I used to love it but it's all over now.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

in any case it was designed to run on home-brew, much more pungent than ethanol.

[les]

Make your mind up, first it was designed for ethanol, now it's designed for home-brew!

[rayofleamington]

hmm - apart from timing changes, my Minor ran on E85 fairly well... An that was many years ago when it first became available in uk.

britain we don't do petrochemicals or engineering anymore we sold out to banks and let them sail us into wind of dispair

Forget banking matey - There's a massive shortage of capable engineers in automotive / controls / system engineering, and on the plus side, wages are becoming pretty nice for engineers with the right skills. ;-) My sector is booming and being held back by lack of people with the right skills.

Sadly, schools here are still completely failing to educate children into realising tht engineering is the application of science and it's all around you... Joe Public continues to think that an automotive engineer uses a spanner (a mechanic) and that British Gas will send an 'engineer' out to fix your boiler , and that to use 'science' in the workplace you need to go into phorensics (CSI anyone ?!?!)...
We continue to loose manufacturing jobs here but if the public does'nt realise that the UK is still right in at the top of the technology revolution and guide people into the right education, we won't be there forever - but you'll be able to buy your subway from a media-studies graduate.

[aupickup]

well with some modern small engine cars doing 60 miles plus to the gallon and fuel the price it is it would be better to have a small modern if doing a lot of mileage
i do 15000 a year and the cost of petrol is something i need to think about

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Yes but you pay more for road tax and insurance on a modern car. Paying the extra fuel duty for the small amount of petrol a Minor uses more than a modern car is worth it. You should be getting from 35 to 45 MPG. Check your valve clearances, spark plug gaps, points condition and gap and air filter. Finally, check carb settings but only adjust it after you've made all the other checks.

With your mileage, you should have excellent fuel consumption, I would say mid-40s, unless you do a lot of stop-start driving.

[aupickup]

yes i do get around 40, and do over 300 miles a week on average, so price of petrol is a main consideration
also road tax on smaller cars is cheap

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Sorry I'd forgotten about road tax on new cars, yes it can be as low as £30 a year on some. Shows how many new cars I've owned!!

[LouiseM]

Sorry I'd forgotten about road tax on new cars, yes it can be as low as £30 a year on some.

There are also quite a lot of new cars now that fall into the 'no road tax' bracket due to low emissions.

[aupickup]

but i must admit i do enjoy the shows

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

a lot of new cars now that fall into the 'no road tax' bracket due to low emissions.

Which makes me wonder what the EU/Enviro beaureaucrats would make of the stink coming out of the A-series exhaust pipe.

Seriously - have you ever held your hand at the exhaust pipe? It's like a gale force wind enough to make some have a fit!

Anybody know what the emissions would be in terms of grams/km so we can compare to moderns? (Not that I'm too bothered about the blue smoke coming out of mine - the person behind can worry about that).

[les]

I wouldn't have thought there was much difference in the exhaust force between modern and old. Glad I'm not behind you. (get a decent engine!)

[titch]

If you want a sensible car get a kia which does 86mpg, is conjestion charge free and zero tax. My wife would love one and it would suit her down to the earth.

However a morris minor is viewed as a project or hobby, so sadly those are the prices we will be charged. I have an old Harley and a traveller in rebuild. They are my main and only transport and have long since accepted that if I want vehicles with character then they will not be sensible investments, that the prices for bits will get more expensive as they get older and that new cars will be faster warmer and cheeper.

My brother gets old cars for investments, he has a ferarri, austin 7 and a volvo of which only 3 were registered in the UK. All three cost significantly more than a moggy and if you saw his parts bill you would go ashen.

I will rebuild Lily like I did Elvira (my Harley), I will end up spending more than the car is worth, love doing it and will be proud as punch when people tell me that its a lovely old car.

I'm not critisising anyone, just being realistic to what a cheep old mass produced car can deliver.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

My brother gets old cars for investments, he has a ferarri, austin 7 and a volvo of which only 3 were registered in the UK. All three cost significantly more than a moggy and if you saw his parts bill you would go ashen.

Does he have a lot of shares in Unipart then?