good now. It's booked in this autumn for a tidy up of the van body.
The club website is good, they have a great magazine and excellent support. If you need any advice, ask on the forum, someone will have the answer.
I'll be happy to try and answer any questions you have on here.
To summarise - buy a sound one, set aside a little money every year for maintenance, learn to do it yourself and look on it as a hobby or cultivate a local garage with a grey-haired mechanic and enjoy depreciation-proof motoring.

Edited by nick on 09/03/2009 at 20:49

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 00:17

Morris Minor Classic Car - Stuartli

We had a Minor 1000 (Dove Grey) for three years in the late 1960s and the only problem was to keep the points on the SU carb in order.

The road holding was quite remarkable for the time, even on cross plies, thanks to the wheels being at the extremities of each corner, and the 1098cc engine required very little maintenance apart from regular oil and filter changes.

I remember that it was always the claim that you could build your own Morris 1000 just by buying the parts, but it was more expensive than one direct from the showroom.

Our 1000 was driven over many parts of the UK, including taking us on our honeymoon, but eventually made way for a Ford Anglia 105E - on reflection it might have been better to stick with the Morris...:-(

By the way, we had had the 1000 for around two years before I discovered that you could drop the back seat to extend the load area. I only found the boot's seat fastening by chance.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 07:53

Morris Minor Classic Car - jc2

Just be warned that many of the tourers(convertibles) on offer weren't built as such;they are modified two-door cars and unless really well done should be avoided.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 08:36

Morris Minor Classic Car - Cliff Pope

My brother inlaw had a convertible whose doors wouldn't shut if the car was full of people, because the chassis sagged. The secret was to shut the doors first and climb in over the top.
Horrible cars, appalling performance, horrible exhaust noise. But chacun .. etc.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 08:47

Morris Minor Classic Car - MVP

I've had saloons and convertibles.

If you buy a convertible, be very carefull the car isn't "sagging" - they aren't very strong and can bend in the middle, signs are the doors won't shut properly to doors coming open on a bend.

Also try parking with 1 wheel on the pavement and open the doors / look at the door gaps.

MVP

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 09:59

Morris Minor Classic Car - Number_Cruncher

>>even on cross plies

Which reminds me - if you do change to radials, you can afford to add some extra compliance in the forward link of the front suspension. Radail tyres are much stiffer in this direction. As an example, compare the stiff bushings used on a Morris Minor with the compliant ones used in the same place in the Marina.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 10:01

Morris Minor Classic Car - drbe

An update.

The proposed purchase would not be for everyday transport, but as a weekend and spare time "fun" car.

I understand some people have converted two door saloons to convertibles. The body number stamped on the commission plate is one give away. The older model 'Tourers' have the second letter 'C'. The later model 'Convertibles' have the prefix 'MAT'.

Thank you all for your helpful advice - I am still looking!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 10:25

Morris Minor Classic Car - nick

There's nothing wrong with convertible made from a saloon if it's done correctly and isn't priced as a genuine one. Check for extra strengthening between the screen base and the A post.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 11:42

Morris Minor Classic Car - mike hannon

>We had a Minor 1000 (Dove Grey) for three years in the late 1960s and the only problem was to keep the points on the SU carb in order.<

SU fuel pump, surely?
Note for OP: It's at the back and if it ticks more than a couple of times when you turn the key it's on its way out.
If it doesn't tick at all you can try hitting it with a spanner for a temporary revival.
Everything above on the subject of rust and regular greasing is well worth bearing in mind.

First car I ever drove was a Minor Traveller. From that day to this I've never understood what it is that has made people turn them into a cult.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 12:11

Morris Minor Classic Car - Garethj

I ran a 1967 1098cc Minor for a while and found it ok as standard. Brakes are ok as long as you keep them adjusted and account for it when you drive.

I'd try a standard one and see how you feel, rather than jump in with lots of modifications. And the first thing you should do is get a parts catalogue with price list, then buy a new set of brake lines (metal and rubber) and fuel pipe and get them in!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 12:41

Morris Minor Classic Car - madf

My father had on in 1961. My brother bought one in 1967.
Having travelled in both and been bumped up and down, I would never want to travel in one again.
Road humps will not be nice.

Rust is what they get and what they deserve:-)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 14:04

Morris Minor Classic Car - boxsterboy

I understand some people have converted two door saloons to convertibles. >>

The Sylvanian Family (popular girls doll/collection toys) have a unique Minor. It's a four door woody convertible!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 14:12

Morris Minor Classic Car - Victorbox

Probably worth forking out £17 for this book tinyurl.com/dx8sna

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 14:31

Morris Minor Classic Car - Lud

Several posts have complained that the Minor was no good and a rough old nail.

