Morris minor advice

[pallet30]

Ok I’m sorry I’m back with more questions and asking for advice again. After recently looking at minis and old beetles, they don’t appeal to me. So back to the drawing board.
So chatting with her in doors and she said “ how about a Morris minor” I’ve owned one before and are cool and never really thought about another one till she mentioned it.
Question is can you cram another engine in one easily or is it a massive task with cutting out the cars bulk head. Inspiration needed guys. Possibly going to look at one tomorrow so I can see what I’m getting myself into. The one is an early split screen with a 1275 engine with discs etc. Modify or keep standard?

[VW]

Sounds like its already modified and theres loads of em, so cut away imo 🙂

[tineca]

Hi if you go on this forum there are different areas depending on how heavily modified the cars are. I am working on a standard one at the moment.yours sounds a good base .https://www.morrisminorowners.co.uk

[comfortablynumb]

See if you can get some copies of practical Classics for this year, one of the staff writers is building a supercharged minor, doing bodywork etc, give you an idea of what's involved

[MkX]

My Dad sent me to look at / bid on one years ago at an estate sale. An elderly chap he knew had owned it from new, used it lightly and always garaged it. It was 32 years old with around 30,000 miles on it. The last few years of this old timers life it had been doing 5 miles a year which was just to the MOT station & back. It had a couple of dinks where he'd clipped the gateposts but apart from that was immaculate, some of the seats were still in the original plastic covers. I think I had to bid £800.00 and it was probably worth £4K. If another neighbour hadn't tried it on I might have got it for £50.00!

My Dad used it as his everyday car for years, he carried out a few period tweaks. It would sit happily on the motorway at 70mph and could be pushed past 90mph. I borrowed it for a few days and a friend of mine tried to catch me up over a 5 mile run and failed miserably, he was driving a relatively new 1600 Vauxhall Cavalier. Unless you want serious performance the original engines can be more than good enough for everyday use. A common modification you'll come across quite often is all round disk brakes with servo assist so I'm guessing the original brakes don't cut the mustard in modern traffic, (although I don't recall the brakes being poor when I used the car).

If you get a decent one they can be great little cars. Most useful and attractive in Traveller form?

[VW]

I seem to remember my step dads had a wolseley diff which helped alot.

[bmcnut]

Ive seen most things done with moggys, so the easy answer is probably yes. Ive never owned one so I'm no help at all, but I love the idea of one.

[moggyman]

A 1275 and disc brakes make for a very usable car, especially if you alter the gearing to suit.
Assuming the wheels/tyres are close to stock diameter, a 3.9:1 diff (1275 midget) makes it a lot less stressed at motorway speeds. If it's not too hilly where you live you could get away with a 3.727:1 diff from a Wolseley 1500/ Riley 1.5.

This is assuming that you're running a 4-speed box. If you've got a 5-speed, then the 4.22:1 diff from the late Minor should be about right.

[kevins]

The A series is a tight fit lengthways and the steering rack very close to the top of the gearbox so anything longer is going to bit of a struggle without cutting the x member on the bulkhead, something like the Ford 3 cylinder ecoboost would probably fit (up to 140hp) but would be expensive. I have thought that if I want more out of ours supercharging could be great option. I have fitted front discs mainly because they are easier to live with (made my own set up out of corsa parts). Longer gearing or a 5 speed box would make it easier on long journeys. I did start messing around with an MX5 box which I concluded could be made to fit but would take quite a bit of work.

[retroray]

My uncle had a 1275 turbo moggy think it had a type 9 gearbox as well it flew when the turbo kicked in. It was a right laugh it surprised a lot of people proper sleeper.

I’m sure you can get kits to fit a zetec lump in there? I’d love to turbo one of them!

[slater]

I like mine as its costs 180quid a year to have on the road and I don't really care if it goes rusty or gets stolen. Cheap backup car and stops people parking in front of my garage doors.

[ChasR]

With Moggies, there are pleanty of easy-to-install mods in all aspects including the engine, but they all come at a price. And that is the price!

Calling dan, as he is a bit of a Moggie guru!

[dan]

Well I've never been called a guru before lol

Loads of engine swaps available. Obviously it starts with a warmed up A Series but black top zetecs have become the common swap now however, the bulkhead needs notching and strengthening. K Series, toyota 4AGE and lotus twin cam also fit www.jlhmorrisminors.co.uk produce a kit for the zetec or can do the work for you if you have the budget.

You may want to check out my build and this recent thread forum.retro-rides.org/thread/210156/morris-minors?page=1&scrollTo=2519789

[halkyon]

At 700kg you don't need much power to have fun. 1275 blocks are getting expensive but will still be the most straightforward upgrade.

If I were building another Moggie engine myself I'd go for a tiny screamer. Something like a 1098 block (proper cam bearings) with 948 and 998 internals, plus a turbo of one came up on eBay.

[moggyman]

From what I've read, the Ford Crossflow will fit without cutting if you use a remote oil filter. Another option would be the Ford Zetec SE (Sigma) engine. You can get a bellhousing to fit a Type 9 box, the engine only weighs 80kg and the 1.6 will give 140bhp on bike carbs and aftermarket ignition ECU, but the costs would soon add up on that.
I do know that a Mazda 12a will fit without cutting and gives 115bhp out of the box.....

[halkyon]

The Ford Type 9 is also getting old, expensive and is noticeably heavy in a Moggy, I could feel the difference after the swap. Mazda gearbox would be better and lighter AFAIK (but no off the shelf conversion kits).

[comfortablynumb]

AFAIK the zetec se engine will fit the Mazda 5 or 6 speed gearbox, that's only what I've heard tho' , anybody know better?

[moggyman]

Aug 21, 2019 17:51:12 GMT comfortablynumb said:

AFAIK the zetec se engine will fit the Mazda 5 or 6 speed gearbox, that's only what I've heard tho' , anybody know better?

There are people that will make an adaptor plate. Have a browse on the Turbosport forum.

[metalshapes]

Isn't the reason for the short & wide engine bay in a Morris Minor that it was designed for a flat 4?

If so, how about a Subaru EA?

From what I remember, those were nice simple and compact.
( a buddy of mine put one in a VW Type2, and he was happy with it...)
2 valve, pushrods, siamesed ports...
Wont give massive horsepower, but I believe the biggest one was about 1800cc, so it would push a Minor along nicely.

Seems to me the problem with any 4 inline would be that it will more than likely be longer than the original one.
So with a stock firewall, more of it would stick out in front of the front axle line.

A short engine like a flat 4 or a Ford V4 ( not a nice engine, I had one in a Mk1 Transit), would keep more of the weight inside the wheelbase...

[moggyman]

Apparently the exhaust ports on the Scooby lump 'coincide' with the chassis rails on the Minor. I know the Alfa flat four definitely has this problem- there is a Minor van fitted with one, which required major surgery.
I know of a Suzuki 970 engine fitted in a minor without cutting, not sure if the 1.3 shares the same block casting or not.
A 4-AGE motor will fit if you swap the pulleys for other Toyota ones, not sure which though, there is a split-screen traveller in the US that proves this.