Morris Minor Owners Club

Heya everyone

So been wondering for a bit now what precautions and preparations do you do to your moggy

Simple question but I'm sure lots of answers

Thank you

Fill up with anti-freeze. Blow the tyres up a bit harder than normal. Take it for a nice run on a dry sunny day - then tuck it away in the garage leaving the handbrake off and windows slightly open - and connect a solar charger to the battery. Job done !

If it's outside clean all chrome and then smear thin layer of vaseline over. This will help protect from winter salted roads.

Preparations for winter driving or storage?

For driving, no harm in a good service(fluids and grease points) and inspection. Nothing worse than having to fix something on a cold winters night after work that you could have prevented when the weather was better! Rust prevention wher needed. If its your daily driver and it has a dynamo then its a good idea to have a battery charger as using headlights morning and night will give the battery a hard time. And good tyres too if it snows! I always found that a Minor in the snow is the best way to learn how a car handles and how to control it

Thanks everyone guess ill be going to buy some vasalene..... the car is sadly stored outside and isn't in daily use at the moment I'm tempted to try run it as much as I can but it's not road legal just yet I do have a storm force cover that will hopefully help but the chrome is pretty far gone already so not sure it's worth it and car was very recently serviced so I guess ill just top up everything and copper slip and grease everywhere thanks

My van is used all year round as I use it twice a week for my job and it has to stay outside as there is two other classic cars in the garage.I always make sure there is antifreeze in it and I make sure I wash the van when its been out on salty roads.

morris van wrote:My van is used all year round as I use it twice a week for my job and it has to stay outside as there is two other classic cars in the garage.I always make sure there is antifreeze in it and I make sure I wash the van when its been out on salty roads.

Ah good sound simple enough I guess moggys are a tad stronger in the winder than I was expecting

Err no, sadly a Minor outdoors in winter under a cover is doomed... My Stormforce cover kept the rain off well enough in summer - for 6 months, then it disintegrated due to UV damage from the sun... But moisture from the winter air will still invade the car - causing the inevitable.

A full service would be a good idea along with checking that the charging system is in good order and that there is a decent amount of anti-freeze in the cooling system

I have found that cars that suffer from a lot of underside/underbody corrosion belong to people who think that washing the car ends at the sills or door bottoms. when you run your hand under the wheelarches you can feel huge lumps of mud and crud stuck under the wings. Look at the places that Morris wings corrode, The rear wings around the top and bottom and the front wings just ahead of the hinge post. The body should be clean below as well as where you can see.

The underside needs to be cleaned regularly, with attention to removing road salt and the layers of crud that build up and trap moisture against the surface so the underside is damp even on a dry winter day. I usually (Pre winter) pressure wash the underside of all of the family cars during October and while the megane probably doesn't get much out of it, in the 8 years we have owned them, the 96 Clio has not developed any corrosion around the rear arches and the 97 Pug 106 has zero corrosion around the rear end - a place where they suffer really badly - all of the cars live outdoors (Except the pile of rust that is my 1960 4 door) There is no crud under the wheelarches.

Keep them clean and protect the underside and floorpan with waxoil or even old engine oil if that is your preference.

Just My Opinion.... YMMV

Yes - all excellent advice !

bmcecosse wrote:Err no, sadly a Minor outdoors in winter under a cover is doomed... My Stormforce cover kept the rain off well enough in summer - for 6 months, then it disintegrated due to UV damage from the sun... But moisture from the winter air will still invade the car - causing the inevitable.

Oh right really? :S my cover is uv protective though but sounds like many people are saying the same thing about them so starting to think that's BS

warweezil wrote:A full service would be a good idea along with checking that the charging system is in good order and that there is a decent amount of anti-freeze in the cooling system

I have found that cars that suffer from a lot of underside/underbody corrosion belong to people who think that washing the car ends at the sills or door bottoms. when you run your hand under the wheelarches you can feel huge lumps of mud and crud stuck under the wings. Look at the places that Morris wings corrode, The rear wings around the top and bottom and the front wings just ahead of the hinge post. The body should be clean below as well as where you can see.

The underside needs to be cleaned regularly, with attention to removing road salt and the layers of crud that build up and trap moisture against the surface so the underside is damp even on a dry winter day. I usually (Pre winter) pressure wash the underside of all of the family cars during October and while the megane probably doesn't get much out of it, in the 8 years we have owned them, the 96 Clio has not developed any corrosion around the rear arches and the 97 Pug 106 has zero corrosion around the rear end - a place where they suffer really badly - all of the cars live outdoors (Except the pile of rust that is my 1960 4 door) There is no crud under the wheelarches.

Keep them clean and protect the underside and floorpan with waxoil or even old engine oil if that is your preference.

