Morris Minor Owners Club

Thinking of taking some of our minors to a rolling road. Two of ours have had recent non-standard engines and could do with a fettling. and it'd be interesting to see how much power both are producing. my old man recons his 1006cc (948 based) engine will be more powerfull than my 1115cc (1098 based) engine. the 1006 is certainly smoother!

Enough of my jibber-jabber, does anyone know of a good a-series friendly rolling road? preferably in the South Birmingham/Worcestershire area?

We could even go further afield for an especially good one!

Yep you want the Metro and Mini Centre at
Unit 1, Baird Park
Brickyard Rd, Napton On The Hill, Southam CV47 8NT
01926 815 681
01926815681

here is a short video of my 4 door there CLICK HERE

I've been there a few times with different cars and they have always been helpful. The big advantage is that they are series A experts.

My opinion - a BIG waste of money unless tweaking up a full race engine - and then would only go to Adrian Dodd.

it may be a big waste of money, but i'd like to find out how powerful both are, and to make sure we're getting the most out of them.

i've been to a place in southam once... must've been past that mini place, didnt know they have a rolling road though.

was it expensive rogerrust? your minor sounds quite good on there

Only cost me £50 for a full tune up saved that in petrol in next to no time!!

Hello Chris,

if you are looking to optimise your cars, then I don't think the £50 Roger paid will do it?
How about Aldon, I believe they are highly regarded on 'A' series?

Alec

How much extra power did it show on the Rollers Roger ??

I'm not a novice but I spent a good while trying to get the mixture right . Even so it wouldn't run well across the full range of revs. After a run on the rollers and a new needle and some tweeking of the timing I had what felt like a new car.

I only needed a tune up so it was cheap the guys at Southam will do what you want and they are experts at race tuning so I'm sure they would do full power runs if you wanted them to. My aim was to sort the timing and mixture to make the car a steady runner.

Ahh - did they just select a new needle - or did they spend time profiling your needle ? And - did they modify the ignition advance curve, or did they just swing the static timing slightly ? I only ask - because Adrian Dodd will take the time to do both.

How much, and where is, this Adrian Dodd of which you speak oh mighty oracle?

chrisryder wrote:How much, and where is, this Adrian Dodd of which you speak oh mighty oracle?

If the forum had a like button I would be pressing it right now

AArghh! Temptation! Do they charge £50 for a rolling road session? Can't see and indication of prices which is always worrying.
There again Roy's reputation isn't as a profligate spender .

i believe roy was one of the two scotsmen to invent copper wire by fighting over a penny

He was

I got a free session on the rolling road at Napton as part of the deal when Rod rebuilt my side valve engine. It made a changefrom A Series engines.

Hohoho...... I rather suspect ACD will charge a bit more than £50.... But he comes HIGHLY recommended by the Mini lads - and he REALLY knows what he is doing with an A series. I've never been there - but if I was going to have my A series rolling roaded - it's the ONLY place I would consider.

Hello BMCE,

you're being a bit fickle aren't you, you said earlier, "and then would only go to Adrian Dodd."

Alec

bmcecosse wrote:Hohoho...... I rather suspect ACD will charge a bit more than £50.... But he comes HIGHLY recommended by the Mini lads - and he REALLY knows what he is doing with an A series. I've never been there - but if I was going to have my A series rolling roaded - it's the ONLY place I would consider.

You should always be ready to listen to alternatives and to disagree with anothers opinion of somewhere you have no knowledge of is being a bit shortsighted especially when the only place you reccomend is somewhere you have never been to.
Well to add my pennyworth I have to agree with Roger and Mike about the Metro and Mini Centre having actually used them I was more than happy with the result.
Great workshops to look around and they were rebuilding an ex RAC class winning Cooper S and preparing another for the Classic Monte as well, with one of the cars being valued at £60,000+ due to it's heritage along with quite a few other cars.
And while waiting my turn they even let me have a look at some of their more unusual items, a fully rebuilt Shorrock Supercharger, and a genuine Arden 8 port cylinder head, they are really down to earth people and actually produce some items for the person who reccomended them to me Jonathon Heap.
They may not have a website but they are not short of work either and if you ring them they will give you a price depending on what you want doing, also you can't see the extent of their workshops from the road.

If you want rolling road advice then have a look at the disasters/explosions/fires filmed on Youtube. Entertaining but sobering. I'm not putting my Cobra on one when its finished thats for sure.

Regards Ian