Morris Minor Owners Club

i have a 1380cc marina engine and i wondered what bits do i need to convert to fit a ford sierra 5 speed gearbox also what diff would be best to use maybe a 4.5 or 4.22,3.9,3.7 suggestions welcome

cheers josh

if it's still standard marina it will need a midget backplate, or a minor one modified to clear the tail of the crank.

if it's still standard marina it will need a midget flywheel, or a minor one modified to bolt onto the tail of the crank.

you need to make sure the front cover plate looks like a minor one. putting the same engine mounts in the same place. if it's not you can fit a minor one.

diff-wise. i'd be tempted to use a 4.22. It'll still be bloody quick with a fifth gear. or you could just stick with whatever diff you've got and try that first. then you've got a benchmark to go wherever you want from.

I'd be tempted to fit a lightened flywheel to it as well. They are a bit rare, but think I saw one for sale somewhere recently

but if it's a marina one it'll be too big!

Blast, thought I had a punter there

sorry to diddle you saved you the hassle though!

is this what i need

http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pro ... de655c3125

http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pro ... 05c0598761

what i was going to do was stick a 1098cc box on first then when i have enough money put a 5 speed on but i just wanted to know what work is needed ready for when i got one

yep. those'll work for five speed or a minor box.

the thing you need to think of too is what clutch you want to use. that flywheel you linked to is a modified minor one, which'll take a 7.5 inch minor clutch. so you can use a minor clutch kit. if you fit a midget flywheel that takes a midget clutch (funnily enough) and that's 6.25 inches. 'Smaller!' i hear you exclaim. Smaller yes, but a midget diaphragm clutch has a higher clamp force, which grips the clutch plate harder, which could be better for such a powerful engine.

a diaphragm clutch being stronger, means it takes more force to depress, so you may want to consider a hydraulic clutch.

ok so i need that back plate,hydraulic clutch kit the hydraulic clutch on esm is one for a 1098cc gearbox is that the 1 i need also which flywheel and clutch do you think i should use

cheers josh

hydraulic kit for a 1098 would be the same for a five speed.

i would (and will) go for a diaphragm clutch, but to throw another spanner in the works, you can get a modified ford diaphragm clutch cover that fits the minor flywheel and takes a minor 7.5 inch clutch plate! so you could use that esm flywheel and a modified ford clutch cover.

You don't need fancy/troublesome hydraulic clutch mech - you can just extend the standard operating arm slightly and save a small fortune......

just to add another option give peter may a ring.
http://www.petermayengineering.co.uk/ca ... catalogue5

i got the hydraulic kit from ESM an was pretty disapointed with it. the pipe from the resevoir to master cylinder is meant to be held on with mini zip ties, thought this was a bit dodgey so put larger ones on and it leakeds still. replaced with jubillee clips and it still leaked. so think im going to use some aeroquip hoses with the screw on attachment. i dont think its worth the £100 ESM charge tbh. i like ESM and have brought things from them before and still will but this was a bit disapointing. all you need to make the kit is a MG Midget slave cylinder, a master cylinder, fluid resevior, pipe from resevoir to master cylinder and pipe from mater cylinder to slave cylinder. can buy most of it from some where such as rally design.
the esm design put the master cylinder in the gearbox cross member which meant removing some metal from the gearbox cross member, maybe i went too far with this stage but i think the gbox crossmember is abit flimsy now. the clucth pedal is now very light which is ok but feels like ive lost feel from it. im sure you could make it urself with a little bit of thinking. im not gonna go back to the linkage just gonna make the hydraulic one work.