Morris Minor Owners Club

With the government announcement on the introduction of E10 “green” fuel from September this year have the implications of this fuel been assessed for Morris’?

I have 1960 Minor with a 948 unleaded head & 1970 Traveller with a 1098 original head

Comments welcome

Have a read of the attached link.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/e10-petrol-explained

According to the information stated in the link above you will still be able to purchase E5 fuel which is suitable for the Morris Minor.

Didn't they say the same about leaded 4 star when they first introduced unleaded?...........

There seems to be two schools of thought on this, the 'Don't panic Mr. Mainwaring' school and the 'The end is nigh' school.
Since we can do sweet FA about it I'm with the former, however I have purchased some E10 resistant fuel hose (link below) and replaced my fuel line to the tank with Kunifer (available at the likes of ESM etc. and supposed to be more ethanol resistant), which I was doing anyway, as I've fitted a larger fuel tank than the 803 sized one she originally came with and still had despite the fitment of a 1098 engine by a previous owner.
I did source and fit an E10 proof diaphragm to one of my fuel pumps (from the US) but when I tried to buy another, earlier this year (2021), they accepted the order and my money but I haven't heard anything since?? I am chasing them.......
Best wishes,
Mike.
https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/fuel-hose- ... 7-3mm.html

Hi

I don't want to sound cheap, but E5 97RON super petrol in a MM just seems wrong!
Is there a recommended list of what would need to be upgraded/changed to ensure our MM's could safely continue to use the E10 fuel, other than a large fire extinguisher?
I have on my list - fuel pipes, SU floats and float valve tip, fuel pump diaphragm (mine has a mechanical pump - does that have the same?), anything else?

Regards
David

Your mechanical fuel pump will have a rubber diaphragm that may require changing.

It looks like you will have little choice as to the grade of petrol you use in that it will be either E5 or E10. There are no other choices.

E5 fuel even though it may be a 97 RON grade of fuel should work ok in a Minor and create fewer problems.

Personally I would steer clear of E10 because as far as I can see it is going to create problems for a great many internal combustion engines running on petrol/ethanol.

As regards your list of items above that is about right. E10 can eat away at some alloys so care has to be taken when using E10 fuel.

Extract from Esso's website:-

"Although our pumps have E5 labels on them, our Synergy Supreme+ 99 is actually ethanol free (except, due to technical supply reasons, in Devon, Cornwall, North Wales, North England and Scotland). Legislation requires us to place these E5 labels on pumps that dispense unleaded petrol with ‘up to 5% ethanol’, including those that contain no ethanol, which is why we display them on our Synergy Supreme+ 99 pumps."

Alcohol content will only keep going up, it's an easy way on meeting the CO2 reduction targets, France for instance is heavily pushing E85. there are 2 main problems, it attacks rubber and some plastics and it absorbs water over time which causes corrosion in all sorts of metal parts. solutions: change all the rubber parts and use it regularly or drain the fuel if it's not being used. At the end of the day I'd rather be faced with making my old cars run on alcohol based fuel than electric !

DCMVan70 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:14 pm I don't want to sound cheap, but E5 97RON super petrol in a MM just seems wrong!

MM owners sounding cheap! Never If you want really cheap, apparently in New Zealand you can get Regular Unleaded (91 RON) On a serious note, Super Unleaded usually costs about 15p more per litre than Premium Unleaded (95 RON). That can add up to a significant amount if you do a fair bit of mileage. Not great if you use an MM regularly and have to travel out of your way to find Super Unleaded, as not all stations stock it
I also wonder how long will E5 Super Unleaded will be easily available for? How many modern vehicles really 'need' Super Unleaded? As electric vehicles proliferate the demand for it will fall and once it becomes uneconomic then stations won't stock it. Lead Replacement Petrol was only on the forecourts for 3 or 4 years.

kevin s wrote: ↑Thu Jun 24, 2021 10:54 pm Alcohol content will only keep going up, it's an easy way on meeting the CO2 reduction targets, France for instance is heavily pushing E85.

There's an idea, a Bio-Ethanol E85 powered Minor At least it would still drive and sound like a Minor. I'm sure the technical problems involved in a conversion could be solved. The problem is the availability of E85. I think Morrisons sold E85 at a few sites around 15 years ago, but then I've never seen it in the UK since

I have on my list - fuel pipes, SU floats and float valve tip, fuel pump diaphragm (mine has a mechanical pump - does that have the same?), anything else?

Fuel pipes: See my post above for a link to E10 proof fuel hose.
I also believe that Kunifer pipes are ethanol resistant (tank to pump).

SU floats and float valve tip, fuel pump diaphragm: I have sent an email to Burlen Ltd. on the subject of E10 and await a reply.
Best wishes,
Mike.

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/engin ... gLR8vD_BwE


I use this additive, it seems to tick all the boxes for a few pence on every litre of fuel.

We may well look back on these times and conclude this was the beginning of the end, in more ways than one.
All I want now is a small remote cottage somewhere with half an acre of land, surrounded by a ten foot wall and a gun emplacement in each corner.

In the big pucture around £50 and a saturday afternoon to make a minor ethanol compatible is not the end of the world. I see oppurtunity, Ethanol has a octane rating of around 110, works well with forced induction.....

Edward1949 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:51 pm https://www.halfords.com/motoring/engin ... gLR8vD_BwE


I use this additive, it seems to tick all the boxes for a few pence on every litre of fuel.

Reading the description of this product,it does appear to cover everything required rather than going to the trouble of replacing items.

The additive recommended:

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/engin ... gLR8vD_BwE

Treats 10 x 50 litre fuel tanks, so 500 litres.
The larger capacity fuels tanks I fitted to Sally and Elsie May are 6.6 gallons and the standard size fitted to 1000 saloons / Travellers is 6.5 gallons (approx 30 litres), so you should get between 16 and 17 doses per bottle.
Vans and pick-ups have a 9.5 gallon tank (approx 43 litres), so between 11 and 12 doses.
The earlier 803 engined models had a small 5 gallon tank (approx 22.7 litres), so about 22 doses.
So an additional £30 for every 11 to 22 tanks of fuel depending on what model you have.
It sounds good, for as long as they continue to manufacture it.
Best wishes,
Mike.