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 :D



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:

[daveyboy]

right result.
upgraded brakes means you need to upgrade the motor.
small block should be fine.lol

[Cunning Plan]

Quoting: daveyboy

upgraded brakes means you need to upgrade the motor.
small block should be fine.lol

LOL yep!! the engine bays are hoooooge for the massive 1098cc that is currently in there..

[F Body]

Cool daily providing the local Chav's don't trash it, the locks on a minor can be opened with your finger nails

[Incursus]

Sweet!  is begging for V8 though....and some Satin Black paint

[Roadkill]

Can't see the pics but my brother managed to shoe-horn in a Rover V8 into a Moggy years back.

[ianjpage]

lol thats kinda cool - hope it goes through the MOT ok!

[v8mad0]

Nice one chaps

[Fieldy]

You're braver than me....

Good luck

[philoldsmobile]

the hot set up for a daily driver moggy always used to be the fiat twin cam, seen some VERY neat installations.

having had a V8 conversion in  a cortina, not sure i'd go for one in the moggy, the body of those old british cars just isn't stiff enough to cope with the torque, and you end up with a car that wanders all over the road under acceleration.

a Zetec, fiat twin cam or a Vauxhall 16v, or even a Rover K series would all work well. the rover lump is nice and compact, as well as light, and is 'keeping it in the family' so to speak. the Fiat was favored for its extremely compact size, good power and reliability, but its probably getting harder to find now. great option of you can find one though, as they are a very aesthetically nice engine.

[VIPER]

That is one cool car.....

My Grandad still has one that he bought new 50 yrs ago. And it is in pristine condition and only 60k on the clock... Not been driven on the road for 5ish yrs now but still started and moved around on his driveway..

[Cunning Plan]

Fuel leak and dynamo not charging after getting the engine running.. Not quite ready for the MOT yet then..