Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi all,

just wondering if anyone knows roughly how much power you can put through a morris back axle. I'm guessing the weakest bit would be the half shafts? Would hardened shafts make much of a difference, or should i go for a Ford English axle?

Thanks in advance,

Sam.

New, the Minor axle would be able to cope with a max of 80bhp. Several folk on here run 1275's on the standard unit with not too many problems. The axles can be uprated,but this just tends to move the weak spot somewhere else.
More important is the braking capabilities of the Minor axle, which in standard form are pretty poor, even when adjusted correctly. If intending to up the power significantly then its the brakes I'd be concerned about.
The fitting of either the Ford Escort or Ital axle is by far the better route, stronger axles, bigger bearings, big choice of diffs and brake sizes. the Ford Escort unit will be good for 180bhp, and some have taken 240bhp in some V8 powered Escort rally cars. the Ital unit is normally rated to about 160bhp max.
Do bare in mind too the size of wheel studs when increasing power,I would not wish to use standard Minor or Ital studs on one of our 190bhp K powered cars.

Sounds like the Ford one is the way to go then. Are there any other axles to look out for, or are others too wide for the car?

Thanks for your help,

Sam.

Marina/Ital /Dolomite axles will be cheap in scrappy - and have bigger 8" rear drums (which as J says will be important) - and they have 3.75" pcd so can be used with nice looking and inexpensive MGF alloy wheels - handy if you also use marina discs on the front - same wheels all round.

Sam,

What engine/power and diff ratio are you proposing to use?

With our 1380 A-Series, 100bhp at the flywheel on a rolling road at the time, I started off with a standard Minor axle, with 3.9 diff, and 'hardened' half shafts. Drove many miles and track days with no problem UNTIL I fitted an LSD, then had immediate problems with a broken halfshaft.

Fitted Peter May's EN24 shafts and no problems for the last 4/5 years, despite even more track days, a few changes to the engine and 112bhp on a rolling road a few weeks ago.

I am using a 1275 6.5" clutch (with uprated drive plate for the Toyota T50 gearbox) which may help as it's quite 'soft' on engagement - never slips, but I think acts as a small protection to the rear axle.

Well, it started off as 1098cc, but since then I have bought a 1.8 Zetec to which I hope to fit RS1800 cams, so should be somewhere around the 140bhp mark if I'm lucky. Will be using either a type 9 box, or MT75, whichever the god lord giveth first for not much cash! You car looks and sounds amazing! You must be chuffed with it!

I have bought a 1.8 Zetec to which I hope to fit RS1800 cams

Standard 2.0 cams and throttle body would be cheaper and easier to source and will take it to around 130bhp. It'll be effectively the same spec as the '130' zetecs were from factory.

Good luck with it though, plenty of pics and info would be nice.
What brakes/suspension are you looking at?

Will end up with JLH's triangulated radius arm and stiffer leafs on the back, with uprated torsion bars at the front, a JLH vented disc brake conversion, and i'd like some spax adjustables front and rear. Always open to ideas though, the cheaper the better!! Would like to try and sort discs out at the rear, but will see how the project goes!!

Would like to try and sort discs out at the rear, but will see how the project goes!!

With the weight distribution of the Minor I wonder if rear disks are worth the effort. Everyone I've spoken to who has done that has then had problems with the rear being overbraked.
If you're going to put the car around a track for hours on end then maybe it's worth it to avoid fading but otherwise I'd expect big rear drums are far more than adequate as the rear wheels have so little grip when braking heavily.

Sounds great! Should handle as well as it goes with that setup!

Always open to ideas though, the cheaper the better!!

Seriously, 2 litre cams and TB is the way forward. RS1800 parts are going to be hard to find.
2.0 Mondeos are practically given away these days.

Would like to try and sort discs out at the rear

Would be a 'cool' mod but I don't think its really necessary. Many high-power cars still run drums at the rear.
If you go for discs all round you're going to need an adjustable bias system at which point you might as well go for a complete 'race style' pedal box setup!

Just fitted Fiesta discs and Golf caliper to the Escort axle, no brake bias fitted . Our vented XR3i discs up front and the brakes are superb, plenty of feel and no inadvertent lock ups. However fitting is a real pain, costly and no better than the 9" Capri drums that we normally fit.
2.0L Focus black top engines are available for around £800 plus vat with a Ford warranty. For those interested in fully converted black tops give me a call.
Went out in a 1.8L Anglia with ported head,cams and twin 45mm Dellortos producing 185bhp, very rapid powerfull motor, however I'd favour the headwork and cams plus TB's and Omex management to give a frugal yet powerfull 195bhp.
I'd try and stay away from the silvertops as they are a heavier version of the black tops, and the injectors cannot be fitted to a TB set up.
MT75 box is huge and too much trouble to fit into the Minor , go for the old type 9 and its standard bell housing. If anyone wants pics of this install then please PM me. to keep within Tand C's

Sam,

Sounds like an Escort or other non-Minor axle then!

Like to hear progress of the project, sounds like a lot of fun to be had??

Richard