Morris Minor Owners Club

anyone know what to look out for when
buying one,other than the usual rust etc...
its for a friend who has no internet ..
and i know nowt about them..
thanks

usual things check chassis and floors sills for rot ,not a lot different to a minor really

Surely there must be a forum (or six)?

Allthough never owning one,and only just out of interest,we did have one through the family gargage,with a recuring clutch fault,the owner had lost the gears ie grating and unable to engage,and stated a very heavy pedal, he had changed the complete clutch ,to no avail,on investigation it turned out that the pressure plate had stiffended up and had been putting too much pressure on the thrust washers on the crank,they had worn suficiently that they dropped off the crank,and the crank webbing was also worn. and all the clutch was doing was pushing the whole lot forward and not disengaging sufficiently. We found the remains of the thrusts in the sump ,You could see the bottom pully being pushed out by about 1/2 inch ,the guy at the engineers he said he had seen a few like this,on spitfires as well . He was able to supply thicker thrust washers to save the crank,so new thrusts and all was o k .But as above there will be a dedicated forum. Don,t know if this was a common fault .But seem to remember reading that the triumph engines of that generation were a bit soft on the bottom end.

I have owned a Triumph Herald 1200cc Estate and a Triumph Spitfire MK3.
As regards problems with the estate:- rear suspension bushes especially the outboard ones. The chassis out-riggers and outer rail are prone to rust and had to be replaced. Overall the car was very good and I never had any engine problems. I did have the gear lever disappear through the transmission tunnel when the retaining circlip failed though.
As regards the Spitfire: I had a rocker break whilst at 70mph on the M6 but it did no damage the broken part just rested on top of the cylinder head. Never had any other engine problems. Rear wheel bearings had to be replaced and the outer suspension bushes changed at the same time.
As regards rust the only area needing attention was the outer sill N/S below where the bonnet shuts. Never had any other rust problems. I was travelling from Gloucestershire to the west coast of Cumbria every week (600 mile round trip) and return and the valve rocker was the only problem I had. I consider that the Triumph Herald/Spitfire will give sterling service so long as they are looked after; no different to any other car.

Nothing like a Minor.The big plus with these is that the body comes off very easily allowing total access to the chassis which is a very simple affair.The "sills" are purely cosmetic held on with self tappers.Parts are cheap.The car is a pleasure to drive with the best turning circle you could find.I restored several vitesse convertibles in the eighties.Best club and resource:
http://www.tssc.org.uk/tssc/index.asp

many thanks guys......
will pass the info to him

very easy to work on
had a couple of spitties in the 70`s
better than the mog

i run a 1200 Herald convertible,in Wedgewood Blue.had it almost 5 years,not had too many problems so far,i keep on top of the servicing,oil or grease the trunnions etc.parts are cheap,and you can get most things from several outlets,Canley Classics etc. a few weeks ago,i bought a stack of parts from a lady who was selling off her spares,including 2 re-con gearboxes and a re-con cylinder head,new lights,starter motors etc.,for £100

sid wrote:i run a 1200 Herald convertible,in Wedgewood Blue.had it almost 5 years,not had too many problems so far,i keep on top of the servicing,oil or grease the trunnions etc.parts are cheap,and you can get most things from several outlets,Canley Classics etc. a few weeks ago,i bought a stack of parts from a lady who was selling off her spares,including 2 re-con gearboxes and a re-con cylinder head,new lights,starter motors etc.,for £100

now thats a bargin
lucky for you