Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi folks.

I couldn't see an introduction section so here I am. I;m new to the Morris scene but have a background in nut-and-bolt restorations (Land Rover, Classic Ford plus a couple of scratch-built roadsters). I've hopelessly fallen in love with the shape and character of these little cars that I've somehow ignored up to now.

Anyway… on to my question:

I'd like to buy and restore the cab-portion of the shell from a commercial - van or pickup. I'll media blast, cut out any rot and respray to new standards.

This will form the basis of my build. I will also be fabricating a new separate chassis to the van dimensions (don't worry it will go through an SVA/IVA - it'll be a show-car and has to be perfect, both structurally and legally).

Commercial's are obviously thin on the ground - so is a more frequently available Traveller cab (excluding rear floor plan) massively different to a commercial cab?

I realise the Traveller has longer doors (which I'd prefer) which would result in a shorter bed, but can the traveller cab be adapted to sit onto a separate chassis (happy to do major prefabrication work, will just ned to take extensive measurements first)? Is the floor plan of the cab section broadly similar to that of a commercial? Is the Commercial cab constructed from heavier steel than the traveller? Is the roof line the same?

I also realise I will need to buy or fabricate a cab back too.

Many thanks for your help. Any build pics will be posted here and should be to an impressive standard.

Who's Amy Rot?

*correction "any rot".

Amy'll have to go too - she's a healthy girl and would just add weight.

gasket999 wrote:*correction "any rot".

Amy'll have to go too - she's a healthy girl and would just add weight.

Check for Amy Corrosion too!

To answer at least part of the question: The LCV is a separate cab that bolts to a chassis. the Traveller is a monocoque construction without separate chassis, so there are considerable difference between the two. However, I have seen at least one Traveller converted to a very nice pickup, but it did have a lot of steel inserted to strengthen the whole thing.

hello, i have seen a pick up with the chassis extended by 12 inches to accommodate a longer home made back,its proportions looked better to me then the original pick up. Maybe this could also be incorporated into your design!as the other post says van cabs are bolted to a seperate chassis. It sounds like you know what you are doing so good luck with it . please post us some pics , Graham

The only real difference between the traveller and the saloon is the roof and b-post. The additional strengthening of the sill would just be additional unnecessary weight with a chassis. You could probably modify a saloon roof and b-pillar to meet your needs and old 2 door saloons are generally cheaper and easier to find than travellers!

One other thing to watch is that a Traveller has the same larger doors as a 2-door saloon, whereas a pickup has the shorter doors of the 4-door saloon. This means that the Traveller cab section is slightly longer than a standard pickup. No real issue, just need to watch your dimensions if trying to use similar parts.

Superb! Thanks you all very much..

Of particular note is the comment from Neil which points out the similarities between the shells.

So – it looks like any Minor body is in play for my needs – I’ll just need to fabricate a new floor to suit the separate chassis and a simplified cab back, neither of which would pose a problem.

Front half of 4-door saloon donor + custom B-pillars + traveller/commercial roof = same proportions as Pick-up/Van cab

Front half of 2-door saloon donor + custom B-pillars + traveller/commercial roof = custom ‘Long’ Pick-up/Van cab

Front half of Traveller body = custom ‘Long’ Pick-up/Van cab.

I’ve seen that floor panel and sill replacements are surprisingly cheap – so I may well incorporate these into the build of the cab.




As a bit of background I’ve done builds like this before and will be fabricating a custom chassis ready to take IFS and either live axle or independent rears (haven’t decided between making a De Dion tube or full IRS yet) – but that part is actually quite straightforward and parts are everywhere.

The cab will be the first part of the build as this will secure the ‘rare’ portion of the truck so that I can start planning and sourcing the other bits at my leasure.

The closest off the shelf chassis I’ve seen is the Fat Man chassis http://www.fatmanfabrications.co/produc ... r-chassis/ but, while the vehicle will be a showpiece its important that it remains a usable, everyday commercial with no loss in load capacity over the original Morris design - so the ford 9” axle and Mustang uprights are a bit overkill. I’ll be using the mechanicals (steering rack, front uprights, engine, gearbox and rear axle) from modern commercials and saloons. Mercedes have a nice mix of parts that would lend themselves to the build from their big saloons and Sprinter vans the OM602 diesel and 722.5 autobox are readily available and have been proven in both commercial and saloon applications. BMW and Land Rover are also another nice mix – the 2.5d M50 (IIRC) BMW engine and ZF HP22 gearbox were proven in the P38 Range Rover so a 2WD donor from a 325 or 525 would work well. BMW front uprights are very workable in this application and for the rear, depending on track and power I could either stick with the BMW rear or go old school to the Rodders' favourite: a heavy Dana 60 – a Salisbury copy of which was fitted into the narrower Series Land Rovers once I juggle the diff ratio.


The Fatman chassis is $8.5k – is massively agricultural and frankly I can make a better chassis myself. My chassis would follow the same lines as an original commercial chassis but would be a little stronger and would be designed to work with a front rack, double wishbones and an appropriate axle. I like an OEM look to my builds and like to use standard mechanical units to keep costs down.

Its important to me that I make use of parts that no one wants – I’ve seen Minors broken for parts and the shells have been scrapped – seems like a crime so it would be good to make use of one.

As mentioned – the car would be scratch built and would have to go through the IVA/SVA process so would not be a Morris or Austin. It would likely carry an age related plate based on the age of the mechanicals from the donor cars.

If possible I’d like to make use of parts that would not be of use in an enthusiast’s restoration.

You might like to check out here to see some builds:

http://morrisminorowners.co.uk/index.ph ... =indexpage

Your project sounds pretty good, but £8.5k for a chassis is taking the P

Pete

You need to post on the custom section, if you're going to blind us with all that detail about modern this that and the other stuff. It's upsetting for the average Minor owner!

Dread to think what a "Heavy Dana" is - any relation to the "Dana"
that won Eurovision for Ireland?

Dion too?

POMMReg wrote:Dread to think what a "Heavy Dana" is - any relation to the "Dana"
that won Eurovision for Ireland?

Dion too?

All kinds of everything remind me of you. x