Although a dilapidated example will feel quite spindly, rattling and loose in the joints to the seat of a modern pair of pants, it is worth recalling that in its day the Minor 1000 was the equivalent of a Mini Cooper a few years later: a willing, well-handling small car, capable of 80mph, that could be chucked about with some abandon. It was much favoured in my own youth by rich young men who did just that.

A well-restored example to original specification could keep up with modern traffic if well driven. A slightly tweaked example with front discs (and perhaps radial-ply tyres) would be less demanding, but still a bit of a snail compared to almost anything off the peg now. That wouldn't put me off if I wanted one though.

The photo on the book cited in Victorbox's link shows clearly the superior looks of the early, low headlamp versions. The high siting of the headlamps was in response I believe to a change in the law.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 14:47

Morris Minor Classic Car - oldnotbold

Google Charles Ware - a long time trader in MMs. Rode the boom in their popularity a few years back (late 80s), but he has a rocky business past.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 15:04

Morris Minor Classic Car - doctorchris

Why not do what my neighbour does and buy 2 Minors!
He uses one as his daily transport and the other sits in his garage undergoing a rebuild.
Rebuild completed, the Minors swap places.
It ensures he always has a reliable and roadworthy Minor at his disposal.
His motoring costs are peanuts!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 10 Mar 2009 19:53

Morris Minor Classic Car - none

Most points well covered, can't add much except that one mod we used to do was drilling the brake / clutch pedal cross shaft and fitting a grease nipple. The pedals used to seize on the shaft, and depressing the clutch pedal often meant that the brakes went on as well.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 11 Mar 2009 12:07

Morris Minor Classic Car - Sofa Spud

We had a Morris Minor Traveller when I was young - I learned to drive on it.

Problems I remember:
Rust.
Rotting woodwork (obviously only on traveller)
Collapsing front suspension.

It wasn't particularly reliable but most things were easy to fix.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 11 Mar 2009 12:15

Morris Minor Classic Car - Sofa Spud

It's also as well to be sure of the various updates on Morris Minors over the years of production.

Incidentally, the Morris Minor had originally been intended to have a flat-4 engine driving the front wheels by its designer, Alec Issigonis, who also did the Mini, of course. But that idea was abandoned and the car entered production with an antiquated side-valve engine from the Morris 8. The merger with Austin to form BMC led to it being replaced with the A series engine as fitted to the Austin A30.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Thu 12 Mar 2009 14:45

Morris Minor Classic Car - Lud

the Morris Minor had originally been intended to have a flat-4 engine driving the front wheels

Yes SS, Austin Morris, BMC and BL were dominated by ghastly bean-counting suits who would never let Issigonis have the engines he wanted. They just paid him a lot and got him a gong to shut him up and prevent him from going elsewhere.

The end result of that, and of course their pusillanimous and cynical conduct of labour relations (exacerbated by donkey-like union leaders), is the virtual disappearance of the British motor industry.

Suits are still with us, alas, running (if that is the word) all sorts of things. Dont'cha just love'em? I don't.

Edited by Lud on 12/03/2009 at 14:46

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 11 Mar 2009 22:07

Morris Minor Classic Car - ole cruiser

Good luck to anyone who finds something he can be really keen on. But this post has taken my mind back to my brother's Minor 1000 and I am afraid the reflection conjured up is how much cars really have advanced!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Sun 13 Feb 2011 01:39

Morris Minor Classic Car - spanner dave

Not bad car's, but you really need to know what your looking at before commiting to parting with your hard earned cash. I've been in the trade for 36 years and have done quite a bit of work on Morris Minors. If your buying purely to avoid the high-tech trickery of running a modern car, and think running a classic will save you money! think again.

I've had to deal with many a moggy owners stupidity when their purchase turns out not to be as good as they'd have liked. That shiney paint and retrimmed interiors clinched the deal. The smell of leather or vinyl, and that lovely exhaust note. The underside was the bit that should of been the priority, and this is what cost most of them a small fortune to repair. Do not ignore this on a Morris Minor. It'll cost you dearly in the end if you do. Take someone with you who knows what to look for.

If buying for nostalgia reasons! so be it. If it's purely to save on daily running costs you're likely to burn your fingers. I see little if no advantage at all between running an old car against a modern one. I love the moggy, but it's had it's time, and we're never likely to see a revival of a modern recreation of the Minor, like the new Mini, Fiat 500 and Vw beetle. We no longer have a proper British car manufacturer anymore. Sad really isn't it.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Ask Honest John

Sell Your Car

Real MPG

Fuel Calculator