Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi i know this has been asked so many times but me being a young driver i have no idea about the old suspension at all. The back is easy enough with lowering blocks and extended U bolts, but the front is just a mystery to me and i cant make sense of the other posts so i was after an idiots guide as daft as it may seem.

This is going to be a Sunday drive show car and not a daily so i dont need telling about the arches gettung damaged as there massive or how bad the rides going to be and the little or no suspension travel as i know all about that as i have a modern car modified and lowered.

also theres some pictures to label that would be a great help

thanks [frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

I'll give you the best advice I can - DON'T LOWER IT! DO put heavier oil in the dampers. Why do you think 'lower' looks better?? Fine for a track car with specially modified suspension. Just silly on a road car - week-end or not.....

I personally think it looks better and im trying to get the morris minor to appeal to more of the youth today by entering it into car shows where the car scene nower days is to lower your car which then may get other younger members in the club and restoring old moggies. The only way to do that is to make a big impact that is why

And have a car that can't be safely used on the highway.... Oh well...good luck with it.

You basically have to readjust the rear suspension arm on the torsion bar, but please read up and pay serious attention to how to strip the suspension, there is an awful lot of energy in the torsion bar that could cause serious injury or worse if no attention is paid.
I would follow BMC's advice for the front suspension, you risk damaging the inner wing which can be a difficult and costly repair, not to mention possible damage to suspension components that could potentially have your car in a ditch.
You are right about the back, easy enough with blocks, but in my experience Minor rear springs have sagged so much that adding lowering blocks makes them too low, even for occasional use, which causes more headaches.
My advice, fit some sensible wider wheels to fill out the arches (such as ESM's new van rims) which can give the look of a lowered car with less shortfalls and far better road holding.

where abouts is the Torsion bar iv just seen you can get shorter ones or something but i dunno where they go?

bmcecosse wrote: And have a car that can't be safely used on the highway.... Oh well...good luck with it.

So all the track cars are unsafe then?

Very safe - in stripped out/lightweight car - on the lovely smooth track - with no pot holes or speed bumps......or fat mates sitting in the car.....
Take heed of the good advice you have been given...... Shorter torsion bars......aye right.... Get a Workshop Manual and read all about the suspension.

Thanks for the help....

moggymarris wrote:Hi i know this has been asked so many times but me being a young driver i have no idea about the old suspension at all. The back is easy enough with lowering blocks and extended U bolts, but the front is just a mystery to me and i cant make sense of the other posts so i was after an idiots guide as daft as it may seem.

This is going to be a Sunday drive show car and not a daily so i dont need telling about the arches gettung damaged as there massive or how bad the rides going to be and the little or no suspension travel as i know all about that as i have a modern car modified and lowered.

also theres some pictures to label that would be a great help

thanks [frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

The short answer is "don't lower it!" you will make the car ride less well and do nothing for the handling.

The best handling upgrade I've seen is to get the suspension at the correct height and fit an anti roll bar.

moggymarris wrote:I personally think it looks better and im trying to get the morris minor to appeal to more of the youth today by entering it into car shows where the car scene nower days is to lower your car which then may get other younger members in the club and restoring old moggies. The only way to do that is to make a big impact that is why

Plenty of young people already like Minors and the 20 somethings/ teens i know who are Minor fans like them because they are very different from modern cars. Trying to lower a Minor, fit a spoiler and blacked out windows, the Saxo type scene is a mistake as the Minor appeals to a completely different class of younger person. Those with good taste and common sense!

chickenjohn wrote:

moggymarris wrote:I personally think it looks better and im trying to get the morris minor to appeal to more of the youth today by entering it into car shows where the car scene nower days is to lower your car which then may get other younger members in the club and restoring old moggies. The only way to do that is to make a big impact that is why

Plenty of young people already like Minors and the 20 somethings/ teens i know who are Minor fans like them because they are very different from modern cars. Trying to lower a Minor, fit a spoiler and blacked out windows, the Saxo type scene is a mistake as the Minor appeals to a completely different class of younger person. Those with good taste and common sense!

Aww what so your telling me the 20" tailpipe, blacked out windows, bonnet scoops and spoiler iv put on isnt cool?

I was going for the clean fresh look which appeals to most people in the current car scene and not the chavtastic look actually

Clean and fresh is excellent! Just display the car as it left the factory - many think much nicer WITHOUT the over-riders.. and of course shining nicely! Only fit a front ARB if you want more understeer..... Heavy oil in the dampers - and better wheels & tyres are the first steps - while you save up for better brakes. And don't be side-tracked to fitting a silly servo!!

