Morris Minor Owners Club

After having a few lifts in my friends 1000 2Door I think I have become hooked! They have SO much more character than modern cars!

I am currently in the process of putting some money together in the hope of next year (May take a while on a TA salary ) , before my current car needs re-moting / taxing and insuring, getting my own.

The truth behind this post is as much as I want one, I know next to nothing about them, or buying one, so I was hoping for any tips and opinions that anyone has!

A few things that I would like to have opinions on are:

- Disc brakes, yes or no?
- Seat belts, easy to install?
- 948 or 1098?
- Fine as my everyday run-around?
- Do owners "Wave" at each other (Landy Defender owners do and I think it's quite nice!)

Of course those are just my very narrow and unexperienced questions!

If I have missed stuff completely then please inform me!

Jon

Discs-up to you I have never had a problem with the standard Drums, but the wolesley 9 inch drums are better-will be mixed opinions on this
seat belts-fairly easy to install, if you type in something like seatbelt fitting into the search you will find quite a few topics on this. I fitted them, and really all you need to do is position, drill a hole and bolt up tight.also, alot of the cars have them these days anyway.
948 or 1098: can't really comment on this as I have only driven 1098s, which are fine, but I believe 948 are a smoother engine
Fine as a daily driver: yes, as long as you do all the servicing on the handbook at the right times and keep the underside well sealed, and get on top of rust as soon as it comes up.
oh and yes owners do wave at each over. Rather nice really. if you go to a rally most people are very friendly too!

other than that, i can't really give any over advice

i bought mine blind off ebay( very risky) and it turned out to be a gud'un! however, i was lucky, there is too many cars out there which look good but are rotten underneath. (often a fresh coat of waxoil is a sign of this.) all i can say is beware!

Welcome to the messageboard

There's some useful info here about buying a Minor http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37815

As already said, there are a lot of rotten ones about so if you don't have experience of buying Minors or classic cars take someone with you who does. And as said, well maintained standard brakes will be sufficient at stopping in a car with a standard engine but quite a few on here have disks so will be able to tell you a bit more about them, and the cost / work involved in fitting them. Most 1098 Minors will have front seat belts fitted already. Some of the earlier cars might not but the majority of owners seem to fit them anyway now for safety reasons. And yes, a well maintained Minor is perfectly fine to use as a daily runaround, and you will get lots of waves from other Minor owners, drivers of other classics, people who used to own a Minor or know someone that did, and others who just like waving at people in old cars

Welcome

A Minor is absolutely fine as a run-around, and much more! I do 10,000 miles a year in mine and have no reliability problems at all. You do need to keep on top of simple maintenance tasks such as setting the points gap, greasing the suspension, etc, but they're very easy and people on here will always be willing to help. If you get a Minor, you really do need to be willing to learn how to do bits and bobs on it yourself, as otherwise you could very easily end up spending huge sums at garages.

For daily use, a 1098 car would probably be best. Besides the extra power, the gearing is higher (giving more relaxed cruising), plus the brakes are better. However many earlier cars have been upgraded to 1098 spec, so don't discount an older car.

Disc brakes aren't really necessary on a standard car, with the possible exception of if you live in an extremely hilly area. The original drums are fine as long as they're well maintained, although if you're coming from a modern car the feel of them may take a little getting used to.

Seat belts are easily fitted, although on 2dr cars the shoulder mounting point (in the front) is less than ideal. I found inertia belts to be very uncomfortable when mounted there, so you might better off with a static belt. All post-'65 cars will have front belts fitted, as they have to by law. Rear belts can be done, although if inertia ones aren't to look horrible (mounted in the middle), they do require a bit of effort and ingenuity.

Owners do tend to wave, flash lights, etc.

For the maintainence tasks, my good friend has offered his assistance at the price of a beer and some food on the barbie, and my old man is pretty clued up on things like this, he's very near the end of a rebuilt on a Lotus Elan s2 130, so by the time I have put enough in the kitty, he will have finished and hopefully have time for me! Hopefully because of this I will get time to read up on things - I've registered to the Owners club (I feel pretty silly not actually owning one but being a member.. I hope I don't actually have to have one to be a memeber! ) so I can hopefully get the bi-monthly!

I've offered myself as a tool stand / holder for my friend if he does any work on his Moris so hopefully I can get some basic knowledge via that before I get one too!

I will be taking both my old man and my friend to any Minors I view, so hopefully between their knowledge, and my lack of it, we will be okay!

Aside from having a look at the local meetings, do any owners get together outside of Rallys?

Thanks for the replies so far, any more are more than welcome!

Jon

i live in aldershot, if you want to pop over and have a look at my traveller, for places that rust etc, it is currently stripped out so it is easy to see, you are more than welcome, just pm me

Last year I had a 1098 this year a 948 its much slower on hills,I have had the 8 inch brakes fitted no servo they work ok .

I think its better to have a 1098 for eveyday use As my 948 only dose about 3000 miles a year its ok for me.

There's a Morris Minor specialist just down the road from you in Shere. I've used him a lot over the years and he's always willing to look at cars/give advice for buying etc. He also ocaisionally has a few cars for sale. I'll pm you all his details etc.

if it's going to be your everyday car, then it depends what kind of driving you do everyday.
A 948 is much quieter and smoother than a 1098 but less powerful. If you live somewhere hilly and also do a lot of dual carriageway and motorways then 1098 will be more suited.

If you live in warwickshire (e.g. somewhere flat!) and rarely get more than 10 miles from home then a 948 will be perfect.

8" front drums (standard from approx 1962) are good enough for most things, but not everyone will think so if they have been used to modern cars with high levels of servo boost! Adding a servo will make the brakes 'feel' much more like a modern car..

Your friends car seems pretty amazing ;)