Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,
i have just finished my traveller resto, and have got it taxed etc, what i want to know is how much fuel the tank holds? average fuel consumption?, i set my emissions nice and lean at the mot test centre, and i would like to get a rough idea on fuel consumption, i appreciate the fuel tank is fairly small (compared to modern motors), how many miles should i roughly get to a tank?.
thanks

I think the standard tank hold about 6gallons and I would be looking for a fill up after about 180 miles (with a 1098 engine)although at a push I could go up to 230miles but I not brave enough to let it run out completely. Most of all the Morris's fuel comsumption depends on how well tuned it is and how heavy your right foot is?

if i take it steadyon a long run doing 55/60 i get 45mpg driving around town about 35 mpg

its perfectly tuned, and i am aware of putting my foot down will use more fuel. 6 gallons is approx 24 litres. sorry i have to convert to metric all the time, thanks for your help.

with my saloon, i fill up every 200 miles whether it needs it or not. i keep a fuel can in the back anyway just incase i do run out, or if i come accross a fellow motorist who has run out.

a fill up comes to about 24 or so litres. which is more like 5 gallons i think... that would make 40mpg (but my mileometer is a bit optimistic. i find filling up every 200 miles helps me keep an eye on how economical the last tankfull was, rather than having to calculate consumption figures each time, i just notice if i've put 22 litres or 25 or whatever, and then i know it was a thirstier few days!

sorry i have to convert to metric all the time

You're the first person I've heard say that, just about everybody else converts the nasty metric rubbish back to proper Imperial measures in order to understand it 35mpg should be easily achieved.

The early fuel tanks hold 5 galls, the later tanks hold 6.5 galls or 30 ltrs.
Reckon on about 35 mpg average or fill up when the fuel gauge reads nearly empty.

oh, i forgot to mention, i did a 'run it dry' test a while back. without much attention to driving economically i got 224 miles out of a full tank. that's even though my 1098 has a larger carb and larger exhaust.

on the topic of metric and imperial. i'm a funny-un. if i have to estimate a dimension i'll estimate it in feet and inches. but if i'm making something i'll measure it out in metric...

You have to think metric at the pump since it only churns out silly litres,

there's nothing wrong with Metric!
Try rebuilding a late 40's Minor sidevalve engine... (Metric studs etc.)

The only olde English I tend to use is mpg although when I was travelling a lot in mainland Europe I would convert mpg to l/100km. When fuel is sold in litres, mpg really isn't a useful statistic - I figured the UK should start using l/100miles

i have to work in both, thanks for your advice, i will see how it goes on a run.

Bring back £ s d
Ray, is that the engine I think it is?????
All the threads in the block are metric with whitworth bolt heads

Evenin' all,

I am being a newbie, both to the forum, and Morris ownership. I bought a 1969 Traveller just before Chrimbletide, and have been using it for work on a daily basis for the last few weeks. So, fuel consumption has been of interest. For two 14 mile trips a day it's returning just over 33 mpg. That makes me smile!

Cheers, Phil.

Welcome! 33mpg sounds a smidge low to me, are you driving it hard? or is there lots of traffic? or lots of hills? if not, you may be able to get a few more mpg out of it with a tune up.

Hi Chris,

Twisty roads, a couple of hills, and only a three mile stretch where you can let her settle at a nice steady 50 to 55. Plus, knowing the road well, there's always the opportunity to surprise someone by gently sailing past. It's always worth the second look of disbelief!

She would certainly benefit from a tune, the last keeper didn't use her much at all. It's one of the jobs on the list. As I said, I'm just tootling around so we can get used to each other. I've changed the oils and filters. She does seem to pink a bit, so one job high on the list is the timing, then strip and clean the carb. Which leads me on to a question. What would the timing be with an unleaded head and magnatronic ignition? With a previous car I had to tweak the timing by 4 degrees to cope with unleaded. Would the same apply here?

Phil.

i normally aim for 5-7 degrees before TDC, but i often end up tweaking it by ear on tickover (my car's a bit low to get a timing light under it!) i turn the dizzy a bit with the engine running (being carefull not to get shocked!) and then i blip the throttle a bit and listen. then i turn the dizzy a bit more and blip the throttle and listen for the difference! probably not the most accurate method but it helps! the good thing is, if you've got magnatronic ignition you don't have points to wear out and change the timing a little, so when it's done it's done!

you can check if the advance and retard diaphragm in the dizzy is working by disconnecting the small diameter tube from the carb with the engine running and suck gently. if the engine note changes then it's working! beware, you will taste petrol!

i have the same set up mine is running at 3 degrees and its fine .

There are several other things that will affect the fuel consumption, number one has to be driving style, reading the road ahead so that you are not accelerating up to a red light or queue of traffic will save petrol.

Also the weight of the car, do you really need a spare cylinder head/ starter motor/ dynamo in the back? every bit of weight takes energy to get moving and braking effort to stop again.

An easy one is to make sure the tyres are inflated enough, don't use the numbers in the manual that are for cross ply tyres or you'll be throwing petrol away making your tyres hot.
I run my radials on 28psi front and 30psi rear without ill effects.

Much more difficult though still important is wind resistance, roof racks are a big no no, telescopic aerials and wing mirrors don't help either.

I'd be interested in what could be achieved with a de-guttered minor with modern window fitting technology.
I seem to recall that the change from lowlight wings for the American market cost both top speed and petrol consumption.

Pete Hanby, a Tech Ed of Minor Matters in the 80s, once said something along the lines of :
"My wife gets over 40mpg out of the moggie, I get 30-35. The fuel consumption of a correctly-functioning and properly-adjusted Minor will vary according to your journey length, type of journey, top speed and driving style. End of discussion".
You can gas on about it for hours.
Only thing I would say is to get to know your fuel gauge, how it reads when the tank's full, half-full or verging on the dry.
Oh, and 50-55mph on motorways is boring

If your engine is 'pinking' slightly Phil - just ease the timing back very slightly until it's 'not quite' pinking. It's then perfect! Or at least - as perfect as you can make it without remapping the advance curve in the dizzy.