Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi

Could someone give me some advice please? Would you purchase up rated tie bars or an anti roll bar kit please?

Thanks

Rich

I have both on my Minor.
The anti-roll bar is 9/16" dia (more than adequate for my needs) and I do believe it does help with body roll. One of the first modifications carried out on my car over 40 years ago and when it was used everyday on the road.
Unless you want to be absolutely specific in setting the caster angle there is no point in fitting adjustable or uprated tie rods. If you do fit the adjustable rods you need to be able to ensure that the caster angle is set correctly after fitment so a trip to a steering geometry setting expert/garage is essential. Better to make sure that the suspension components are in good condition i.e. no worn eye bolts and fit good quality poly bushes all round and enjoy an improved ride.

If you want to reduce body roll there is a much cheaper and easier option, replace the worn out fluid in your shock absorbers with something thicker.
Engine oil is a good start but non multigrade 30w 40w or 50w will stiffen things up nicely.

My view - NEITHER! No need for stronger tie bars - and an a-roll bar on it's own just causes even MORE understeer! Phil's car is for competition use - and so his anti-roll bar is part of a complete suspension 'package' - but unless you plan this with your car - do as suggested with the more viscous oil (SAE 40 is best) - and add some negative camber on the front wheels... Both very low cost modifications - and both make a huge difference to the handling.

After purchasing my Minor over 40 years ago with 52K on the clock I did try various viscosities of oil in the dampers up to and including EP90; also varying the settings of the damper valves to see if that would help. Whilst altering the oil viscosity and valve settings did make some difference to body roll it was the fitting of the front 9/16" dia anti-roll bar that really did help with body roll and did not cause any under-steer. The anti-roll bar was fitted to the car for many road miles before the car was converted for track use; so it does not have to be a track car to appreciate the fitting of an anti-roll bar.
You may be right in that the 19mm dia anti-roll bars now on offer for the Minor creates excessive under steer but not having a requirement to fit one have no experience of using one of that dia. The majority of conversion kits for fitting anti-roll bars to sports cars offer various diameter anti-roll bars so you can tailor your handling requirements but that is not the case with the Minor, 19mm or nothing (happy to be corrected on that one).
As I indicated in my post above there is absolutely no need for upgraded tie rods on a road car. The standard rods are more than adequate. So I agree with you on that one.

Thanks for all the replies. They have been helpful. I am fitting an anti-roll bar but will also be taking the advice of using a heavier grade oil.

Rich

If I was fitting an a-roll bar, I would fit front AND rear - and a spot of -ve camber . There is no doubt a Minor rolls a LOT but a front bar on it's own is not a great idea. An alternative at the rear is to fit the better 7 leaf Traveller springs - which also go a long way to help control axle tramp. The front a-roll bars on general sale are more about 'Pub Points' than improving the handling.... My TR7 has thick bars front and rear, and I added uprated dampers and an 'anti-dive' kit - and it doesn't roll at all!

I agree that the fitting of a anti-roll bar to the rear of a Minor would be of benefit but not aware of one available commercially.
If you have the Marina/Ital rear axle fitted it is easy to utilise the Marina/Ital rear anti-roll bar as the axle mounts are already fitted to the axle and the body brackets are just bolt on.
Yes the Traveller 7 leaf springs do help with traction but have not found them much help as regards body roll.
Negative camber does help with the handling and is easy to incorporate so long as it is done sensibly and not over done.
The Minor front suspension whilst good is still a compromise between comfort/handling and ease of production/costs so still has its faults/shortcomings and again can be improved to advantage.
The TR7 suspension is a very different kettle of fish to the minor as it was/is a definably better designed system front and rear and the design incorporated all of those factors needed to overcome body roll, sway, traction, ride comfort and reliability etc, etc.
It must be remembered that the type of rear suspension fitted to the Minor is very basic goes back to the very early days of motor cars and even before that in the form of horse drawn coaches so any improvement in that area is a bonus.

I made the equivalent of Marina/Ital axle brackets and welded them to the standard Minor axle casing and fitted a standard Marina/Ital rear anti-roll bar (as well as the Owen Burton one fitted to the front!). The front rubber bushes for the rear roll bar are the same as the later MGB GT and are currently available.

A good measure of its effectiveness was when one of the standard Ital 'U' clips broke, so that one side of the rear bar was not connected - the change in handling was very noticeable, with much less steering response and more understeer.

Spacing out the bottom front suspension arm to get negative camber also has the effect of increasing the castor angle, as with the fixed length tie bars, the end of the suspension arm is pulled forward as it is spaced out. The effect is to provide excellent high speed straight line stability, but heavier steering for parking and very low speed manoeuvring - a very acceptable trade-off.