Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All,
I'm new here, don't own a Minor, but have a friend's 1954 sitting in my drive. It has the original 803 engine in it along with the original gear box. My friend is leaving this country (New Zealand) and has left the Minor for me to either sell or buy it myself. It's not in useable condition now, I just got the engine running and it needs work on at least the brakes before driving it. Eventually I want a vintage car that I can drive on an everyday basis. Right now I know this one would never be that car because of the small engine in it. I am wondering if it is possible to put a larger motor in it with corresponding gear box? I know at least the brakes would need to be upgraded, but I'm wondering if a conversion is feasible.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Al

If you are in NewZealand then log into www.minormania.com, its a dedicated NZ site with a good messageboard. There are plenty of options on there for you, mainly centering on Toyota running gear, which seems easy to fit and is proven on reliability.

Al

Have a look at the morrisdownunder.com site too. It covers the upgrades that are popular in Oz and NZ, given the donor cars that we have in our wrecking yards. In short, Datsun 120Y / Sunny and Corolla running gear are the most popular.

Cheers
Don

I'm wondering about installing a more recent Minor engine. Would the more recent engines be just a bolt in job rather than having to weld new mounts on the frame, etc?

There are no "recent" Minor engines, however, if you mean fitting say a 1098 from a later car then yes, straight swap with the gearbox, but you may want to upgrade the rear axle at the same time as it will be under geared.....

Yes, I was wondering about putting in a 1098. It sounds like once one has changed the motor, gearbox and rear axle, it would be better just to purchase a Minor with the 1098 already in it.

All those parts are cheap and plentiful over here but I'm not sure about your part of the world....?

Depends entirely on the body/chassis condition of the car you have - the mechanical parts are almost irrelevant. Swap to bigger A series engine is more or less bolt-in job - that's the easy part! So - if the car is solid - no big rust problems - keep it, and upgrade it!