Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi, I am wondering if anyone can help us. My husband has bought me a 1953 series 2 splitscreen convertible. I have called him Wilf. He is a running project at the moment having passed an mot with little initial work and we hope to do a bit at a time and get him looking like new. We have just been for a run in him and found it a struggle with the 800cc engine to get uphill. (its quite hilly where we live) We are considering the possibility of changing the engine to one with more power.
We have a 1098 engine and gearbox which are both in excellent condition and would like some feedback either for or against, from anyone regarding putting these into Wilf.
Is it a straighforward swap or is there the need for a lot of modifications? Also do we need the cross member and the propshaft from the doner car? We are aware it takes the originality away from the him but he is so lovely we want to get the best out of him as he is such a head turner. We are hoping to use him daily during the summer months and possibly show him if I can find someone to do a good paint job. My husband is a mechanic but has no experience of such an old vehicle, and wanted some expert advice before he considers doing it.
many thanks
Nicky, Andy (and Wilf)!

the 1098 is a nippy engine, and the conersion is common, but if you have a tidy car decent original sidevalve engine and box it would be a shame... However if it makes the car more suitable then it's your decision.
Personally I steered clear of the eary cars as I prefer the extra speed. ;-)
Late saloons are easy to get hold of so the other option is to leave the car standard and get a later one instead?

For the conversion I've never done that but from what I've head you need the crossmember, propshaft and gearbox floor cover. You also have to cut a section of the car floor out to match the floor hole of the later cars.
With the 1098 engine to get the full benefit you may want the later axle differential (the diff ratio is different) and you'll need the correct speedo.
And you'll also want the 8" front brakes from the later saloon (or convert to disks). Your insurance may not be valid if you don't uprate the brakes, but the bigger reason is safety!

As RAY says this is a common update, especially as your car
has a very low powered engine and a dreadful set of ratios in
the gearbox!...My car has been uprated to the 1098 engine and
can hold its own in London traffic so is not a pain to drive.
you would be wise to use the matching gearbox and the 4.22-1
rear axle. You would need the black faced speedometer to
match and if you fit one you MUST change the fuel tank sender
unit for one which came from a 1098 car, otherwise the fuel
gauge will not work. You will get all the advice you need on
this site as the problems arise! The front brakes are uprated
to 1098 factory spec by fitting 8" backplates (marked left and
right) and all the matching parts. The rears are 7" on ALL
models. If yours is a series 2 then it has an OHV engine???
Is the speedo in the middle? or in front of the driver.

If yours is a series 2 then it has an OHV engine???

Doh - bit of brain fade again. Probably not concentrating after having watched another awful RED grand prix....

So i didn't miss much by not watching it?

Matt,
Alonso did great - fantastic start (they are using manual starts again instead of clutch by wire), jumped a lot of places on the grid and made Montoya out brake himself at the 1st corner. Alonso got 3rd from that and kept it in a race all on his own.
Montoya spent the whole race recovering from his grass mowing session at the first corner to finish in 5th behind his team mate.
Button had a good race but as always lost a couple of places in the last 10 laps so got 6th.
and we won't mention the 1st two cars

anyway - that's not helping the series II modification...

ok, i want to see it now, Sorry back to mods......

thanks for all that, we are considering the options. We do after reading all your tips (especially the formula 1 update! my hubby is a fan) think that it would spoil the car. possibility now we may do as Ray, and swap for a newer one which is more suitable to road speeds today.

Think you have made the right decision, the 803 engine only
produces 30 BHP max whereas the 1098 reaches 48BHP.

nickyj,
Didn't want to dismiss the idea completely but it depends how much DIY you want to do, as it isn't a small job to do it properly. Some people are attached to their cars and want to update them rather than sell them, whereas some of us really like to leave them standard.
It's you car, so it's your choice. If you still consider the upgrade, you could spend about the same time and effort (and maybe £100 to £300 on top) and fit a standard 1275 engine with disk brakes and the other bits from a 1098 minor (axle, gearbox, speedo). This gives a very versatile car.
Personally I'm happy to thrash around in a 1098 Minor, slightly faster than the average driver, but you wouldn't need such a lead foot to keep up in a 1275.

