New Dailey Driver - '68 Morris Minor

[cunning plan]

Okay so me and my housemate have been looking for a fun dailey driver for a while to use as a 'communial' car - he owns a '63 Beetle that he is rebuilding the front beam and my '68 Bus is at Andyvans, so we have been craving something else to play with.. There is always issues with sharing a car such as who puts how much in etc. This meant that the car had to cost the least amount possible and be tax exempt whilst not costing alot to get it on the road.. Seems pretty impossible huh?

Well we spotted this on a Piston Heads Classified:

'FREE to whoever can collect me' was the description. Sitting for 3 years but a new floor in 2004, front disc brake conversion from a Ford Serria and an unleaded conversion - Great. Its tax exempt and free and appears to have been looked after. Only problem was it was in Plymouth...

Soo, after a 11/12 hour round trip and an hour and a half suck on the driveway trying to free up the drums, we left a pleasant polite couple with this and a massive file of history!

Some nice patina, It needed some cleaning up, plugs cleaned, fresh fuel pulled manually through from tank, the ELECTRIC fuel pump needed some un-jamming and cleaning of the electric contacts, a new battery, checked the old oil and a lil fuel directly in the carb and it turned over and started

Once we had it running it was time to get all the rubbers out of the engine ready to replace.

Soo, after a bit of cleaning and getting ready to give the breaks a quick going over before going for an MOT.

This is apparently a 'rare-option' that you had to pay more for in 1968 - a cabin heater that still works!! the feed comes as usual from the radiator. It is really interesting to see all the differences between what would have been rival cars - the Beetle and the Minor. I prefer the Beetle shape and engine, I even think it would have been faster stock, but the Minor has more room and more gadgets.

So yep, thats it so far. Just need to get a few spares for it like rear light clusters, brake fluid, engine hoses, new tyres etc before it can go for an MOT, but if it goes through :shock: 8) :mrgreen:

 

[AxlFoley]

Thats awesome, looks in good condition, does it need any welding?

how easy is it to lower a moggy?

 

[cunning plan]

Thats awesome, looks in good condition, does it need any welding?

how easy is it to lower a moggy?

:mrgreen:

The front looks real easy, its a spindle like the swing arm bit on rear Bus suspension, it gives you 1.5 inch stock without having to modify anything so we are going to drop the front and leave the rear - a nice raked look.. :shock: Some big fat tyres at the back should also help..

 

[Justin & Muttley]

That's a great find - my 'Grampy' used to have an early Moggy that was held together with black duct tape - semaphores and everything!!

Good plan, hope it works out well for you...

 

[bananacustard]

I,ve had loads of these in the past (vans, travellers,saloons and a pick-up). They're great little cars but very prone to rot, especially rear spring mounts, front chassis legs, inner sills etc. The front ride height can be adjusted by rotating the torsion bars a spline or two and the rear by removing some spacers and shortening the u-bolts on the rear axle ( if I remember correctly). Also make sure you grease your trunnions regularly, the front wheels have a habit of falling off.

Good luck with the mot.

 

[cunning plan]

I,ve had loads of these in the past (vans, travellers,saloons and a pick-up). They're great little cars but very prone to rot, especially rear spring mounts, front chassis legs, inner sills etc. The front ride height can be adjusted by rotating the torsion bars a spline or two and the rear by removing some spacers and shortening the u-bolts on the rear axle ( if I remember correctly). Also make sure you grease your trunnions regularly, the front wheels have a habit of falling off.

Good luck with the mot.

Tanks dude.

With the fronts, is it just a case of unbolting the torsion arm, hammering it off then putting it back on a few splines down and bolt back up?

If you want another one, the couple we got this free one from have a woody in the garage in much better condition for £500 :shock:

 

[bananacustard]

There's a bit more to it than that but that's the jist of it. Worth taking it all apart and checking/replacing your swivel pins, bushes and upper and lower trunnions if your dismantling the front suspension. The bits don't cost much, but I should get an expert to check for any welding before you splash out on mechanics as this is what costs the most on a moggy. They don't have a seperate chassis (apart from vans and pick-ups) so any structural rot has to be taken very seriously.
Patina on one of these is not good news as it's due to damp and salty UK roads ( not sunshine like California cars ). I don't want to put a downer on it as it's all fixable and parts and panels are cheap and freely available.

Hope it's a good one, good luck .

 

[lard]

Nice (and free!) a perfect communal car - there's a couple of these in my village, one that's a woody traveller and origanol, and another like this that's been resprayed and has a young guy driving around in it, big fat wheels and sure it must be lowered - will take some sneaky pics when next walking the dog

 

[cunning plan]

There's a bit more to it than that but that's the jist of it. Worth taking it all apart and checking/replacing your swivel pins, bushes and upper and lower trunnions if your dismantling the front suspension. The bits don't cost much, but I should get an expert to check for any welding before you splash out on mechanics as this is what costs the most on a moggy. They don't have a seperate chassis (apart from vans and pick-ups) so any structural rot has to be taken very seriously.
Patina on one of these is not good news as it's due to damp and salty UK roads ( not sunshine like California cars ). I don't want to put a downer on it as it's all fixable and parts and panels are cheap and freely available.

Hope it's a good one, good luck .

Okay bud, words of wisdom - thanks

Nice (and free!) a perfect communal car - there's a couple of these in my village, one that's a woody traveller and origanol, and another like this that's been resprayed and has a young guy driving around in it, big fat wheels and sure it must be lowered - will take some sneaky pics when next walking the dog

:mrgreen:

 

[easy]

Nice one dood, slam it rim it roll it

 

[Danbury Doug]

Nice car! A good little project for you! 8)

My brother had a couple of them many years ago, and a neighbour used to take me to nursey school in her (then) brand new Traveller.

BTW I've got a '67 Mini Traveller. 8)

 

[Kirk]

Very cool. I dont know if I would slam it or not. I would probably roll it as is. Cool find.