True Speed

[stuffedpike20]

I have owned many Minors since the early 1980s.
I am not into tuning engines, but know how to set up a carb so that it is running properly.
I often see people state that their standard 1098 Minor will cruise at 65mph on the motorway.
All of my 1098 standard Minors, except for one, struggled to get to 55mph; and by that time the engine sounded like it was about to destroy itself, and my ears would be just about bleeding because of the noise.
The one that did manage to get to 60mph comfortably was a D reg, and the carb had a hose going to it from the top of the rocker cover (?). I don't know if a previous owner had fitted a different carb; or whether it had a 3.9 diff or something to allow it to get to 60mph.

My current Minor has a 1098 engine and 3.9 diff....but is still screaming and deafening at 60mph.

Are all those owners who claim cruising at 65mph on the motorway liars? And deaf?
Or am I doing something wrong?

[Myrtles Man]

Back in the early sixties three of us young bucks used to get out and about looking for the 'action' (quick beer then on to the Locarno or whatever) in a Morris Minor Traveller that our mate Harry owned. Harry invariably had the speedo needle bang up against the stopper pin at the 80mph point on the dial, which must have indicated a true 70/75 mph.

[les]

Probably the beer blurring the figures on the speedo.

[svenedin]

Well a certain person took my Minor "off the clock" which is 95 mph+ indicated but no idea of true speed. The car jumped out of gear violently and that was the end of that gearbox but not the engine which went on for another 30 years. 65 mph is easily attainable with a healthy 1098 (especially a convertible which is lighter) and yes can cruise at that if you can stand the noise. It's tiring and I don't really like the feel of the car at much above 60 mph. It starts to feel floaty. Even my knackered 1098 engine would do 70 mph before rebuild but the faster it went the faster it consumed oil!

Struggling to get to 55 mph is definitely not right.

Stephen

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[myoldjalopy]

Struggling to get 55 mph sounds more like a tired 803cc Minor, rather than a 1098cc model! When the Autocar magazine road tested the SII 803cc model in 1952, it recorded a top speed of 62mph. In 1964 Autocar tested the 1098cc model and recorded a top speed of 73.4mph. Higher speeds may be possible going downhill with a strong wind helping at the rear!

[stuffedpike20]

Well a certain person took my Minor "off the clock" which is 95 mph+ indicated but no idea of true speed. The car jumped out of gear violently and that was the end of that gearbox but not the engine which went on for another 30 years. 65 mph is easily attainable with a healthy 1098 (especially a convertible which is lighter) and yes can cruise at that if you can stand the noise. It's tiring and I don't really like the feel of the car at much above 60 mph. It starts to feel floaty. Even my knackered 1098 engine would do 70 mph before rebuild but the faster it went the faster it consumed oil!

Struggling to get to 55 mph is definitely not right.

Stephen



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What would you suggest is the main reason for it not being right Stephen?
It's got an unleaded head, with correct valve clearances. Nice carb with clean air filter. Recent fuel pump. Clutch is not slipping.
Even with the 3.9 diff, it does not like 60mph. And, as you say, the ride is 'floaty'.

[svenedin]

I don't know. You should drive mine. It is a totally standard car. It doesn't stop any better!

Stephen

[stuffedpike20]

I wish I had investigated the D reg more before I sold it.
I have never seen a carb with a pipe from the rocker cover going to it since...maybe from a mini?
It certainly looked like a 1" 1/4" SU with a Minor air filter housing.

[mike1864]

My Series 2 Convertible with a 1098 power train WILL go above 60, but the engine noise limits my Comfy cruising to 52 (sat nav) mph.
And, as others have said, the oil consumption seems to suffer at those higher speeds.

[Jim McCrae]

I would expect a 1098 Minor in good condition to be able to exceed 60mph. It will be loud and may not be a comfortable experience. (I am very anxious at the idea of doing 80 or 90mph in a 60 year old car with suspension and brakes designed 80+ years ago.)

You say that your carburettor is in good order but haven't mentioned the ignition system. Damaged ignition components, points and plugs needing adjustment and incorrect ignition timing would all significantly affect power output and limit top speed. If you haven't done so already, I would recomend a full inspection and tuneup.

