" Best" Upgrade

[CMG]

Sort of following on from my previous Thread .... can you tell me what the Best Upgrade you have done to your Minor that has made it so more reliable and safer to use that my still original 1970 saloon would not be fitted with .....I have seen that there are quite a few like electronic ignition , alternators , servo brakes , dampers etc etc ....experiences please !

[les]

That’s an interesting point of view but if you want reliability, leave it as standard. Regarding safety, well if the car is being upgraded performance wise, bigger brakes etc should be a thought. All these mods are down to preference really, however if you go too far, not much point driving a Minor

[myoldjalopy]

More reliable? Fit Distributor Doctor points and condensors............
Safer? Drive defensively - too many crazies out on the roads these days!

[CMG]

That’s an interesting point of view but if you want reliability, leave it as standard. Regarding safety, well if the car is being upgraded performance wise, bigger brakes etc should be a thought. All these mods are down to preference really, however if you go too far, not much point driving a Minor
Thanks Les [Don't want to do any ' Upgrades " unless they are for the benefit of the Car where they might have a + impact on it. ] Was thinking along the lines of points / condenser as myoldjalopy pointed out or go for electronic ignition want to try and keep it as Original as poss but not for the sake of reliability ...if you know what I mean .

[les]

Yes, I understand.

[Andmurph]

Seat belts

[stuffedpike20]

Hazard Warning Lights.

[King Kenny]

LED lightbulbs in the indicator and rear/ stop liights.

[CMG]

Seat belts

It has the front One's , so was going to fit some for the back seats too

[CMG]

Hazard Warning Lights.
[ Forgot about them , maybe because in all my time of driving I've been fortunate to only need them twice .... so I will do them ...but that will need a Help Question later on when I get to them ...]

[CMG]

LED lightbulbs in the indicator and rear/ stop liights.
[Thought about bulbs to help the Dynamo , wondered how far could go with these ?]

[Andmurph]

Many have replaced all of the bulbs. I didn’t go quite that far but did everything except the headlights. Duncan at www.classiccarleds.co.uk was a great help. I’ve used their leds in the Morris, MG Midget, Land Rover 90 and Volvo V70. Fantastic customer service!

For the hazard lights we have a Lucas SFB300 kit fitted. I swapped the 2pin relay for a digital one from Classic Car LEDs and they work perfectly.

[CMG]

Many have replaced all of the bulbs. I didn’t go quite that far but did everything except the headlights. Duncan at www.classiccarleds.co.uk was a great help. I’ve used their leds in the Morris, MG Midget, Land Rover 90 and Volvo V70. Fantastic customer service!

For the hazard lights we have a Lucas SFB300 kit fitted. I swapped the 2pin relay for a digital one from Classic Car LEDs and they work perfectly.
[Thank you that is very helpful ]

[simmitc]

If you are going to use the car in the winter, then electrically heated front and rear screens. Good demisting = improved visibility = improved safety. My Minors have always been kept outside, so on a frosty morning,plenty of scraping. With heated screen, go out, start engine, switch on screen. By the time that the side windows have been cleared, the screen is completely clear of ice.

[svenedin]

I have LED stop/tail lights but the reason is a bit more complicated than they are just brighter.

The modern brake switches are poor and prone to internal arcing. LED bulbs draw far less current and the hope is the brake switch will last much longer. It is quite obvious when a brake switch is on the way out when following a Minor. The stop lights are very dim until almost full brake pedal force is applied so it is easy to miss light braking. I notice this on the occasions that I am in a Minor convoy.

LED bulbs are available in positive and negative earth versions but they are not interchangeable in terms of polarity. Personally, I think LED sidelights, number plate lights and headlights are the wrong colour (too white) so I have not changed those. LED indicator bulbs require a replacement electronic flasher relay or the use of resistors with a standard thermal flasher can and that is too much trouble for me.

Stephen

[moggiethouable]

A sunvisor, mine is far better for it.
Metal is best and leave a gap for the wind to get through, otherwise leave it well alone, they knew what they were doing when they built them.

[Wes]

If you are going to use the car in the winter, then electrically heated front and rear screens. Good demisting = improved visibility = improved safety. My Minors have always been kept outside, so on a frosty morning,plenty of scraping. With heated screen, go out, start engine, switch on screen. By the time that the side windows have been cleared, the screen is completely clear of ice.

Had a heated screens on a number of modern cars and think a great idea. So was surprised when i bought my traveller last year to find PO had fitted heated front & back ones. Great idea. He also fiited reversing lights, Newton seats & disc brakes, all great additions.

[CMG]

If you are going to use the car in the winter, then electrically heated front and rear screens. Good demisting = improved visibility = improved safety. My Minors have always been kept outside, so on a frosty morning,plenty of scraping. With heated screen, go out, start engine, switch on screen. By the time that the side windows have been cleared, the screen is completely clear of ice.

Had a heated screens on a number of modern cars and think a great idea. So was surprised when i bought my traveller last year to find PO had fitted heated front & back ones. Great idea. He also fiited reversing lights, Newton seats & disc brakes, all great additions.
Like the idea of a heated screen , do you know how they would affect the Dynamo ? ]

[svenedin]

If you are going to use the car in the winter, then electrically heated front and rear screens. Good demisting = improved visibility = improved safety. My Minors have always been kept outside, so on a frosty morning,plenty of scraping. With heated screen, go out, start engine, switch on screen. By the time that the side windows have been cleared, the screen is completely clear of ice.

Had a heated screens on a number of modern cars and think a great idea. So was surprised when i bought my traveller last year to find PO had fitted heated front & back ones. Great idea. He also fiited reversing lights, Newton seats & disc brakes, all great additions.
Like the idea of a heated screen , do you know how they would affect the Dynamo ? ]

Many years ago I had a 4-door Morris saloon as well as my convertible. The saloon had a heated rear screen. The dynamo coped perfectly well. Of course a heated rear screen is not possible on the convertible. I did consider a heated front screen but actually my heater works very well since I completely refurbished it so I don't think I need one. It takes a bit of time for the heater to get hot so I just keep a chamois leather screen pad in the glovebox to wipe the condensation off the screen. Opening the quarter lights helps get the humid air out of the car.

Stephen

[svenedin]

Here is an example of quotes going wrong. They had already gone wrong in the post I quoted but even though I made sure my post was after the quote it did not work properly......