Best way of preserving my engine !

[Gareth Rogers]

Hi all ! Im the proud owner of 2 Minors, 4 door and now a Rose Taupe Traveller. I live in France for 6 months each year so Im taking the Traveller to France and will re register it! The saloon stays in England ! Ive been to France and back with the saloon but that one was fully restored by Millenium Minors ! The Traveller has been restored but not, I fear, the engine! It runs fine with no missing or blue smoke, it has done 95,000mls. I intend to go down A 41 and then A442 before picking up M42 /M40 at Lickey End ( can anywhere be called that? ) I will go M40 M25 M20 then on down through France to Chateauroux which is in the middle! Which route is best for 1098 engine ? Steady 55 on M/way or 35/40 using all the A roads? Hope I can reply to any answers in next few days, ive got no internet access so have to use friends house! ps its 30c here today in France, im coming back fro the Traveller in July!

[mike.perry]

I drove my Series MM to Fontainbleau on the first MOT taking the non autoroute roads and it took forever. On the return journey I drove at 55-60 mph on the autoroutes and covered the journey in half the time.

[bmcecosse]

60/70 on the motorway will be fine. Lickey end is presumably at one 'end' of the Lickey Incline......famous for being a very difficult gradient for steam trains ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZS5Udg4jkk

[Chris Edgar]

I'm a firm believer that a steady 50 - 60 on the M-way puts the least strain on all the mechanicals...the engine is not being revved up & down & you are not de-clutching, changing gears, braking, steering around corners etc etc.(providing you are not caught up in some hideous traffic tailback of course)
Ensure that all maintenance & check are up to date, carry the obvious spares, tools & some water!

[chickenjohn]

I'm a firm believer that a steady 50 - 60 on the M-way puts the least strain on all the mechanicals...the engine is not being revved up & down & you are not de-clutching, changing gears, braking, steering around corners etc etc.(providing you are not caught up in some hideous traffic tailback of course)
Ensure that all maintenance & check are up to date, carry the obvious spares, tools & some water!

Agreed! At least change the oil and filter before the journey. And also ensure the engine is running well. I have done quite a bit of 55-60mph in my Minors and they do very well at this speed. OK, you will have to add about 25% of the time to what the journey would take in a modern but the Minor seems very happy at 55-60mph.

[mike.perry]

Just sit in the slipstream a safe distance behind an HGV and save fuel as well.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Motorway driving at 60 for a 1098 will be fine. Remember this engine was fitted also to the Austin/Morris 1100 and was designed for the motorway age.

Just do all the preliminary checks and know your oil consumption as you will inevitably have to do a bit of topping up on such a long journey.

[dalebrignall]

you cant go wrong staying at 55/60 they bumble along quite happily at that speed , just monitor oil and water levals .

[bmcecosse]

Remember that most Minor speedos read very high - so if you find yourself with a queue of heavy service trucks behind you - or constantly passing you - you are not really doing the 60 mph shown on the speedo!!

[Gareth Rogers]

Many thanks for all your replies, I will let you know how I get on!

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Remember that most Minor speedos read very high

Not mine - I took the needle off, set it back a bit and now it's bob-on accurate.

[bmcecosse]

Not mine either - but then I got one with the correct tpm......

[chickenjohn]

Remember that most Minor speedos read very high - so if you find yourself with a queue of heavy service trucks behind you - or constantly passing you - you are not really doing the 60 mph shown on the speedo!!

I've driven through a local speed trap on several occasions (the type that flashes up your speed as you pass) and my traveller's speedo is accurate to within about 1mph, i.e. indicated 31 MPH flashes up as 30MPH. 36mph flashes up as 35mph etc.

When I'm doing an indicated 60MPH in my traveller on the motorway, I'm keeping up with and overtaking some lorries! and on such a journey often get 44- 45mpg.

My modern car ( a Toyota Starlet) reads about 5mph fast!)

[chesney]

I find it difficult to tell my indicated speed in the first place! It'll waver between 27-33mph when I am doing around 30, for example. Takes some getting used to - especially round speed camera city here!

[bmcecosse]

Waving means sticky cable......you should clean it and then lightly regrease it.

[chesney]

Ah, job for the weekend then! Thanks BMC

[bmcecosse]

But wipe away any grease from the last 12" at the speedo end......to stop it running up into the speedo head.....

[chesney]

Noted!

[faversham999]

Can't get more than 72MPH (sat nav) out of my 948cc takes ages to get to that speed.

[bmcecosse]

Sounds about right....only slightly down on original performance spec. Speed limit is 70 mph anyway - so it's fine !