The higher differential ratio might not help as the engine needs enough power to handle it. Think about trying to accelerate a push bike when in a high gear.

Good luck

[svenedin]

Yes agreed. You might want to do a full service and replace components as appropriate. Oil change, air filter, check the fuel mixture (I use a Colortune but the lifting pin is the workshop manual method), check your distributor rotor, points gap, ignition timing. Even tyre pressures (under inflation) can affect your top speed. As can carrying unnecessary weight in the boot etc.

I do agree that for long journeys it is more comfortable to keep the speed down to 50-55 mph. The noise is very tiring at higher speeds and so is the sustained concentration needed.

Stephen

[myoldjalopy]

Yes to the above checks, even binding brakes can limit speed - but what is odd is that the OP states "all of my 1098 standard Minors, except for one, struggled to get to 55mph". Seems a bit mysterious, assuming they were all serviced and maintained properly.....

[svenedin]

Yes to the above checks, even binding brakes can limit speed - but what is odd is that the OP states "all of my 1098 standard Minors, except for one, struggled to get to 55mph". Seems a bit mysterious, assuming they were all serviced and maintained properly.....

Yes that is strange but I suppose it depends on what he means by "struggled". It does take quite a while to get to 55 mph. The performance is never going to startle anybody. I think a lot of the folk who happily cruise along at 65 mph actually have 1275 engines......Driving in Germany I found the slip lanes too short to get enough speed to join fast roads.

[MikeNash]

If a 1098 engine has good compression on all cylinders and the ignition and carb are adjusted to the manual specs then (if there's nothing odd like binding brakes) it'll do 70mph without trouble. (I'm talking of GPS figures here.) And it'll cruise all day at 60-65 and with foot to the floor when punching up wind or up long motor grades it'll be 55 to 60. I know 'cos I've done it, even towing a small trailer behind my Trav. In my experience, if the engine is worn and a bit loose it'll be a bit quicker; my first engine barely reached 40 psi oil pressure and rattled a bit but was the quickest of my motors. (Mind you, I was lucky to get 190 miles to the pint of oil and driven really hard that fell to 150/160 miles.)

If all Stuffedpike's engine were slow, then I wonder if there's some commonality there, and the only thing I can suggest is if he's always used the same distributor. If so, I suggest that the advance is not doing its job. Stuck bobweights?
Regards from MikeN.

[svenedin]

If a 1098 engine has good compression on all cylinders and the ignition and carb are adjusted to the manual specs then (if there's nothing odd like binding brakes) it'll do 70mph without trouble. (I'm talking of GPS figures here.) And it'll cruise all day at 60-65 and with foot to the floor when punching up wind or up long motor grades it'll be 55 to 60. I know 'cos I've done it, even towing a small trailer behind my Trav. In my experience, if the engine is worn and a bit loose it'll be a bit quicker; my first engine barely reached 40 psi oil pressure and rattled a bit but was the quickest of my motors. (Mind you, I was lucky to get 190 miles to the pint of oil and driven really hard that fell to 150/160 miles.)

If all Stuffedpike's engine were slow, then I wonder if there's some commonality there, and the only thing I can suggest is if he's always used the same distributor. If so, I suggest that the advance is not doing its job. Stuck bobweights?
Regards from MikeN.

Sounds like your engine was very similar to mine before rebuild in terms of oil consumption!

[myoldjalopy]

If a 1098 engine has good compression on all cylinders and the ignition and carb are adjusted to the manual specs then (if there's nothing odd like binding brakes) it'll do 70mph without trouble. (I'm talking of GPS figures here.) And it'll cruise all day at 60-65 and with foot to the floor when punching up wind or up long motor grades it'll be 55 to 60. I know 'cos I've done it, even towing a small trailer behind my Trav. In my experience, if the engine is worn and a bit loose it'll be a bit quicker; my first engine barely reached 40 psi oil pressure and rattled a bit but was the quickest of my motors. (Mind you, I was lucky to get 190 miles to the pint of oil and driven really hard that fell to 150/160 miles.)

