Morris Minor Owners Club

I know this has probably been covered several times, but I'm specifically after anyone who has done a conversion themselves if possible.
Asking on behalf of someone else, who needs to fit an auto box to his Minor as he still wants to drive it (and has sentimental value to said car).
I'm instinctively guessing a Marina 1300 auto is the most straight forward route, with the least fabrication needed (not that I'm adverse to it) or maybe a Triumph related gearbox using a Marina as a base unit? So at minimum a Marina auto box, gearbox mountings and prop shaft are needed before I can contemplate fitting.
TIA, as always.

Well, given that there has been a deafening silence, I'll chip in with a little bit of information.

Here in Oz, when owners want to have an automatic gearbox and decent performance, the engine/gearbox of choice is the Datsun 1200. It is a very reliable combo. It is a fairly easy installation and only very minor changes to the bodywork is required. If you can find that running gear, there will be plenty of help from Oz on how to go about it (not from me--I haven't done it). My local club President has done lots of this conversion.

Don

I think I remember reading about somebody who used an auto from a Sierra a while back. I imagine it's not miles different to the manual type 9 conversions.

Hi, I am planning to do a auto conversion, see http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=63696
Not started yet so no updates availble, but I will be providing infor on progress when I do get stated later this year.

Hi , The "Morris minor conversion manual" by Owen Burton has a lot of information on how to do this. Don't know if its still available. I got mine from ESM some years ago. Hope this help JohnG

Hadn't realised that the Owen Burton 'Morris Minor Modification Manual' addressed an auto conversion.

Reading that section quickly, there is a lot to do and not too many suitable Marinas about now.

In summary the box to use is the later Borg-Warner Type 65 and the unique bell housing for the Marina 1300 engine. Also need the 'drive plate' that replaces the flywheel, torque converter and all the controls.

The instruction also say that the engine needs to be moved forward to give flywheel housing clearance.

Plus quite a bit more!

I have a pdf copy of the OB manual if anyone would like one?

Please PM your email address to me and I will send it to you.

Further to my earlier post where I suggested the Datsun 1200 transplant -- I know that many may be irked (great word isn't it) by the thought of putting a 'nasty' Japanese engine into a British icon.

Well here is a little piece of info that might make it seem slightly more attractive. As we all know, the Morris A-series engine is an Austin design. The Datsun 1200 engine (and all its siblings a10, a13, a14, and a15) are all descendants of an Austin engine. After WWII, Datsun was licensed to make Austin engines. The Datsun went on to design their A series engines which some say show some Austin ancestry.

BTW, 1970's Corolla engine gearbox (auto and manual) transplants are also very common here in Oz. Like the Datsun conversion, it is quite straightforward to do. I'm sure there would be no shortage of help from down here for club members who decide to go this way.

Don

Such modifications were popular in Australia because of the availability of suitable RWD Japanese donor cars. In Europe, where the climate and salted winter roads takes its toll, such cars are a real rarity now and VERY hard to find.

It might also be worth looking at a B-series auto conversion... that opens the field up to an MGB engine/box combo. (edit) forgot the B-series Marina too... not an awful lot more of those around but you never know... doubles the Google chances of finding something suitable...

There seems to be quite a difference of opinion on this forum as to how the B-series engine may or may not affect handling but one thing is certain, the extra torque of the 1.8-litre unit will help with a smooth driving experience... less glacial than the 1.3 Marina auto.

By the sounds of it, your friend won't be hugely desirous of monster performance and the B conversion may be no harder to do than a Marina one...

There was an MGB engine/box for sale on eBay last week.

Just a thought, to further muddy the waters / open up opportunities...

Do let us know how you get on...

See this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/morris-marina ... SwFV9XyJPT

Regards
Don

If you had a lot of spare time and inclination and a car transporter, you could use the brakes and axle to. Maybe the wheels. It would require a heck of a lot of time though.
Talking of seized engines, (and I don't recommend this) I knew someone who had a very seized Marina 1300 engine. He poured diesel down the bores and left it for a couple of weeks, but it still wouldn't budge. And so, he bashed the pistons with a block of wood and a hammer until they shifted. The bores were pretty shocking, as you can imagine. The rings had rusted ridges into the two of the bores.
However, my friend persevered, merely, sanded and smoothed the bores and cleaned out the sump.
And yes, fitted the engine (with a refurbished head) and got the thing to run. !65/170lb psi across the cylinders, with good oil pressure and hardly a puff of smoke. Chalked up several thousand miles before he sold it. Go figure!

Thanks all for your input, I'll relay the info back and we'll see how it goes.

Any progress..?
My series II has the 1275 A+ engine with 5sp Sierra box for 20 years and now I want to convert to automatic. When the 1275 was installed in 1997, I bought a special bellhousing from Chris Street (CS Autoclassics) that mated the engine to the Sierra box. Now I wonder if that belhousing could be modified in such a way to accomodate a Sierra 4sp autobox. Any thoughts?

http://www.geevee.nl/morris-minor-series-ii-1954

the mgb engine and gearbox is a very large heavy unit and given its size i wonder if it would fit with the steering rack in it's original place , i would think the minor diff will need an upgrade as the b series has a lot of torque