Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi all,

Please excuse my intrusion on these boards. I am looking for some help.

I have signed up for the Mongol Rally - the basic idea is that you drive an old car from London to Mongolia to raise money for charity. The car must be less than 1 litre.

I found a 1959 morris 1000 on ebay and bought it for the trip! I have some experience of 'older cars' but nothing like this (I have a triumph spitfire). I love the moggy which we have called Martha but know very little about them - it took me 40 minutes to find the bonnet release!

I have no idea how to prepare her for the journey ahead or what spares I should be taking etc.

Any help would be brilliant!

Can a post a URL for our website here so you can see more about what we are doing?

Thanks in advance to everyone!

Rayofleamington is your man for this !

Thanks for that - I will drop him a pm

Some people a couple of streets away from me did that 'un last year in a Mini.

My one comment, as someone who transports large amounts of re-enactment kit in a saloon, would be it's easy to remove the back of the rear seat for extra cargo capacity. Not so easy to get it fastened back down afterwards, mind...

Good luck!

Posted last year,

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/index.php?name=P ... ght=mongol

Sounds like a good run

PM replied to!

Thanks to everyone.

Ray has given me a load of top advise.

Will let you know how it goes!

it's easy to remove the back of the rear seat for extra cargo capacity. Not so easy to get it fastened back down afterwards, mind...

I have to ask why as the usual problem is with the wing type bolts having corroded in place and can be a real pain to free off, but once freed off and a spot of copper grease on them they are normally fine.

I am worried about removing the seats for additional luggage space as it will then be visable - also we are planning to travel as light as possible - Moggies arn't exactly going to eat up the mies in no time at all.

Does anyone other than Ray have experience of long distance on rough roads in a Moggy?

BTW she is through her MOT with only a couple of spots of welding so we can start getting her ready now!

It's possible to fit a spare wheel underbonnet - there was an article in tech tips in the club mag many years ago with instructions of simple brakets to DIY. As wheels are one of the most bulky items you need, then this can be a big help.
My extended bootlid on the Gambia Minor was mainly to give room for more spare wheels (although I'd been interested to play with doing a modified boot lid for some time anyway, this just gave me a good excuse).

There was a book (and then a movie) made about a cross continent trip in a Minor Traveller (a true story). IIRC it's called 'Lost'. This would be useful to see about what happens if you DON'T do your basic prep...

rayofleamington wrote:There was a book (and then a movie) made about a cross continent trip in a Minor Traveller (a true story). IIRC it's called 'Lost'. This would be useful to see about what happens if you DON'T do your basic prep...

Anyone got any more information on this movie? Can't seem to find it on Amazon DVDs...

oops - failing memory!! it's called 'Trek'

some info on the film is on the club site (first thing that came up on google )
http://morrisminoroc.co.uk/mmoc.php?page=73&seg=1

And the book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trek-Paul-Stewart/dp/0224027751

When is the rally?

There are some guys driving up from South Africa for the National Rally in June - I'm sure they will have lots of advice and information.

like these?
http://www.mmoc.org.uk/index.php?key=Preparations
The black car is up in the air on makeshift ramps - this is another use for the spare wheels when you're in the desert! You want a decent board to put under the jack in case you need to jack up on soft ground, and this can be used to make a ramp with a spare wheel.

One thing I did forget in the PM: sump guard!
Mine was overkill as it was 3mm plate right from the front cross member to the back of the bell housing.
What you need to protect most is the front leading edge of the sump, therefore you can probably get away with one that's only a foot long. Don't weld it on - bolts are better as you may need to remove it. 1.5mm steel will be fine as long as you've got 20mm gap to the sump. You need a gap to the sump to allow it to get bashed, but also because the engine moves around!
The front suspension can be adjusted to give more ride height. If you raise it a lot don't forget to re-do the tracking. Best option would be to completely strip it and fit poly bushes and re-assemble it with lots of grease.

I also fitted a basic fuel tank guard - it was just 1mm steel sheet with a piece of 12mm ply between the sheet and the tank. As I ran out of time I only bolted the front edge and the back edge was held up with steel wire.