If all Stuffedpike's engine were slow, then I wonder if there's some commonality there, and the only thing I can suggest is if he's always used the same distributor. If so, I suggest that the advance is not doing its job. Stuck bobweights?
Regards from MikeN.

I agree about performance - I have had two Minors with 1098cc engines and they would both easily run along a motorway at 65mph, and even 70mph was achievable. Unlikely SP used the same dizzy in all of his cars, but only he can confirm that......

[svenedin]

If a 1098 engine has good compression on all cylinders and the ignition and carb are adjusted to the manual specs then (if there's nothing odd like binding brakes) it'll do 70mph without trouble. (I'm talking of GPS figures here.) And it'll cruise all day at 60-65 and with foot to the floor when punching up wind or up long motor grades it'll be 55 to 60. I know 'cos I've done it, even towing a small trailer behind my Trav. In my experience, if the engine is worn and a bit loose it'll be a bit quicker; my first engine barely reached 40 psi oil pressure and rattled a bit but was the quickest of my motors. (Mind you, I was lucky to get 190 miles to the pint of oil and driven really hard that fell to 150/160 miles.)

If all Stuffedpike's engine were slow, then I wonder if there's some commonality there, and the only thing I can suggest is if he's always used the same distributor. If so, I suggest that the advance is not doing its job. Stuck bobweights?
Regards from MikeN.

I agree about performance - I have had two Minors with 1098cc engines and they would both easily run along a motorway at 65mph, and even 70mph was achievable. Unlikely SP used the same dizzy in all of his cars, but only he can confirm that......

All agreed but they do differ or perhaps the drivers differ or both! On the long and rather boring motorway drive to MoT Holland last year I was overtaken by several 1098cc Minors. I was keeping my speed down due to excessive oil consumption and concerns over the engine being fragile. The 1275 cars very easily and noticeably surpass my 1098. On our rally which was quite a complicated run on back roads they all seemed to behave in a pretty similar way but nobody was pushing their cars. It was noticeable that the 803 and side valve cars had trouble keeping up.

[stuffedpike20]

Maybe this post was a bad idea. Maybe I am just jealous of those with Minors that can cruise at 65mph.

My first Minor in 1982 was a 1967 pickup. I knew little about engines then, and was probably quite ignorant of the dangers of going fast in a car that had been basically designed in the 1940s. I did get it to 70mph on the A1 once, and nearly rolled it coming off on the slip road.
Second was another pickup. A friend helped me rebuild the engine...reground crank, new pistons etc. I ran it in for 500 miles at 40mph.It was happy at 50mph, but not happy above that. Not sure what diff was in the pickup. I changed the engine in it, and kept the rebuilt one when I sold it . (sorry POMreg).
A bit later came the D reg with hose from the rocker to the carb. This was the smoothest, happiest Minor I ever owned. It would quietly sit at 60mph without 'floating'. I stupidly part exchanged it for a scruffy Midget. I saw it for sale recently. but could not justify the expense.
Next was a convertible that I put the rebuilt engine in. (sorry POMreg). It was happy at 55mph.
I took the rebuilt engine out again before I sold it.
During all this time I put several other Minors back on the road, and sold them without driving them much.
Current car is standard 1098 but with 3.9 diff. Even with the 'longer' diff it is not happy at 60mph. Slightly binding brakes and non-optimal timing might be a factor, but it also feels 'floaty' at 60mph. The engine has good compression in all cylinders, ignition parts are Distributor Doctor, bobweights are free. I have used Colortune.

From reading posts here, it seems that individual Minors must vary significantly. I wish I had never got rid of the D reg because it was the best driving Minor I ever owned.....but I don't know whether it was all down to the carb. I fully serviced it several times, and it always drove the same.

[Bill_qaz]

What do you mean by floaty?

[svenedin]

What do you mean by floaty?

I mean the sensation at increasing speed that the steering gets lighter and lighter and the car feels tiny, vulnerable and easily buffeted by lorries etc like it is floating on air. I think that whereas a modern car is designed with spoilers etc to maintain down force that exactly the opposite happens with a Minor at speed. Mine is better with the weight of 2 people in it.

Just realised both Stuffedpike and I used this word.

Stephen