Morris Minor Owners Club

Well this isn't so much a restoration, more a customisation. I have owned her (Nancy as the reg starts with NCY) for nearly 5 years and I think it's now time to give her the attention she needs. This is a long term project so if you start reading this then you are in it for the long run. I havn't fully decided on the final spec but i'm thinking along the lines of front disc brakes, spax dampers, anti-roll bar, capri axle, slot mags (already have these), roll cage (already half in), lots of custom body panels made by myself, and some sort of engine.....don't know what though.....maybe a Vauxhall 2.0 'red top'.

So this is how she has been for a while (some of you may have seen us at the 09 National).[frame][/frame]

Here she is now.[frame][/frame]

I have cut the bulkhead out ready to weld in a smooth piece of sheet steel. I will be welding in supportive uprights behined the bulkhead top to bottom as the flat sheet will not be very strong and may flex. I am also putting smooth panels each side of the engine bay for a fully smooth look and it hides all the plumbing and wires ect.[frame][/frame]

As you can see I am removing the tie plates (someone welded new ones straight on top of the old ones) and will treat the inside of the chassis legs to a de-rust.[frame][/frame]

Roll cage as purchased. This needs a bit of fiddling to get it sitting right. I will be adding door bars to this cage and bolting the other end somewhere up front (maybe the back of the front arch) to give a bit more side impact protection.
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So this is where I am at the moment, not much to see but all great things take time. My main drive for doing this is my girlfriend as she likes the car but doesn't feel very safe in it as there is little protection from any impact so I want to make a great looking custom that is also relatively safe so she can enjoy it as much as I do.

Ben

looking good, looks like mine and ur project could be very simular , but i wornt have a big engine for a while

amazing how good the front inner wings and chassis rails etc are, all the best sounds like an interesting project.

What doesn't show up in the pictures are all of the little pin holes in the inner wings and a crack where the bump stop has been hammered from a bit too much lowering. Also the chassis rail in the picture is the good one and the other one on the left has been badly patched but is salvageable without replacing the whole leg. You won't actaully see the inner wing as it will be covered by the new smooth skin being welded over it.

this will be nice with a red top in it plenty of tuning goodies about try the opel manta forum usualy quite a few engines for sale

From the National '09

Well done Ben, i remember being at that stage. It's nice looking back at the pictures of progress to give a boost of enthusiasm sometimes, so take plenty of pics! I did think about doing a red top conversion, look at carlton and omega gearbox's for a cheap straight bolt-on option compared to ford conversion plates. Of course if your not fully decided yet, i was swayed by the ford escort rs turbo engine and sierra box conversion for some reason but never did either as i went for a turbo diesel option excelent acceleration, 70mpg at 70mph Oh the joys of modifying! Have fun

Ben if your going redtop just get a carlton gearbox. redtops are expensive but the power is good plenty of redtops about but harder to get is the turbo one. my 2 door has got a manta 2ltr with carlton box but I picked up a nice 64thousand on the clock 2 ltr carlton and box to go in mine for a couple of hundred.thats all I want in this one. Its my pick up thats going to get the works including a big fat intercooler. I wont have trouble getting it in as I used to have a 3ltr ford v6 for years in it a good shoehorn or a crowbar and you will get it in. Good luck M8

Finished getting the engine bay back to bare metal today. It shows up just how many small pin holes I have to weld up . I have also started cutting the floor away over the chassis box section the give the inside the rust treatment. I was amazed at how much rust was inside the box section. I have also started to paint on some rust prevention undercoat to protect the bare metal from tarnishing in my nice damp workshop. The paint goes on nice and smooth and will act as a good basecoat before filling and priming ect.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Next jobs are to make a template for the smooth bulkhead, paint the inside of the chassis legs and get a Mig welder.

robins & toginthemog, thanks for the advice about the carlton/ omega gearbox, I will be looking into that as it seems like it could save a lot of money not having to get a bellhousing for the ford box. Do either of you know whether this box will need a notch cutting out to clear the steering rack and whether I will have to make a notch for the distributor to fit?

Really interesting pictures, I hadn't realised that the dash forms one side of such a chunky box section.

Indeed, it is strange looking at the dash from the front of the car. The dash seems to be part of an integral shape and structurally important I think.

Been busy today with the grinder (which decided to eat itself from the inside so had to borrow one from a friend) tackling the inner wings and rusted out filch panels. I have also made a template for the smooth bulkhead from a scrap piece of ally that I had lying around.

Sanded back the inner wings which, although pitted, look pretty good. The engine bay side of the inner wing is a bit tatty but as I am going to weld in a flat sheet to cover it you wont see it.
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Here I have mocked up for the smooth bulkhead with some ally. Obviously the final one will be steel but not too sure of what gauge to go for. Any ideas?
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You can see the tops of the inner wings around the bumpstop areas are quite pitted and have a few pin holes. I will cut this out and weld in a nice strong panel for the bumpstops to bolt on to. The car will be lowered again but will gas dampers so hopefully these will stop the top of the trunnion from constantly hitting the bumpstops.
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Just found out that both of my trunnions are knackered on the botton threads from lack of greasing (a lesson to be learnt here I think) so if anyone has any good second hand units then throw them my way .

doing a great job Ben any more thoughts on the engine?

Well I'm still undecided about which engine to go for. Obviously at the moment I am a bit far away from actually putting on in but I will need to know whether I am going to have to cut the crossmember. Im thinking either Vauxhall 'Red Top' C20XE, Nissan CA engine either 1.8 or 2.0 litre or something else entirely. I want something that is easy to convert to RWD or is already RWD, will fit (obviously) and must be different. Ideas??