Just My Opinion.... YMMV

Ah right well all I will need to do is antifreeze from them then as not long had a full service and a new charging system

Yeah I know haha yeah my drivers side post has already gone at the bottom but all the wings are fibreglass appart from front passenger and that's rotten... :S

And a solid Clio and 106? are you sure?!

And my underside is all dinitroled and I mean everything is thanks previous owner but before you say yes it is all solid under there

hey - don't knock the 106... Some (maybe not many) are surviving way better than you'd expect given it's pedigree
(e.g. anyone ever remember seeing see a 20 year old 104 / Talbot Samba?? nope)

rayofleamington wrote:hey - don't knock the 106... Some (maybe not many) are surviving way better than you'd expect given it's pedigree
(e.g. anyone ever remember seeing see a 20 year old 104 / Talbot Samba?? nope)

but there awful D: my mums boyfriend has a 306 base model in white and........ It's just discusting and errrrr are you saying the underside of the 106 is based on the 104

MoggyBlue wrote:

rayofleamington wrote:hey - don't knock the 106... Some (maybe not many) are surviving way better than you'd expect given it's pedigree
(e.g. anyone ever remember seeing see a 20 year old 104 / Talbot Samba?? nope)

but there awful D: my mums boyfriend has a 306 base model in white and........ It's just discusting and errrrr are you saying the underside of the 106 is based on the 104

My Daily driver is a 405 TD estate, and while some aspects of it are less than ideal I cant fault the XUD9 engine, my last 405 was scrapped because of electrical issues, the engine was still in rude health despite having 232000 miles under its belt, the last 51 k being spurred on by my VERY heavy right foot.. The 106 is a handy little round town runner that copes well with the occasional long run, in my jopb I see a couple of end of life 106s and/or Saxos (same car really) a month and they all seem to suffer around the rear end and in the front inner wings ahead of the battery tray. Have to admit the 306 isnt my favourite car.. its not as good as the old 309 was.

As a Chrysler Mechanic in years past - we didnt even see many Sambas when they were new

Did I read there was a certain type of anti freeze for the Morris because of the copper pipes? Green stuff as opposed to the blue stuff? Any pointers as to what sort would be helpful. Also how much should do the job for most winters??

On protecting the underside... are there any reasonable kits you can get to wax oil it all. Im assuming there are some tins that these days come with an integral spray pump or something??

I think the blue (ethyl/glycol-based) anti-freeze is fine, it's the pink stuff that can cause issues in older cars.

Waxoyl is the most common rust-proofing product, readily available in Halfords, etc.:

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints ... 00ml-clear

As you can see, they do it in either aerosol (useful for awkward to reach cavities) or larger cans, the 2.5-litre round tins you can screw in a hand-pump sprayer, though their effectiveness relies on the Waxoyl being very runny (immerse the can and sprayer in a bucket of hot water for a few minutes or leave it out in the sun, prior to spraying).

Brill thanks for that..... Would I have to drain the whole radiator to put the antifreeze in.. or just top up and check the concentration?

warweezil wrote:

MoggyBlue wrote:

rayofleamington wrote:hey - don't knock the 106... Some (maybe not many) are surviving way better than you'd expect given it's pedigree
(e.g. anyone ever remember seeing see a 20 year old 104 / Talbot Samba?? nope)

but there awful D: my mums boyfriend has a 306 base model in white and........ It's just discusting and errrrr are you saying the underside of the 106 is based on the 104

My Daily driver is a 405 TD estate, and while some aspects of it are less than ideal I cant fault the XUD9 engine, my last 405 was scrapped because of electrical issues, the engine was still in rude health despite having 232000 miles under its belt, the last 51 k being spurred on by my VERY heavy right foot.. The 106 is a handy little round town runner that copes well with the occasional long run, in my jopb I see a couple of end of life 106s and/or Saxos (same car really) a month and they all seem to suffer around the rear end and in the front inner wings ahead of the battery tray. Have to admit the 306 isnt my favourite car.. its not as good as the old 309 was.

As a Chrysler Mechanic in years past - we didnt even see many Sambas when they were new

Hmmmm honestly I don't have anything against the big estate. Their cheap dependable work horses it's just the 306 and things I can't stand I'm pretty sure that's the peugeot engine they put in the ldv's was the diesel lump

poplars wrote:Brill thanks for that..... Would I have to drain the whole radiator to put the antifreeze in.. or just top up and check the concentration?

It wouldn't hurt to flush the cooling system and replenish with fresh anti-freeze mix if it hasn't been done in ages (it should ideally be done every year or so). However, you can usually just top up as required - approx 1/3 (33%) concentration of antifreeze to water is sufficient for most regions, although some say a 50% mix is required.