Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello everyone

my name's Rob, I'm 20 years old and come from a classic car background, but not particularly a Morris Minor background.
I am weighing up all the different classic cars of interest to me, and having already started a process of writing and researching various things.
The stage now is to be able to ascertain whether a Morris Minor would be ideal as an everyday car and so on...

Going from my most recent experience I'd like to know:

are there mechanical brand names that still supply parts that are of good quality that people have had positive experiences with such as: lucas, bosch, girling etc
Are spares relatively easy to obtain (i.e not going to take more than a couple of days at the very most just to be able to place an order for a part as an example).
What are minor's like to live with on a daily basis? what is MPG like?
for an average condition (half way point) minor with good length mot that doesn't require welding and drives well (but will possibly need a few small niggles sorting during the early stages of ownership, but still usable) and perhaps has a few cosmetic points that need correcting, how much "as a rough figure" would I be looking at spending?

When looking at purchasing, what should I look out for?

Any other information and or opinions are most welcome

Having just noticed a thread by a member here in this section about buying a morris minor, I will be reading this, along with much more I'm sure.


Thanks

Rob

There are 4 main spares suppliers that spring to mind straight away, so getting a part is never a problem. I find my minor a good car to live with, but it depends on what you look for, if you need radio or cruise control etc. As for mpg, on a cautious run, 40 can be gained I understand, but 35 is a more accurate figure depending on the condition of the engine. I dont know myself, my fuel guage doesn't work . In the condition you describe, no more than 2k for a saloon I expect, that's what I paid for mine with some small cosmetic issues. Different story for traveller/convertible/van etc. hope that helps!

2 k is on the cheap side for a good runner with history and bona fide bills etc,with a better than fair body,and a non smokey engine ,but good luck if you can get one ,and let me know if you don't want it

What are you comparing with? The Minor is unbeatable for spare parts availability - and for the best forum!
Perfectly good car for ~£1500 - but RUST is the problem (as with any classic) , and never buy with anything less than 9 months MOT.....

Have you looked at getting insurance if you buy a different classic? I know most of the insurance companies are vastly limiting the range of 'classics' they will insure for a young owner. For example fj will only insure you on a minor atm! And I know triumphs etc they will not take on new people, only re-insure current ones.

good point,met a mum and a young learner lad today at Crich,his moggie insurance is £1200 PA (ALL HIS OWN),his mother told me that to put him on her insurance (a small toyota) was over £3000

WOW

Ok... where to start,

the responses so far have been very informative and have given me a fair idea as to what my budget should be able to buy me. I am really becoming quite confident, seeing how this forum and club appear to have everything more than well catered for

last year (April) I turned 19, (will be 21 next year) - I'd just passed my driving test in the February and so only held my license two months. I had been out and bought a Triumph Dolomite 1300.. but.. had no end of issues and the club were no use at all and many answers to my questions were somewhat, off putting shall we say and was also abused in a rather nasty fashion over the discussion forum too.. and sold it in December (so only owned the car for 9 months) - in the 9 months of ownership it had "just in mechanical parts being replaced" over cost over £1300! not to mention things like the new battery, or service items. the money was spent on "replacing" the newly fitted parts as I had continuous problems. i.e fit a part, 3 weeks later it would fail.. and then the story continued in this fashion. Until and this was only by sheer luck, I actually mentioned the name of who was making the parts that I had.. only then was I pointed in the right direction, so months of heartache and lots of money wasted and got absolutely nowhere....
(the info, regarding good parts isn't available, so as a new comer to the marque, i was unaware.. and because I hadn't been told "this is the one you want, or however it may have been put..." I felt that I was the joke of the club, simply because I'm not a mind reader... despite this over the past couple of weeks, the interest in dolomite ownership and the thoughts etc had started up and decided to give things a lot more consideration (as I have the time to weigh things up from every possible angle and so on..) so... after making a thread on the club's forum regarding parts, the responses I received again were not what I was expecting.. my thread can be seen here... http://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/view ... =4&t=21540 seeing the issue's i'd had previously (which didn't just include the clutch slave cylinder but many other problems) I decided the sure way of knowing if my next experience in dolly ownership would be better, I thought I would try and establish whether the members would actually point me in the right direction in the way of parts... really.. going on the above responses, and the fact I've been "abused" again in the past few days by the same person who did the abusing last time (and the webmaster still hasn't done anything).. I am avoiding the Triumph name and club's completely.

So.. after sharing the above link with my parents, (as things became quite bad in dolly ownership) I showed them the link above, and they said forget about them.. go away and sit down and do some research into other car's you like and what you can insure etc.

the Morris minor saloon (standard shape with 2doors?) either way, was well *under, half what I've just paid on my current car insurance, so insurance isn't an issue.

I've also taken a liking to the Rover 2000 Automatic too, and also weighing up the possibilities and such in that direction.
I do have one or two other possible's but these are the main two I personally feel would be capable of my budget, and capable of daily use and both also appear to have good loyal fan bases (it must be said, MMOC is the BEST! club website I've ever seen!)
The other possibilities are the MG midget, and MG BGT (although the insurance will be questionable).

I am mechanically capable as far as wheel bearings go, replacing bushes (most bushes) servicing, brakes etc the main things like engines and gearboxes is where my strong points aren't. I can't weld but can do good bodywork otherwise..

