Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All,

I have found a 1953 Morris Minor I'm interested in. As it's a fair trek to go and view the vehicle, I thought I'd run though a few pre-checks first. I've discovered that the engine size is still listed as 918cc (GOV.UK check), yet from the photos of the engine bay, there's definitely not a sidevalve unit installed!

The car is being sold through a trader with an HPI report. How onerous is getting the V5 updated to reflect the new engine size? I'm wondering if this would make a good negotiation point or is better served as a reason to walk away?

Thoughts and advice much appreciated!

The owner carrying out the change should have notified DVLA on the V5 changes section with the engine details and the date of the change.
They would then have sent out a revised V5 for the vehicle.
If you bought it, you could get the seller to do that on the V5 change of ownership section at the time. Maybe room for trying to negotiate price, but if you really wanted an original side valve anyway, best buy a different car.

According to the DVLA, my Traveller has a 99999cc engine!

Perhaps the question should be ' is this a 1953 car....' ? Let's see some pictures... When was the engine steady bar introduced ???

Can you show a close up of the chassis plate?
1953 would have been the last of the Series MMs and it is not uncommon for the side valve engine to be replaced with an A Series lump

I have a 53 and it has the original sdevalve engine all nos match and it has the later bulkhead, the engine steady bar could be an after market kit

Buy it and revise the docs later.

Engine steady bar came in with Minor 1000s to deal with the torque of the mighty 948 engine - so obviously a later mod. Nothing to worry about there.

My first Minor van has an engine size of 9999cc too. Must be a default setting on the DVLAs system. I think the first V5s I had for it were blank on engine size - the 10litre job is a more recent change which I will leave well alone unless thye decide to tax on engine size...

Thanks for all your thoughts folk - much appreciated.
I couldn't get down to see the car in the end, so decided to get a pre-purchase inspection carried out by a local specialist.
Bodywork turned out to be good in the end with all previous welding seemingly of a reasonable standard. All the usual areas were either good or had been properly repaired.
Only problem? Pressurising of the coolant.
So what's the logical next step?
Well, figuring that the worst case would hopefully be a head gasket - I've had an offer on the car accepted and it's being delivered up to us next week.
So - that's one Morris Minor purchased, almost sight-unseen, with an "unknown" engine and a known cooling fault. Think I need a stiff drink now and time to renew my MMOC membership I think..

It's the most likely cause but do a compression test to make sure before you take the head off.

In a scene reminiscent from Mike Brewer turning up at the garage on Wheeler Dealers with something very ominous (on a trailer), "Ruth" has been delivered!
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Managed the journey to Chertsey Minors this morning for a more thorough investigation of the over heating problem. Journey fared ok thankfully, but have already built up a list of things to address in the spring when the weather's warmer!
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