Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi all, ok apologies if this may seem a duplicate but I've seen the other threads and am still quite confused, I am working on my 70 Van and plan to use it everyday, now in MAlta we have some bumpy roads and am not planning to guve the van a hard time speeding around in the bog standard 1098cc, so would you recommend doing any mods other than refurbishing the standard suspensions? and if yes which mods? thanks

Unless you have a faster/ heavier engine I personally wouldn't bother. The torsion bar setup, whilst not the greatest system ever used is more than adequate for a standard vehicle!

no im leaving the original 1098cc engine, thanks for your advise

We live down an unmade track and the minors all cope no problems, even my fiesta bottoms out in places! So your rough roads shouldn't cause problems. Just attend to the lubrication!

I'd second Dan; my 1098 carried my heavily laden 4 door up to the youth hostel up by the tin-mines on Coniston Old Man (i.e. up an unmade track on the side of a mountain), it did this without hastle, and the mog handled the track far better than most modern cars seemed to, albeit wailing up the hill in first for some sections

I would recommend that you replace the EYE BOLT rubber bushes with the
modern plastic based type, and do make sure that the top 'bump' rubber
and the bottom 'rebound' rubbers are in good condition.(the top bump rubbers quite frequently break off allowing too much suspension travel).

Yes - the suspension needs to be in top condition - bump rubbers in place and in good condition - and certainly fit polyurethane top bushes. I have PM'd you my views on dampers !! And since it's a Van - it already has tele rear dampers - so easy enough to get upgraded ones for there.

Poly bushes are well worth the effort. Modern rubber replacememnt bushes do not seem to be up to the job. You should have seen the state of the ones I took off mine when I put poly bushes on; they'd only been on a year or so!