Morris Minor Owners Club

I've just bought this 4 door 1968 from a good friend - when I first looked at it i thought the wings looked good and that it had a goldseal replacement engine - turned out that the wings were fiberglass and the engine, whilst it is a gold seal engine, is only a 950cc version !

that said, it seems to run very well (cleaned the Carb before even trying to start it as I knew it would be gummed up and did find the float needle was sticking)

Have no idea what the mileage is but was wondering if a 950 cc engine is more "sought after" due to being fitted to frog eye sprites and Lotus Sevens etc ? just a wish full thought !?
and I'm not sure if its mated to a later gearbox and rear axle - think it probably is - wonder how it will feel on the move ?[frame][/frame]

a lot of people do rate the 948 engine highly as it runs much smoother than a 1098.

i'm not sure whether there is any monetary value to one, as most people ditch 948s to fit a 1098, for better performance.

A 1968 with a 948cc? That's odd. A 948 is for sale in New York for $400 -- about £255. My Mog runs a 948 and I refuse to change it out -- it runs very smoothly and is dead reliable, so far as I have seen.

Are you sure it's a 950 - does it say so on the side? Certainly it is the early (poor) 948 inlet manifold - but later 1098 carb. 948 is smooth because of shorter stroke - and probably has better MPG possibilities than the 1098.

If you still have a 4.22 diff then a 948 will struggle, especially on the gradients. Your option will be to swap the engine or the diff.
What speedo is fitted? A 4.22 diff should have a 1408 TPM speedo and a 4.55 diff should have a 1504 speedo. The speedo off a 1098 LCV should be 1504 with a black dial. Check the accuracy of your speedo with a sat nav before you go charging past speed cameras.
The later 948 had an HS2 carb
I suspect that the original 1098 engine was knackered and a previous owner just chucked in the 948 which was lying around or he aquired, maybe did not even know it was a 948.

Engine has 950 embossed on the side, so rather think it is an engine that someone had to hand - will have look at the speedo to check, but would think this is an engine change only - that said there are signs that it has had some care - where to metal brake pipes go thru the tie bars, someone has taken the trouble to wrap cut lengths of rubber brake pipes to ensure that the metal pipes don't chafe.
its possible that the care does extend to changing the diff etc .......
I'm on the Somerset levels so things could be worse hill wise !![frame][/frame]

My van has a 950 engine in it and was fitted by the the previous.He said the engine that was in it was knackered.Mine pulls well enough up hills and my van has tools and lot of other stuff in the back.

thanks for that Morris van - certainly will leave the 950cc engine and see how it feels - long way off driving it though

The 948 and 1098 vans both had a 4.55 diff, your 948 may well be pulling a 4.22 diff

my 948 has a 3.9 diff attached. i don't struggle.

I've had four vehicles with the 948: an A30 so fitted with otherwise original running gear, an A35, an early A40 Mk2 and my present Mog. I've also had a '58 Mog, a 1960 Mini, and a '67 Traveller with 1098s. There's no doubt that the 948 is a very sweet engine; Lindsay Porter reckons it's the sweetest of all 'A' series. The 1098 is, in basic form, the least tuneable (with the possible exception of the 803) and roughest running of 'A' series units, although the Mk3 Midget 1098 is better with bigger main bearings. The 1098 gets its extra power partly at the expense of higher revs (5100 rather than the 4750 of the 948) so at normal engine speeds it is not so impressive, with only 20% more torque as against 30% more power. If it goes well, keep it.

With very little work or expense a healthy 948 can be made to out perform a standard 1098. For example, my 4 door with different cylinder head, inlet and carb would do 0-60 in 17 seconds and overtake 40mph traffic uphill without feeling flustered or strained. I really, really regret selling it. Naively I thought, If that's how good a 948 feels, I'm definitely going to get a 1275. I have and it's a huge dissapointment.

my 4 door with different cylinder head, inlet and carb would do 0-60 in 17 seconds

Wow! That's impressive! I suppose you had the 295 or 940 head? Which inlet and carb were you using? Sorry if this has already been covered -- I just found that to really be something.

Flowed 12g295 head, Howley 1.5 inlet, HIF38 carb.
It was mated to a 1098 box but afraid I can't remember if it had a 4.55 or 4.2 diff.
Very smooth and sweet revving and I never felt the need for a better cam as it would pull from any revs.

It is indeed a great wee engine - would have been even better with a cam change - 1098 cam or even better the MG Metro cam. However I broke two cranks until I fitted a crankshaft damper and an oil cooler.......... no more trouble thereafter.

"Flowed 12g295 head" can someone advise what vehicle/engine thats from ? is is a 1098 head ? - would be happy mildly tuning the "goldie 950" - my neighbor with a £6k dolly sprint engine in his race rep TR7 thought the engine sounded superb and sweet !.

Any other tuning advice ?

12G295 head is from the MG1100 engine. Would be good on your engine but would need skimming (maybe done already) to get the Comp Ratio correct on your engine. You would also need a larger carb to make good use of it - and a camshaft change (to the 1100 cam ) would help too!
Sprint TR7 - it was madness for Leyland not to produce that model - they built a few (now very rare) as a trial - but it would have been the making of the car if it had gone into series production. My TR7 just has the standard 8 valve 2 litre motor - it's ok for touring, but it doesn't exactly set the road on fire!

Can't you convert it to a TR8?

"12G295 head is from the MG1100 engine" don't suppose that there will be that many of these available at a budget price ?

are there any other heads that can be used ? has anyone used a 1098 head with a hif38 carb, K & N, maniflow ?.

any 950 tuning advise or opinions gratefully received !

friends Dolly sprint TR7 engine has possible thrown a can rod.....

You could easily get that lot for less than £200