A lower CofG is the only real advantage of lowering suspension but given a Minors front suspension isn't ideally designed to be lowered I wouldn't bother. Stiffen the dampers and a bit of -ve camber will make it more fun to drive.

Would shorter torsion bars reduce the wheelbase... ;)

moggymarris wrote:Hi i know this has been asked so many times but me being a young driver i have no idea about the old suspension at all. The back is easy enough with lowering blocks and extended U bolts, but the front is just a mystery to me and i cant make sense of the other posts so i was after an idiots guide as daft as it may seem.

This is going to be a Sunday drive show car and not a daily so i dont need telling about the arches gettung damaged as there massive or how bad the rides going to be and the little or no suspension travel as i know all about that as i have a modern car modified and lowered.

Hi

I am speaking from some experience here. I have been a youth worker with nearly 30 years of working with young people. It seems to me that you need to speak as an individual. I don't mean to patronise and I know the other guys replying to this aren't either. But as I read your responses you keep talking about the current street scene. Why not think individually and create a new street scene.....

Lowering is part of the current scene with many different modern cars. Make a new street scene with an older but equally good looking street cars. The suspension really doesn't need playing with. You can create an entirely different ride without going the way of the crowd. i.e. I'm going to lower my car. A very simple mod I love the look of is to fit the one piece front end from JLH Minors. The guys replying have given you further ideas. Go with them and think about it but use the minor to craft your own individual project.

Good luck with whatever you do and please post the photos.

Rich

I've had my Minor roughly 5 years and at least 3 of those,the car has been lowered,ON ORIGINAL SUSPENSION.
It handles fine,even had a guy in a Porsche,who was following me,comment on how good it handled!
It hasn't ripped the front wings off even on full lock,
The bump stops,CUT DOWN,still work fine,
We have LOADS of mini roundabouts and speedbumps in my area,NONE of which have caused damage to ANY part of the car or engine.

My car has passed every MOT since i owned it without any problems with steering or suspension,
Used it daily for years and still drive the sh*t out of it!

Its YOUR car,do with it what YOU want.

I have since upgraded the front with Telescopic shock conversion which makes it even better.
Lowering the front is quite a simple job,You DONT change the torsion bars for shorter ones,its as easy as undoing about 4 bolts ;)

bmcecosse wrote:Clean and fresh is excellent! Just display the car as it left the factory - many think much nicer WITHOUT the over-riders.. and of course shining nicely! Only fit a front ARB if you want more understeer..... Heavy oil in the dampers - and better wheels & tyres are the first steps - while you save up for better brakes. And don't be side-tracked to fitting a silly servo!!

This, if you really want to grab attention spend the money and time in polishing the car to a mirror finish, leave not a single scratch or swirl mark in the paint and then with a special glass polish do all the windows to the point where they're perfectly clear even when seen with a magnifying glass. Restore and repaint the engine bay to concours-quality condition and do the same to the interior. Having the car look better than the day it left the factory is the best way to turn the heads of old and young alike.
If you really do feel like you must lower it then all you need to do at the front is reposition the torsion bars one or two splines away from where they are now. Going beyond that you will end up damaging your car.

I lowered ours 40+ years ago when we fitted the 'wide' wheels (13" x 5.5") - they didn't look at all right with standard ride height. What wheels are you fitting?

As I have said many times before we have never had any problems with the suspension touching the inner wing (you do need to make sure that the bump stops are in place and shortened by around 1", and then reshaped to restore some progression).

Lowering the front means assembling the suspension on the torsion bar in a different position to the original - there is no such thing as a 'shorter torsion bar'. The standard bars are fine. If you do decide to go the lowering route, you will also need to space out the eye bolt from the chassis to restore the camber angle, which goes more positive as you lower the suspension. There is a limit to how much you can do this before running out of thread for the eye bolt retaining nut.

Whatever you decide to do, the advice to change the damper oil to a straight SAE40 is a very good one - makes world of difference to the ride and feel, but of course nothing for the appearance you want to create.

lowered our traveller 2" at the rear and 2 splines at the front then raised it on the adjuster at the rear as it was too low.
front end shock conversion too and poly bushes and it changed the car and looked fab. 13" wheels with 165 tyres is the biggest we could do but no fouling.
I will say though, someone had put a longer screw in the rear of the tunnel holding the ashtray down and it fouled on the prop! took ages to find what it was too. could have been very dangerous so check everything and everywhere as you don't know whats been done elsewhere in its life.

Richards lowering was done with stronger T bars - which allows the car to sit lower than with standard T bars without mashing the front inner wings. It's horses for courses - if a Trav has to carry weight in the back (what it was designed for..) it can't be set too low or it will just be bumping along on the stops - which is not pleasant - or good for the rear chassis.