Morris Minor Owners Club

Saw one for sale today at Biggar Classic Show (£45 asked - yes, I nearly fainted...) - but it appeared to be wider than a normal tank - do these large capacity tanks require the hole in the floor to be enlarged ?

not the ones i've seen, but the corners are a slightly smaller radius, so you need to gently reshape the aperture slightly.

lord only knows why they didnt make it a drop-in fit...

This one definitely looked 'wider' - which would actually mean extending the floor hole forwards and/or backwards to get it in . It may well have been a tank from a completely different vehicle that someone had managed to fit into a Minor, and was now selling on - it wasn't a 'new' tank - but not too old either.

The one I have came from BM and fitted straight in. Filling it up bring a tear to my glass eye and leaves my credit card puffing

Do the large tanks, 9.5 gall., leave room for the spare wheel on top?

From what I've heard, not much room remains. Of course, the t-bar and boot floor aren't that hard to raise if you know what you're doing. I don't personally have one of these tanks...but I'm considering one for Stiltzkin...five years from now.

no room for the spare on top. you can, ofcourse raise, or even lower, the boot floor, or even remove it completely.

i've seen all methods done. raised floor makes the boot area rather small. removed, the boot is massive, but doesn't have a flat bottom. lowered was a suprisingly good solution, giving you a flat floor and a bigger boot area, but still with space for spares and tools.

you can always put the spare under the bonnet if your hinges are man enough!

its basically a Mk II escort estate tank that has been modified hence the reason for the fit. They fit easily in the van and pick up as long as you have the correct fitting of the filler pipe

Would there be enough room on the wall of the boot (that is, the inner wing) with the t-bar removed to stow the spare? One could put it on the side, standing, and then build a very low floor just over the tank -- or, as mentioned above, none at all.

Personally, I can't see the point of having larger tank. I know it helps for folk who do a long commute in rural areas, but you should be getting over 200miles on a standard tank, more like 250 really. In which distance it would be hard not to pass a petrol station in this country, and to be honest once I've done that distance in one go I quite like to stop, get out, let it cool down a little, check oil and water, stretch legs etc, but thats probably just me...
I appreciate however that the Escort tank can be cheaper and more obtainable than Minor tanks, though new heritage ones are available and secondhand ones reasonably plentiful.

Ian i agree with you if you cant find a garage in 200 miles you are not in this country perhaps needed in Australia or Usa or in England carry a can