Morris Minor Owners Club

Today, I got a 'shout' from my local scrap metal 'recycling' merchants about some "Morris Minor parts" that had come in, so I duly stopped by to take a look...

...and came away with what I believe to be a 948cc Minor short block and smooth-case gearbox!

The block has the engine number 8G9 R M 3456, and the MOWOG pistons have +0.060 and M1947 on their crowns, while the top face of the block has 0.060 stamped into it. '950' is cast into the side of the block, along with '83', '2A 799' and '08J'.

So, am I right in thinking this is a factory-reconditioned unit for a Morris Minor with a 60 thou overbore, and would that be a 60 thou block skim as well? What capacity would this give?

It appears to be in pretty good order, turns over nicely and the bores aren't too bad. Only snag is, the cylinder head and backplate are missing, but I rescued the flywheel and clutch, starter motor and rocker cover.

The dizzy is a 40561F BN260 359, while the smooth-case gearbox, which also looks to be in good condition, has the number 2A 3368 P4 stamped into the side.

Any idea on the value of these parts?

Thanks for any advice,

Well done for saving them, but strewth if it's been bored out to +60 thou it must've been round the clock about 5 times!

I don't think you can bore it out safely any more.

As to value I suppose it depends how it runs and how honest you are about the oversize pistons.

Really this engine is coming rapidly to the end of its useful life.

We should be re-lining and re-boring over and over now me thinks... unless they start re-casting these engines again. I know the Birmingham Morris Minor Centre had some re-commisioned 1275 engines re-cast, but price is on request!

As for value, sadly probably worth more scrap as engine and gearbox assy's (according to ebay) seem to be quite cheap.

Thanks for the replies. I've put a bit of work into cleaning it up, and it now looks quite presentable and turns over nicely. I was going to try and stick a head and carb on to see if I could get it up and running...

+0.060" overbore on a 948cc gives approx. 995cc, with the original 3" stroke.

60 thou from 948 doesn't mean its reaching the end of its life. 60 thou is often considered pretty big for an overbore, but the same configuration was used in 998 minis. They were 998 as standard, and oversizes are available for them up to 60 thou (i'd imagine). So 948 +60 thou hasn't even reached the standard 998 size yet. Plenty of life left in the old girl yet!

The 998 mini engine started out life as 998cc when manufactured. A 948 bored out to +60 thou is certainly on its final life because it is NOT considered safe to bore it out any more. I very much doubt anybody would buy such an engine.

You have to ask why it's been bored out to such an extent anyway. Most Minor bodies have rotted away before 70,000 miles. It might just have been a crap casting using poor iron or made on a Friday afternoon, who knows?

All I can say is try and get it running and see how it performs; if it runs well then change the oil and filter every 2000 miles and who knows, it may run for another 100,000 miles.

I have seen a thread where someone had theirs bored out to accept Mini 998cc +0.060" pistons, i.e., an overbore of +0.120 over the standard 948cc bore!

However, since I purchased the short block fairly cheaply, I'm not overly concerned about the +0.060" pistons - at least they're MOWOG-stamped ones. I noticed that underneath the green block paint is gold, so I'm assuming it's a Gold Seal reconditioned one, in which case, they probably put those pistons in at the time of overhauling it.

Now on E-bay, if anyone is interested:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/orionminor/m. ... 4340.l2562

Keep it you never know when it will come in handy

irmscher wrote:Keep it you never know when it will come in handy

Already sold according to the lighter side :p

I've had my 950 bored out to 998 using 'mini' pistons and rods.

It's a +65 thou bore to fit Mini 998 pistons to a 948 block- and as noted above, can go another 60 thou if necessary - maybe more !

So in theory the 948 engine block would be practically 'invincible' because when it wears you can bore it out, and again, and again, and again....

You could get millions of miles out of that engine.

Thanks for the replies! Both engine and gearbox now sold to a local Minor enthusiast who has a 948cc Traveller with a seized engine.