She's bit slow

[Edward.21]

Hi all
I was wondering what is the best/best value handling and speed improvements that I could make to a 71 traveller bearing in mind that as a plumber she will sometimes have a fairly heavy weight in her TIA

[barrie102]

One of the best handling improvements has to be the fitting of an anti-roll bar to the front suspension, I find it transforms the handling.
Probably followed by telescopic shocks all round .
As for performance increase , 'the world is your oyster' so to speak, dependant on the depth of your wallet.
Bigger engine (1275) .
Five speed Gearbox .
Disc brakes to handle power increase and servo to give that 'modern' feel when brakeing.
etc
etc
etc.

[Edward.21]

Does the insurance increase dramatically if I put a 1275 or a five speed in and is there anything that's a bit cheaper

[ASL642]

Sorry to pry but it depends on your age. Over 25 no problem. Under that and it does seem to. See below Engine Modification and FJ thread.

[Edward.21]

I am 17 so the insurance is a bit of a problem
Can you think of any improvements that don't require telling the insurance company thanks

[ASL642]

Teles all round and anti roll bar will improve the handling. Disc brakes will improve the braking. Having said that, drums are fine as they are so long as they're well maintained. Good shoes and no leaking cylinders!

[Alex'n'Ane]

You can fit a 1275 and still get decent priced insurance at 17. So i think a 1275 and disc would be reasonable and if you can source the parts and do the work yourself then wouldn't be too costly.

[Edward.21]

Ok thanks

[TomLS]

In a recent conversation with someone at FJ, I learned that it doesn't matter a jot WHAT you do to improve the power of the engine, but its a flat 1% per extra 1BHP added to the standard engine (48BHP, I believe, in the 1098cc travellers case).

I've been doing a lot of reasearch, and it seems that a lot can be done to the 1098 to give them more driveability, such as a better cam (I'm leaning towards a Kent 266 for price & 'daily-driver' performance), and some easy DIY head work (or replacement with the smaller valved 295 1275 head), and possibly a slightly larger carb (but often the std one will be fine, just need re jetting)
The result is a few extra horses (say 55-60BHP, maybe more), but the main gain is more torque*, over a wider range.
The insurance company doesn't ask about torque, so if you're looking for all around 'cheap' modification, then I suggest this might be a good idea. Torque is also what you need if you're lumping loads around.
*The 1275, obviously, gets you the torque and probably more, but it can be cheaper to get the power if you don't have to buy a new engine to recondition first!

It also seems the general consensus that a 1275 should be accompanied by disc brakes (expensive) or 9" drums (rocking horse s***!).
I have a servo on my standard drums, and although the camp is divided, I think it makes daily driving much easier.

For handling, try emptying & flushing the std dampers and replenishing with SAE20 (harder) or SAE30 (medium) before shelling out for more expensive add-ons. Apparently this works a treat, although I'm yet to do mine.

Just my two-pence. There are many threads on this subject, so try the search engine too .

[Edward.21]

I have a spare 1275 lying around so there wouldn't be much cost in getting her up and running as far as I can see I a Kent 226 is around £200 so its all a matter of insurance I'll see what the insurance company say on Monday and if it's a lot more I'll get the kent 226 cam and thanks for your help

[bmcecosse]

General opinion amongst those who know is that an anti-roll bar is a complete waste of time - yes, there are plenty of firms who want to sell you one !! And as mentioned above, tele dampers are not required - just drain the oil and fill with SAE 30 or SAE40 oil - - NOT SAE 20 if want an improvement in the damping! Best mod of all is a little bit of negative camber on the front suspension - and it costs virtually nothing. Next up of course is better wheels and tyres - the standard tyres are very much the limiting factor for the road holding of the car.
£200 for a cam shaft is just madness - especially that 266 which is scarcely any better than standard. Get an MG Metro cam if you must change - it's a better cam and much less expensive. And the 295 head will NOT fit a 1275 engine...... whoever told you this ?? Again - the MG Metro provides the part you require - the larger (inlet) valved MG head - but only from the earlier engines - when they went 'unleaded' they reverted to the standard inlet valve size......

[MarkyB]

When you say "She's bit slow", what are you comparing her to?

Having tried fitting an anti roll bar, and putting thicker oil in the dampers (on different cars) I say save you money and go with the thicker oil.

[chris_bates]

Edward,

I strongly recommend David Vizard's book on tuning the A series engine (about £12 from Amazon/e-bay). I have just got a copy and it is a revelation. DV describes how you can spend huge sums of money gaining only a few extra HP and also how with very little money how you can squeeze a significant extra HP out of a standard 948. The choice is yours.

More importantly from my point of view is that I now understand a lot more about engines than I did before and there is a wealth of information on all the various A series engines from 803cc up to 1400cc (yes I didn't believe it was possible either). He also talks about what you can do to improve your lump with just a lot of time and patience and not much money (eg. flowing the manifolds).

As you are just starting out trying to find out what works and what doesn't on the trusty MM, do read as much as you can. I wish this book had been around in 1967 when I had my first moggy!

As for non-engined mods, I recommend front discs and beefing up the rear suspension with some telescopic dampers on the back end. I found that helped a lot with my old traveller.

Good luck!

Chris

[Edward.21]

I have just brought the book you suggested so we'll see how that goes and I think I'll try changing the damper oil and going for some better tyres thanks for the help everyone.
(any further info still appreciated)

[d_harris]

IMO, the best thing that you can do to improve the handling is to make sure that the suspension is uptogether and behaving as it should be. I've always found the minor to have fab handling when its in good fettle.

[MarkyB]

When you say "She's bit slow", what are you comparing her to?
Would it be something that has had 30 or 40 years more development?

[Edward.21]

It is an every day runaround so I would like her to keep up with traffic (she's a bit slow was just a title I'm not expecting modern car performance)

[bmcecosse]

The 'Guru' back in the day was Clive Tricket - Vizard followed on from his exploits....... Tricket books are often on ebay - and although a bit dated now - they do explain how the A series modifications developed. He was for example fitting large valve '1275' cylinder heads on 848 engines- way back then ! Sadly he didn't have best of health, and died well before his time........

[Edward.21]

Thanks for that I just bought one of his books on Sunday should be here tomorrow