Morris Minor Owners Club

i have a friend in Braintree who knows the van and he says it is very rough and needs £££££££ spending
and an engine

This one just round the corner from me. [frame][/frame]

Here are some in drawing form...[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Does anyone know who did these amazing pieces and/or who to contact regarding them?

Just found this pic on this forum, pinched off MartinB.

It is my new favourite modded minor. ever![frame][/frame]

really wishing i'd bought flared glass wings for my project now!

I liked this one..wonder what it would be like when finished.[frame][/frame]

ratrodmog wrote:Does anyone know who did these amazing pieces and/or who to contact regarding them?

They were done by Steve Kirk and were used in a Street Machine Magazine feature called Motorvation. There's a few more on here
http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.c ... read=74671
http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.c ... read=59732
http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.c ... 732&page=6

http://www.retroscenemag.com/post/Steve ... ation.aspx

how can i get my car as low as some of these babys? right now car looks like its on stilts

Dan, nice one for posting up those links, there are some amazing drawings there and loads of inspiration.

Luke, assuming you have the standard Minor suspension set-up you can lower it a small (this has been disussed in length many times so just do a search for 'lowering' or similar). If you want to go to extreme lengths of lowering then you will need to fit completely new suspension e.g coilovers up front or make yourself a nice spaceframe chassis

lukedauvergne wrote:how can i get my car as low as some of these babys? right now car looks like its on stilts

All these have effectively channeled the body over the running gear. In otherwords they have new suspension mounted up into the body.

I am not sure how Martin has gone so low at the rear. Maybe he has movedthe rails up for more axle movement.

I think (although am probably wrong) in the case or Martin's car some of the lowering is a trick of the eye i.e. fitting very low profile tyres will drop the height a few inches then fitting very wide arch extensions to get the wheel tucked up into the arch. It is possible to lower the car without actually dropping the ride height if you just want the low look.

Martins sills are still really close to the ground if you look, although he is mid corner!

I do think fitting larger diameter wheels would tuck the wheels up into the arches and make it look nice n low (thinking of doing that myself) the larger wheels would affect the gearing but that would be like fitting a lower ratio diff so it could work out better!

trouble is if you do fit larger diameter wheels, the body will be higher off the ground, so it could look high depending on where you focus!

I think is you go for a 13" or a 14" wheel with a nice low profile tyre this will drop the height a bit then bring the arches down to meet the top or the tyre that will give the impression of a low car. You could also lower the height of the front bumber with a bit of fiddling. I agree that Martin will have lowered the height of the suspension to give better road handling but it is possible to get that low look without touching the suspension.

Here is my ragtop.i have lowered the wings down,giving the impression that the car is lower than it really is.

GAS wrote:Here is my ragtop.i have lowered the wings down,giving the impression that the car is lower than it really is.

that looks pretty convincing actually!

i've got 14's on my minor, they came with undersized tyres tho (makes my speedo 10% out!), makes me accelerate like a rocket whey!

with the low pro tyres it make the arches really high over the wheels and looked like she was on tip toes.
[frame][/frame]
too high for me anyway!

so i lowered her when i did some other work to her:
[frame][/frame]
the small wheels still make it look low, when i get new tyres they'll be the right size and she'll look even lower.

since lowering it tho, it feels far less comfortable, but that's the price of looking good

If it hits the bump stops going over bumps when lowered - one old trick was to cut 1/2 inch off the bump stops and then drill holes vertically up into the bump stop so that they still have some "squash" in them when the suspension travels up to meet it. Obviously stiffer shock absorbers / dampers helps (thicker oil or uprate to modern dampers).

i keep meaning to trim my stops as you suggest, but i dont want to cut too much. i have a feeling that they protect the damper from exceeding its travel. i fear that the suspension would 'bump' at the dampers limit rather than the bump stops limit.

you say 1/2 inch is ok? i've got the old girl in the garage at the mo, may give it a go!

1/2 inch was a measurement off the top of my head - I have the full details in an old copy of "show n go" the custom moggy newsletter. I will loook it up and give accurate details, but I dont see 1/2 inch being a problem.

this is why mine is so low!!!

Because of the weight of that massive engine? I am very jealous thow of how easy it will be to mod in the future, and the front suspension system.

The rear end on mine is five linked with the appropriate tunnels and turrets but the huge majority of the rear chassis and floor pan is standard. As the bumpstops are now on the coil over shocks, I was able to remove the bumpstop pads on the chassis which gives about another inch travel, plus the lack of 'U bolts and bumpstops on the axle gives a whole lot more. I had to be carefull with the diff to make sure it could go into the dome in the boot easily, the tricky area for this is the propshaft flange and needs the diff to be angled carefully (escort axle). In the previous photo, the rear wheels are 11 x 13 with low profile slicks but there is no way I could drive it on the public road like this as there in about 40mm ground clearance under the car! Even with the 205/60 13 on the rear 185/60 13 front it won't go over a house brick layed down flat!
I always look at the centre line of the wheels in relation to the sills to see how low the car and suspension really is!