Thanks for the input so far and I am certainly giving the Morris minor a lot of thought.

(as for the link to that club, do you think I was speaking out of place at all?) personally I felt that, "whats going to stop other people trying to join the scene and coming up against the self same thing's I did and going through the exact same, all for the sake of people mentioning the names of the good brands and suppliers.. how are people ever going to know the names of the good brands and suppliers? which also then.. because its a small tight knit community, it can take hours for a response to a question (and even then in most cases, the answer you get isn't relevant) which doesn't help with daily running and order parts etc..

Rob

hi I love reading your posts they are so well composed,

Having owned these Triumphs
2.5 PI
triumph,
Dolly
Spitfire
GT6
TR6
1300
VITESSE

The 1300 and the Dolly were by far the worst cars I've ever owned and that list includes a Vauxhall Viva

I spent a fortune when they were newish ,never mind 40 years old !!!!!!


All with the straight six were great fun,I even put a PI engine into a GT6 ,GREAT MOD if you enjoy changing gearboxes every few weeks!!!!

pound for pound the moggie has more smiles per gallon ,good luck in your quest

lambrettalad wrote:hi I love reading your posts they are so well composed,

Having owned these Triumphs
2.5 PI
triumph,
Dolly
Spitfire
GT6
TR6
1300
VITESSE

The 1300 and the Dolly were by far the worst cars I've ever owned and that list includes a Vauxhall Viva

I spent a fortune when they were newish ,never mind 40 years old !!!!!!


All with the straight six were great fun,I even put a PI engine into a GT6 ,GREAT MOD if you enjoy changing gearboxes every few weeks!!!!

pound for pound the moggie has more smiles per gallon ,good luck in your quest

As it happens, I did look at buying a 1974 Vauxhall Viva 1256 2dr, before buying the dolly. But after a quick look at it and then looking into parts, I decided that it might be a tad difficult to run one on a daily basis. Things like window and door rubbers seemed to be hard items to obtain, along with a few other parts. Nice car though and I like the "coke bottle design" HB.

Its also quite funny what you hear when you talk to other people about certain cars too.. "wasn't just me who had dolomite related issue's "

The Morris Minor is beginning to sound like a very good choice of classic car.

Thanks

Rob

After reading that long winded thread.. (and I don't see any 'abuse') I think you should stick with a Dolly. You'll probably have endless problems with coils on a Minor......

Put your location down and maybe someone in your area will show you around their Minor so you know what to look for.

The abuse received was done via pm which I won't be posting for good reason's really....

Are coils on a minor a problem? or cause for concern?
I've just watched the documentary a few hours ago about the minor, and how they are used all over the world and indeed one person had covered over 300k miles with his minor and he also stated how it gave him trouble free daily motoring.

Thank you for the advice Mike.Perry, I do know a couple who have minors and the missus appeared to be running around in her's on a daily basis.. not sure how far etc as I never really spoke to them, but they don't live far away.

At present, i'm just doing my research, weighing up the various things.

Thanks

rob

Have to agree with roy (bmcecosse) here. I cant see anything wrong in that thread at-all. Its an online forum, don't take things to heart. If you already know about dolly's (and can get insurance, defo check, things have changed since) then imho you should stick with what you know for a while, before changing marks, to something totally different.

With a Minor you have to remember that it's basically 1940's (with later 'improvements') technology and they drive differently to a 60's based car like the Dolomite so you should really drive a few Minors to get the feel of them before taking the plunge.

For a 'daily driver' you may want to consider front disc brake conversions, adding seat belts + seats with head restraints. It all depends on how you feel about keeping a car standard or not.

Decent parts supply isn't an issue in my experience as there are several good suppliers out there and you can usually get small bits via post overnight.

Heavier parts involving Parcel post take a bit longer but depending on where you live you could always go and seek them.....

As some engine and other parts are the same as early Mini's, some Motor Factors local to you may be able to get parts the same day if ordered in the morning (mine did)

With any older car, maintenance is the key and service schedule intervals are a lot smaller than modern cars, but keep on top of it and you should have no problems with running a Minor.

Oh and ignore the running joke on here on 'it's never the coil' as they are mostly reliable and you can still buy Lucas ones.

Points and condensors probably fail more than coils and that can be overcome with an 'electronic' conversion kit despite what the 'purists' say

I'm all for electronic kits ,just thought I would ram the point ohm

Hello Lambrettalad,

as far as electronic ignition goes, I have quite a bit of resistance to them.

Alec

Do most of these 'electronic' kits not retain the condenser?

bmcecosse wrote:Do most of these 'electronic' kits not retain the condenser?

Not the one I bought, the point's and condenser assembly are all replaced with a new unit. Took circa 10 minutes to do and no points to set, timing changes required.

Alec wrote:Hello Lambrettalad,

as far as electronic ignition goes, I have quite a bit of resistance to them.

Alec

the pair of you, can you keep your potential difference to your self and keep it proportional.

sorry biffa the "jokes" don't get any better, but to answer your question.. in 20 + years of moggy ownership I have never replaced a coil

lets be positive ,but keep down to earth and the static to a minimum,the lad is being very thorough,wish I had his patience