If you are happy to get a different car - finding one already with the 1275 engine and brakes is the easier and cheaper way to do it! There's a few 1275 Minors for sale in the latest Mag.

Ray, I appreciate yours and everyone elses advice, its been a great help. We are relatively new to morris minor ownership and considering I spent my teenage years hiding in the front footwell of my mums moggy if we drove past any of my mates (very uncool in the 1980's!), I now have a real love for the car and want to do the right thing. I am quite lucky that my other half is a mechanic and if he can't do the job he will know a man who can. Its just the knowledge we lack at the moment. Having read all the replies we do think it is unessessary to change the engine as it will spoil the car and have decided to keep him (Wilf).
We have discovered the compression is poor on the cylinders and believe this is contributing to the fact its slow uphill. We have therefore decided to get the engine reconditioned and rebored, this will hopefully give me that extra ooomph to take me up the hill home!
Its funny because I was very embarrassed as a youngster that my parents had a moggy but my 9 year old daughter is totally in love with them and cannot wait to get out and about in ours.
Just one other thing, is it better to put inertia seatbelts in front and rear or the traditional static ones? You are all going to be fed up to the back teeth of me in the next few months i bet!!

I personally prefer the static ones, and from a safety point of view, the static ones I think are marginally better.

Plus, the clasps look 'period' rather than a nasty orange plastic button!

I prefer the static ones too.
However they are an aquired taste and vey impractical!
On a 2 door (eg a convertible) the seatbelts end up under the front seat when someone gets into the back. Then when you sit in the front, your weight on the seat prevents you from getting the belt back so you have to get out of the car to retrieve the belt from under the seat.
Additionally they are fine if the driver/passenger are always the same size, but if your kid/s are occasioanlly in the front or if the passenger varies in size they have to be manually adjusted and that is a lot of wasted effort.
One female friend of mine was well fed and rather 'Jordan-esque' in the seatbelt area and the belt fitted when fuly adjusted out. I then gave a lift to another friend who was mortified that she could almost push the seatbelt to arms length!
I guess it's a similar difference between adults and young kids so I could imagine someone growing quickly frustrated of spending a few minutes everytime you had a different passenger.
Also some people seem incapable of working the extremely simple clasp! Silly, but I find that frustrating, as they still don't get it after you've shown them
And Finally - the static belts rarely extend far enough for a baby seat (not a problem for me so far, but had to change over when my sister used my Minor for a few years)

So althought the modern inertia belts are a bit unsightly, if you are going to carry a variety of people and/or frequently have passengers in the rear seat I would recommend them.

You are all going to be fed up to the back teeth of me in the next few months i bet!!

Nah, we love to help and "advise"

excellent thanks for those replies. On the road will only be me, other half and little un in the back. so will go for tradition and have the static ones.

Good choice!!

There's some on e-bay but be careful if the price gets high - no point getting carried away as lots of of scrap minors have static belts - therefore don't pay over the odds.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... gory=27381

We had those, nice & traditional but awkward, get lost & can be a real pain if the car is in regular use.
You can get aftermarket inertia for about £50. These normally have stalks so the rear bit doesn't get lost under the seat & are much less hassle.

For best effect put a cable tie around the stalks near the top & they support each other & thus stay in the right place for clipping into.

You should try both sorts 1st to see what suits you best, I am going to change my front static ones as the adjustment is not ideal and I find them restricting compared to inertias, and I am only of average height and have to have them on the maximum adjustment so sorry but I agree with the Salty about this and not the others.
Try Bull Motif for prices and remember there are 2 fittings, one for 2 doors and convertibles and one for Travellers and 4 doors.

thanks for that guys. most helpful.